When Jay Chapa ('93 M.P.A.) served as economic development director for the city of Fort Worth in the late 2000s, he wanted more for the city's Near Southside neighborhood.

Back then, the area lacked any life.

It had few restaurants or businesses other than professional offices.

Now Near Southside is thriving. Restaurants and unique shops, such as a record store and an ice cream shop, line the streets. The area hosts quirky events, such as "The Mutant Bazaar," a one-stop shop for fans of obscure media, art and collectibles, started by Greg TeGantvoort ('08). Texas Highways called it one of the city's "trendiest neighborhoods" and an article in Texas Monthly touted its "spark."

It's one of the biggest achievements in Chapa's long career in city planning.

"When I started working in local government, I saw the things you do are so impactful. You can work on something and see it up a year later," he says. "When my daughter was younger and I'd drive her by there, she'd hear me talking about the project and then see it under construction. Years later she's driving through there with friends and says, 'You know, my dad worked on that.'

"That gives you a lot of pride in how you help the city," Chapa says. "And as they say, you try to leave things better than they were."

Leading the Change

Chapa is not the only UNT alumnus who is transforming the North Texas region -- and the state of Texas -- as it experiences a huge boom in population and business.

The state's population is expected to surpass 35 million within the next decade, according to the Texas Demographic Center, and the Dallas-Fort Worth area will become the nation's third-largest metropolitan area with more than 10 million residents in the coming years, according to U.S. Census Bureau projections. The region boasts more than 20 of the state's Fortune 500 company headquarters, reports Fortune magazine.

UNT alumni are leaders of government, with three members from the class of 1993 serving as city managers for Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth, and many other alumni serve dozens of cities and towns across the state. On the business side, developer Rex Glendenning ('79) is one of the most prominent dealmakers in the state, creating subdivisions and enterprises such as The Star in Frisco. Other alumni are overseeing infrastructure and creating jobs at a variety of levels in communities around Texas.

With UNT's Texas Talent Accelerator, an initiative producing insights on the skills students need to compete in tomorrow's workforce, UNT also is shaping a competitive job market that fits the needs of the region.

Jay Fox ('13), project manager of Hensel Phelps, a construction company that handles projects across the country, says Texas offers lots of land and enthusiasm.

"Texas has the room to grow, and they have leaders who are trying to push and promote that growth. That's why you're seeing the results today."

Setting the Agenda

The city of Fort Worth is grabbing national attention. It's been featured on the TV show Landman, with the filming of such programs adding $1 billion to the region's economy, according to economic consulting firm TXP Inc. The Fort Worth Stockyards is one of the state's most popular tourist destinations. And Fort Worth just became the 10th largest city in the nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

In his three decades of service to the city, Chapa has led the way.

"We're having a moment and I'm thrilled," Chapa says. "And the fact that we are doing well, it makes it easier to sell the city. But with it comes a lot of responsibility to ensure that our citizens in Fort Worth are getting the services they need and they feel safe and that we're delivering decent roads, clean water, code enforcement and all the things that cities do that people don't think about sometimes."

As city manager of Austin, T.C. Broadnax ('93 M.P.A.) understands his residents' concerns. Known for its state politics and music scene, the city has erupted with tech companies and other corporations moving into the area. Austin reached 1 million residents in 2026, and the metro area has seen a 27 percent increase over the last 10 years.

"You know what? Yes, there is quite a bit of traffic," Broadnax says. "I often remark, 'I'm wondering where all of these people are going all at the same time.' It creates an exciting opportunity for people in leadership to work alongside the community to ensure that, the things they love about their community, they're able to keep, and then invite others in to enjoy that same type of environment."

The city managers wanted to serve in this profession to make change. UNT's M.P.A. program with a specialty in local government management, ranked 1st in Texas and 8th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, has prepared them to do just that.

In the program, they learned skills such as budget implementation to manage their cities responsibly. Bob Bland, Endowed Professor Emeritus of local government, was a game changer, says Kimberly Bizor Tolbert ('91, '93 M.P.A.), city manager of Dallas.

"I enjoyed when I took the public finance course with him, because what I learned is that the backbone of everything that we do ties to our resources and how we effectively utilize those resources to meet the needs of our communities," she says.

That lesson continues to shape Tolbert's leadership. As the ninth-largest city in the country, Dallas has one of the nation's most diverse economies and has grown into the nation's No. 2 financial market.

Tolbert is building on that momentum through the continued growth of "Y'all Street." Dallas is the only U.S. city with three major exchange operations -- TXSE, NYSE Texas and a Nasdaq Center of Excellence -- while companies including Scotiabank and Goldman Sachs are making significant investments that will bring thousands of jobs to the city.

She is focusing on turning that momentum into long-term opportunity by strengthening infrastructure, developing the workforce, creating quality jobs and encouraging investment throughout the city.

The job of a city manager can be tough. Chapa can work as many as 70 hours a week, with meetings taking up as much as 10 hours a day. In addition to enduring the long meetings, they juggle the often-conflicting priorities of residents, mayors and city council members.

"That's what makes local government management so exciting," Broadnax says. "You can't plan for a day because you're immediately going to be doing something different. But again, if you have a heart for public service, being a city manager, as well as a local government employee, is right where you need to be because you get so much out of going to work every day and helping people in your communities."

Making the Deals

When Rex Glendenning ('79) was growing up in Celina in the 1960s, the area was considered a small town. Now he's transformed that part of Collin County into one of the fastest growing areas in the country -- the county's population has increased from 782,000 in 2010 to 1.3 million in 2025.

One example of that transformation is a deal he made in 1994. Glendenning sold Jerry Jones his first piece of land in Frisco -- about 10 to 12 miles south of Celina -- for a 550-acre master-planned single-family subdivision, Starwood. Frisco had a population of about 7,600 at the time.

Two decades later, Glendenning convinced the Dallas Cowboys owner to move the football team's World Headquarters and training facility to Frisco. In 2016, The Star in Frisco, a bustling mixed use development in a city whose population had skyrocketed to 250,000, opened. Glendenning led negotiations, snagging $130 million worth of economic incentives from the city of Frisco within a 45-day window.

"To be able to say that I was able to relocate the Cowboys from Irving to Frisco and create The Star, and to do projects like that is not only financially rewarding, but it's fulfilling to have a vision, and then to see it be created, and unfold, and happen the way you hoped it would happen," Glendenning says. "It's been a lot of fun."

As the creator of more than 20 developments in Arlington, Celina and Prosper, Glendenning has been one of the biggest personalities in Texas' real estate scene. D CEO magazine put him on its cover, saying he "largely operates under the radar, despite orchestrating many of DFW's most notable develop-ments." The Wall Street Journal says he "has everything a casting director could ask for in a Texas land baron: the late-July drawl, a herd of prized Longhorns and the handmade alligator-skin boots embroidered with the golden REX Realty logo." He's also a member of the North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors Hall of Fame, as well as the recipient of the 2025 Stemmons Service Award.

Raised in a family of ranchers in Celina, the real estate major -- who played on the North Texas football team under head coach Hayden Fry -- put every dollar after taxes and overhead into buying another piece of Texas since he started his career in the 1980s.

His hometown of Celina is now the fastest growing city in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, surging from 6,000 people in 2010 to 64,000 in 2025.

"We've cobbled together land up here for about 35 years or so, and now the market has finally come to us," Glendenning says. "You have to have enough patience to buy in a location that the demographics, transit, roadways and infrastructure are all leading to, and have enough vision and guts to get ahead of that curve and put yourself in position to be there when the market gets there."

Building the Vision

When Jay Fox ('13) was looking for jobs as a College of Engineering student, he was flying in and out of Dallas Love Field Airport.

"I saw their billboards and signs everywhere," he says. "I was like, 'Man, that'd be cool to work on an airport.'"

He launched his career with the renovation of Dallas Love Field -- serving as field engineer for the construction firm Hensel Phelps -- when the airport was expanding its non-stop flight destinations beyond the Texas border states.

They had to build amenities, such as a 5,000-car parking garage to accommodate travelers, as well as a police station and other buildings, as the airport soared from 4 million in 2013 to more than 17 million passengers a year.

"It was seeing the growth of DFW right there," Fox says. "The gates had to expand, the airport needed to get bigger and be modernized for all the people that are moving to Texas."

Fox majored in engineering technology with a specialization in construction, combining his knowledge of math and desire to work with people. As he's climbed up the ranks to project manager, Fox has helped oversee construction for buildings, handling everything from field to office, from safety to quality, and collaborating with all stakeholders, from architects to government officials.

One of his major projects was the 975-room Kalahari Resorts and Conventions, which features a waterpark and arcade on its 1.5 million square feet of land. The site was originally a field in Round Rock, near Austin, so Fox's team oversaw a completely new power infrastructure, updated the power grid and installed water and sewer lines.

"Eventually, the goal is the surrounding retail," he says. "We built this giant attraction, and right around it, we started to see it the last six months we were there. Gas station, coffee place, all these other buildings started to get developed around our resort, so that was cool to see."

Setting the Atmosphere

While alumni are developing and constructing the homes and buildings, others are providing services to attract homeowners and tourists to the area.

Kyndra Outlaw ('14 M.S.), for example, has captured a niche market, staging homes and apartments to appeal to potential buyers. The name of her business, Atmospheric Home Staging, is derived from a paper she wrote about merchandising in stores while pursuing her master's degree in merchandising at UNT.

"When you're walking into a store, what music is playing, what does it smell like, what is the atmosphere like?" she says. "I want to create that atmosphere when you walk into a home. What feelings does it evoke? Do buyers want to stick around for a while? Do they want to purchase the home they are touring?"

Based in Dallas' Design District, Outlaw helps homeowners sell their property by decluttering and depersonalizing the home with neutral paint colors or art. She also brings in furniture and accessories for vacant properties for apartment complexes and model homes.

Her business began 10 years ago as a one-woman show as she scurried across DFW from job to job. Now she employs a team and a regular stable of contractors. About three-fourths of her clients are for new construction.

"That just shows me that North Texas is continuously growing," she says, "and we are getting quote requests all the time from new construction clients, so that's the green flag for me."

Chad Enloe ('93) also knows about setting the atmosphere, but he does it for cities.

The city has hosted big events for visitors to have a good time and bring their dollars to the Lone Star State. As senior vice president of sales for the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau, Enloe promotes the city that is home to AT&T Stadium, Globe Life Field and Six Flags Over Texas, attracting international sporting events and concerts, such as the FIFA World Cup and Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour.

Enloe has worked his whole career in the hospitality business, starting as a waiter in college, advancing through various positions at hotels, and then pivoting to sales leadership. Now he sells the city so it can fill up its hotels, convention center and other venues.

According to a 2025 survey by tourism study research company Longwoods International, Arlington brought 16.3 million people to town who spent $3.1 billion in 2024.

Enloe notes North Texas is in a great position thanks to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, which gives travelers access to both U.S. coasts in three hours.

"Our spirit of hospitality sets us apart," he says. "Our selling message and our value proposition are pretty strong when you compare us to other cities and other parts of the country. When you complement events and sports with conventions and groups, it creates a very strong fabric of a destination and economic impact."