Business View Magazine | April 2019

178 there. “We worked to market ourselves in a way that people could see all of these initiatives,” she explains. “What we talk about is we are a growing and progressive city moving forward, but staying true to who we are, because we do want those people who left here, and are ready to come back, to be close to friends and family and feel like they belong somewhere. A lot of people, especially Millennials, are looking for something authentic and I think our brand ties into that, perfectly.” “Through our rebranding efforts, we identified our downtown as the heart of our city and the heart of our storytelling,” Colunga adds. “The first thing that we want to let people know is that we are investing in our downtown; it’s going to be completely revitalized, but still maintain its charm. It’s going to be turned into an experiential downtown; people can come and shop and dine and go to the theater or the pub, or just stroll around, similar to what you can do in other charming downtowns. “And we’re starting to elevate our marketing to the next level and reaching out to people outside the City. Mainly we’ve been focusing on promoting our festivals and events. Most people who come and visit, and end up mov- ing here, is because they went to our National Polka Festival, or our Bluebonnet Trail Festival, and we see our festivals as our ‘curb appeal,’ if you will. We have the largest density of blue- bonnets in the United States, and during the month of April, we receive between 20,000 and 30,000 people here to see our bluebon- nets. They come from all over the world and all over the nation. Our Welcome Center is also downtown. As people are coming to visit, that’s usually the first place they stop. The Welcome Center that we’re operating out of right now is quite small and quite old. With a new, $4 mil- lion dollar Welcome Center, we will have this beautiful entryway into the City. “In addition to downtown, we have a Buc-ee's Travel Center that just had a groundbreaking ENNIS, TEXAS