Pete Cain, Mayor, City of Anna

In an interview with Invest:, Anna Mayor Pete Cain discussed the strides the city has made in promoting sustainable growth, why it is looking to enhance its commercial and retail tax base, and the initiatives in place to accommodate a rapidly growing population while preserving Anna’s small-town atmosphere.

What have been the major highlights for Anna over the past 12 months?

Over the last 12 months, we have reached significant milestones, many of which were in the works for the past four or five years. Our primary goal was to increase our density, as we are currently the fourth fastest-growing city in America with a population under 20,000. We will soon exceed that number, so density is essential for sustainable growth. To achieve this, we have successfully brought in some prominent apartment developers and placed them strategically. This development has propelled us forward.

As mayor, one of my priorities was to raise our commercial and retail tax base to alleviate the tax burden on households. We have made substantial progress, particularly with commercial and retail projects along Highway 75. This is a critical step toward our goal.

What are the city’s immediate priorities and how are you managing growth while maintaining the quality of life for residents?

I moved here because it was a small town, and I understand the concerns around growth. When I arrived, the population was around 1,600 people, and I felt like I knew everyone. Today, we are a much larger city, but we are committed to preserving a community-centered feel. I am fortunate to have a diverse and thoughtful council, which helps us attract the right type of development.

Our approach is to bring in job opportunities, shopping, and entertainment options while ensuring a friendly, neighborly atmosphere. We want Anna to be a small city with big ambitions. If we aim to grow, we need to start thinking like a big city, but without compromising what makes Anna unique.

What initiatives are underway to stimulate economic growth and create a thriving business environment?

Our primary focus now is infrastructure, which is essential as we are rapidly expanding. This includes everything from plumbing to water, sewer, and power. We are also investing in building an entire downtown area. Currently, our downtown consists of only a few older buildings, but we recognized a few years ago that to foster an active community, we need a true downtown where people can gather, shop, and walk around. Creating this space has become one of our main goals as a council and as a community development corporation.

We are also making great strides with our new facilities. We have completed a new fire department building next to our new city hall, and we are constructing a $22.6 million library, which will be a first for Anna. The library’s virtual services will go live in January, with the physical building opening next year. This library is an incredible resource we are thrilled to offer to our community.

Additionally, our parks department recently completed an accessible skate park, equipped with a pump track suitable for all types of wheels, including wheelchairs. I initially doubted its appeal, but it has proven to be extremely popular, a reminder that sometimes you need to be open to new ideas, even if they challenge your expectations.

What are the biggest challenges facing Anna, particularly in terms of infrastructure and managing development projects?

One of the biggest challenges is navigating certain state regulations. While some of these regulations are intended to help communities in the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), they often have unintended consequences, limiting our control over developments that could affect our services and tax structure. This is particularly challenging for our city staff and our city manager and his team, who are constantly monitoring ETJ activities.

Our goal is to bring as many residents and developments under our city umbrella as possible to provide consistent services and avoid excessive tax burdens from municipal utility districts in the ETJ. We are working to find solutions, though it is not always straightforward.

What makes the city of Anna unique to attract all this growth?

The main factor is the people. Once you have been here and met someone from this city, you will see how fantastic the people are. That is really why I am doing what I am doing. Most people do not realize that being a mayor is not a paid job, especially for a smaller town like ours. I do it because I care about these people. We are seeing a massive influx along Highway 75, and our location in North Texas is just perfect. We are equidistant between Richardson, Dallas, and Sherman, where companies like GlobalWafers and Texas Instruments are building the largest wafer plants that have been developed in years.

Our city is positioned to capture the benefits from both ends of that development. People may live in one place, work in another, and still pass through our city daily. We are truly right in the middle. The old saying is “location, location, location,” and Anna has that advantage. We are in the right spot for business.

As the city grows and begins to accommodate all these new residents, which industries or sectors do you expect to be the main drivers of growth?

What we are looking at and hoping for is the IT sector. With these wafer plants coming in, they are going to need hundreds of ancillary businesses to support them. We want to be in a position where we can invite those businesses to set up shop here, hire locally, and allow employees to live in our city. That is the goal, and if we can make that happen, it will be a win for us. There are many jobs and companies coming in, and our focus is to ensure we are in a position to support this growth and welcome these businesses into our community.

What is the overall outlook for the city over the next two to three years?

In three years, I would expect us to have added at least 2,000 new homes, and none of them entry-level homes. Additionally, I plan to increase our commercial and retail tax base fourfold by the end of next year. I am confident we can achieve this as the plans I am pushing for are starting to take shape.

We are in a very promising position right now, and in three years, I will be able to tell you that everything is working as we envisioned. Ideally, we will have entertainment options downtown, new restaurants, and even workplaces where people can find local employment. I am optimistic that all these developments will come together seamlessly.