North 121 Corridor & The 380 Boom!

George Fuller was elected Mayor of McKinney in May 2017. He is currently a builder and developer of custom homes and commercial properties with George C. Fuller Contracting. Mayor Fuller is the managing construction partner for Adriatica, a 46-acre mixed-use development in McKinney. He has developed community infrastructures, retail shopping centers, condominiums, business centers, and some of the most award-winning and decorated homes in North Texas. Mayor Fuller has been honored with the Builder of the Year Award six years in a row by D Magazine while also receiving honors from the National Home Builder Association Awards, including “Best Craftsmanship,” “Best Overall Home,” “Best Floor Plan,” and multiple “People’s Choice” awards. Mayor Fuller also has had several ventures outside of construction including Body Quest, Inc., an international exercise equipment manufacturing and distributing company. He co-created Everide Automotive Parts, Inc., an automotive heating and cooling parts company with national distribution. He also founded Airtech Heating and Cooling, Inc., a Dallas-based commercial and residential general contracting company. Currently, he owns The Guitar Sanctuary, a high-end guitar and music equipment boutique recently named one of the Top 20 Coolest Guitar Shops in the country by Premier Guitar magazine, along with The Sanctuary Music and Event Center and the Sanctuary Performance Academy. Mayor Fuller serves as President of the Stonebridge Ranch Commercial Association. He and his wife, Maylee, are co-founders of the Love Life Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing awareness of the many tragedies inflicted upon children and identifying and supporting agencies and groups that bring relief and comfort to the young victims and their families. He is also a member of the McKinney Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and a Board Director for Meals on Wheels. He previously served as Chairman of the McKinney Community Development Corporation. Mayor Fuller studied Business Management and Business Law at Norwich University, the nation’s oldest private military academy. He and his wife live in McKinney and have four children.

An Arkansas native, Joseph E. Hickman graduated from El Dorado High School, in Ed Dorado, AR in 1979. He went on to attend the University of Arkansas graduating with a BBA in Marketing Management. In 1989, when Jerry Jones made his first high profile investment in Texas with the purchase of the Dallas Cowboys Football Club, Joe moved to the Dallas area. Since 1997, he has worked with the Jones family (Joe’s sister Karen is the wife of Cowboys Executive Vice President, Stephen Jones) in real estate investment, acquisition and development and currently serves as Vice President of Blue Star Investments and General Manager of Blue Star Land, LP the residential and commercial real estate development arm of the Dallas Cowboys. With a reputation for high profile developments, Blue Star is best known for the Starwood development in Frisco, TX, the StarCreek development in Allen, TX, the ATT Stadium in Arlington, TX. As well as, the The Star in Frisco, Gates of Prosper and StarTrail, also in Prosper, TX. Joe is a member of the Frisco Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Home Builders, the Texas Association of Builders, Sigma Nu Fraternity, Collin County Association of Realtors, Rise School, Touch Down Club, Prosper Developers Council, Frisco Developers Council, and the Razorback Alumni Association. A current resident of University Park in Dallas, TX, Joe is married to wife, Beverly and has three children, Austin, Rachel and Acie.

Susan Arledge, SIOR, currently serves as a Senior Managing Director in the company’s Dallas office. Arledge has over three decades of experience advising corporate clients on location decision-making, having worked with notable companies to identify and establish real estate locations including headquarters sites, distribution/e-commerce and manufacturing centers, customer support/shared service centers, back office and tech support operations. Susan specializes in securing real estate locations for clients globally, focusing on a proprietary Total Cost Analysis model that identifies all labor costs, transportation costs, incentive opportunities, and real estate costs. She focuses on finding locations that reduce attrition, increase productivity and allow clients to remain competitive by finding a labor force that meets their unique needs. Arledge has received numerous professional honors throughout her career. She was the recipient of the prestigious “Stemmons Service Award,” given annually to a Dallas commercial broker that best represents the industry’s standards for business success and community service. Arledge has served as President of the SIOR North Texas Chapter, the Board of Directors for the American Heart Association and as Chair of the Go Red for Women Luncheon in Dallas. She maintains the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) designation and has been honored as one of the Dallas Business Journal’s “Heavy Hitters.” Arledge is a frequent speaker and author whose insights are often highlighted in publications including D CEO, D Magazine and Bisnow. Prior to joining Newmark, Arledge served as Executive Managing Director at Dallas-based commercial real estate firm ESRP. Arledge’s prior experience included being the Managing Principal for Cresa Dallas and The Staubach Company.

Craig Martin is the founding partner of Terra Verde Group, LLC. and has a track record of over 35 years focusing on recapitalizing opportunistic, distressed and value add real estate assets. Craig has a successful track record of purchasing assets from the FDIC, secured creditors and lenders, Federal Bankruptcy trustees, Joint Provisional Liquidators, as well as public companies and private parties. Prior to forming Terra Verde Group, Craig was the managing partner of several successful large land development partnerships, as well as several golf and ski resort developments. Craig also spent seven years as a senior member of Robert M. Bass Realty of Fort Worth, Texas. At RMB Realty, Craig was active in the underwriting analysis, acquisition, and management of primarily large land development transactions and directed a best-of-class team of outside consultants. Other past professional accomplishments include serving as managing director of the Landmark Golf Company of Indian Wells, California and managing general partner of the Angel Fire Ski and Golf Resort in New Mexico. Craig began his career as a real estate investment broker for the Staubach Company of Dallas while studying real estate and finance at the Edwin L. Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. Craig is an active full member of the Urban Land Institute and currently serves on the Community Development Council - blue flight, and is an active member of the Dallas and National Home Builders Associations. Craig is the Chapter Chairman of the YPO Gold Dallas Chapter (2016-2017). Craig has also served for seven years on the board of trustees of Liberty Christian School in Argyle, Texas, consistently ranked #1 in the 5A Division of TAPPS (Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools).

Ray Smith was first elected mayor of the Town of Prosper in May 2010. He previously served on the Prosper Town Council for three years. In May 2004 his fellow board members appointed him to serve as president of the Prosper Economic Development Corporation. He continues to serve on the PEDC Board as the town council liaison. In 2016, Smith was elected to serve on the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) Executive Board, where he currently serves as the secretary/treasurer. Smith is currently the vice president of the Collin College Foundation Board of Directors and a member of the board of advisors for Meals on Wheels of Collin County. He is also an alternate member of the Regional Transportation Council. Smith is a market president with Farmers Bank and Trust. He graduated from Baylor University in 1981 with his BBA and was a member of the 1980 Southwest Conference Champion Baylor football team. He’s been married to his beautiful wife, Lena, for 28 years and is a proud father and grandfather.

Santiago Jorba is president of Creu Capital, a private-equity real estate firm focused on acquiring and investing in large, high-quality properties with an emphasis on sustainable and environmentally friendly design and construction. He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University with degrees in finance and economics and manages the Jorba Family’s North American Office. Jorba also serves as Chairman of the Board for the Fundación Mexico Catalunya in Mexico City and serves as a board member for North Texas Avance. Jorba is the third generation to manage and grow the family’s real estate investments across the United States. Locally, he controls the 1,800-acre Honeycreek property in McKinney’s northwest sector. Honeycreek, originally the 1,200-acre Cross F Ranch, is the second major raw land investment made by the Jorbas within McKinney and allots the family the title of the city’s largest landowner. The first came in the mid-1980s when the Jorba family made their first Collin County land purchase along SH 121 from Lake Forest Drive to Custer Road. Through this purchase, the Jorba family began a three-generation commitment to remain a major investor in McKinney and the Collin County area. This property saw bursts of development through infrastructure investments made in partnership with the Jorbas and the city of McKinney. In the early 2000s, the Jorba family sold the property and quickly purchased the Cross F Ranch. The ranch, originally owned by the Franklin family, includes rolling hills, pristine lakes and a lush landscape. Currently, Jorba plans to develop the property as the first major master-planned community in the city’s nearly untouched northwest sector. At this time, Jorba is nearing completion on selecting a nationally acclaimed developer to help bring his plans for Honeycreek into reality. Plans include sustainable building projects and an ecofriendly backbone for the project itself.

Kenneth Carley joined the City of McKinney as Director of the McKinney National Airport in February 2018. Ken brings more than 25 years of aviation management experience to the role. Since 2016, he worked as the Assistant Director of Aviation and Operations for the Metropolitan Airport Authority which operates the Quad City International Airport in Rock Island County, Illinois. Prior to his time in Illinois, Ken was the Director of the Ohio University Airport in Athens, Ohio for 12 years. Ken received his Bachelor of Science degree in aviation from Ohio State University and Master of Business Administration degree from Ohio University.

Clay has over 30 years’ experience as a business development/operations management professional. His career is one marked by ever greater responsibilities and noteworthy accomplishment. His strong foundation in project management, combined with a unique ability to understand and communicate with people at all levels, creates an environment leading to exceptional service and quality results for our clients. As Vice President, Clay provides leadership in the development of client relationships and the pursuit of new business across all of our commercial construction service areas including office, retail, warehouse and medical offices. He is focused on delivering superior service by understanding our existing and potential client’s needs and connecting the precise resources necessary to deliver the greatest value to each project. He works closely with our clients to define high quality, cost effective solutions through intelligent preconstruction preparation and focused project management.

Tracy Rath was elected to City Council as an At Large member in 2015. She was selected as Mayor Pro Tem in 2018. Over the years, Councilwoman Rath has worked with and chaired many McKinney community organizations, committees, non-profits and boards. She also worked for a time as a city employee overseeing the rehabilitation of the Historic Collin County Courthouse into the McKinney Performing Arts Center.  Years of serving in different professional capacities, most recently as Executive Director of Minuteman Disaster Response Foundation, instilled in Councilwoman Rath the value of collaboration and communication. She understands city processes, the value of seeking input, transparency and the importance of doing research before making decisions Councilwoman Rath is a graduate of Leadership McKinney, Citizens Police Academy, Citizens Fire Academy and Citizens Emergency Response Team. She and her husband Curtis have been McKinney residents for 28 years.

Peter Tokar III was named President and CEO of the McKinney Economic Development Corporation in July 2018. Peter served as Economic Development Director at the City of Alpharetta, Georgia from 2012 to 2018. During his tenure in Alpharetta, the city added more than 15,000 new jobs, bonded more than $2.2 billion in development bonds and initiated a $100 million revitalization project of the city's downtown center. Peter holds a Master of Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and a Bachelor of Science in communications, graphic design, marketing and public relations from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Peter is accredited by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) and was named IEDC Professional of the Year in 2015. He was also named to the 40 Under 40 list by Developers Council International in 2017.