Memorandum from Mary Kay Murphy
Mary Kay Murphy, Ph.D. District 3  School Board Member marykaymurphy@aol.com

October 8, 2007

   The Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce forged a path to Collin County, Texas where more than 50 Gwinnett community leaders mined programs and progress in the richest county in Texas for ideas that we could bring home to Georgia’s largest county. 

   The Chamber selected Collin County for its many similarities to Gwinnett County. Total 2006 population of Collin County was 698,851, comparable to Gwinnett County’s 757,104. Partnerships in Collin County accounted for much of the remarkable growth and development that we observed in the major cities of Frisco, McKinney, Plano, Allen, and Richardson.

   During our visit, we learned of Collin County’s incubator for partnerships that produced a performing and visual arts complex under construction in a 124-acre arts park co-owned by the Cities of Allen, Frisco, and Plano. 

   Partnerships also accounted for the Pizza Hut Soccer Park forged among the Hunt Sports Group, the City of Frisco, Collin County, and the Frisco Independent School District. This partnership resulted in creation of a 140-acre facility with a nearly 22,000-seat stadium used more than 300-plus days a year for soccer, major concerts, school football games, and other community-based events. Adjacent to the park are 17 championship-quality soccer fields available for elementary, middle, and high school boys and girls soccer teams.

   Also located in Frisco is the Dr. Pepper Ballpark, home of the Class AA Frisco Rough Riders minor league baseball club. The ballpark has a versatile 10,600-seat stadium, opened in 2003, that hosts baseball games, charity events, wedding receptions, church services, and City of Frisco events.

   Many of the programs that we studied in the Plano Independent School District had direct application to K-12 public education in Gwinnett County Public Schools. We visited the 53,000-student Plano ISD, Collin County’s largest, most mature, and diverse school system serving residents in approximately 100 square miles in southwest Collin County. 

   The Plano ISD includes the City of Plano, northern portions of the cities of Dallas and Richardson, the city of Parker, and parts of Allen and Murphy. Plano ISD provided $10,818 per pupil expenditure in 2005, compared to Gwinnett County’s $7,216 per student expenditure. 

   We also learned of the strong link between workforce development and K-16 education in Collin County. One of the most important Best Practices in education and workforce development in Collin County dates back to 1985 when business, education, and industry leaders planned for, recruited, and developed Collin College, a 44,000 student initiative.

   Our visit also provided opportunity to learn the history of the economic development initiatives that brought public/private sectors together in branding and marketing the Telecom Corridor, located in Richardson, that includes one of the highest concentrations of telecommunications companies in the world. 

   In addition to telecommunications, Richardson also is home to the high-tech clusters of semiconductors, software, and electronics. We learned how partnerships forged the development of the Telecom Corridor and how targeted industries were developed in incubator settings. 

   We also studied the history and formation of the turnpike/toll road components of Collin County and found significant Best Practices from the Plano initiatives to retrofit and redevelop urban centers to meet the needs of new populations. Plano has focused its energies on cultural, social, recreational, and entertainment initiatives, without abandoning the community’s basic suburban development patterns.

   We left our three-day visit with many Best Practices shared by the community leaders of Collin County focused on its economic development initiatives in Frisco, Plano, Richardson, McKinney, and Allen.

   These included the importance, among others, of the following:

  • Business and industry planning, recruiting, and development;
  • Active engagement/relationships among local, state, and federal officials;
  • Development of quality K-16 education;
  • Development of open spaces, parks, entertainment, and recreation facilities;
  • Cooperative development of partnerships from among public/private sectors;
  • Planning to inculcate new populations;
  • Diversification of the economic base within the county and the region.

   The Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce provided a great forum for community leaders to study a dynamic, similar county and to take lessons learned that can be applied to our community. 

   We gained insight into the similarities between Gwinnett and Collin Counties. We learned about programs that we might emulate and those that we might retrofit. 

   We gained insight from other Gwinnett County leaders about the role that they and their organizations might play in forging new and meaningful partnerships and best practices in areas of the arts, economic development, K-16 education, transportation, recreation, and workforce development.

   We came to appreciate that Gwinnett County has an unmatched “Can Do” attitude led by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce and its Partnership Gwinnett community.

   It was a privilege to be part of the Gwinnett County delegation that visited Collin County.

   It will be an even greater privilege to participate in working with others to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse Gwinnett County where partnerships among the public and private sectors will, as they have in the past, continue to make all the difference.

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