The City of Frisco was named the safest city in America by SmartAsset in 2023 and is rapidly growing demographically and economically.
The median household income is $141,129 with an unemployment rate of 4.6%, and SmartAsset ranked Frisco as No.10 in the job market among U.S. cities in 2024. This is on top of the city also having a record setting public library, the Dallas Cowboys headquarters, the PGA of America, and the addition of a Universal Theme Park coming in 2026.
The man leading the charge is Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney. To better understand the mayor of a city frequently ranked among the nation’s best, Wingspan recently sat down for an interview with Cheney.
Wingspan: Your picture is all over the city’s website and placed all over town, but let’s start with your educational background.
Cheney: “I went to the University of Texas at Austin. I did their professional program in accounting which was a five-year program where you got your bachelors in business and masters in accounting concurrently.”
Wingspan: How did you start your career?
Cheney: “I started my career at Price Waterhouse in Houston. I am a CPA. I then made my way to Dallas where I started other jobs.”
Wingspan: Dallas? What did you do there?
Cheney: “I got an opportunity with a hedge fund called Highland Capital, and I worked there for three years. But, when we started having kids I realized that I didn’t want to be working in an office for 70 hours a week anymore. So, when our oldest son was born that’s when I quit that job and I started the Cheney Group which is a residential real estate brokerage. I know how old the company is by how old Zach (his oldest son) is. He just turned 22.”
Wingspan: With a successful career already, what in the world led you to run for mayor?
Cheney: “I was first a council member for nine years. We have term limits in Frisco. You can serve three terms, each three years, so a maximum nine years. When we got in the real estate business, we started getting involved in the community, being active in the Chamber of Commerce, the Frisco Education Foundation, and realized we were going to put out business roots here and grow our family here. Frisco was still growing, there were less than 100,000 people, you wouldn’t even recognize it, and realized I wanted to get involved in the community. I first ran for city council in 2007, served nine years and termed out. I decided that I still had some gas in the tank and more that I wanted to accomplish with the City of Frisco and continued on by being mayor. Now I’m in my final term as mayor.”
Wingspan: So as mayor, what do day to day operations look like?
Cheney: “They’re usually different, I’m bouncing in between managing a business and managing the duties of the city. We have formal meetings, like council meetings, it’s the first and third Tuesday every month, there are other meetings that we’ll have throughout the month, and some weeks are busier than others. For me I like to be active in the different events, which is good because I would need to do that with my business anyways so there is some overlap, but I look to keep busy and it’s a busy schedule and keeps me on my toes. From managing our meetings to all the emails I may get, from residents trying to put out fires, trying to set the vision for the city, making sure that it’s a long-term vision.”
Wingspan: Under your leadership, major corporations have continued to come in and call Frisco home, so what’s your sales pitch?
Cheney: “The State of Texas to begin with is a great place to do business. We’re in the central part of the United States, so that’s attractive, it’s a low tax environment, so a lot of people like to do business in Texas. From there DFW as a whole is very popular. We’ve got a great airport, a mix of industries and when you fine tune into cities, Frisco has a lot to offer. We have access to a lot of talent in our city that would be future employees for a lot of these companies, we’re easy access to the airport, and a lot of these companies are really leaning into quality of life for employees. So the fact that we’ve got great schools, great amenities, great housing, and high standard of living becomes an easy sell. Since I’ve been mayor we’ve landed two Fortune 500 companies Keurig Dr.Pepper and TIAA, and we’re working on some more.”
Wingspan: You’ve had success as a local politician, but do you see a future in a higher office? Say governor, senator, or congressman?
Cheney: “You know, I think this is my last stop, my last election. I really enjoy the local governance, the things that we are doing you can walk out your front door and see and experience. I prefer the non-partisan politics. I do love strategic thinking and policy so I’ll probably do that another way. I may serve in the Chamber of Commerce or the Economic Development Corporation Board, or maybe some local company boards. But, I definitely just want to stay around Frisco.”
