Business View Civil Municipal June 2023

30 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 6 During COVID, a virtual Entrepreneur Center was created to empower potential business owners and support existing businesses looking for direction. “It is part accelerator, part incubator. We offer some training, we have speakers that come in and provide information to our local entrepreneurs, from marketing, to finance, and accounting. And then we have the networking side, meeting with other local business owners, and then reaching out to our colleagues in San Antonio and Austin and providing them access to that network, especially as it pertains to funding for small businesses,” he conveys. Tourism is the main economic driver for the city and is the second major employer in the county after medical. To continue to promote Kerrville as a destination, Julie Davis, President and CEO of the Convention and Visitors Bureau shares that the focus is on four pillars- The Outdoors, Nostalgia, Culture, and Culinary, highlighting all the best the city has to offer. The Kerrville slogan, ‘Texas Crafted Beautifully’ is a tribute to the entrepreneurial spirit that is alive and well and the city, and Davis says, “We have what we call a Crafted Experience where you can really come in and craft your own good time here in Kerrville, whether that is hiking and biking or going to one of the great food places we have, going to a James Avery, exploring a museum, taking in a symphony, a theater. It’s really a create your own vacation destination.” The city also hosts numerous events throughout the year, including the famous Kerrville Folk Music Festival, the Kerrville Chalk Street Painting Festival, and a much anticipated Fourth of July festival. “That event happens on the river with live music from famous bands. This year is Randy Rogers, and it’s free,” Davis portrays. “Getting someone here as a visitor can then turn into a business and a development opportunity, and we’ve actually seen that happen here. So, we definitely try to bring in more tourism. We’ve got 1,200 hotel rooms, 14 hotels, and a growing short-term rental market as well, and we just want to keep those hotels full.” With continued growth on the horizon,