Lately, there’s been a buzz in our community about entrepreneurship and how were positioned for such growth.
But do we really know what that means to our local economy?
Allow me to explain.
Entrepreneurs create businesses and new businesses create jobs, from entry level to high skilled positions, and supports all four job categories – direct, primary, indirect and induced jobs.
The new businesses and its job spinoff also help strengthen market competition which in turn, boosts productivity in a given community and allows for free enterprise to thrive.
Entrepreneurism is part of our fabric in Kerrville, which dates back to the frontier days and is tightly interwoven with our pioneer spirit. It’s nonpartisan and is at the root of what makes us Texan, no matter where we came from, choice of personal beliefs or whether we agree with capitalism or not.
Now to the next question. How do we teach entrepreneurism or develop an entrepreneur?
We really can’t.
It happens as a result of ebbs and flows of a regional economy and it takes a certain breed of an individual to take a huge step, risk their saved earnings (if they have any) and launch a new business. Again, the words ‘Texas pioneer’ come to mind.
And it happens when this certain individual sees and seizes an opportunity.
Nine times out of 10, it’s a response to a certain demand in the community which has not been met. Some will see the demand for a product or service as a negative. But the entrepreneur will view it as his or her opportunity to make a difference and in turn, earn money.
Kerrville has a solid list of entrepreneurs but most importantly, a pipeline of entrepreneurs-in-the-waiting. And as an economic developer, that gets my juices flowing knowing we have a great opportunity to fully develop our local talent.
Now we start talking about our local base significantly contributing to the economic health and growth of our city and our Hill Country.
We, at the KEDC, applaud those who have taken the risk to launch their enterprises in this region. But were also here to say, this is just the beginning and our local expansion strategies and corporate recruitment efforts will provide added opportunities for our local entrepreneur base.
With our proximity to San Antonio and the Austin tech hub, we’ll be seeing in the next couple of years more entrepreneur-led enterprises expanding in our area.
And the bulk of the growth will be at the hands of our local entrepreneurs.
~Gil Salinas
