Fort Worth establishes task force focused on business recovery, future

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Fort Worth has established a task force focused immediately on restoring local businesses impacted by the pandemic and strategically targeting growth sectors for the future.

Mayor Betsy Price announced the task force, Fort Worth Now, on Thursday at 1 p.m. at the Fort Worth Business Assistance Center. The economic recovery and growth task force will be co-chaired by Elaine Agather and John Goff, but additional members of an advisory board for Fort Worth Now will be announced, likely next week. Agather is chairman of the Dallas Region for JPMorgan Chase & Co. and also serves as South and Midwest Region Head and Managing Director of J.P. Morgan Private Bank as well as a member of the advisory board of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall Of Fame and has ridden the grand entry at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo since 1992. Goff is a private investor based in Fort Worth who invests in a variety of industries, both public and private, through his family office, Goff Capital, and in real estate through Crescent Real Estate, where he serves as chairman.

Goff co-founded Crescent Real Estate with Richard Rainwater in the early 1990’s.

According to a city news release, the public-private partnership will lead Fort Worth’s post-COVID-19 response to stabilize and restore local businesses, while strategically targeting growth sectors to equitably advance Fort Worth’s economy.  The 12-month effort will include one dedicated staff member, who will be announced later this month. 

During the announcement, Goff said he and his wife, Cami, will establish a $100,000 matching grant to help fund Fort Worth Now.

Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce President Brandom Gengelbach issued a statement in support of the initiative.

“As a leader in the Fort Worth business community, the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce applauds Mayor Price in her commitment and dedication to revitalize the City of Fort Worth’s economy,” he said in a news release. “We look forward to our city leaders and the business community working collaboratively to help recover and grow the economy of Fort Worth. We appreciate the Mayor’s and Co-Chairs’ leadership in this  effort and believe this will be able to take economic development in Fort Worth to a level far above anything we have been able to do before.”

The Fort Worth Now task force also received support from Visit Fort Worth President and CEO Bob Jameson. The tourism business has been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Today Mayor Price took a bold step in our economic recovery and development by launching Fort Worth Now. Public-private partnerships like this have shaped our community, including many of the attractions and developments that have contributed to our growth in tourism in recent years. Visit Fort Worth looks forward to supporting this effort. Restoring our visitor economy will be important to creating jobs and driving much-needed tax revenue.”

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