North Texas Daily

Matt Wood // Staff Writer

With Denton’s burgeoning growth, Adam Gawarecki is looking bring new business to town.

Alum Adam Gawarecki was named Vice President of Denton in March. Since his appointment, he’s spent his first two weeks meeting elected officials and getting re-acclimated to Denton, but in the next two weeks will be traveling to pitch the city to prospective businesses.

“It’s all about getting out there and telling the Denton story,” he said. “And telling them about our industrial park, our airport and our rail access.”

In his trips, he hopes to attract manufacturing and industrial companies to Denton. Gawarecki also said he is looking at aviation aerospace businesses to utilize Denton’s airport, which is the 8th largest out of 25 commercial airports in the state.

Denton’s Chamber of Commerce website states that its mission is to promote economic growth, improve education and improve quality of life for all Denton residents.

“Think of the chamber as an interest group promoting local businesses,” UNT government professor Eddie Meaders said.

Meaders said that the Chamber’s role involves spurring local development as well as managing businesses.

“They encourage folks to shop locally in their community,” he said. “They would also be interested in any type of regulations the city of Denton might want to impose on businesses.”

Aimee Bissett, director of the Denton Economic Development Partnership, said she is looking forward to working alongside Gawarecki.

“Adam fits in great,” she said. “He jumped in with both feet and immediately started sharing ideas for improvement.”

Bissett said Gawarecki is team-oriented and approaches issues proactively, which she said is crucial to the job.

His previous experience in San Antonio, where he pursued businesses for the city, would apply in Denton as well, Bissett said.

“This is a more proactive, aggressive approach that will help Denton into the forefront, nationally,” she said.

Between 2010 and 2012, Denton experienced a 6.8 percent increase in population, making it the seventh fastest-growing city in the nation, according to the Denton Economic Partnership website.

Gawarecki said he recognizes this growth and hopes to work with businesses to help Denton flourish.

“I think everyone’s motivated to help Denton grow,” he said. “It’s coming this way, whether anyone wants it or not. I’m just trying to get companies in here along with the population growth.”

In recruiting businesses, Gawarecki said that UNT’s impact on Denton is an enticing factor for businesses looking to come to North Texas.

“There’s a trained workforce coming out [of UNT] all the time,” he said. “That’s a reason for companies to move here if they’re looking for a younger, trained workforce.”

For short-term goals, Gawarecki is looking to develop a new Chamber of Commerce website in the coming months.

Gawarecki graduated from UNT in 2006 with a major in international business and economics in addition to a minor in marketing.

“Most people don’t use their majors,” he said. “But this job deals with international companies, economics and marketing, so it fits right in.”

After graduating, he moved to Dallas and worked for an Economic Development Marketing company for six years. There, he helped more than 100 cities across North America with their marketing initiatives, which Gawarecki said is similar to his new role in Denton.

“Rather than working with one community, I worked with 100,” he said. “We did advertising for them and website development.”

Gawarecki then moved to work for the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation for 14 months, but began to grow homesick.

“I honestly just missed North Texas,” he said. “I just love it here. The quality life and the people are great. So this job came up and here I am.”

Chamber of Commerce President Chuck Carpenter appointed Gawarecki as Vice President. Carpenter said Gawarecki served a similar role when working in San Antonio and that Gawarecki was familiar with Denton, having attended UNT.

“We think Adam has just the right chemistry for functioning in conjunction with the team,” Carpenter said.

Feature photo: UNT alum Adam Gawarecki is the new vice president of economic development at the Denton Chamber of Commerce. Photo by Kelsey Littlefield / Staff Photographer