The Lubbock Economic Development Alliance 2009 Annual Report (PDF)

On the first page you will find this letter from our CEO, Gary Lawrence:

In October of 1995, Market Lubbock was formed as a non-profit corporation to contract
with the City of Lubbock to perform economic development activities. At that time, Gary
C. Lawrence was elected Chairman to serve a three-year term. The corporation was granted $4.5 million to fund the initial operation cost with a commitment of a three cent property tax funding for annual operation. During the first two years of Market Lubbock, $2.5 million was invested to fund high-tech equipment of the Byron Martin Advanced Technology Center to assist with demanding workforce issues. Incentive programs were also created in the effort to retain and expand local businesses and to assist in the recruitment of new businesses. One such successful instance was Tyco’s relocation of a plant to Lubbock, creating 700 jobs in the process.

In 1998, Visit Lubbock and Lubbock Sports Authority became housed under Market Lubbock. In July of 2003, Lawrence was hired by the Board of Directors to oversee the operations of economic development, convention and tourism and sports marketing. His initial areas of focus were related to job creation and new capital investment, as well as to consistently obtain positive, professional audit results. In October of 2004, the City of Lubbock created Lubbock Economic Development Alliance, a non-profit organization that is a component part of the City, whereas Market Lubbock functions in contract with the City.

On November 1, 2009, Gary C. Lawrence officially retired from his post. During his tenure as Chief Executive Officer of LEDA and Visit Lubbock /Lubbock Sports, Lawrence oversaw over $582 million of economic impact to the Lubbock community.

Sincerely,