Ep 05: The Kilgore Advantage: Community, Culture, and Collaboration

Ricardo [00:00:00]:
One day in the hotel, Bill Wilson, owner of Chevy dealership, he went to my hotel and knocked the door. And I was early in the morning. I said, hey, Bill, come on, come on. Come with me to my. To my office was right in front. I went there, I said, you're renting car every single week. You know, you need a car, you know. And he said, yes, I need a car.

Ricardo [00:00:22]:
And I said, pick any car you want it. Let's make a business. This is a business. I didn't have any checking account yet.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:00:28]:
He.

Ricardo [00:00:28]:
I like a car. He said it was the ugly car there. Do you remember the Aztec? I like the Aztec. And nobody liked the Aztec. I think he was pushing. He was pushing to sell me the car that he cannot sell in the lot. But anyway, he said, it's all yours. You know, he called the president of the bank.

Ricardo [00:00:43]:
The bank came at that time, Robert Strong, Enris Band came, you know, shaking my hands, and I signed some paper there, and I have a car.

Intro [00:01:02]:
Welcome to Gone to Texas, the official podcast of the Texas Economic Development Connection. On every episode, we share the stories of business owners and CEOs who have relocated or expanded their business into Texas. Our goal is to use these stories as a guide to help others who are ready to hang a sign on the door that says gone to Texas. And now, please welcome your host, the managing partner and chief inspiration officer for Day One Experts, Super Dave Quinn.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:01:42]:
Welcome back to the Gone to Texas

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:01:43]:
podcast, powered by Day One Experts, where we share real stories of business growth, relocation, and entrepreneurship here in the Lone Star State. I'm your host, Super Dave Quinn, and today's episode is sponsored by our friends at the Kilgore Economic Development Corporation, who are helping businesses grow and expand every day right here in the Upper East Texas region. In this episode of our Kilgore Spotlight series, we're talking to Ricardo, a local entrepreneur and community leader. Ricardo has built businesses here, invested in the community, and continues to choose Kilgore's home. His story is a powerful reminder that Kilgore's advantage isn't just about business. It's about culture, collaboration, and quality of life.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:02:21]:
All right, Ricardo, welcome to the show.

Ricardo [00:02:23]:
Thank you, Dave.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:02:24]:
I appreciate you being here today. I've heard great things about you from Lisa and your history here in Kilgore for our audience set up really sort of your arrival in Kilgore all those years ago. Tell me how you got to Kilgore and what brought you here.

Ricardo [00:02:42]:
Well, brought me here was a moving a business from South America to United States. That started happening in 1999. And I was part owner of a business as a metallurgical company and machine shop. We used to design and manufacture orange squeezers for high end restaurant or gourmet kitchens.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:03:07]:
Okay.

Ricardo [00:03:08]:
And also cast iron pipe fittings for high rise buildings. And there was a market mainly to supply products to New York, Chicago area. We were doing that from Venezuela, South America. And we hired a consultant. You know, we want to move the. We want to open the second factory in the United States. We were doing very well in South America, in Europe, and the market was growing faster in United States. That consultant told us, you gotta go to Texas.

Ricardo [00:03:47]:
And where to Texas? You know, was a difficult part of the answer. Well, I was in charge of the site selection and I visited 17 cities around us.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:04:03]:
Okay.

Ricardo [00:04:03]:
Of these cities, 12 were in Texas.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:04:08]:
Okay.

Ricardo [00:04:09]:
And the rest were many Oklahoma, Virginia and Louisiana area.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:04:13]:
Okay.

Ricardo [00:04:13]:
And then at the end, I concentrated only in Texas. And the. The last three were Waco, Texas, Belton, Texas, Kilgore, Texas. Okay.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:04:26]:
That's some stiff competition. There's good towns.

Ricardo [00:04:28]:
Yeah. And then where we. This process lasts a year and something and we start manufacturing the facility. Moving. The facility was in the year 2000.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:04:43]:
Okay.

Ricardo [00:04:43]:
When I started moving, first I moved to New York, Manhattan, because we have a distribution center in New Jersey and I was flying every week.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:04:54]:
Right.

Ricardo [00:04:55]:
Whew. Yeah. It was tough, you know, but was a very different cultures, very different perspective of the United States. Yeah. And when we. We opened the facility in Kilgore and. And then through the years, you know, I decided to stay here.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:05:17]:
Right.

Ricardo [00:05:17]:
Many things happen after.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:05:19]:
So let's talk a little bit about that. I mean, you're.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:05:22]:
What, what was some of the decision

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:05:23]:
matrix when you, you know, again, deciding to be in Kilgore versus the other states and then in the other cities here, what were some of the things that you kind of landed on and what made Kilgore kind of the spot?

Ricardo [00:05:36]:
Kilgore is a very business friendly environment. And visiting Kilgore, I met a very interesting group of people. At that time, my Kilgore Economic Development Corporation organized all the meetings. You know, I had the opportunity to meet Amanda Nobles, now very close friend and excellent group of people that were part of the board members and a very successful entrepreneur with a great story. Successful story. And that connect me with the city immediately. Beyond that, it's like any other city. When you do a site selection process, you take in consideration logistic labor force standard matrix, even out kind of similar situation.

Ricardo [00:06:31]:
And in all Texas, you know, of course there are some highlights in Kilgore, but the most important was, you know, meeting such successful people. So interesting stories. That welcoming, business friendly environment, that was the key.

Intro [00:06:46]:
Right.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:06:47]:
And you came at a, you know, a challenging time in the country's history and all of that. What was it like operating a business? I mean, you're moving from Illinois. I can imagine that it's a little bit different operating in Texas. What was that first experience of operating in Texas?

Ricardo [00:07:07]:
Yes. You know, we open a second facility. We kind of trying to implement the same methods that we have there. And there were kind of a lot of similarities, but the facility was more automatic, you know, but we found an incredible labor force here. We were very close with the KDC and the Kilgore College and training our people. And that helped me because at that time my English was really not the best English in the world. Still not. Still not.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:07:44]:
I barely speak it, so that's okay.

Ricardo [00:07:46]:
Yeah, yeah. That, you know, training, you know, the basis of our industry, our goals.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:07:54]:
Right.

Ricardo [00:07:54]:
With our core team. And then we. We hire more and more people and. Yeah. Was we. The beginning were tough. No. But then, you know, a year later, we were moving in the right direction.

Ricardo [00:08:08]:
You know, we. We opened the facility in August 7, 2001.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:08:13]:
Okay.

Ricardo [00:08:14]:
And a month after 911 happened. And immediately we have a big shock economy because our products were sold in high end kitchen stores.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:08:27]:
Yeah.

Ricardo [00:08:28]:
Or high rise buildings, you know.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:08:29]:
Right.

Ricardo [00:08:30]:
And that there were two of the industries that were very much affected at the 9 11.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:08:34]:
Yeah.

Ricardo [00:08:35]:
And we struggle for a period of time, but we were able to maintain in business until 2005 that we sold the business to different companies.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:08:45]:
Okay.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:08:46]:
So 2005, you have an exit. My guess is at that point you can go do whatever you want, wherever you want. Yeah. Here we are 20 years later, you're still sitting in Kilgore, Texas. What 10. Tell me what go. What went into that decision and why did you stick around?

Ricardo [00:09:03]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, my. When we moved, My daughter was three years old, four years old, my son only one year old. You know, 2005, they were already seven and five years old, eight and six. And my wife and I loved the area.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:09:24]:
Okay.

Ricardo [00:09:25]:
And was even with the difficulties of that, we were struggling economically because we had to sell the business and I start from scratch again. You know, we decided to stay, you know, and we stay and in the community we decided to. To build our family here. Yeah, yeah.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:09:47]:
So, you know, we get that A lot entrepreneurs, you know, they're looking at Texas. Usually it's because there's some hardship where they are. They're just. They've run it into walls or it's something. It's hard to grow. And when they come to Texas I tell them that they still have to be. They still have to do a business

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:10:03]:
but you're doing it in a much

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:10:04]:
fertile sort of area.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:10:06]:
So there is. It can still be hard but at least you have partners like KDC or

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:10:11]:
Kilgore College or folks who here want to help you. And then again you. You're able to start from scratch and build again. So that says a lot about. Because you could have started scratch from anywhere. Right. Like at that point it seems like you were free. You could have gone undone.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:10:27]:
But you decided to make a family

Ricardo [00:10:28]:
here at that moment. Yep. It was becoming my home. No and the home for my family. And we. Well, my wife and I started a small business you know with a partner was a city trash bags business that we were selling trash bags to supermarkets.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:10:44]:
Right.

Ricardo [00:10:44]:
And around East Texas. And the hellos too go by you know for a period of time. And then I went back to work as engineer and. And I went to work for General Dynamics that is based in Kilgore and Longview Texas at the time and and work for then and. But successful my stay there and I started as engineer and then as a VP of director of operations of several facilities. The things start moving in the right direction. Yeah.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:11:18]:
You mentioned earlier a little bit about

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:11:20]:
the people you met and the successful entrepreneurs talk a little bit about the importance of sort of the company you keep in that you know finding other entrepreneurs and like minded business people here in Kilgore. What does that meant for you as a you know, small business owner and an entrepreneur?

Ricardo [00:11:38]:
Well, you know you. There are many things that connect you when you have a person, if you are entrepreneur and you. You always wants to create your own destiny and build your your own business. You know, meet people that have a successful stories and. And know all these stories are you know the basic stories that everything went well.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:12:01]:
Right.

Ricardo [00:12:01]:
And many of them were very encouraging, you know. You know, I'm glad that you stay here. Anything that you may need, we're here to support you. The same Kilgore Economy Development Corporation was always very supportive and I started thinking to build my new business. And when I was at General Dynamics many of them advised me about my plans and I remember sit down with Mr. Tom Mobley, you know that my plans he. He he he found that was a a solid plan right now. When I was at GD General Dynamics I ran a business or division.

Ricardo [00:12:48]:
It was a test equipment business that was in a core business for General Dynamics. And I I presented to the president of General Dynamics that I want an interest in. And anytime they consider to carve out or sell this business, I was interested in the opportunity to buy that business. And that opportunity arise. And during the sequestration that no the government wasn't investing too much money in military defense. General Dynamic decided to concentrate it in defense. And that business was for sale. No.

Ricardo [00:13:33]:
And was no well known yet that was for sale. And I negotiate with them. And buying the business I partnered with a private equity group and we bought that division and we started a new business from scratch. Was like a kind of startup. Yeah again and we create Freedom Communication Technologies.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:13:58]:
Today's episode is sponsored by our friends at Kilgore Economic Development Corporation. They're helping businesses grow in East Texas. Kilgore Texas offers an operational advantage few markets can match where location, labor and low cost converge to drive profitability. With prime access to transportation routes plus low taxes income competitive utility rates, companies choosing to locate here are positioned to outperform other corporate locations and competitors. Synergy Park, a class A campus style business park, offers scenic shovel ready sites. And Kilgore Economy Development Corporation delivers hands on support, tailored incentives and a resourceful, experienced workforce. For companies seeking scalable growth without gridlock, Kilgore offers a streamlined environment engineered for enterprise expansion.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:14:55]:
So that's you know, again when I come back to small business owners and they're looking for a place. Streets, water, sewer are fine, but it's the people of that community and that's what you're looking for is do I fit with that group. And Kilgore has done a phenomenal job of sort of creating this. I'm hearing it over and over again in the different podcasts, interviews of this sort of welcoming environment. And even though they might be almost maybe not direct competitors, but they're competing a little bit, it's still a we're going to help you and you help us and we share best practices. And from working with Kilgore College and the workforce coming together to identify training opportunities, let's talk a little bit about that. And your experience with Kilgore College, was that a difficult experience or how did you work with them to be able to help with your workforce?

Ricardo [00:15:49]:
Yeah, well the experience during my first spent tour here was fantastic experience. I remember I met a Lady that was in charge of that part and Marta Woodruff. Now the building of adult education had her name. Marta was an eye design with Amanda Nobles. What kind of training my team will need for a metallurgical and operating automotive equipment, CNC equipments powder coating and assembling. We create a training matrix that everyone needs to go through that. Part of that training was done at facility level. Part of that training was done at Kilgore College and a part of the training was done by me or my team or some people.

Ricardo [00:16:45]:
You know, Kilgore. It was a fantastic collaboration that lasts for six months. I'm hello very much. Then when I opened Freedom was the same situation, you know. And I think we developed some career path on some specific people with a cable college and they went there and help us to train them. We were doing some complicated RF signals that require some electronic.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:17:18]:
Not just any training. That's pretty specific.

Ricardo [00:17:22]:
And we received also full support from KDC and we presented KDC the plan and they gave us some incentives now for, you know, start the business in Kilberg was. Was a for me no brainer because was already here, you know, knowing the people and knowing all the support. In my first experience I was fantastic.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:17:44]:
You already had the business infrastructure in place that would support a new business. You already knew the players and the. The folks in talking to the small, you know, or small business owner, entrepreneur who's looking at Texas kind of explain. You know, we talked a little bit about the culture, but what is it about Kilgore beyond just the. All right, we're on i20 and we have this logistics system and you know, we're easy to get to, you know, anywhere really all. It's crazy how much. How many global products are produced here and go around the world. So logistically, obviously you're in a great spot.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:18:24]:
But what's some of the. What's the culture side that that sort of they're going to find here? What is it that you would offer them as advice when they're looking A place to come.

Ricardo [00:18:35]:
Yeah. We'll answer the question with one story.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:18:38]:
Okay.

Ricardo [00:18:38]:
When I was living between Venezuela and Manhattan and Kilgore, you know, those are three different places. A hotel named Best Western that now doesn't exist and next to where Walmart is located.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:18:51]:
Right.

Ricardo [00:18:52]:
And I was staying that hotel almost six months, you know, very frequently. And I was rushing from New York to buy some batteries. I went to a deli, you know, and I was looking for the battery and the person. What's up what do you need? All in. Everybody fast and very kind of people read that as a route. That is a route. People, people is very busy there. No time for.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:19:20]:
That's the direct.

Ricardo [00:19:21]:
Just right. I just went pick up that boom. Now left. And I arrived here tired and I didn't have time to eat. In Dallas, when I found Swarovski was the only place open. A small slosky that was here. And I arrived there and I ordered a sandwich. I don't want to soda, just water.

Ricardo [00:19:44]:
I asked the lady if they have coffee and I say, oh, we don't serve coffee here. It's okay. I can make one for you. She say. And I went sit down and she prepared coffee for me. And she was very welcoming, you know. And I drink my coffee and all that. That was that, you know, you can see how the culture shock, you know, how welcoming the people.

Ricardo [00:20:13]:
And the next day, you know, typical went to visit some places and they went to buy some things in the supermarket, you know, and you see everybody smiling at you and so welcoming. And I introduced myself some people that was trying to immediately be nice with me. And that is hard to explain. You had to leave it.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:20:40]:
Yeah.

Ricardo [00:20:41]:
And when you ask questions to then to the people, you know, how these things work here, you know, and how about the school and the kids, you know, that you. The people were very real. Answers no. And that was. I'm a simple man, you know, I'm. That. That is what I looking for. That was very, very important for me.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:21:05]:
Right.

Ricardo [00:21:05]:
And for the people that I was part of on my team.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:21:09]:
Right.

Ricardo [00:21:10]:
Yeah.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:21:10]:
So that's. I love that story. Because that is. Again, it's hard to put on paper. You can't put that on a brochure. You can't. It's hard to kind of put that on a thing. And I always tell folks, you have to come and visit.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:21:22]:
Right. Like, don't just discount something because you think it's, you know, it's out in East Texas, where. I don't know where that is. I don't like, just come visit. You'll see.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:21:30]:
Just experience.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:21:31]:
And I had a lady from New York had the same experience in the store where she was in line. It was very busy. She was like three or four people. And there was only one checkout. And they brought somebody else to start opening the line. And she got a tap from somebody behind her.

Ricardo [00:21:46]:
Yeah.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:21:46]:
And she turned around, he's like, ma', am, the line is open. It's. You know, you should go.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:21:50]:
And she said, in New York, they

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:21:52]:
Would have like, trampled me, right? Like it. They like, they would have run over me if they. If I didn't see it. And they saw it and she's like, I'd made that decision. That's where we're going to be. So it's a great story.

Ricardo [00:22:03]:
One more, you know, if you. Yeah, I. One day in the hotel, Bill Wilson there was the owner of the Chevy dealership. He went to my hotel and knocked the door. And I was early in the morning. I said, hey, Bill, come on, come on. Come with me to my office was right in front. I went there, I said, you're renting car every single week.

Ricardo [00:22:27]:
You know, you need a car, you know. And he said, yes, I need a car. And I said, pick any car you want it. Let's make a business. This is a business. I didn't have any checking account yet. My business have account, but I didn't have any checking account in the city and all that. I like a car.

Ricardo [00:22:48]:
He said it was the ugly car there. Remember the Aztec? I like the Aztec. And nobody liked the Aztec. I think he was pushing to sell me the car that he cannot sell in the lot. But anyway, he said, it's all yours. He called the president of the bank. The bank came at that time, Robert Strong and Rios Band came, you know, shaking hands. And I signed some paper there and.

Ricardo [00:23:11]:
And I have a car, you know, Then we formalize everything, you know, during that month.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:23:16]:
Right?

Ricardo [00:23:17]:
Yeah, that happened to me here in Kira.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:23:19]:
That is awesome. That a great story. That's a pretty good dealer. That is awesome. So let's talk a little bit about the kids. You've raised kids here now. Are they still in school? Where are they now? Or tell us a little bit about that journey and what. Yeah, but that was like we were.

Ricardo [00:23:39]:
They were very much involved in all this, you know, growing here in Kim between Kilgore and Longview, Texas. And they, you know, my wife and I, very family oriented. You know, we. We met a similar type of people and they have a beautiful childhood, you know, and a beautiful youth, you know, they enjoy very much from kindergarten to 12th grade when they graduated. My daughter graduated as a graphic design. Then she went overseas, studied industrial design and software masters and now she's in Austin and she work in a software company. She's very successful there. My son graduated in marketing and he went to Chicago.

Ricardo [00:24:33]:
They were then to Miami, came back to East Texas and now he live. And he's married. Live in. In Miami.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:24:40]:
Okay.

Ricardo [00:24:41]:
Working in. Yeah.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:24:42]:
All right. So when you Think back through, I mean, you've seen Kilgore change so much in 25 years. But when you think about the future, what excites you most about what you're seeing here in Kilgore today?

Ricardo [00:24:54]:
Well, you know, there are so many opportunities, you know, and sometimes I want to go back and have 25, 30 years ago again, you know, because this is the way that I see it, you know, and I see a lot of young people, you know, my kids are some of them that look for the opportunities and they don't want to experience the big city. You know, many of my friends, they have older kids. You can see kids coming back to the area, you know. But there are incredible opportunities. We, you know, Kilgore is surrounded on many important business and there are a lot of opportunities to become a B2B business of very important companies. And there are land available, there are incentives available. I see a tremendous growth in this area in the future. Of course, you need to be prepared for that challenge.

Ricardo [00:26:02]:
My time if you don't in 2000 is you decided, oh, I don't want to learn anything about Internet. I don't want to have a website. You were dead. Because the business changed rapidly between 1999 and 2003 and an Eco star and everything. Now we have the same challenges but in different perspective, you know, with automation, with artificial intelligence. And I think if young people, entrepreneurs can prepare. And I always say, you know, I read that from Jensen, the Nvidia CEO. AI is not going to take the job from you.

Ricardo [00:26:41]:
You know, somebody that knows AI take the job from you and he's the same. The opportunities exist, you know, with the new tools that we have and such a great companies all around the area. You can start something that can serve these companies or design a new product for people that is considering to bring the business here is the same advice. There are so many entities that trying to support you. The, the community is so open to be part of your business that that will make a difference.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:27:29]:
That's such great advice. I, I can say I. People are so surprised when we say that. They think, hey yeah, whatever, you're just trying to get me there. And. But when they show up and they have experiences like you have where someone notices, hey, you've got this challenge that you seem to be having over and over again. Let me help you some way. That is what you can expect and find here.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:27:51]:
So thank you for sharing that. One last question before we let you go. If, if you wanted to, to tell someone to grab lunch or dinner. Where, where are you going to take them? Where's your, where's your kind of. Where's your spot? I know that might be a tough challenge, but.

Ricardo [00:28:05]:
Yeah, no, you know, it's. And I am, you know, if I want to grab a sandwich, you know, or something like that, I love to go to Downtown Delight or soup, you know, if I want to eat more, you know, elaborated food, I go to Jack Ryan's.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:28:21]:
Okay.

Ricardo [00:28:21]:
The pizza, I go to Scent Kitchen, you know, depends.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:28:26]:
Okay.

Ricardo [00:28:26]:
There are auctions here in Kilgore, you know, that, you know, family owned that people welcome when you get there and the food is very good.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:28:33]:
That's.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:28:34]:
I've experienced that everywhere I've walked in.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:28:35]:
It's. I was selling

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:28:38]:
Lisa earlier.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:28:39]:
It's kind of like, you know, when you walk into Buc Ees, everybody yells at you like, hey, welcome to Buc Ees. And, and. But that's. I've been, everywhere I've gone, it's been, hey, welcome in. And they're like so excited to see. It's almost, it's almost a little surprising. So it's awesome. Well, Ricardo, thank you so much.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:28:53]:
It's. Congratulations on your success and thank you for what you do in the world and for here and supporting Kilgore. I know it means a lot to the KDC and, and they're happy to have you in the community and, and really appreciate just the entrepreneurial journey. I know it's not an easy one and so anybody that's will take that leap and journey. I think it's important because it matters and so just appreciate you doing that and thank you for sharing your story today.

Ricardo [00:29:16]:
Oh, my pleasure. My pleasure. Anytime. Thank you for the time.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:29:20]:
All right, folks, thanks for joining us. Learn more about Kilgore and by watching the full series at gone to texas podcast.com kilgore and as always, thanks again

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:29:30]:
for listening to us here on the

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:29:31]:
Gone to Texas podcast. Please like share and subscribe so more business owners can discover what's possible in the Lone Star State. If you're tired of red tape, high cost, and feeling stuck where you are, this is the invitation you've been waiting for. Come to Texas. The Texas Economic Development Connection exists to help you skip the runaround and connect directly with the people and places ready to help your business grow like folks here at the Kilgore Economic Development Corporation. Because when you find the right spot in Texas, your business wins. Your people, your future and your freedom win too. Visit Texas EDC connection.com to schedule your free call.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:30:05]:
I'm your host, Super Dave Quinn, saying bye for now and until next time.

"Super" Dave Quinn [00:30:08]:
Make it a great day.

Intro [00:30:11]:
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Gone to Texas, the official podcast of the Texas Economic Development connection. Powered by Day 1 experts, a collection of the country's best known economic development professionals offering on demand services to communities across the nation.