"Relationships really matter," says Plano's mayor after city attracts Dallas Stars, AT&T, Samsung headquarters

The city of Plano is on a roll, and Mayor John Muns told CBS News Texas that the key to the city's successes comes down to customer service. 

"We want our companies to know that if they choose us to build a new office here in Plano, it's going to get done expeditiously, and we're going to make sure that they get up and running as soon as possible." 

When asked what the city's secret sauce is, Muns said, "I think first and foremost, we talked a lot about this and just say, well, relationships really matter. We go see our companies on a regular basis, not just once a year, maybe three times a year. Check in on them, how are you doing. How can we help you be more successful?"

The first of Plano's economic hat-tricks, luring the Dallas Stars to build their new arena at the Willow Bend mall site. If approved by Plano residents in November, the city will create user taxes on ticket sales, parking, hotels and rental cars to contribute to the project. 

"We will not raise property taxes at all,"  said Muns.

He said some of the money raised will go towards updating the arena down the road and not letting it become obsolete, which is what various leaders say happened to the American Airlines Center in Dallas, where the Stars play now. 

"I think it's really incumbent upon us to make sure that we come up with a way to have funds available for those updates," Muns said. "I think the Stars understand how much they would appreciate that being that that didn't happen in Dallas."

The city, Muns said, is considering expanding DART's red line light rail along the city's east side by using the train tracks just north of the Bush toll road that goes to the city's west side near the Willow Bend Mall. 

"There's a lot of possibilities, but we'll definitely talk to DART about making sure that we have mass transit in that area for fans," said Muns

Plano also lured AT&T's new headquarters from its current home in downtown Dallas.

They are building a new campus on the old EDS site along Legacy, near the Dallas North Toll Road, in West Plano. In all, 10,000 employees will work at the new headquarters. 

"We responded immediately and told them, you know, and they were looking at different sites in Plano," Muns said. "So, we were trying to do the best we could to promote whatever site they were looking at at that time."

Plano also celebrated the news from Samsung that it will move its corporate headquarters from New Jersey to Plano, where it already has offices along Central Expressway and Legacy. No word yet on whether they will build the corporate offices there or if they will build in another part of the city. 

Muns said the city didn't pursue the corporate offices. 

"It was really kind of a surprise to us," he said. "But it was a welcome surprise because Samsung is a great, great client, and we're really proud to have them." 

He said he and other city leaders had just met with company executives two months earlier. 

"We were in Seoul, South Korea, in April with the Samsung people in Swan, Korea, and it never got brought up," said Muns. "We had a wonderful meeting. Once again, we were there trying to build our relationships because they do have a facility here that has about three people on the east side and is very successful."

With a population that has grown to more than 300,000 residents, Muns said all of their planning is paying off. 

"People still want to be here, and I think that's what's really impressive."

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