— DAVE PORTER

GEORGETOWN — Dave Porter wasn’t sure what a chamber of commerce did or what industrial or economic development was until he started working for the Wichita Chamber in his Kansas hometown soon after college.

The Wichita State University graduate spent more than a decade visiting suppliers to the local aircraftmanufacturing sector that included household names such as Cessna, Beech and Boeing. In that world, it was hard to imagine the role he would have in shaping computer-age and digital technology and the impact on his career years later.

Porter, who is retiring as executive director of the Williamson County Economic Development Partnership at the end of the year, recalled his first brush with the future.

“It wasn’t until 1985 that they came and took the IBM Selectric typewriter off my desk and replaced it with this box, the computer, a desktop. That was very disruptive,” Porter said. “The only other similar thing to that I see happening is with (artificial intelligence).”

If anyone gets credit for bringing high-tech industry ranging from semiconductors to lunar landers to Williamson County, it’s Porter, said County Judge Steven Snell.

“Williamson County would not be the sought-after international destination for companies in advanced manufacturing, high technology and aerospace without Dave Porter,” Snell said when Porter’s impending retirement was announced in July.

GETTING RECRUITED

Creating jobs in cutting-edge technology, including production of what makes AI tick, has capped the last four years of Porter’s 42-year career in economic development. He has assisted Williamson County cities in attracting a growing number of companies that supply goods or services to the advanced semiconductor manufacturing industry largely centered in East Williamson County and then diversified the economy with space-related jobs and more.

He was recruited in 2022 to become the first staff member of Wilco EDP after spending eight years in Orlando, Fla., where he had been an executive with the Orlando Economic Partnership and then a consultant.

It was a bit of a homecoming for Porter who, from 2004-14, was senior vice president of economic development at what is now known as Opportunity Austin, a five-county regional partnership of which Wilco EDP is a part. Opportunity Austin started under the Austin Chamber of Commerce, but became a separate operation in 2023. Prior to his time in Austin, he spent nine years in North Carolina, first in Raleigh and then in Asheville.

THE SAMSUNG EFFECT

Like Opportunity Austin, the role of Wilco EPD is to bring attention to the region, specifically Williamson County, so that area cities can attract new jobs that pay well. The board of Wilco EPD includes representatives from Williamson County, Cedar Park, Coupland, Georgetown, Hutto, Jarrell, Leander, Liberty Hill, Round Rock and Taylor.

While the partnership had been around since 2014, it didn’t have a staff to advance the cause. Everything changed when Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. selected Taylor as the site for a $17 billion advanced semiconductor manufacturing fabrication foundry. As business for the chips grew, so did Samsung’s plans, which now have a price tag pegged at $44 billion and thousands of jobs.

Ben White, CEO of the Taylor Economic Development Corp., held a similar position in Cedar Park in 2022 and served as president of the all-volunteer Wilco EDP when the board decided it was a good time for staff leadership to help capitalize on Samsung. The multinational company was putting the county solidly on the map as part of what has developed as a semiconductor corridor.

When White was at the Round Rock Chamber of Commerce, he came to know Porter during his time at Opportunity Austin and considered him an “unofficial mentor.” White said it was an obvious move to reach out to the seasoned economic growth advocate to take the job.

Wilco EDP had originally been formed as a nonprofit that could raise money but didn’t activate that status until the need became clear the county needed greater economic development capabilities and needed to create company-recruiting opportunities for local cities.

Samsung’s Taylor campus and Austin’s new Apple campus in southern Williamson County were two recent deals that had required substantial economic incentive participation by the county.

“When Ben (White) reached out to me in Florida in May of 2022, and said ‘Hey, remember when we formed this? It’s time. Would you be willing to come and help us consult on how to raise money to activate it? And if you do that and we get the money, would you be interested in running it?’ The answer was yes and yes,” Porter said.

The money was raised in just six weeks after his arrival.

“There were six or seven (Wilco) cities contributing to Opportunity Austin when I was here before, and so I spent a lot of time in Williamson County, so the job was intriguing to me.”

EXPERIENCE WITH SOUTH KOREA

Porter’s previous experience working with Korean businesses, such as with Samsung (which has had a presence in the region since first locating a campus in Austin in the mid-1990s, followed by Taylor), and a deep knowledge of the Central Texas business community made him uniquely qualified, White said.

“He has a talent for bringing people together,” White said. “It’s his intellect, the way he deals with people, how he carries himself in a room. He has no ego. He’s what you want to be when you grow up if you’re in economic development.”

Porter said he considers himself a bridge builder who can get everyone pointed in the same direction toward a common goal.

That was on display in 2023 when the partnership led 17 Williamson County elected leaders and economic development pros on a trip to South Korea. They were told there were about 150 suppliers to Samsung’s chipmaking enterprise that could be looking at locating near the 1,200-acre site under development in Taylor, the first phase of which goes operational this year.

Through numerous meetings, Porter set the tone for the Korean corporate and government leaders to interact with the Williamson County delegation, making introductions, strengthening bonds in existing relationships and forging new ones, White said.

Porter said he had been to South Korea before in the mid-1990s and has enjoyed that connection, something he said he may do in some capacity after retirement.

“There may be some other opportunities to continue to grow the Korean culture in Williamson County through the sister-city program we have with Yongin City,” Porter said. “That sister-city relationship has more potential than any sister city that I’ve ever been involved with over 40 years. I want to see that through and make sure that’s on solid footing after I’m gone. That arrangement is based on three things: technology, education and culture, which covers a lot.”

Working on those relationships has created strong ties to the growing Korean business community in Central Texas.

“Korean companies feel very comfortable here. He has supported the mood to make that happen,” said Jongkyoo “Jaden” Nam, the president of the Korean American Chamber of Commerce of Austin and branch manager of STI Advance, a U.S. subsidiary of a South Korean equipment and materials supplier to the semiconductor and battery manufacturing industry.

Nam said Porter was instrumental in creating an agreement between the chamber and Wilco EDP to help Korean companies wanting to do business in the region understand the ins and outs of regulations.

“We think he is the best guy to make those connections,” Nam said. “I hope he keeps supporting us.”

GOLF LESSONS GIVE A LEG UP

In maintaining those relationships, it doesn’t hurt that Porter has a passion for golf that started early in life when he realized he would never play competitive basketball, a sport he said is in the DNA of Kansans. Instead, he took golf lessons in fourth grade, became more serious about it late in middle school and is still chasing a little white ball along fairways and greens.

Friends say he is a sought-after golf partner when Korean business leaders visit the county or when Porter is in Korea, where Wilco EDP has maintained an office for three years.

Porter said that office has helped increase Korean ties to Williamson County, including attracting automotive companies, several battery projects and startups.

The work done by Porter and the Wilco EDP members also has led to thousands more jobs coming from Taiwan, Japan and Europe, officials said.

The space industry also has taken deep root in Williamson County with Firefly Aerospace in Cedar Park, Melagen Labs opening a headquarters in Taylor and the likelihood that Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin is coming to Hutto with a 2,000-job campus.

Even though Porter is leaving at the end of the year, he has created a lasting legacy, officials said.

“(Porter’s) insight, experience and commitment have helped transform our county into one of the nation’s premier locations for business investment and innovation,” Snell said. “Dave helped create opportunities that will benefit our residents for generations to come.”

Consultants for Wilco EPD recently completed a new five-year strategic plan for the organization with implementation slated to start next year.

Porter said he felt it would be a good time for a new leader to come in and start the next phase of growth.

White said Porter’s efforts over the last four years will have a lasting impact as the region builds on the phenomenal economic growth in the county.

“He really shaped the direction of this economy,” White said.