{"id":180307,"date":"2026-02-25T23:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T23:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/180307\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T23:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T23:22:09","slug":"how-george-w-bush-helped-lure-scotiabank-to-dallas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/180307\/","title":{"rendered":"How George W. Bush helped lure Scotiabank to Dallas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Y\u2019all Street<\/a> has a certain ex-President to thank for its latest entrant.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Canadian banking giant Scotiabank cut the ribbon on its new regional hub in Victory Park<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The third-largest bank in Canada and one of the 50 largest in the world, Scotiabank will eventually take up three floors of Victory Commons One for more than 1,000 workers. According to the building\u2019s developer, Ross Perot Jr., former President George W. Bush closed the deal. <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Victory<\/p>\n

Seeking to better connect its primary markets of Canada, the U.S., and Mexico, the bank, which has its American head office in New York, eyed expansion south. <\/p>\n

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The decision eventually came down to Dallas or Charlotte, and during the selection process Perot\u2019s real estate firm Hillwood hosted the Scotiabank team for a dinner at the firm\u2019s offices. The idea was floated to invite Bush \u2014 and sure enough, he came. <\/p>\n

According to Perot, Bush asked Scotiabank president and CEO Scott Thomson where they were looking, to which Thomson replied, \u201cSome other cities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Bush goes, \u2018Come on, you can\u2019t be serious,\u2019 and Scott goes, \u2018Well, yeah, you\u2019re right,\u2019\u201d Perot said. <\/p>\n

Between a dinner with Bush, meetings with Governor Greg Abbott, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson \u2014 and a who\u2019s who of business folks in North Texas \u2014 the city rolled out the red carpet to nab Scotiabank, and it made a difference. <\/p>\n

Co-CEO for the U.S. Nicole Frew said that the thing that struck Scotiabank about Dallas was how \u201cwelcomed we felt.\u201d Not just by the people whose job it is to advocate for the city, like the Dallas Regional Chamber and the Economic Development Corporation, but also private entities and peers. <\/p>\n

\u201cI remember thinking, that\u2019s interesting that they would want to come and talk to us. In theory, we\u2019re competing with them,\u201d Frew told media on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what I think I took from that experience was the sense of civic responsibility here across the Dallas community, and that when Dallas grows, when Texas grows, everyone wins.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Scotiabank\u2019s<\/p>\n

Scotiabank\u2019s new regional hub in Dallas is seen, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Dallas. <\/p>\n

Chitose Suzuki \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Other major factors, she said, were the momentum of the region \u2014 corporate relocations, capital formation, quality of living \u2014 and the depth and availability of talent. <\/p>\n

She said Scotiabank intends to recruit from and work with the local universities. (\u201cMike from UT Dallas,\u201d who just got hired, got a shoutout from the CEO). In Canada, many senior employees of the bank, like investment bankers and managing directors, started in Scotiabank\u2019s co-op programs, and it wants to replicate that talent pipeline in Texas. <\/p>\n

\u201cJust taking talent from other banks [in North Texas], to me, that\u2019s a zero-sum game for all of us,\u201d said Frew\u2019s co-CEO, Brian Lehman. \u201cHaving folks from the university system join us and our culture, that\u2019s a way for it to be additive.\u201d <\/p>\n

Scotiabank\u2019s total investment into Dallas will cost around $60 million; to make that happen, it received a hefty incentives package<\/a> from the city and state: a $2.7 million economic development grant, 10-year city property tax break, and an $11 million Texas Enterprise Fund Grant. <\/p>\n

Lehman said that while Scotiabank is \u201cvery appreciative\u201d of the incentives, \u201cThat\u2019s not the reason why we\u2019re here.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve watched … the growth [in Dallas] over the course of the last 30 years, and it\u2019s been unlike anything else that I\u2019ve witnessed in any other city,\u201d he said. \u201cIt just all aligned to me. It wasn\u2019t even close, just my words.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scotiabank will look to embed in the Dallas community, beginning with a $100,000 contribution to United Way Dallas as part of the bank\u2019s 10-year, $500 million global commitment to building \u201ceconomic resilience\u201d in the locations it operates in. The funding will support the nonprofit\u2019s Pathways to Work<\/a> workforce readiness program. <\/p>\n

\u201cDallas chose us just as much as we chose Dallas,\u201d said Frew in her speech at the ribbon-cutting. \u201cAnd we are honored to be a part of the next chapter of growth, one employee at a time, one client at a time, one relationship at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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