WTAW - Interviews

This podcast is a visit with the board chairman of the Brazos Valley Economic Development Corporation, Seth McKinney, and WTAW's Bill Oliver.

There is a new president/CEO of the Brazos Valley Economic Development Corporation (BVEDC).

Susan Davenport starts July 10 after serving with the Greater Houston Partnership as senior vice president and chief economic development officer.

She has also held five positions with economic development organizations in Austin and was the president of the chamber of commerce in Gainesville, Florida.

BVEDC, which is an economic development organization controlled by the cities of College Station and Bryan, Brazos County, and Texas A&M, conducted a national search.

BVEDC board chairman Seth McKinney told WTAW News that were approximately 40 applicants. That was pared down to 15 who made online presentations. That was followed by six were interviewed online. The search process concluded with in person visits by three finalists.

News release from the Brazos Valley Economic Development Corporation:

The Brazos Valley Economic Development Corporation has selected Susan M. Davenport, Senior Vice President & Chief Economic Development Officer for the Greater Houston Partnership (GHP), as its new President & CEO. Ms. Davenport will relocate to Bryan-College Station and will assume her new role on July 10, 2023.

“Susan has the experience and skillset that make this an incredibly exciting hire to announce,” said Seth McKinney, Chair of the Board of Directors. “Susan has a 20-year track record of success working with local, regional, and state governments as well as tier 1 research universities to bring jobs and innovation to many different sized markets.”

The BVEDC embarked on a national search this spring to identify and recruit a proven executive to lead the organization. Ms. Davenport was selected from among dozens of well-qualified candidates.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the BVEDC and contribute to the growth and prosperity of this vibrant region,” Ms. Davenport said. “I look forward to working with the talented team and collaborating with our partners to attract, retain, and foster businesses that will create jobs and enhance the economic landscape of the Brazos Valley.”

For the past five years, Ms. Davenport has led the creation and execution of a regional, domestic, and international economic development strategy for the 12-county greater Houston region. This strategy has resulted in the relocation of three Fortune 500 company global headquarters as well as hundreds of other companies to the area. Her efforts have resulted in thousands of new jobs and opportunities for regional residents.

Prior to Houston, Ms. Davenport served as President & CEO of the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce in Florida. Earlier, Davenport spent 13 years as Senior Vice President of Global Tech Strategies at Opportunity Austin. During her tenure, Opportunity Austin is credited with the creation of 174,000 jobs and enhancing regional payrolls by $8.7 billion.

Ms. Davenport has also worked to retain or expand more than 500 employers and secured almost $100 million in grant funding for various companies through her work with Portfolio Austin, the Central Texas Regional Center for Innovation and Commercialization, the Greater Austin Technology Partnership, and Austin TechLive.

Ms. Davenport holds a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Texas Medical Branch. She is a graduate of the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma, and she is an active member of the International Economic Development Council.

College Station city councilwoman Elizabeth Cunha visited with WTAW's Scott DeLucia on The Infomaniacs May 19, 2023.

Topics include enforcement of the city's ordinance of no more than no more than four unrelated occupants in a residence, the proposed fire department interlocal agreement with the city of Bryan, and the upcoming update of a proposed College Station sewer line that could affect two south Bryan neighborhoods.

This podcast is with state representative Kyle Kacal of College Station and WTAW's Scott DeLucia on May 19, 2023.

This podcast is a visit with state representative John Raney of Bryan and WTAW's Scott DeLucia on May 19, 2023.

This podcast contains comments from the May 17, 2023 meeting of the Texas A&M system board of regents academic affairs committee.

The Texas A&M system board of regents wants employees and officials at its 11 universities and eight state agencies to not associate their employer to their political or personal beliefs.

That was made clear during Wednesday's meeting of the regents academic affairs committee.

Regent Mike Hernandez of Fort Worth said he has heard system employees cross the line with their political remarks.

Hernandez added that faculty members, administrators, and regents members should follow existing rules.

Regent Jay Graham of Houston said separating personal beliefs from their association with A&M universities and agencies should also apply to personal social media.

Hernandez asked if video recording in classrooms could take place to have a record when someone issues a complaint.

The subject came up as the Texas legislature considers ending faculty tenure and ending university offices and policies on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

City of Bryan communications and marketing director Lacey Lively visits with Scott DeLucia on WTAW's The Infomaniacs May 18, 2023 about upcoming events.

This podcast contains comments from the May 16, 2023 College Station ISD school board meeting.

College Station ISD school board members had two meetings this week regarding the search for the district's new superintendent.

During Tuesday night's regular monthly meeting, consultant Brad Lancaster gave an overview of two surveys about the search. One was with CSISD administrators and teachers. The other was 128 pages of results from 800 online surveys.

Click HERE to read and download results of focus group meetings with CSISD administrators and teachers.

Click HERE to read and download results of CSISD's online survey.

On Wednesday, the board was scheduled to meet behind closed doors to visit with the consultants.

During Tuesday's update, Lancaster reported 48 applicants as of last Friday.

Lancaster also said that the Wednesday meeting would include scheduling future interviews with candidates and how to prepare questions for those interviews.

At the end of Tuesday night's meeting, board president Jeff Horak presented retiring superintendent Mike Martindale with a plaque and board member Darin Paine presented Martindale with an office chair.

Martindale, who is finishing his 16th year in CSISD….the last three as superintendent...and 32 years in public education...is retiring June 30.

This podcast contains comments from the May 2, 2023 Bryan city council meeting.

The Bryan city council's tourism office presented a review of its third year of operation during this month's regular meeting.

Information shared by director John Friebele included Bryan hotel revenue and the city's collection of hotel occupancy taxes are expected to set records when the fiscal year ends.

Friebele reported revenue at Bryan hotels rose from $19 million dollars during the first year of the pandemic to a projected $36 million dollars this year.

The number of room nights purchased in Bryan hotels rose from 264,000 during the first year of the pandemic to a projected 371,000 this year.

Regarding future business development, Friebele focused on Midtown Park and a request to protect green space for music festivals.

Marketing Bryan tourism efforts between April 1, 2022 and April 30, 2023 has reached more than 16 million impressions.

Friebele said almost 14 million are through what was described as digital ad impressions, along with 564,000 website sessions, and a combined two million hits on Facebook and Instagram.

The city council learned that one-fourth of visitors to Bryan come from Houston, 17 percent come from the Dallas/Fort Worth area, 17 percent come from the region that includes Waco, Temple, and Bryan, seven percent come from Austin, and six percent come from San Antonio.

Friebele's presentation to the Bryan council also included next year's budget request, which includes money to start an ambassador program to train front line workers in the local tourism trade about promoting the city to visitors.

Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the May 2, 2023 Bryan city council meeting.

College Station Mayor John Nichols visits with WTAW's Scott DeLucia about this week's council meeting, impact fees, the sewer line project, tourism, groundwater, the EMS agreement with Bryan, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs.

This podcast contains comments from the May 16, 2023 Brazos County commission meeting.

Brazos County's veterans service officer lost his job Tuesday on a three to two vote by the county commission.

County judge Duane Peters, who hired Pat Patterson in November of 2017, made the recommendation to terminate him.

Peters said he would not reveal the reason "under advice of outside counsel".Peters did say the firing "was a hard decision for me, and I did what I felt like I had to do and did it."

Before the vote, ten veterans who were served by Patterson appealed to let him keep his job.Also voting for termination were Chuck Konderla and Wanda Watson.

Voting against termination were Steve Aldrich and Nancy Berry.

None of the four commissioners made any comments before or after the vote.

Brazos County's website now instructs veterans to contact state officials in Temple and federal officials in Waco for assistance.