Texas continues to earn its place as a global destination for business, investment and innovation.
Chairman and CEO Sam L. Susser recently spoke with the Dallas Business Journal about the launch of the Y’all Street Alliance, a collaborative effort bringing together leaders from across the financial services industry to help advance Texas as a premier destination for banking, capital markets and economic growth.
As a co-founding member of the alliance, Susser shared his perspective on the importance of collaboration, investment and long-term competitiveness as Texas continues to attract companies, talent and capital from around the world.
Read the full interview to learn more about the alliance’s vision and the future of finance in Texas below.
A trio of Texas financial leaders have banded together to form an organization hyper-focused on continuing the “Y’all Street” momentum in Dallas and across the state.
Dubbed the Y’all Street Alliance, the group launched Sept. 24 with Susser Bank Chairman and CEO Sam Susser, Texas Bankers Association President and CEO Chris Furlow and Texas Stock Exchange CEO James Lee as its co-founding members.
The group aims to bring together CEOs and senior leaders across Texas’ financial services industry to promote collaboration, engage with policymakers and support the growth of the state’s financial sector, according to the company’s website. The alliance is “not a traditional lobbying or single-issue advocacy group,” and instead describes itself as an “economic competitiveness council and awareness platform that provides a perspective on the health and growth of the Texas financial economy.”
The group also aims to promote the “Y’all Street” brand, advocate for policies that encourage investment and innovation and create networking and business-development opportunities.
“Yall Street is not just a place, it’s a way of doing business, and what we call the Texas way – low taxes, common sense regulation, business friendly, growth oriented,” Furlow said in an interview. “So I like to think the Y’all Street Alliance will serve as a financial services chamber of commerce, uniting leaders across banking and finance and the capital markets to highlight Texas’s competitive advantage, to strengthen it and to promote Texas across America and around the world.”
The organization’s formation comes as Texas, led by DFW, has risen to the upper echelons of the financial industry. DFW ranks second behind New York for financial workers. Dallas houses the Texas Stock Exchange and local arms of the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. Morgan Stanley recently officially announced it will build a new regional hub in Uptown Dallas, anchoring a $1.3 billion office tower and bringing more than 3,800 jobs to the city. Goldman Sachs remains on track open its 800,000 square foot office in Victory Park in 2028, while Scotiabank is also building out a hub at Victory Commons One with more than 1,000 jobs.
As the group takes shape, Furlow said the region will continue to see “large firms and institutions and banks move here.” He added that the Texas Bankers Association became involved with the group “to help the rising economic tide of Texas lift all boats, to include banks of every size and customers large and small.”
The idea for the alliance started during the spring through conversations in passing between Furlow, Lee, Susser, former U.S. Representative Jeb Hensarling, and Hans Klinger, co-founder and managing partner of Black Diamond Strategies. Klinger serves as Y’all Street Alliance’s executive director.
“In many ways just following up on the leadership that we’ve seen from from Gov. [Greg] Abbott, the leadership that we’ve seen from our state legislative leaders, from the lieutenant governor, Sen. Brian Hughes, Sen. Tan Parker and others,” Furlow said.
When Susser was approached about the idea in March, he said it immediately made sense to him. Susser leads Susser Bank, an institution based in Old Parkland with $2.99 billion in assets as of June 30, according to a federal filing.
“I said, ‘Absolutely,’ right then and there,” Susser recalled during an interview. “I set up 45 minutes for the call, but it didn’t take nearly that long because I thought the idea was so sound.”
A number of organizations like the Texas Bankers Association, Texas Association of Business and Dallas Regional Chamber already exist to advocate for companies and attract others to Texas and DFW. The Y’all Street Alliance aims to represent “the entire financial system, from community banking and wealth management to decentralized finance, insurance, securities exchanges and more.”
As opposed to other business associations, Susser said the group likely will be “comprised of a smaller number of larger banks and other financial institutions that serve bigger companies, and will want to invest time and resources in attracting the greatest, largest financial companies in the world to our state.”
Those companies are going to come together and “try to be advocates for continuing to make Texas and Dallas-Fort Worth the right place for financial services companies to continue to build headquarters and increase the employment in the regional headquarters here,” Susser said.
By Leonardo Rosas – Staff Writer, Dallas Business Journal
Oct 5, 2026
