Mayor Johnson, Tolbert Take ‘Y’all Street’ Pitch to Wall Street Firms
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Mayor Eric Johnson and City Manager Kimberly Tolbert are in New York City for a two-day corporate recruitment effort, leading a business delegation to sell the Dallas Y’all Street brand in the financial capital of the world.
On Monday, Johnson rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange to mark the occasion, signaling the arrival of Dallas as an upstart financial services hub and serious competitor in the trading space.
“I really do want these firms that are based here in New York to understand that we have a very, very serious value proposition to make to them,” the mayor said in an interview with NYSE.
Johnson cited recent remarks by JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon in a letter to shareholders, pointing out how companies are voting with their feet, choosing to relocate from big coastal cities to low-tax, business-friendly environments like Texas.
Dimon said the headcount at JPMorgan Chase’s New York City headquarters shrank by 6,000 over the course of the last decade. Meanwhile, staffing at their Texas offices increased by the same amount, a trend the CEO said “will likely continue.” And that’s just one company.
A report by the nonprofit Partnership for New York City found that the Lone Star State overtook New York in terms of financial services employees in 2024, excluding real estate and insurance jobs. And last year, it surpassed New York in financial services recruitment, outpacing the Empire State in job postings by 9%.
“Nobody’s exempt from competition, and there’s no divine right that any company, country, or city has to success,” Johnson said. “You have to go out there and earn success, and you have to beat out your competitors. And so what that means from a city standpoint is that we can’t just sit back and just hope that everybody figures out that Dallas has got this great environment to do business… We have to go and tell that story.”
Johnson attributed much of Dallas’ appeal to what he described as a distinctly pro-business environment, emphasizing the state’s low taxes and the city’s efforts to bolster public safety while streamlining regulation and speeding up the development process.
“What’s going on is the American Dream, and socialism is not taking root there,” the mayor said, likely referring to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “We’re fullbore leaning into capitalism in Dallas. We’re a very pro-business town.”
The mayor and city manager were supposed to lead the business delegation back in February, but severe winter weather in the northeast derailed the trip. The original delegation included Wayne White, president and CEO of Communities Foundation of Texas; developer Ray Washburne; Nina Vaca, founder and CEO of Pinnacle Group; Gilbert Gerst, chair of the Dallas Economic Development Corporation; Cynthia Marshall, president and CEO of Marshalling Resources; Craig Davis, president and CEO of Visit Dallas; AT&T Performing Arts Center executive Chris Heinbaugh; president of SMU Jay Hartzell; and Vipin Nambiar, founder and managing partner of HN Capital Partners.
Johnson said he previously visited the Big Apple to court business relocations. He has also been actively promoting the city’s Y’all Street brand in media appearances and on social media.
What may have started as back-office migration for banks and financial services firms has evolved into high-profile flag planting, with NASDAQ Texas, the New York Stock Exchange Texas, and the Texas Stock Exchange setting up shop in Dallas.
“The momentum we’re seeing in Dallas is very, very real,” Johnson said.
