More than 120 leaders from the Charlotte Region dusted off their boots and traveled to Austin, TX, this week to join the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance® on a three-day trip to explore the city’s economy.
“I am excited about the unique opportunity we have in front of us to really roll up our sleeves and learn from each other, as well as our fellow leaders and counterparts here in Austin who have graciously opened the doors to their city for us,” CLT Alliance President and CEO Janet LaBar said. “Connection and collaboration are critically important to building and shaping strong communities. And so are many of the important intangibles that happen when we’re all in the same room.”
The trip to Austin is framed around transformational economic development. The programming focused on business recruitment, innovation, talent attraction, transportation, and affordability.
“We are growing at a pace that we can hardly keep up with,” Austin Mayor Pro Tem Alison Alter told the delegation at a welcome session on Wednesday. “We are an attractive place to live and learn and grow. We are welcoming to whoever comes.”
But, Alter cautioned, that growth has also brought challenges. Austin is grappling with large-scale transit and transportation challenges, traffic woes, and increasing affordability issues.
“The measure of our success is going to be how we deal with these challenges,” Alter said.
Austin’s city leaders harnessed their tagline of “keep Austin weird,” and explained more about what it means to them.
“You come to Austin and you be you and we’ll accept that and we’ll love that and we’ll celebrate you,” Tom Noonan, president and CEO at Visit Austin, said.
Noonan said that openness has allowed the city to attract people from all walks of life, something leaders in Charlotte believe their region can do as well.
“We’re gonna make Charlotte weird, maybe?” CLT Alliance Executive Board Chair Malcomb Coley joked. “We’re growing, we’ll take all of your people.”
Vasu Raja, chief commercial officer at American Airlines, said he sees a lot of similarities between Austin and Charlotte, calling them both “cities of the future.”
“There’s cranes everywhere,” Raja said. “There’s a lot of growth and a lot of growth being done in a really smart way.”
Raja said the pandemic has changed the way businesses recruit and attract talent.
“Through the pandemic they learned they can source talent from wherever they want,” Raja said. “They want a good cost of living and good quality of life.”
On Thursday attendees split up into breakout sessions.
Track one focused on affordability and building better futures. A presentation showed how growing cities like Austin and Charlotte are becoming increasingly less affordable, and are quickly pricing out their residents. Elected officials and community leaders from the Charlotte Region had important conversations with Austin’s affordability experts, then toured an affordable housing district that is touted as a model for responsible urban development.
Track two was a tour of Austin’s Innovation District. Attendees got an up-close look at what happens when some of the best and brightest minds from education, health care, technology and business come together.
Track three centered on entrepreneurship and talent attraction. Austin has fostered entrepreneurship like few other cities in the country. Their community supports the growth and development of a key sector to their economy.
Thursday afternoon, the entire delegation reconvened for conversations about transportation. A panel including the city of Austin’s mobility officer, developers, and transit and infrastructure experts discussed the critical need for improvements to transportation.
In 2020, Austin’s residents voted in favor of the city’s $7.1 billion transit plan.
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said she was particularly interested in learning what steps Austin is taking to address transportation.
