State EDC chief will speak at park opening

Carlton Schwab, president and CEO of the Texas Economic Development Council (TEDC) will be featured at the grand opening of SYnergy Park.

The grand opening of Kilgore's newest industrial park is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. Gates will open for the public at 12:15 p.m.

Schwab became TEDC president in 1999. Since that time, the 900-member TEDC has nearly doubled its budget and become a recognized leader in the professional development of its members and a powerful voice for economic development policy in the state of Texas.

Prior to his tenure at TEDC, Schwab was director of development at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. While at the LBJ School, he developed campaigns to support and endow the creation of the Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics and Political Values and the Max Sherman Chair in State and Local Government -which increased the school's faculty endowment level by more than 15 percent in two years.

Schwab also managed major development efforts that culminated in the creation of a Center for Ethical Leadership, the Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources and the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service.

Prior to this work at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, Schwab was a director with Deloitte Touche Fantus offices in Austin and Chicago, specializing in corporate site location analysis and economic development strategic planning. He also served as vice president of the Lubbock Board of City Development and in legislative analyst positions at the Texas State Treasury and the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.

He holds a master's degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor's degree from Austin College in Sherman.