The Building Texas Show

Explore the oddest corners of Texas landmarks, from a moat-encircled stage to a trail featuring 98 custom painted dinosaurs. See how these distinct sites reflect the diverse culture of the state.

This episode of Building Texas 98 painted dinosaurs. An amphitheater with a moat. Five hotels in a town of 2,700 people. One hour south of Fort Worth, Glen Rose is packing more than you'd ever expect from a small Texas town — and most people drive right past it.I sat down with Traci Niedziela, Tourism Director for Glen Rose, to talk about what actually makes this town worth a weekend — not just a day trip.

We covered:
→ Why 28% of Texans live within 90 minutes of Glen Rose — and most haven't visited
→ The 98 hand-painted dinosaur scavenger hunt hidden across the entire city
→ Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, Dinosaur Valley State Park, and the amphitheater with an actual moat
→ Cabins on the Paluxy River where you can unplug completely
→ How Comanche Peak nuclear plant drives midweek tourism — yes, really
→ July 4th traditions: parade, dunk tank, and a mayor who wanders the squareIf you're looking for a Texas weekend getaway that isn't the same Hill Country loop everyone else is doing, this one's worth 20 minutes.

Plan your trip: www.ExploreGlenRose.com ‪@ExploreGlenRose76043‬ ‪@cityofglenrosetexas127‬ 

⏱️ Chapters:
0:00 — 98 dinosaurs, a moat & a town that knows everyone
0:28 — Welcome to The Building Texas Show
2:42 — Where IS Glen Rose?
3:37 — Why it's not a day trip
4:28 — The parks stack: Fossil Rim, Dinosaur Valley, Dinosaur World & the amphitheater
6:50 — Cabins on the river
8:28 — 5 hotels, 1 small town — how Comanche Peak drives tourism
10:29 — Mayor Joe Bowles & July 4th
12:38 — The 98-dinosaur scavenger hunt
14:47 — Fourth of July events
16:02 — Plan your weekend

#GlenRose #TexasWeekendGetaway #DinosaurValleyStatePark #TexasTravel #BuildingTexas #SmallTownTexas #TexasHiddenGems

Our speaker discusses the perils of "group think" within city council, highlighting how unanimous 6-0 votes can signal a lack of diverse perspectives. He argues that effective "decision making" requires different viewpoints, using a marital analogy to explain why constant agreement is problematic. This insightful take on "social dynamics" and "leadership" emphasizes the importance of a "free thinker" in governance.

Frisco is managing a $400M city budget, 20,000 daily visitors at the new Universal Studios park, and a PGA Championship that draws 200,000 fans in one week — and most council members running it had zero formal financial training.

Jared Elad — wealth manager, Frisco City Council Member, and the first person in 21 years to pursue certified municipal officer status in Frisco — sits down with Justin McKenzie to explain why "six-zero votes" are the most dangerous number in local government, how Frisco is navigating its east-west development divide, and what it takes to keep the 10th-largest Texas city from following Dallas's footsteps.

🔑 KEY TOPICS
→ Why unanimous city council votes signal groupthink — not consensus
→ Frisco's $400M operating budget and the 30/70 commercial tax base strategy
→ Universal Studios Frisco: 20,000 daily visitors and the traffic strain it creates
→ PGA Championship Frisco: 200,000 fans in one week, every two years
→ East vs. West Frisco — the tale of two development corridors
→ Why most council members "wing it" with a $400M budget
→ Certified Municipal Officer: first in Frisco in 21 years
→ At-large elections in a 242,000-person city — like running a state house race

🎙 ABOUT THE GUEST
Jared Elad is a Frisco City Council Member and wealth management firm owner. His wife, Stephanie Elad, serves as a Frisco ISD Trustee.

📍 THE BUILDING TEXAS SHOW
The Texas business podcast covering Texas economic development, the Texas housing market, and the Texas economy in 2026. Each episode features the founders, mayors, and innovators driving Texas growth.

🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes on Texas cities, Texas real estate, and Texas leadership.

#FriscoTexas #TexasGrowth #BuildingTexas #NorthTexas #MovingToTexas

0:00
Why Unanimous City Council Votes Are a Red Flag
Cold open — groupthink hook, "six-zero votes," statistically impossible claim
1:15
Welcome to The Building Texas Show: Jared Elad, Frisco City Council
Branded intro, guest intro by Justin
1:37
Why a Wealth Manager Ran for Frisco City Council
$400M budget, no financial expertise on council, wife Stephanie's Frisco ISD run
4:19
How Frisco's City Manager Model Works: $400M, 1,800 Employees
City manager as CEO, council as board, mayor's tie-vote role
5:25
New Council, New Debate: How Councilman Thacker Changed the Room
Groupthink broken, more discussion on council now
6:47
Frisco's East vs. West Problem: A Tale of Two Cities
Denton County vs. Collin County, development imbalance, east side being neglected
8:00
Universal Studios Frisco: 20,000 Visitors Per Day
Traffic strain, Grand Park (1,000 acres), infrastructure pressure
9:01
PGA Championship Frisco: 200,000 Fans in One Week
Every two years, Fields West, The Star development
9:39
Frisco Is the 10th Largest City in Texas — For Now
245K people, projected 8th largest, 350–400K population
11:03
Frisco's $400M Budget: The 30/70 Tax Base Strategy
45/55 today, targeting 30% residential / 70% commercial, Mansfield comparison
12:20
How Frisco Funds the Best Police and Fire Departments in Texas
50% of budget, crime deterrence strategy
14:20
The Training Gap: Most City Council Members "Wing It"
No formal training for $400M decision-making, Texas Municipal League
15:50
Certified Municipal Officer: First in Frisco in 21 Years
25-hour leadership course, TML Leadership Fellow, CPA vs. bookkeeper analogy
18:48
At-Large Elections in a 242,000-Person City
Like running a state house race, $1M mayor races, why Jared prefers at-large

80% of boards told their companies to adopt AI — but only 20% of companies actually trusted it. Perry Robinson, CEO of RocketDocs, has been solving that problem for 30 years without most people knowing it.

In this conversation, Perry breaks down the hidden dangers of "shadow AI" — when employees feed proprietary company data into public tools like ChatGPT — and explains why a security policy alone is never enough. "Policy is a promise. Architecture is a guarantee." RocketDocs' secure AI platform, Luma, keeps your company's knowledge locked in-house, so regulated industries can finally trust AI at scale.

Topics covered:
→ What RFP management and knowledge management actually mean (and why regulated industries depend on it)
→ The AI trust gap: why the 80%/20% split is a governance crisis, not a technology problem
→ Shadow AI — the silent risk your CISO probably isn't watching for
→ Why "if you're not paying for the product, you are the product" applies to free AI tools
→ How Luma AI works: closed, secure, and limited on purpose
→ The EU AI Act and what it means for U.S. companies this year

🔗 Learn more about RocketDocs: [ROCKETDOCS LINK]
🔗 Subscribe to The Building Texas Show: [CHANNEL LINK]

⏱ CHAPTERS

0:00 Introduction — Perry Robinson, CEO of RocketDocs
0:54 What Is RocketDocs? 30 Years of AI Innovation
2:37 Knowledge Management & Eliminating Repetitive Work
3:55 Data Security: ISO 27001, SOC 2 & the AI Trust Gap
6:20 Is Your Company Leaking Its IP to AI?
8:54 Luma AI — The Closed, Secure Enterprise Intelligence Platform
10:55 "If You're Not Paying, You Are the Product" — The Risk of Free AI Tools
12:03 Shadow AI: The Hidden Risk Inside Your Own Organization
14:43 Salesforce, Atlassian & the Platform Data Problem
15:46 EU AI Act: What's Coming This Summer & Why It Matters
16:36 AI Governance Committees: Who Owns AI Risk at Your Company?
17:39 Responsible Release — "Policy Is a Promise. Architecture Is a Guarantee."
19:35 Critical Company Data vs. Basic AI — Where to Draw the Line
20:37 Defense, Automotive & Secure File Transfer
23:04 How to Connect with RocketDocs
24:05 Closing — Building AI Right in Texas

‪@thebuildingtexasshow‬ 
Texas business podcast covering Texas economic development, innovation, and the founders building the future of the state. Hosted by Justin McKenzie. New episodes weekly.

#AIGovernance #ShadowAI #TexasBusiness #RocketDocs #EnterpriseAI

Searching for custom stained glass windows for your church or sacred space? ‪@CavalliniCoInc‬  has designed and installed handcrafted, architect-grade stained glass for congregations across Texas and beyond for over 70 years — and every commission is built to last generations.

No two windows are the same. Every Cavallini design is developed around your congregation's specific religious narrative, architectural space, and structural requirements — something no AI-generated template can replicate.

In Episode 2 of The Cavallini Legacy, Justin McKenzie goes deeper inside the Cavallini studio to explore what it actually takes to create sacred art at this level: the hidden structural engineering inside every panel, the year-and-a-half timelines, and the 18-year story of salvaged hurricane windows that finally found their home.

🎙️ In this episode:
Why authentic stained glass projects take up to 18 months to complete
The structural "rebars" inside every window most people never see
How Cavallini develops custom religious themes for each unique congregation

Why AI can help — but can never drive the aesthetic soul of sacred glasswork
The 18-year salvaged window story that defines the Cavallini legacy

📍 Cavallini Art Glass — Texas-based. Installed worldwide. In business since 1953.

🔔 Subscribe to The Building Texas Show for stories of the innovators and craftsmen shaping the future of Texas.
#StainedGlass #ChurchArt #CavalliniLegacy #BuildingTexas #SacredArt #StainedGlassArt #ReligiousArt #TexasCraft #StainedGlassWindows #HandcraftedArt

​‪@cityoftaylortx‬ beat out New York, Arizona, and South Korea to land Samsung — and that was just the start. Now Compal is bringing 900 jobs in a 300,000+ sq ft facility, the University of Texas is building a 68-acre engineering campus next door, and Mayor Dwayne Ariola has a quadrant-by-quadrant plan to make sure the city doesn't just grow fast — it grows right.

Host Justin McKenzie sits down with Mayor Ariola to break down how a small Williamson County town became the center of America's semiconductor re-shoring story, what's coming next, and why the best part of the Taylor boom hasn't happened yet.

What you'll discover:
• How Taylor, TX outcompeted New York, Arizona, and South Korea for Samsung
• Compal's 900-job facility — the second major win that most people missed
• Why UT's engineering campus changes Taylor's entire economic trajectory
• The quadrant growth strategy keeping infrastructure ahead of development
• How Taylor is already planning for the next 20 years — not just the next 5

Connect with Taylor, TX: https://www.taylortx.gov/

What we cover:
How Taylor beat New York, Arizona & South Korea for the Samsung plant
Compal: 900 jobs arriving June/July at the Taylor Rail Park
University of Texas engineering campus — 68 acres, 5-year build timeline
The comprehensive plan mistake city hall openly admits to
Diversifying beyond semiconductors to protect Taylor's economic future
The permitting overhaul making Taylor more developer-friendly
Smart growth strategy: roads, utilities, water, wastewater, and community communication

Connect with Taylor, TX: https://www.taylortx.gov/

‪@thebuildingtexasshow‬ spotlights the innovators, founders, and civic leaders shaping the future of Texas — from fast-growing startups to cities rewriting their own stories.

‪@Wacosurf‬ is sold out year-round — and 99% of the people surfing there have never touched an ocean wave. David Taylor and Luke Schock bought a 60-acre wave pool in 2021, moved from Encinitas, CA with a 6-month-old baby, and are now building Desperado: a 400-acre surf community in the heart of Texas. ‪@VisitWacoTexas‬  

In this episode of ‪@thebuildingtexasshow‬  Justin McKenzie sits down with the two owners of Waco Surf to talk about how they transformed a struggling barefoot ski ranch into one of the most unique destinations in the American South — and why their next move is building an entire community around the wave.

What you'll learn:
→ Why they bought a surf park in Waco, TX over every other city in America
→ How the customer base flipped from 99% pro surfers to 99% Texas families
→ The Desperado development: a 400-acre lifestyle community with a second surf pool, 13-hole golf course, Hot Springs resort, and Texas ranch aesthetic
→ Why Waco is no longer a "drive-by city" on the I-35
→ How manmade surf pools are democratizing a sport that used to require an ocean

"This is no longer a sport for the coastal people. This is a sport we're bringing to central Texas." — Luke Schock The Building Texas Show highlights the founders, innovators, and community leaders shaping the future of Texas — one city at a time. #WacoSurf #WacoTexas #BuildingTexas

@cityofmanorsocial  Manor, Texas grew 225% in a single decade — but this 153-year-old city still doesn't have its first library or rec center. Mayor Dr. Chris Harvey is racing to build infrastructure before the next 22,000 residents arrive by 2030.

In this episode of  @thebuildingtexasshow  Justin McKenzie sits down with Manor Mayor Dr. Chris Harvey to unpack one of the fastest-growing cities in the Austin metro. With 14,000 housing units in the planning pipeline and a seat in what Harvey calls "the Golden Triangle of Opportunity" — surrounded by Samsung, semiconductor manufacturing, and logistics hubs — Manor is transforming from a bedroom community into a full-service city almost overnight.

We cover:
— Why a 153-year-old city is only now building its first library and recreation center
— How Manor is aggressively diversifying its tax base beyond residential property to lower homeowner tax rates
— The city's first-ever comprehensive plan and what it means for roads, parks, drainage, and healthcare
— Manor's strategy for attracting employers in logistics and semiconductor supply chains
— How Mayor Harvey is using community engagement (Meet Manor Mondays, town halls, and more) to keep residents informed during explosive growth
If you're moving to the Austin area, considering Austin suburbs, or tracking Texas economic development — Manor is a city worth watching.

The Building Texas Show features the founders, civic leaders, and innovators shaping the future of Texas.

Subscribe for new episodes every week.  @thebuildingtexasshow 

We're taking a closer look at local government initiatives aimed at fostering community building. These projects, part of a significant development phase, are designed to enhance community engagement through new facilities. This strategic planning is crucial for economic development and improving local amenities.

McKinney, Texas more than doubled its population in a decade — from 100K to 220K — and it's heading toward 400K. Lisa Hermes ‪@mckinneychamber‬  and Sherrod Davis ‪@ecomaptech‬   explain how one of Texas' fastest-growing cities is planning its future, from water and infrastructure to centralizing its startup ecosystem on a single platform. ‪@McKinneyTV‬ 

We break down why 28% of Texans now live in the DFW Metroplex, how chambers of commerce are evolving beyond ribbon cuttings into real-time information hubs, and why EcoMap's technology is giving communities like McKinney the data layer they need to make growth decisions — not just react to them. Shout out to ‪@CommunityImpactNews‬ 

Topics covered: → McKinney's population trajectory: 100K → 220K → 400K → The infrastructure squeeze: water, roads, broadband, energy → Data centers, electricity demand, and the next legislative fight → How EcoMap centralizes ecosystem activities and opportunities → The 24/7 digital asset shift — businesses finding resources at midnight → Fighting misinformation in a media desert → Why "everybody wants funding" — and how EcoMap maps it

🔔 Subscribe for the people, industries, and communities building the future of Texas:    / @thebuildingtexasshow  

​‪@CityofRoundRock‬  is running free startup accelerators — and they're getting results. The first G-Beta cohort drew 60+ applications for just 5 spots, created 3 jobs, and raised over $600,000. The woman building this from scratch is Adriana Nunez McDermott, Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Round Rock Chamber.

In a city best known for Dell, Round Rock is quietly proving that economic development isn't about walls and cranes anymore — it's about betting on your own people.

🗓️ ROUND ROCK STARTUP WEEK — May 5–8, 2026 

The biggest entrepreneurship event in Round Rock's history. Four sessions at Embassy Suites (May 7 is the main day): funding strategy, go-to-market, unfiltered founder conversations, and a pitch competition — with 36 applications submitted (the most ever). Presented by Generator. Free and open to the public.

👉 Register here: https://web.roundrockchamber.org/even...
p%20Day-10494/details

What we cover:

How the ‪@roundrocktxchamber‬  became the city's entire economic development engine — and what that means for founders
The G-Beta 7-week accelerator: how 5 companies raised $600K and created jobs in one cohort
Jumpstart — the pre-accelerator for founders who aren't "ready" yet (you might be closer than you think)

Why Round Rock is hunting for the next Dell from within its own community
How to succeed at Round Rock Startup Week whether you're a student, retiree, or first-time founder

Why all of this is completely free — and who to contact to get involved The Building Texas Show spotlights the founders, innovators, and civic leaders building the future of the Lone Star State. Hosted by Justin McKenzie. New episodes every week.

🔔 Subscribe — every episode is another reason Texas is winning:
‪@thebuildingtexasshow‬ 

👍 Like this video if you believe the next great Texas startup story is already being written in ‪@CityofRoundRock‬ .

Johnson City sits on the Pedernales River — and still can't tap a drop of it for drinking water. With 67 of 540 homes now operating as Airbnbs and no hotel in town, Mayor Stephanie Fisher is fighting to protect affordable housing while trying to unlock one of Texas Hill Country's most overlooked gateways.Mayor Stephanie Fisher — now in her second term — sits down with Justin McKenzie to break down the groundwater infrastructure battle, the Airbnb housing crunch reshaping Johnson City neighborhoods, and the city's plan to turn through-traffic on the 290/281 corridor into a real Texas Hill Country tourism economy.

What We Cover:
→ Why Johnson City relies entirely on the Ellenberger Aquifer despite sitting on the Pedernales River
→ The short-term rental math: 67 Airbnbs out of only 540 residential connections
→ The #1 economic development priority — attracting a boutique or resort-style hotel to the Hill Country
→ LBJ National Historic Park, the Science Mill, and Exotic Resort Zoo as untapped tourism anchors
→ The push for a higher pumpage permit and what's blocking water infrastructure growth
→ What sustainable growth actually looks like for a small Texas town on the edge of a boomGuest: Stephanie Fisher, Mayor of Johnson City, Texas

About The Building Texas Show:
The Building Texas Show is the Texas business podcast covering Texas economic development, the Texas housing market, and the Texas economy. Hosted by Justin McKenzie, each episode features the founders, mayors, and innovators driving Texas growth — from the Texas Hill Country and Austin metro to the Rio Grande Valley and beyond.