Two years ago, I facilitated a roundtable discussion in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. The discussion featured a senior official from the State Department and leaders from the local business community. The official listened as we talked about their ideas for growing the economy.
What struck me was not only the content of the discussion, but also who sat around the table. Executives from Mary Kay, American Airlines, Hilton Worldwide, a small local ground transportation firm and other representatives from different area businesses from various sectors and sizes discussed the challenges and opportunities they saw for their businesses. The executives raised issues around particular barriers to their growth and provided valuable insight about the economy just two years into our recovery. They asked the official questions about what he encountered in his travels around the world as he advocated for American business.
During my visit to Dallas, 50 Mary Kay trainees from Korea were in town for some workshops. The Mary Kay executive explained how the women flew from Seoul to Dallas on American Airlines, stayed at a Hilton hotel, and used the local ground transportation company to move around town.
During my tenure at Business Forward, from day one through last week, I heard about these kinds of intersections from tens of thousands of business leaders around the country, but the companies in Dallas painted an especially vivid picture of the local economy. The Dallas event illustrated why we all must work together — small, mid-sized and big businesses — to forge a stronger economic future.
These businesses did not succeed in isolation or by themselves, and they all recognized the importance of a strong ecosystem that fostered the opportunity for everyone to benefit. They even acknowledged the importance of certain regulations.
The opportunity for these local business leaders to come together as one community to share their hopes and concerns with a senior Administration official would not have happened but for Business Forward. Hilton Hotels wouldn’t have 50 Korean customers from Korea staying at its hotel if American Airlines and the local limousine company did not get them there safely. Mary Kay couldn’t sell its products to a market so far away if visa restrictions made it hard for the trainees to visit the United States.
I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished, but our work isn’t done. I can’t wait to see what we do next.