124 Business View - February 2016
lion square foot logistic centers like a lot more easily-
developed land near rail access. So, we’re not a heavy
industrial area; we’re much more of a business center
area that works with businesses to facilitate location
and development. We partner with businesses. That’s
one of the things we do best. And we’re not going after
businesses that don’t fit with our character. We want
businesses that want to be here and be a part of our
community. And what they find is a very synergistic
and symbiotic type of relationship.”
One of the city’s main roles in that relationship is de-
veloping and expanding its infrastructure in order “to
make it a convenient place for businesses to do busi-
ness,” Franke says. “We’re really in the business of
providing services, so we take a very strong customer-
service approach.” For example, because Cedar Hill
has a lot of rolling terrain, it’s placed a lot of emphasis
on regional detention, so that storm water is handled
on a regional basis and individual property owners
or individual businesses don’t have to contend with
drainage issues. “We also have a pretty extensive wa-
ter distribution system and we’re a 43 percent owner
of Joe Pool Lake, which is a valuable long-term asset
and resource for the city.” In addition, the city also has
a robust workforce development agenda, partnering
with area businesses, local universities, and other ed-
ucational institutions to provide new enterprises with
appropriate labor and personnel.
Franke also believes that Cedar Hill’s culture is an
important drawing card for new businesses and indi-
viduals moving to the city; and that that culture has
changed considerably since he began his political ca-
reer. “Back when I started, the city was primarily white
and rural,” he explains. “We’re a pretty large city, but our
population was pretty low. Now we’re pushing 50,000;
we’ll max out at approximately 85 to 100 thousand.
As the city grew, our demographics changed. We went
from majority white to majority Afro-American plus a
strong Hispanic population. But we’ve maintained a
strong affluence and we’ve made our racial diversity
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