In 2011, the East Fort Worth Business Association (EFWBA) formed a task force aimed at bringing the community together to develop a vision for East Fort Worth, and then implementing a plan to turn that vision into a reality. The East Fort Worth Future Committee began meeting regularly with community members to discuss various ideas. From these meetings, the committee endorsed the idea of an East Fort Worth economic summit to bring the community, developers, and city leadership together to further refine the vision.
City Councilman Danny Scarth took the lead on the economic summit by inviting fellow council members Kelly Allen Gray and Frank Moss, city staff, corporate sponsors, area chambers of commerce, the EFWBA, and the University of Texas at Arlington School of Urban and Public Affairs. This Northeast Economic Development Summit was held on four separate dates in late 2012 and early 2013. The summit identified East Fort Worth’s strengths and opportunities for improvement, and recommended a new organization to:
- Act as an umbrella organization to lead a community-wide effort.
- Coordinate all community-wide planning efforts.
East Fort Worth, Inc (EFWI) is the culmination of these ventures. In form, EFWI will rely on the mentorship of other similar successful organizations, such as EFWBA, Southeast Fort Worth, Inc, and Fort Worth South, Inc. In effect, EFWI will be partnering with all existing East Fort Worth organizations and citizens of the community with the goal of realizing a vision that is conspicuously East Fort Worth.