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 held at the Texas State Capitol and the Headliners Club in Austin. The award recognizes the festival as a model for rural economic development, connecting student entrepreneurs, local business owners, and Main Street investment through a grassroots festival format.
Katie Milton Jordan, who has organized the event since it began as a single-campus pitch event in Kerrville in 2023, accepted the recognition 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 festival was honored alongside distinguished recipients at this year's gathering, including the Texas Investor of the Year and Texas Innovator of the Year, in an evening that spotlighted Texas's broader innovation ecosystem. The Texas Venture Alliance brings together investors, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and economic development organizers from more than 20 Texas cities.
“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.” This recognition underscores the importance of rural areas in the state's innovation landscape, demonstrating that economic development can thrive outside major metropolitan hubs.
The Greater Mason County Venture Fest was previously recognized on May 26 at the Texas Venture Gala & Forum in Austin. The festival's success highlights the potential for similar events to drive local economic growth by fostering entrepreneurship and investment at the community level.
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 is also the founder and CEO of SimpleEDO.ai and a former Deputy Director and Interim Executive Director in regional economic development.
The award has implications for rural communities across Texas and beyond, as it validates the model of using festivals to stimulate local economies and support small businesses. By highlighting the success of the Greater Mason County Venture Fest, the Texas Venture Alliance encourages other regions to adopt similar approaches to entrepreneurship and investment.
More information on the Greater Mason County Venture Fest, including details on future events, will be shared in the coming weeks through thetownie.ai.
