Tech Fort Worth Turns 25 in 2023

Hayden Blackburn

Tech Fort Worth was created in 1998 with the goal of diversifying Fort Worth’s economy outside of the defense and aerospace industry, through building technology-focused startups. Now, the organization’s leaders, past and present, are reflecting on the organization’s past successes and looking to the future to continue that mission.

Hayden Blackburn said he’s embracing change as executive director of Tech Fort Worth, an organization that helps people launch and grow businesses with emerging technology. “We always communicated. … Collaboration is one of our core values,” Blackburn said. “And we really started to look at what collaboration means to us. It’s more of like, ‘No lone wolves.’”