There are two “new” communities that have joined our regional economic development organization, and as such, I’m pleased to welcome the City of Uhland and the City of Wimberley as investors in the Greater San Marcos Partnership (GSMP).
One of the key parts of GSMP’s mission is to unite our region's diverse stakeholders in the collaborative pursuit of economic prosperity for all. By becoming full investors in the Partnership, these two communities are taking an active hand in building economic opportunities for their residents and for the Texas Innovation Corridor as a whole.
Now, this does not mean that Uhland and Wimberley were never previously represented in regional economic development or not a part of GSMP’s efforts before — far from it.
GSMP, as a non-profit economic development organization, represents Hays and Caldwell counties and all the communities that reside within the two counties. If a relocating or expanding company sees that Wimberley or Uhland would be the best fit for their business, GSMP has before and will again advocate for those communities. That work does not change in the slightest.
What does change with this investment, however, is that these cities are now taking an active role in providing resources that help generate prospect interest and activity alongside fellow cities in the region. They join communities like Buda, Dripping Springs, Kyle, Lockhart and Luling in providing community leadership, collaboration, and financial backing in the pursuit of facilitating the creation of new, good-paying jobs.
By becoming investors, Uhland and Wimberley are enhancing a regional effort to attract new capital investment, optimize and prepare our regional workforce, and retain and expand the businesses that are already rooted here in our backyard. They also are ensuring that their cities are working to diversify their tax base revenues, provide quality growth, and ensure that their futures are strategically built instead of being reactively developed.
A region that works together in economic development the way that our region works together is rare. It brings rare results though, which generates unprecedented interest levels from companies looking for the ideal location to establish their operations.
By working together with all our communities, GSMP has been able to develop a pipeline of potential relocations or expansions totaling more than $31 billion in prospective capital investment in this fiscal year alone. That number is more than five times the region’s previous record and we continue to see that funnel grow.
With a record eight announcements and counting this fiscal year alone, the regional approach to economic development is clearly working. As we welcome the investments and collaboration of Uhland and Wimberley, our region will grow even stronger in developing additional economic opportunities.
If you have questions about how cities collaborate and invest with the Greater San Marcos Partnership, I am available to answer your questions. Please contact me via email at [email protected] or via Twitter at @JasonGiulietti.
