The Hill Country Economic Summit summoned business owners, community leaders, and local government officials for a comprehensive and interactive economic update. The event also featured an array of economics professionals to give insight and advice to the business and community leaders in attendance.
Hosted by the Kerrville Area Chamber of Commerce and presented by Texas Partners Bank, the Ninth annual Hill Country Economic Summit welcomed Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice and Mayor Joe Herring to the stage for the first session of the event: “State of the City.” Herring opened with a video overviewing what the different departments of the City of Kerrville have accomplished in the last year.
“The Kerrville 2050 Plan is a comprehensive plan developed by the citizens that says where we want to go as a community. Every decision we make [as city officials] is compared to that plan. Last May, we got together with city staff and developed priorities about what we wanted to accomplish in these 12 months, and we’ve accomplished a great deal. There’s more work to do, and I’m thankful that we’ll be working together to solve those problems,” said Herring.
The video presented included departments such as Kerrville Fire, Kerrville Police, Butt-Holdsworth Library, and others. Some achievements noted were continued progress on the construction of the Public Safety Facility, KFD prepping for an influx of visitors during the 2024 eclipse, as well buying a new street sweeper and dump truck for the street maintenance department.
Following Mayor Herring, City Manager Dalton Rice set the scene for what is expected in the coming year.
“ Today I want to talk about what’s ahead. What’s driving our progress and how we’re shaping for those futures. Kerrville is growing, but we’re doing so with intentionality. Development Services has issued over 596 building permits, including commercial and residential projects that support our business and health community. We work to balance the workforce needs, housing and job growth, while preserving our natural resources and quality of life,” said Rice.
Beyond plans for upcoming residential and commercial growth, Rice emphasizes the City’s plan for creating infrastructure that supports growth.
“ We know that development isn’t just about expansion – it’s about sustainability and resilience. Water is one of the many challenges and opportunities this community faces. We are actively working to secure both short and long-term water resources through strategic planning, conservation initiatives, and proactive communication – ensuring we protect and optimize Kerrville’s water resources for the next generation,” said Rice.
Concluding the first session, attendees were welcome to ask questions directly to Herring and Rice. The pair were met with questions about timelines of current and future projects and city budget spending.
Session two featured Joshua Blank, PhD, Research Director at the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. Blank’s speech covered the climate of current Texas economics as well as detailing the 2025 legislative agenda. Blank highlighted economic concerns and immigration as top priorities among Texans going into the 2025 legislative session.
“When we asked people what the most important issue facing the country at the end of last year, about 35 percent said inflation, rising prices, or the economy,” said Blank.
Blank continued by elaborating on how state economics have shifted after the Covid-19 worldwide pandemic.
“For literally the entirety of the last decade, Texans have said, ‘Yeah, the Texas economy is better.’ But with the pandemic, that’s changed. Texans no longer feel as though the state economy is insulated in the same way that they used to feel about it,” said Blank.
Closing his conversation about the state of Texas economics amid 2025 legislative changes, Blank predicted that shifting political control will lead to major changes in how Texans view economics. Specifically, Blank emphasizes a focus on the individual when it comes to prioritizing issues.
“We’re going to see a lot of movement in people’s economic attitudes over the next year. I get questions about the impact of Ukraine on our economics. That stuff matters to certain people, but everyone pays for gas, everyone buys groceries. When prices are up, that affects your lived experience in a real way. It’s really central to how they’re viewing the world right now,” said Blank.
Following Blank was Dr. Daniel Oney, an economist for the Texas Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. Dr. Oney brought his expertise of the housing market and economics to help point out potential challenges in real estate in coming years.
“In Texas we’ve benefited from some very positive trends over time. All of that growth really represents a floor that keeps prices from collapsing, that keeps yield flow going. Even in the native market, you can’t have a market for real estate assets that depreciate long term,” said Dr. Oney.
Although Texas has historically been graced with favorable growth rates, Dr. Oney predicts that legislative shifts and Texas’ rapid growth could cause strains elsewhere in the economy.
“The nation actually improved its growth rate – we ended the year about 2.7 nationally. So the rest of the country maybe caught up with Texas a little bit. Part of that is because of things like housing affordability,” said Dr. Oney.
In past years, Texas real estate was sought after for its affordability when compared to other United States cities, however Dr. Oney predicts that may shift.
“ We used to be hands down more affordable than a lot of places in the Southeast and Midwest. Now Texas cities are no longer competitive in the housing market. At one point last year, Chicago and Atlanta had more affordable housing than all major Texas cities,” said Dr. Oney.
To navigate the ebbs and flows of the housing market during a shifting economic climate, Dr. Oney offered his advice, reiterating a sentiment from City Manager Dalton Rice.
“If we want to continue to grow, we have to invest in infrastructure. Growing with intentionality is growing in a way that allows you to maintain your prosperity,” said Dr. Oney.
Concluding the 5.5 hour economic summit was keynote speaker John Felkins, the executive director of EntreLeadership, leadership coaching for business owners and leaders. Felkins’ coaching company operates under Ramsey Solutions, a company owned by radio personality and finance author Dave Ramsey.
When Felkins and his coaching team were developing a model for leadership, they started by identifying that there were four main parts.
“You have to be good at casting a vision, now maybe that sounds fancy, but I promise it isn’t! It’s just having an idea about where you want to take your organization. You’re sharing that effectively with your team,” said Felkins.
Felkins second area emphasizes that maintaining a healthy and supportive relationship with employees supports economic growth and synergy in a business.
“We require people to lead relationally. It’s not okay for it to be a win-lose scenario when we’re working side by side,” said Felkins.
The third area in Felkins’ model of leadership is getting results.
“We absolutely have to get results. It’s not enough to have ideas and be good friends with people. You have got to get results,” said Felkins.
Lastly, Felkins reminds business and community leaders in attendance that in order for their ideas to succeed and teams perform beautifully, they must focus on themselves too.
“There’s this pesky thing that goes around the whole outside, and that’s personal growth. If you’ve heard Dave, maybe you’ve heard him say that he started his business on the card table in his living room, which is true. He would also tell you the guy that started the business on the card table in this living room could not run the business that exists today. He’s had to grow and reinvent himself over and over again,” said Felkins.
Felkins’ model for leadership requires all moving parts to be functioning and cohesive, from the top position to the entry-level, to be deemed a success.
“I’ve had to reinvent myself a bunch of times – we all do if we aspire to grow our organization, to grow our contribution to the world, or to grow the services we want to provide to our community,” said Felkins.
In closing, Felkins left the leaders in attendance with a final message.
“You can make a difference in the world. You can create something great, and serve not only yourself and your family, but the families of the people and communities that you lead,” said Felkins.
For more information on the Kerrville 2050 Plan, visit their website online at www.kerrvilletx.gov/1617/ Kerrville-2050-Comprehensive-Plan.