By: Holly Malish, Deputy Director
Schertz EDC staff recently traveled with Team Texas (TEDC Marketing/Outreach arm) to Select USA in Washington DC at the end of May 2022. Schertz participates in such events with these is to capitalize on the Texas brand of business, for it aligns with the pro-business attitude of Schertz. In return for attending the show with fellow Texas EDCs, Schertz receives all the leads of the show and follow up with specific, local information.
The show is led by the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Select USA serves as the primary resource for economic development organizations for foreign direct investment and facilitates job-creating business investment into the United States along with raising awareness of the critical role that economic development plays in the U.S. economy. Since its inception, SelectUSA has facilitated more than $105 billion in investment, creating and/or retaining over 138,000 U.S. jobs.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) is important to US and local economies for it brings in additional capital investment. FDI ebbs and flows based on international markets and politics but the investments showed a strong rebound in 2021, up 77% to an estimated $1.65 trillion, from $929 billion in 2020, surpassing their pre-COVID-19 level, according to UNCTAD’s Investment Trends Monitor published on 19 January 2022.
As a member of the Texas delegation, Schertz EDC staff was able to greet foreign businesses interested in opening a business in Texas. Over the 3 days, more than 300 contacts and prospects expressed real interest in opening or expanding their business in Texas. Over 4,500 participants visited the summit both in person and virtually making this year’s event the largest summit in history. Additionally, there were over 222 virtual booth visits. The banner advertisement on the virtual platform was viewed 2,664 times. Most often, people would show up to the booth and say they wanted to bring their business to Texas, but had no concept that Texas was a big state and they could go anywhere!
The Texas brand is very strong in foreign markets and Select USA show officials said the Texas presence was very noticed both in person and online. In fact, we were absolutely the busiest booth in the hall!
Next year’s Texas booth will be 10 ft larger to accommodate for more meeting space and set to be at the Gaylord National Harbor again in May 2023.