The Building Texas Show

Texas kids are pitching on stage in Mason while a Hill Country co-op backs the schools and the tents behind them.

Madysen McDonald of Hill Country Telephone Cooperative sits down with Justin McKenzie in Ingram, Texas, ahead of Hill Country VentureFest. HCTC is putting $10,000 into each of 26 schools, showing up under Friday Night Lights, and wiring rural members with landline, fiber, and fixed wireless — then showing up again when student founders take the mic.

In this conversation:
• What Justin is seeing as VentureFest emcee in Mason
• Kids at the HCTC tent: “My parents have HCTC”
• $10,000 donations to 26 schools across the service region
• Football tents at Comfort vs Ingram and Mason vs Junction
• Youth culture from Friday Night Lights to the pitch stage
• Landline, fiber, and fixed wireless for Hill Country ranches
• How families join: HCTC.net · 830-367-5333 · Sonora, Mason, Junction offices
• Why a telephone cooperative still feels local — grocery store, T-ball, owners in the stands

Chapters:
0:00 Cold open — kids, HCTC, and VentureFest energy
0:35 Ingram, Texas with Madysen McDonald of HCTC
1:09 $10,000 to 26 Hill Country schools
2:00 Friday Night Lights tents on both sides of the stadium
2:56 Where HCTC serves (Fredericksburg to Big Lake)
3:20 Landline, fiber, and rural wireless for ranch country
5:58 How to join HCTC
7:10 Co-op family: local employees, local owners
8:10 Hill Country VentureFest in Mason — youth on stage
9:21 How to support HCTC and the next generation
10:10 Closing — cooperative spirit and building Texas

VentureFest — Mason, Texas
Emcee: Justin McKenzie

Join HCTC:
https://HCTC.net
830-367-5333
Offices: Sonora · Mason · Junction
Facebook · Instagram · TikTok: Hill Country Telephone Cooperative

The Building Texas Show covers Texas economic development, rural broadband, small-town growth, youth entrepreneurship, and the people building the Texas economy.

Subscribe:
https://www.youtube.com/@BuildingTexasShow

#Texas #VentureFest #TexasYouth #HillCountry #BuildingTexas #Entrepreneurship #RuralInternet #HCTC #MasonTX #TexasBusiness

Ashe juniper, the "mountain cedar" covering the Hill Country, is native here. There just used to be a lot less of it. Grass fires swept through and killed the young trees, because a juniper dies once it loses its green. We stopped letting those fires burn, and now the hillsides are thick with a tree full of oils that goes up fast once it catches.

Firefighters call that a ladder fuel. It's how a grass fire, already moving faster than you can run, climbs into the canopy and turns into a crown fire.

In the final episode of our Sisterdale VFD series, a Sisterdale firefighter explains why one house makes it through a wildfire while the rest of the street burns. After Maui, people looked at the satellite photos and decided the surviving homes must belong to someone rich. Usually the answer is duller than that: nothing flammable planted under the soffit vents, and a cleared strip right around the walls. He also makes the case for sprinklers in new rural homes. Last he saw, they added about 2 or 3 percent to construction cost, and only the head nearest the fire goes off.

Kendall County's Community Wildfire Protection Plan has now completed 50 property risk assessments. If you're looking at a hillside that worries you and can't pay to clear it yourself, the Hill Country Fire Coalition exists to help you find the resources.

Three things to do this month:
1. Walk the first 5 feet around your house and pull anything that burns.
2. Clear ladder fuels from the 5–20 ft zone.
3. Call your volunteer fire department and ask what their real response time to your address is.

Resources:
Texas A&M Forest Service, defensible space and wildfire prep: https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/education-outreach/
Firewise USA guidance (NFPA): https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/wildfire/firewise-usa
Hill Country Fire Coalition: https://www.hcfcoftx.com/

This is Episode 3 of our 3-part series on Sisterdale VFD.
Episode 1, 50 Years of the Sisterdale Fire Department: https://youtu.be/44s6faM8uH0
Episode 2, Your Volunteer Fire Department Needs You Right Now: https://youtu.be/Z5p_gtDL8ck

0:00 Why Hill Country cedar burns so fast
1:00 Ladder fuels and crown fires
1:25 Building into the danger zone
2:16 Why one house survives when the rest burn
2:50 The Community Wildfire Protection Plan
4:10 Defensible space, explained
5:05 Residential sprinklers aren't like Hollywood
6:10 Brush piles and fighting fire with fire
7:12 Three things to do this month

Subscribe for more stories about the people Building Texas:
https://www.youtube.com/@thebuildingtexasshow

Thank you to our sponsor, Chisos Boots, and their d*mn comfortable cowboy boots.
Music License: MJVDDMG9HNXUAMKQ

Your content has two audiences now: humans and machines. Mark Willaman of Newsworthy.ai breaks down why the press release is still the perfect document for AI search, SEO, and brand discoverability.

SEO can get you into the library. AI retrieval decides whether you get pulled off the shelf. We cover structured, entity-rich press releases, the 28-day news cycle, multi-format distribution (articles, audio, Shorts, FAQs), generative engine optimization, and why “I want press releases to drive sales” is usually the wrong first question.

Mark co-built this path after PR Web. Justin maps it to Texas founders, mayors, and EDCs who still need to get found when local news is thin.

Free start: https://www.newsworthy.ai

Guest: Mark Willaman, Founder, Newsworthy.ai
Host: Justin McKenzie, The Building Texas Show, https://www.buildingtexasshow.com

Location: San Antonio, Texas

Chapters:
0:00 Your content has two audiences
0:13 Mark Willaman and Newsworthy.ai
0:40 From PR Web to Newsworthy.ai
2:01 HR marketing background
2:46 Why press releases fit the AI era
4:01 Multi-format distribution and NewsRamp
6:01 Specific search and the SPECIFIC framework
7:53 AI training bots, RAG, and grounding
11:26 Hook in the water and AI discoverability
12:59 SEO gets you in the library
13:31 Meet people where they search
16:51 On the shelf vs off the shelf
19:39 How to start with Newsworthy.ai
21:06 Texas mayors, EDCs, and measurable messaging
22:40 Close

Key ideas in this episode:
• Press releases = current, factual, structured, entity-rich
• SPECIFIC: Structured, Public, Entity-rich, Current, Informative, Factual, Indexable, Consistent
• 28-day news cycle for ongoing discoverability
• One source document → articles, audio, Shorts, FAQs, social
• Full press release dumped into LinkedIn usually dies
• AI bots visiting your site ≠ guaranteed AI answers
• Brand trust takes repeated touches across platforms

Resources:
Newsworthy.ai — free account, blog, and David McInnis’s book (free digital on site)
NewsRamp.com — multi-format news distribution

The Building Texas Show covers Texas economic development, Texas business, founders, mayors, and the leaders building the state.

Subscribe for more Texas growth stories.
Guest PR / episode inquiries: use the Building Texas Show contact path on the channel.

#TexasBusiness #PressRelease #AISearch #SEO #GenerativeEngineOptimization #SanAntonio #BuildingTexas #DigitalPR #ContentDistribution #TexasEconomy

San Antonio culture is not a side show. It is how the city keeps a downtown worth showing up for, a heritage you cannot outsource, and a free stage most cities only talk about.

Suhail Arastu of Musical Bridges Around the World breaks down why San Antonio culture matters in 2026: 278 free concerts last year (inching toward 300), sister-city orchestras at the Tobin, public art from the River Walk to San Pedro Creek, and the fight to fund arts when budgets get tight. He serves as Global Arts Envoy for Sister Cities International and sits on the San Antonio Arts Commission.

We cover free Grammy-level performances, Title I and senior outreach, Gwangju and the Mexico City Philharmonic, Kaohsiung and the Gurwitz path to 2028, The Saga on Main Plaza, “the border crossed us,” Roosevelt Library and UNESCO Missions timing, and why military and biomed are real but culture is the irreplaceable asset.

Season kickoff: October 11 — Stable Hall, San Fernando Cathedral, Carver Community Cultural Center.
More: musicalbridges.org

On The Building Texas Show, Justin McKenzie talks with the people building Texas growth — economy, infrastructure, and the cultural layer that makes cities work.

⏱️ Chapters
0:00 San Antonio culture: why it matters more than you think
0:54 Musical Bridges and free world-class concerts
2:26 278 free events across Bexar County
3:34 Sister cities, Gurwitz, Gwangju, Mexico City Philharmonic
6:10 Public art, River Walk, San Antonio Arts Commission
7:47 San Pedro Creek: ditch to cultural corridor
8:46 Downtown activation, sprawl, Alameda, Project Marvel
11:11 Centro, The Saga, commissioning global artists
12:50 “The border crossed us” — Conjunto, Tejano, two-way bridges
14:05 Roosevelt Library, Impresario, UNESCO Missions
16:44 Why San Antonio arts and heritage still need a budget
17:30 What’s next: Oct 11 season and city-center energy
19:13 Sister cities, employers, Alamo Plaza, Guangzhou Pavilion

🔗 Guest
Suhail Arastu — Musical Bridges Around the World
Sister Cities International (Global Arts Envoy)
San Antonio Arts Commission

📍 In this episode
San Antonio, Bexar County, Tobin Center, San Fernando Cathedral, Stable Hall, Carver, San Pedro Creek, River Walk, Alamo Plaza

#SanAntonio #TexasCulture #Texas #ArtsAndCulture #BuildingTexas #SisterCities #PublicArt #TexasHistory #FreeConcerts #SanAntonioTexas

Roughly 70% of America's firefighters are volunteers, and most of those departments can't find enough people to keep trucks staffed. Kendall County is one of them. Modern homes reach flashover in five minutes, but rural fire response takes twenty. Your volunteer fire department needs help.

Chief Brian Riley runs Sisterdale VFD, in the Texas Hill Country, with a roster that floats between 30 and 35 volunteers. Rural dispatch and drive time can run 20 to 30 minutes. You could hire 40 fire engines and a hundred career firefighters and it wouldn't close that gap — the station is still 20 minutes away. The only thing that closes it is the guy who lives four houses down.

This isn't a uniquely Kendall County problem. It's the model for most of rural America. If your town has a volunteer department, it is running on the same math, the same thin roster, and the same assumption that someone nearby will show up. Find out who yours is. Ask what they need. A department that's short-staffed at 2 AM doesn't care whether you can fight fire — they need drivers, radio operators, grant writers, and people willing to show up for training on a Tuesday night.

This is Episode 2 of our 3-part series on Sisterdale VFD. Episode 1 covered the department's 50-year history. Episode 3 gets into why the cedar tree in your yard is fuel.

Watch Episode 1 — 50 Years of the Sisterdale Fire Department: https://youtu.be/44s6faM8uH0

0:00 The Reality of Rural Fire Response Time
0:56 The Hidden Challenges of Volunteer Departments
2:15 Why Relying on Luck Is Not a Strategy
4:23 Preventing Catastrophic Firestorms

Subscribe for more stories about the people Building Texas:
https://www.youtube.com/@thebuildingtexasshow

Thank you to our sponsor, Chisos Boots — their d*mn comfortable cowboy boots.184

Celebrate 50 years of the Sisterdale Fire Department. See why the volunteer fire department model is far from dying out.

Seventy percent of America's firefighters serve as volunteers, yet many departments struggle to find recruits. In this first part of our 3-part series, we sit down with Chief Brian Riley to discuss the future of the Sisterdale Fire Department. He argues that the volunteer fire department model isn't failing; it is actually on the edge of a renaissance.

This episode explores the reality of being one of the volunteer firefighters in Kendall County, Texas. We look at the 3 AM calls and the community culture that keeps teams together. We also discuss why focusing on the career fire service model often sets rural departments up to fail, and how a focus on community membership allows teams in the Texas Hill Country to thrive.

0:00 - The Reality of Human Connection
0:43 - A Renaissance for Volunteer Firefighters
2:26 - The Trap of the Career Fire Model
4:45 - Leveraging Professional Diversity

Subscribe for more stories about the people building the state, and let us know your experience with local first responders in the comments.

#SisterdaleVFD #VolunteerFirefighters #BuildingTexasShow #TexasHillCountry #KendallCounty #FireDepartment #VolunteerFireDepartment #TexasStories
In this first episode of our 3-part series on Sisterdale Fire Department in Kendall County, Texas, we go inside a department celebrating its 50th anniversary, founded in 1975 around a single converted military brush truck. Chief Riley breaks down why chasing the "career fire service" model sets volunteer departments up to fail, why community membership matters more than titles, and how Sisterdale built a culture where every skill from IT to irrigation to emergency management has a place on the team.

This episode explores the real, human stakes behind volunteer fire service: the 3 AM calls, the lonely stretches of country road, and the neighbors who show up for each other when it matters most.

Coming up in this series:

Part 2 & 3 dive deeper into Sisterdale VFD's story — subscribe so you don't miss them.

If you live near a volunteer fire department, go meet them this week.

Thank you to our sponsor, Chisos Boots d*mn comfortable cowboy boots.

Subscribe for more stories about the people Building Texas.
Follow us: https://www.youtube.com/@thebuildingtexasshow

$400 to $500 electric on a rental under 2,000 square feet. New 3,200 square foot house in San Antonio: $150 to $200. He said it's the windows.

Gabby and Jonathan own First Choice Windows and Home Exteriors, based in Bulverde and working San Antonio. Gabby could not find a locally owned window shop in a city built on small business. They left the 75-truck model, sell Andersen and Pella at a lower price, and tell homeowners the same test: stand next to the glass. If you feel the outside, the house is failing. Windows are not DIY.

Recorded at the San Antonio Home and Garden Show with Justin McKenzie.

firstchoicewindowsolutions.com
Instagram and Facebook: firstchoicewindowsolutions

Chapters
0:00 $400 Electric Bill. He Said It's the Windows
0:59 How a San Antonio Window Company Gets Started
3:15 No Locally Owned Window Shop in San Antonio
4:44 Windows Opened Fences, Roofing, and Siding
7:24 First Choice Windows and Home Exteriors
8:49 How You Know a 2005 Home Needs New Windows
9:53 $400 Bill on 2,000 Sq Ft
10:49 Cheap Windows in Million-Dollar New Builds
11:46 Sealed-Shut Wood Windows and Failed Weights
13:33 Stand Next to the Window
14:00 20-Year Windows, 30-Year Roof
15:51 Windows Are Not a DIY Project
16:51 Exterior First. Protect the Interior
18:34 Humidity, Rain, and Summer Projects
20:32 Do It Before It Fails
21:08 No 75 Trucks. Still Andersen and Pella
23:04 firstchoicewindowsolutions.com

#Texas #SanAntonio #BuildingTexas #WindowReplacement #HomeImprovement

Pflugerville Texas went from a joke that you could not buy socks in city limits to advanced manufacturing, semiconductor, life sciences, dual-use defense, and aerospace. Jerry W. Jones Jr., executive director of the Pflugerville Community Development Corporation (PCDC), breaks down Texas economic development that stays people-first.

PCDC is in its 25th year. Jerry's filter is simple: they will not recruit a business they would not want to live next to. That same standard shows up in PFORGE with Pflugerville ISD (100+ languages spoken, IEDC award), Venture Fest week (100 participants → 480 → 300+ already registered), and a fit-over-force open door for companies that want valued-wage jobs in the Austin suburbs corridor.

On The Building Texas Show with Justin McKenzie: quiet talent-pool history, business tax that funds parks and roads, city partnership with manager Jerry W Jones, Jr., why they will not lure a company here to fail, and the Typhoon Texas chamber fair that showed Jerry every walk of life in one parking lot.

Chapters
0:00 We won't recruit what we wouldn't live next to
0:22 Welcome: Jerry Jones Jr. & Pflugerville Texas
1:09 Still turning dirt: manufacturing, semiconductor, life sciences
2:52 No socks in town → socks and shoes (PCDC at 25)
4:12 How business tax builds parks and roads in Texas
5:44 People-first economic development in Pflugerville
7:42 Economic gardening and quality of life
8:20 Pflugerville ISD, PFORGE, and the IEDC award
12:09 Venture Fest week: workshops, Women's Summit, pitches
15:35 C.S. Freeland and statewide Venture Fest
16:48 Who should call PCDC (fit over force)
19:20 Typhoon Texas fair: this is who Pflugerville is
20:53 Building Texas close

Guest: Jerry W. Jones Jr.
Title: Executive Director, Pflugerville Community Development Corporation (PCDC)
Location: Pflugerville, Texas

PCDC / Venture Fest
Search Pflugerville Community Development Corporation or Pflugerville Venture Fest for dates, registration, and business resources.

Watch more Texas economic development, Austin suburbs growth, and founder stories on The Building Texas Show.

#Texas #Pflugerville #TexasGrowth #BuildingTexas #EconomicDevelopment #AustinTexas #TexasBusiness

Sixty to seventy percent of roof claims get denied. Jasper Shin of Texas Roof Guardians says the average file is already short $3,000 to $5,000, and San Antonio took five hail storms last year.
Insurance is incentivized not to pay. Jasper walks the full-property inspection, the three-reinspection rule, Xactimate supplements, mortgage-split checks, and why you call a local roofer before you call the carrier. If the roof is more than seven years old, he also explains why solar on that deck is a leak waiting to happen.
Jasper Shin, Texas Roof Guardians. San Antonio, Kerrville to Seguin, I-35, and the major metros. GAF certified. Owens Corning preferred. Atlas certified. Tesla solar in process.

Free policy review and a free biannual inspection subscription:
Website: txroofguardians.com
Phone: 726-244-5844

Chapters

0:00 Why insurance is incentivized not to pay
0:50 Full-property roof inspection after wind and hail
3:00 Heat blister vs hail damage (what your policy actually covers)
6:00 Solar panels on a roof older than 7 years
8:00 Storm chasers vs a local Texas roofer
12:00 Why homeowners lose the claim before it starts
14:00 60–70% denial rate and the 15–20% catastrophe rule
15:00 First call, three reinspections, Xactimate, supplements
20:00 GAF, Owens Corning, Atlas, Tesla roof systems
23:00 How to vet a roofer at the kitchen table
26:00 The depreciation clause hiding in your renewal
28:00 Service area: San Antonio to every major Texas metro
29:00 Free biannual roof inspection subscription

#texas #SanAntonio #TexasGrowth #BuildingTexas #Roofing

The Building Texas Show
Hosted by Justin McKenzie

Texas State University is up to $183 million in research expenditures, and invention disclosures have tripled in the past two years. Dr. Matt Sorenson, the university's first Director of Venture Development, breaks down what happens after a researcher files a patent — and who actually owns it.

Justin McKenzie sits down with Dr. Sorenson in San Marcos to talk through Star Park, the BobCatalyst Innovation Accelerator Program, and the $30,000 proof-of-concept grants that fund prototypes and pilot testing before a technology is ready for a commercial partner. Doctor Sorenson also explains why the Board of Regents owns anything invented with Texas State resources — and why inventors still share in the revenue if it reaches the market.

Also covered: the National Academy of Inventors chapter launching at Texas State this September, and the story of Donovan Brown, a Texas State engineering student building flood-response drones out of lab space at Star Park after the July 2025 floods.

If you're a Texas State alum, a founder building out of a university lab, or a researcher wondering what happens to your patent after you file it, this one walks through exactly how a public university turns a lab discovery into a company.

0:00 – Why a university can't take tech to market alone
0:56 – Sorenson's path from UT Austin to Texas State
2:20 – What a Director of Venture Development does day to day
3:14 – $183M in research spending, 3x jump in invention disclosures
5:06 – The range of research: AI, concrete tech, healthcare apps
6:10 – BobCatalyst: customer discovery training and the $30K grants
9:22 – Who owns your invention, and how you still get paid
11:54 – Why Sorenson picked Texas State over bigger programs
15:25 – Texas Venture Gala, SXSW, and the Bobcat network
18:01 – What's coming this fall at Star Park
21:00 – Kelly Damphousse's leadership and Bobcat culture
22:25 – Donovan Brown's flood-response drone startup

The Building Texas Show is hosted by Justin McKenzie, covering the founders, mayors, and innovators building the Texas economy.

#TexasState #Bobcats #SanMarcos #TechTransfer #UniversityStartups #StarPark #TexasStartups #BuildingTexasShow