The Greater Mason County Venture Fest has been named the 2025 Texas Venture Fest of the Year by the Texas Venture Alliance, an honor announced at the alliance’s 3rd Annual Meeting in Austin. The recognition, awarded on May 26 at the Texas Venture Gala & Forum, celebrates the festival as a model for rural economic development that connects student entrepreneurs, local business owners, and Main Street investment through a grassroots format.
Katie Milton Jordan, organizer of the event since its inception as a single-campus pitch competition in Kerrville in 2023, accepted the award on behalf of the Greater Mason County community. “When this started, it was a handful of folding tables on one campus in Kerrville,” Milton Jordan said. “What’s grown out of that – students pitching real ideas, towns saying yes to something new, neighbors backing each other’s businesses – that’s what this award is really about.”
The Venture Fest was honored alongside other distinguished recipients, including the Texas Investor of the Year and Texas Innovator of the Year, at the annual meeting held at the Texas State Capitol and the Headliners Club. The event brought together investors, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and economic development organizers from more than 20 Texas cities, spotlighting the state’s broader innovation ecosystem.
“Being recognized in that room, alongside people doing serious work across the state, was a reminder that what happens in small towns counts,” Milton Jordan said. “Rural communities can lead, not just keep up.”
Milton Jordan is the publisher of thetownie.ai, a rural media and economic development platform covering local journalism, Main Street business, and civic storytelling across the Texas Hill Country. She also serves as founder and CEO of SimpleEDO.ai and is a former Deputy Director and Interim Executive Director in regional economic development.
The award underscores the importance of grassroots innovation in rural areas, demonstrating that community-driven events can foster entrepreneurship and investment outside major metropolitan hubs. The Greater Mason County Venture Fest’s success serves as a potential blueprint for other rural communities seeking to stimulate local economies through similar festivals.
More information on the Greater Mason County Venture Fest, including details on future events, will be shared in the coming weeks through thetownie.ai.
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