News

Developing and Executing a Site Selection Game Plan

Friday, January 22, 2021

Before setting sail on your site selection voyage across the country or the globe in search of your project’s perfect location, it is imperative to first take an internal assessment of the current operations, needs, and industry trends influencing the project. Taking the time to perform a thorough internal assessment of the project and company will lead to new discoveries that will ultimately guide the site selection game plan to success. Challenging and rethinking some of the institutional wisdom will allow new and innovative ideas to surface, enabling the company to consider sites or regions they had initially thought wer...

First Person: Understanding and Investing in Current and Future Talent

Thursday, January 21, 2021

AD: Can you define people analytics for our readers? Williams: People analytics is described as the method of analytics which can support leaders as they make decisions about their employees and workforce. This method applies statistics, technology, and expertise to large sets of HR data, which should result in better business and management decisions by an organization. Another way of looking at this is how to get the best return on investment from their people — in an analytical, data-driven way. AD: How can the use of data help industrial companies satisfy their workforce requirements? Read full article.

The Future of the Workforce Is a “Better Normal”

Thursday, January 21, 2021

The world as we all knew it changed earlier this year with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Seemingly overnight, everything that we used to think was normal had changed, and things that once were deemed impossible for the workplace became the “new normal.” Now, seven months later, most of us have gotten used to this “new normal” — embracing the work-from-home lifestyle, using new technology, wearing masks, social distancing, and connecting virtually. But what comes next? Eventually this pandemic will end, a vaccine will be readily available, and we will attempt to return back to our “normal” lives. Bu...

Another Look at Rural Economies

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

As someone who lives in a city (albeit not a large one), I am perhaps not the most qualified to discuss the topic of rural economies. On the other hand, both my parents were raised on wheat farms in eastern Washington. Consequently, one of the most pressing issues in rural America is currently impacting my family directly: family farm succession planning. Additionally, each year the labor market analytics firm I work for produces a Talent Attraction Scorecard to rank how large, small, and micro counties are faring in building their talent pools. As a result, I’ve spent many hours combin...

Trends in Office and Industrial Parks

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Of course, the big factor impacting office and industrial parks going into 2021 is COVID-19. The pandemic has reduced business production and workforce (through illness, social distancing, and remote working), disrupted the supply chain and cash flow, and brought about significant investments in technology. Across the nation, the demand for suburban office parks is rising as more skilled workers move back to suburbs, due to concerns about housing costs and quality of education — they also feel safer from COVID-19 and the civil unrest that is happening in some larger cities. “The most notable shift is toward lower-intensity spaces, where getting int...

Recruiting and Retaining Today’s Manufacturing Workforce

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

AD: How has COVID-19 changed the employee experience in manufacturing, and what facets of this should organizations retain going forward? Zenk: Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, employees have been experiencing a drastically different work environment. Thousands of manufacturers across the U.S. and around the world were deemed essential during the pandemic, and their production lines haven’t stopped. They’ve continued to produce essential goods that the global community relies on — from the food we eat to the clothes we wear and cleaning supplies we use in our homes. As some manufacturers increased output and others reconfigured operations to satisfy urgent demands...

Supply Chain Execs Respond as Pandemic Creates E-Commerce Surge

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed our lives, and each one of us likely has a personal story to tell that underscores that fact. But there are also stories to be told of sweeping changes that virtually all of us have felt. One of those is the altered state of the global supply chain. The supply chain is, after all, an element of daily life that has an impact, either directly or indirectly, on just about everyone on the planet. The pandemic put a spotlight on the critical nature of this industry. Truck drivers and warehouse employees became everyday heroes o...

City of New Braunfels, Texas

Friday, January 08, 2021

Making the annual Top 10 Census population growth list is an accomplishment for a city or county. When you rank No. 3 over an entire decade as a city and No. 4 as a county in the U.S., that points to sustainable opportunity. New Braunfels grew over 56% from 2010-2019; and Comal County grew nearly 44% during the same time period. Having one of the nation's fastest population growths requires top-notch city and county government services, something the city has actively invested in. Successful city bonds in 2016 and 2019 are being used to provide upgraded streets, public safety, parks, an...

Get Creative to Uncover Top Talent When You're Hiring

Saturday, January 02, 2021

“She looked so good on paper.” Sound familiar? In your haste to fill an open position to keep your company running smoothly, you make a hiring decision that turns out to be a big mistake. If this is the case, you are certainly not alone, and the problem isn’t a lack of judgment. A US Chamber of Commerce Foundation study released earlier this year confirms what many of us on the front lines of recruiting candidates already know: There is a skills gap in the current labor market. The study found 48% of respondents lamenting that candidates lack the skills to fill the jobs at hand. In a...

Always Running Out of Time? Here Are 10 Tools That Can Help Save the Day

Friday, January 01, 2021

Life is hectic for an entrepreneur. When you're in charge, you have to juggle so many things, it's easy to lose track of time or have to reassess your priorities on a daily basis. Perhaps you just need a little help from technology. We've rounded up some of the top time-saving and productivity tools on the market, all of which are on sale now. Stop running out of time and start becoming master of it. 1. Track your time. Stop spending so much time on less important tasks. Klokki lets you create custom time-tracking rules so you can track the time you need to spend o...

Define Your Brand Identity in 3 Steps

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

A brand identity consists of the business values, and how the brand communicates those values through its products and services. It’s what the brand says, how it is visually represented with images and design, and what the brand intends customers to feel when they interact with its products. Essentially, a brand identity is the physicality and personality of your business. A brand identity is important for a few reasons. It's a template for your promotional assets, which means everything your customers are going to see from the logo on your business’s social profile to the product description copy on your e-commerce website. A well-defined brand identity, which aligns with the company’...

Guadalupe Regional Medical Foundation lands large contribution to help end 2020 on a positive note

Monday, December 28, 2020

(Seguin) – Patients at Guadalupe Regional Medical Center no longer have to wait for the lab results that they need. Health officials at the GRMC say they are thankful to Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio for “blessing” the GRMC lab with a $140,000 grant for lab testing equipment, equipment they say will now expedite results. Cody Knowlton, Baptist Health Foundation president and CEO, says the foundation is committed to serving those who serve others. “The Baptist Health Foundation was formed about 17 years ago when the Baptist Health System sold and became a for profit institution and so the money fro...

5 Top GIS Planning Innovations of 2020

Monday, December 21, 2020

Safe to say, 2020 was a year for the books. No question, we'll all be glad to say good bye to this one. But in the midst of this crazy, challenging year of COVID and wildfires and chaos of all kinds, we also saw many instances of real innovation and advancement from leaders in all fields. As economic developers everywhere work hard (often from home offices, cleared off dining room tables, or hastily set up corners of their living rooms) to support their local businesses, collaborate with local officials, and continue to attract new investment to keep their regions smoothly...

How Zoom Won 2020 by Meeting a Surge of Demand

Tuesday, December 01, 2020

It was a Monday morning in mid-March. Schools in California had just gone remote, and Eric Yuan’s daughter was settling in for the first day of her new routine. Then she turned to him and, like kids were doing with their parents everywhere, asked him for help using Zoom. “She’d never asked me a question about Zoom!” says Yuan. Nor had he ever expected her to, even though he is the company’s founder and CEO. “When we created Zoom, the goal was to serve enterprise and business customers. I never thought about my kid having to use Zoom.” That’s when Yuan knew his world was about to change. Thi...

A Guide to Aerospace Investment Decisions

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

The aerospace and defense (A&D) industry had a record year in 2019. Revenue passenger miles set a record, up 4.2 percent from 2018, and have been growing at roughly double GDP for the past two decades. Airbus’ and Boeing’s order backlogs ended 2019 at around 13,000 aircraft. The industry reported a record $780 billion in revenue — 5 percent over 2018. But in March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic plunged the industry into crisis, literally overnight, with air traffic decreasing about 90 percent as society shut down and stayed at home. Hopes for a quick recovery have been dashed by the persistence of transmissions, and many believ...

2020 Top States for Doing Business Showcase Their Pro-Business Environments

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

It would be easy to look at current economic statistics and conclude that we may as well remove words such as “business growth” and “expansion” from our collective vocabularies for the time being. On a macro level, the economy is anything but healthy, thanks to the coronavirus. And yet there are plenty of individual businesses that continue to expand or relocate to desirable places. The question of which states are the best for doing business is as valid a question as ever. Our roster of location experts knows the answers, from years of experience helping to guide site decisions and negotiat...

Why are Foreign Trade Zones Making a Comeback?

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

FTZs Are Making a Comeback There was a double-digit growth in foreign trade zone use [in 2018], according to the federal government's report for that year. When the 2019 report comes out, that double double-digit growth will have increased even more. The reason is that these tariffs are a whole new way to save money, compared to before, when the most important things were speed to market, using direct delivery and weekly entry, cutting your supply chain time and lowering your cost of operations. Now it's cut your supply chain time, lower costs and mitigate the tariffs. The number one thing w...

GRMC Board of Managers extends kudos to hospital staff for top awards, new projects plus recruitment during pandemic year

Monday, November 02, 2020

(Seguin) — The GRMC Board of Managers applauded the individual contributions of hospital employees throughout this COVID-19 pandemic. Today, those same leaders are applauding the hospital for honors and projects that often times flew under the radar while most of were in quarantine. Dr. James Lee, board chairman for Guadalupe Regional Medical Center, says even under the demands of treating COVID-19 patients, the hospital managed to pick up some national recognition for its operation. “Still during the pandemic, the hospital was honored by Modern Healthcare as one of the Top 25 medical health facilities in the nation. It’s a pretty good honor. Tha...

4 Key Benefits of Video Content

Saturday, October 31, 2020

In the digital age, getting attention is anything but a given. An abundance of publishers, gadgets and apps are competing for mind share, and data overload causes audiences to block distractions and instead focus on what’s urgent. Five years back, a Microsoft study found that humans now have a shorter attention span than a goldfish, which lasts about eight seconds — only two decades ago, we were at 12 seconds. That's proof positive why content must be compelling, truly entertaining and/or informative; otherwise it’s just mindless noise. When marketing online, it also helps to have the right format. Entrepreneurs, startups and small- to medium-sized businesses can all use videos to hook audience...

5 Tips for Entrepreneurs to Better Serve Their Potential Customers

Saturday, October 31, 2020

If McKinsey & Company insights from July are any indication, consumers have rediscovered their power in the pandemic. Due to a combination of product shortages, economic and job concerns, along with a general willingness to change their purchasing behaviors, 75 percent of shoppers say they’ve behaved differently since coronavirus began spreading. In many cases, their new purchasing habits have led to exposure to unfamiliar brands. This is a huge boon, especially for entrepreneurs trying to disrupt a market or industry. Under ordinary circumstances, getting consumers to move away from their favorite companies’ products and services can be challenging. However, with so much general uncertainty i...

50 Years of Success: Celebrating Sysco and Their Schertz Investment

Thursday, October 29, 2020

One of the first sights that greets people traveling through Schertz on Interstate 35 is a massive 635,000 square foot blue building that houses one of Schertz’ largest companies: Sysco. This facility may only be a piece of Sysco’s global footprint, but its impact on the local region, particularly during COVID-19, is significant. As Sysco celebrates their 50th anniversary as a company, it is helpful to dive into their role in the local economy and our food ecosystem. Company Highlights Sysco is the global leader in selling, marketing, and distributing food and non-food products to restaurants, healthcare & educational facilities, lodging establishments, and other customers around the world. With over 320 distribution facilities worldwide, they keep pantries of all sizes stocked. Sysco also has one of the larges...

Manufacturing Day 2020 | Working Together To Find Digital Solutions

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

A component of both the City of Schertz Economic Development Corporation (Schertz EDC) and the Seguin Economic Development Corporation’s (Seguin EDC) business retention and expansion program (BRE) is to ensure that Primary Job Employers within our communities have access to a skilled workforce. As part of this effort, both Schertz and Seguin worked with local school districts to develop workforce pipelines for local Primary Job Employers, using events such as Manufacturing Day. However, as the pandemic challenged our communities’ commitment to help students develop a fuller understanding of available career opportunities, we – like many organizations across our region – saw the need to try something new. Adaptability during the pandemic became key and spurred a partnership between the Seguin and Schertz ED...

City of Schertz, Texas

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

The City of Schertz, Texas is part of the larger San Antonio region and in close proximity to Austin, and Houston. This proximity has fueled the community’s explosive growth. Over the past five years, numerous top Fortune® 100 companies have chosen to make major investments in Schertz. Caterpillar, Amazon.com, FedEx, and Sysco have collectively invested hundreds of millions of dollars and constructed over 3 million square feet of space in the community. About the City of Schertz The City of Schertz is a business friendly, fast-growing community of over 42,000 residents. Schertz is an ideal location for business. From a cost advantage perspective...

How To Scale Your Business In Tough Times

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

To say that Covid-19 has thrown businesses for a loop would be an understatement. Yelp recently reported that, of the more than 160,000 U.S. companies that have closed since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, 60% are now shut down for good. With businesses across the country struggling to keep their doors open, scaling your company in this economy might seem like a pipe dream. Not necessarily, says Charles Gaudet, CEO of growth consultancy Predictable Profits: “While we are in a challenging environment, you will find companies in every industry having their best year yet. Those succeeding are adapting, looking for the opportunity and using dat...

A Guide to Aerospace Investment Decisions

Monday, October 26, 2020

Black Women Were Among The Fastest-Growing Entrepreneurs—Then Covid Arrived

Monday, October 26, 2020

Sherika Wynter was on a roll. Since releasing an insulated luxury tote bag for professionals in 2018, and subsequently selling out three times, her Maryland-based research and development company Thomas & Wynter had been featured in British GQ and the International Business Times and on several local news segments. She walked into February 2020 with more notches on her belt: a Google small-business award and a joint venture deal with a prominent Black law firm to create another product for professionals. “We were growing exponentially,” says Wynter, a Black entrepreneur who, with cofounder Shallon Thomas, started the business in 2014. Read full article.

Email Marketing: Still The Most Powerful Tool To Take Your Business To The Next Level

Monday, October 26, 2020

The key to running a successful business is enticing customers and clients to do business with you. So whether you’re scrambling to lure customers back during a global pandemic or expanding your markets during “normal” business times, the question is, How do you do that? What are the best ways to get customers to come to your store, website, restaurant, office, etc.? We all know the answer: it’s marketing. But marketing is not a simple process. There are various practices, tactics, and strategies that are part of an overall marketing plan—and they are constantly evolving. It can make formulating a marketing pla...

In Focus: An Evolving Last Mile

Monday, October 26, 2020

Apart from the tragic global health implications, the economic fallout from the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic has been highly disruptive. The longer-term impact from the profound behavioral shift on the part of consumers who have — by necessity — been introduced to online shopping will persist long after the current recessionary cycle ends. While some new online shoppers will go back to their pre-COVID habits once the pandemic is behind us, many will be “sticky,” finding the convenience of online shopping too alluring. One recent survey finds that 46 percent of shoppers currently plan to continue buying online. From curbside and in-store pickup t...

In Focus: Increased Data Center Growth Driven by the COVID-19 Pandemic

Monday, October 26, 2020

The stratospheric rise of the cloud over the past few years caught many off guard and created an arms race among the cloud providers, with data center development underpinning the effort. These cloud providers were anticipating ever-increasing demand for the cloud by globally creating a robust and redundant network of massive data centers tethered together through a network of smaller data centers and fiber connection locations. Data centers that service other segments of the market (wholesale colocation, “edge,” and retail) were also riding the wave of increased demand. Little did we know a global pandemic would make data centers and th...

Cuero is open for business

Saturday, October 24, 2020

As we continue to move forward and navigate through these very unique times, the Cuero community remains strong and is getting back to business. Our shops, restaurants and small businesses are open and ready for customers. Red White and Blue open flags welcome visitors as they drive through the Main Street District. In the month of September, two new businesses have opened; Inspire Boutique, 106 N. Gonzales and Sloane’s Barber Shop, 110 S. Esplanade. The City of Cuero completed its backdoor beautification project as part of its ongoing Downtown Revitalization Project that started in 2018-2019. Improvements were made to streets, sidewalk...

City of Cibolo, Texas

Friday, October 23, 2020

Cibolo is the City of Choice, making our City a great place to live, work, or play. Cibolo is a Texas community strategically located on the Interstate 10 and Interstate 35 corridors just northeast of San Antonio. While careful maintenance of their "small town Texas" identity makes this a great place to live, several other factors make it a premier place to do business: proximity to major urban conveniences; transportation options; a decade of strong economic and infrastructure growth; and a young, highly educated workforce with the talents and skills to help companies prosper well into the 21st century. Location Near Sa...

How Site Selection Can Help Meet Corporate Social Responsibility Commitments

Thursday, October 22, 2020

The increased role of corporate social responsibility in site selection Corporate social responsibility is playing a major factor today in company's decisions on where they're locating their business. That's happening for a few reasons. I think companies are realizing that they need to be more conscious as to what's going on in the environment today, and they need to react to that. But primarily that's being driven by their consumers (for any company that is selling a product to the consumer base). Consumers want to know that the company is delivering on certain sustainability goals. They want to feel like they'r...

The Next Recovery: Regional Leaders & Laggards

Thursday, October 22, 2020

To call the road that most metro areas have traveled this year rocky would be akin to labeling Mount Everest a speed bump. But the most turbulent period of our lifetimes will eventually give way to a sustained recovery. And when it does, certain types of metro areas are in far better shape to take advantage. In the short run, places that suffered the steepest job and income losses will struggle most, which bodes especially ill for the Northeast and tourism-dependent Hawaii and Nevada. But what happens after that? Much depends on the course of the virus, such as whether outbreak...

Why are Foreign Trade Zones Making a Comeback?

Thursday, October 22, 2020

COVID-19 Reshuffles The Cold Chain & Logistics Deck

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

No sector now is more active than logistics, and there is no busier niche within it than cold chain for grocery and medical needs. The busiest companies within that niche, before and since COVID-19, are automated logistics pioneers and the grocers they serve. Digital Commerce 360’s 2020 Online Food Report, released in August, analyzes the top 1,000 food-dedicated retailers, as well as mass merchants with growing sales in the category — Walmart and Amazon represent more than 60% of the online grocery market, with Walmart having the biggest market share of online food in 2019 at 31%. Read full article.

Have Years of Darwinism in Rural America Paid Off During COVID-19?

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

As cities reel from a public health crisis and civic unrest, rural and small town community leaders are the unspoken heroes during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have historically learned how to thrive through fostering creative connections between limited resources and community needs. Years of practice navigating threats and finding solutions keeps rural America surviving, even amidst a pandemic. Progressive rural community leaders developed a task force in March. They used frequent and clear communication on the local plan. Rural America applied well-practiced skills listening to citizens, health care professionals, business owners and educators to make decisions right for their own communities...

The New Normal in the Automotive Supply Chain

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

For immediate evidence of disruptions in the automotive supply chain, you need to look no further than your local dealer. Many lots are nearly empty of new vehicles, with average dealer inventories across the U.S. far below the normal 50–60 days’ supply. How did this happen? Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic is a major part of the problem. When automotive production was abruptly halted in March, there were not any new vehicles being produced until early May. Even then, production has been proceeding in fits and starts. At the same time, consumers have continued to purchase vehicles, keeping auto demand surprisingl...

5 Creative Approaches To Gain The Attention Of Businesses

Monday, October 19, 2020

So your community didn’t get on the finalist list of Amazon HQ2. Now what? The site selection process is changing and adapting with the trends in business. While it may still be important for you to look for potentially large company relocations, many good business expansions can occur with small to mid-sized companies. But gaining the attention of their businesses requires some creative approaches. #1 TALENT > INCENTIVES Workforce, workforce, workforce. The ability of a community to attract and retain a workforce is ranking at the top of the incentive list. Business owners may still be interested in traditional incentives, but th...

How Technology Is Making Data Collection for Incentives Programs Applications Easier

Monday, October 19, 2020

The Importance of Software in Incentives Analysis Software is becoming a bigger part of incentives analysis as clients increasingly want to use this tool. Many clients are building the internal capabilities to perform initial credits and incentives and site location analyses. They want to do some of that research on their own with their internal team prior to pulling in an advisor, or maybe they have an internal team that can handle the project from start to finish. Unless they have the ability to go to all the various jurisdictions under consideration and understand all their programs, the team’s software, dependin...

Texas Ranked Best State For Business

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

AUSTIN, TX – Governor Greg Abbott issued a statement after a new survey of U.S. corporate executives ranked Texas the number one state for business for the eighth consecutive time since 1996. The survey was released at the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) Annual Conference, which is being held from Dallas virtually. “Thanks to our talented workforce, welcoming business climate, and state-of-the-art infrastructure, Texas has been named the best state in the nation for business for the eighth consecutive time since 1996,” said Governor Abbott. “I want to congratulate the Texas Economic Development Corporation on their well-earned recognition as one of th...

Tri-County AC/Heating earns national award

Monday, October 12, 2020

(Seguin) — A Seguin based air-conditioning and heating company is being recognized as one of the best in the nation. Tri-County Air-Conditioning & Heating recently received the “Building A Higher Standard” award from American Standard. The corporation each year chooses the top dealers from around the country, and this year’s prize goes to Kay and Bubba Martin, the husband and wife team behind Tri-County AC & Heating. The Martins say they were shocked when they heard the news. “American Standard picks four dealers in the entire nation every year from the Customer Care Program to be a dealer of the year. It’...

ONE OF GVEC’S LARGEST ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

Thursday, September 10, 2020

In August, GVEC completed the sale of a 159-acre tract of land, making it one of the Cooperative’s largest economic development projects to date. The acreage will be the future location of the second U.S. facility for Aisin AW, a Japan-based Fortune 500 company and global manufacturer of automotive transmissions, among other products. This $400 million international investment in a state-of-the-art transmission manufacturing facility will offer more than 900 new jobs to the area. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION The Guadalupe Valley Development Corporation (GVDC), a nonprofit subsidiary of GVEC, acquired the land in 2013 with plans of spurring business development and growth opportunitie...

News

TLU

Cuero Regional Hospital

Come and Film It

Kitchen Pride Mushroom Farm

GVEC Internet

Wild Flowers

Gretchen Bee Ranch

Aisin AW