It's been six months since Sheri Franza assumed the position of president and CEO of the Rockwall Economic Development Corp. and she said she absolutely loves her job.

Franza has lived in the Rockwall area for 30 years and said she has had the opportunity to see a tremendous amount of change.

“I can honestly tell you that if you think Texas is great, you're absolutely right. But Rockwall is even better,” Franza said. “You've got the people, you've got the school district and you've got the growth. You have people in the community who truly care about where they live and that's why they moved here.”

Franza said the school district is growing phenomenally. When she moved to Rockwall in 1976, there were 1,250 students in the entire district. Today there are 12,500. She said there is a projection that in the year 2015, there will be 20,000 students in RISD.

“One of the things I noticed when I moved here - and it's still true today - is that Rockwall is still a small city with a tremendous amount of growth potential,” she said. “Even though we are the smallest county in Texas, we are the fourth-fastest growing one in the nation. So you think how in the world can we support all of this growth?

“If we are expecting to have 20,000 students in the district and will potentially double our size in the next 10 years, who's going to pay for all that? The only people to pay for it are the homeowners. The only way that they are going to be able to afford to continue to live here is to be able to bring in industry.”

That's where Franza comes in. She said the word “industry” has a negative connotation because people envision smokestacks and metal buildings. She, as well as other residents in Rockwall, don't want that kind of industry in the community.

“I want to bring in businesses that are going to enhance our community,” she said. “And are going to be the types of businesses that our residents want to have in here. I think I could be a pretty good judge because I look at it and think, ‘Do I want this business in my backyard?' And if the answer to that is ‘no' then the answer is ‘no for Rockwall.'”

Franza said since Rockwall is such a wonderful place, she feels like the REDC can pick and choose the types of businesses they want to have. The REDC offers financial incentives for businesses to move to Rockwall and is also competitive with other cities around the area.

“We want to be able to bring that business into Rockwall to broaden and diversify our tax base and take the big financial tax burden off of the homeowners,” Franza said. “If you've got businesses and industries in here that are on the Rockwall tax roll, then they have to pay their certain percentage of all that, so it makes it easier for the homeowner to live here and enjoy the quality of life that Rockwall has to offer.”

Franza said since she started her job in September, she has assembled a great staff that works very well together.

“We've built great relationships with people in the city, the people at the Chamber [of Commerce] and the different organizations within the community,” she said.

Franza said the REDC is currently working on repositioning itself in the market, putting a face to the name of Rockwall in marketing materials and in their delivery style to businesses.

“I feel like successful businesses have strategic business partners,” she said. Franza said she envisions developing more strategic business partners not just within the Dallas/Fort Worth area, but in other states as well.

“The only way they're going to know about Rockwall is for us to be out there, for us to have dynamic, effective marketing pieces and a good solid message that is going to make them do a double-take and say, ‘Wow what is different about this place?'” Franza said.

The REDC is also planning on re-vamping its Web site, which is a huge source for other businesses to “shop cities.” Franza said they have developed a new logo that more clearly defines who they are and what they do.

She is currently building relationships with large, commercial developers that have built business parks in the past and want to come and build in Rockwall's technology park.

“I think we need to leverage our business partners and let them be the ones to, under our direction, build and develop,” she said. “What I want to convey to businesses is success is a destination. If you start to lay down the foundation that success is a destination and the destination needs to be Rockwall, then you are going to attract companies of a certain caliber and that's what we want to do.

“I love this community, I love living here, there is no better place to raise a family and there's no better community to be a part of,” she said. “My job is just to bring in the business that is a good fit for this community and ease the burden of the taxpayers, which are the residents that live here and want to continue to be able to afford to stay.”

Franza credits the success of the REDC to the board of directors, who help give her the guidance and direction to make the best decisions for Rockwall. She also said envisioning where the REDC is headed is really exciting.

“When you look at the city of Rockwall and the projected growth, it is very exciting,” she said. “And to be a part of that growth and that direction is a tremendous opportunity and that's why I took this job.”