Strategic Economic Development Advisory for Communities and Organizations
Partnering with communities, regions, and economic development organizations to advance growth.
Core Focus Areas
Business Retention & Expansion Programs
Strengthening existing industry through strategic outreach, data insights, and actionable follow-up planning to ensure long-term community stability.
Business Attraction
Technical support in attracting high-value domestic and international investment through professional prospect management and project strategy.
Special Projects & Initiatives
Workforce strategies, incentive negotiations and compliance, organizational reporting and customized initiatives to help meet your regional and community economic development needs.
Build stronger relationships with your existing industries through strategic BRE program development, customized survey implementation, and meaningful employer engagement. GrowthWorks Advisors helps communities identify opportunities, address business needs, and create actionable strategies that encourage continued investment, expansion, and long-term economic success.
Business Attraction
Successful business attraction begins with strategy, preparation, and meaningful engagement. GrowthWorks Advisors helps communities strengthen their competitive position through targeted domestic and foreign direct investment (FDI) initiatives, industrial recruitment strategies, prospect development, and site readiness. From market positioning to project support and strategic partnerships, we help communities create opportunities that attract quality investment, expand their industrial base, and support long-term economic growth.Let's position your community to compete for investment.
$420M
capital investment facilitated
3,700+
jobs created/retained
Strategic Initiatives & Regional Growth
Strong communities are built through strategic leadership, collaborative partnerships, and purposeful action. GrowthWorks Advisors partners with communities, economic development organizations (EDOs), municipalities, and regional organizations to advance high-priority initiatives that strengthen long-term competitiveness. From organizational priorities and regional collaborations to site readiness and special projects, we help transform ideas into actionable results that deliver measurable outcomes and lasting economic impact.Let's move your priorities from vision to action.
Background
Lisa Denton,
MEDP EDFP PCED
President/CEO
With more than 22 years in economic development, Lisa has helped communities translate opportunity into measurable outcomes, contributing to nearly $420 million in capital investment and more than 3,700 new and retained jobs across three rural Texas communities during her tenure as Executive Director.
Her experience spans executive leadership roles in Kilgore, Athens, and Palestine, Texas, with work focused on industrial recruitment, business retention and expansion, infrastructure development, strategic planning, workforce partnerships, and regional collaboration.
Through GrowthWorks Advisors, she now partners with communities, economic development and regional organizations on practical, project-based engagements-helping design economic development programs, structure initiatives, strengthen partnerships, and move growth opportunities into action.
Throughout her career, she has led and contributed to initiatives ranging from industrial park and infrastructure development to grant funding, business retention programming, and long-term economic competitiveness strategies. She has also customized and implemented integrated economic development management platforms supporting prospect tracking, BRE, property management, compliance, and organizational reporting.
In Kilgore, between 2021-2026, she helped facilitate nearly $370 million in capital investment and more than 2,900 new and retained jobs, while contributing to initiatives including a $2.5 million EDA infrastructure grant, Synergy Business Park expansion, workforce partnerships and initiatives, and internationally recognized BRE programming.
Ms. Denton holds the MEDP, EDFP, and PCED designations and remains actively involved in statewide, local, and regional economic development efforts.
Her approach is grounded in real-world experience and a deep understanding of how to move projects forward within the practical realities of public-sector processes, board governance, and long-term organizational priorities.
Words From Those I've Worked With
GrowthWorks Advisors is built on more than two decades of experience working with muliple economic development organizations. These reflections speak to the relationships, leadership, and results that continue to shape my work today.
Relocating our manufacturing facility was a complex, multi-year project, and Lisa Denton was instrumental to its success from beginning to end. Her strategic leadership, deep knowledge of economic development, and exceptional ability to bring stakeholders together helped us navigate every challenge along the way. Lisa was always proactive, resourceful, and solutions-oriented, consistently finding ways to move the project forward. What impressed me most was her unwavering commitment—she worked tirelessly alongside us, including many Saturdays and Sundays, to ensure nothing fell through the cracks. Her professionalism, dedication, and genuine investment in our success made her an invaluable partner. I highly recommend Lisa to any organization seeking an experienced, collaborative, and results-driven economic development consultant.
Frank Xu, PhD
Executive Vice President, Keeprite Refrigeration, Inc.
Our decision to establish Drilltools, LLC.'s headquarters in Kilgore, Texas, was driven in large part by the relationships we built with the experienced leadership team at the economic development organization. From the very beginning, Lisa Denton played an integral role in that relationship. As a member of the original team, and later as Executive Director, she continued to strengthen our partnership in ways that were essential to our company's continued growth. Those efforts continued with Lisa Denton’s EDC leadership throughout our company’s existence. Her planning and solutions come from real world experience and judgment as we found in 16 years only got better with time. As she’s always extremely involved with every business project, we felt she also had a way of solely focusing on us when time was critical. We’ll always respect her ultra professional dedication and very creative nature combined with her extensive knowledge in navigating all aspects of private business with municipal participation. We would highly recommend her and her services to anyone in today’s business community as her experience was invaluable to us.
G.H. 'Bo' Steding
Retired Co-owner/GM, Drilltools, LLC.
I had the privilege of working closely with Lisa Denton on several collaborative initiatives, including one of the most significant workforce development projects in our community, the creation of the Kilgore College Transportation Institute. From the earliest planning stages through implementation, she proved to be an exceptional partner.She is strategic, highly knowledgeable, and remarkably organized, but what sets her apart is her ability to bring people together around a shared vision. She understands that meaningful economic development happens through strong partnerships, and she consistently advocated for solutions that benefited both the community and the organizations she served.Throughout our work together, she was responsive, professional, and easy to collaborate with. She approached every challenge with creativity, integrity, and a genuine commitment to advancing our community. Her leadership helped transform an ambitious idea into a lasting asset that continues to prepare students for high-demand careers while supporting regional workforce needs.I recommend her without reservation to any organization seeking a trusted advisor, strategic partner, or economic development professional. She brings expertise, vision, and an unwavering commitment to achieving meaningful results.
Brenda S. Kays, Ed.D.
President Emeritus, Kilgore College