Quality of Life and Booming Population Draw New Industry
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If a bedroom community is defined as calm and quiet, Boerne is breaking all the rules. The town of about 10,000 in the shadow of the state’s top tourist attraction – San Antonio – shines in its own right in both the tourist trade and in industry.

And if projections for the city’s population to triple over the next 20 years prove true, the self-proclaimed “Gateway to the Hills” might need to swing a little wider.

The city’s economic base is a downtown business district composed of locally owned shops, restaurants and boutiques in the midst of historic buildings. Through the recently created Boerne Business Alliance, the local owners can take a unified approach to prepare for the expected growth.

“Tourism is still the No. 1 industry because of the uniqueness of the area and the proximity to larger cities,” Rogers says of the city’s easy accessibility from San Antonio, Austin and Houston via Interstate 10. “We’re growing and getting a broader population and business base because a lot of people come here to visit and just decide to stay. It’s got a magnetism about it.”

Requests for information from potential visitors to the Hill Country Trail tend to favor Boerne about three times over neighboring Fredericksburg, Kerrville and New Braunfels, says Larry Woods, director of the Boerne Convention & Visitors Bureau. In July 2008 the city attracted a record number of visitors, and Woods says that pattern is expected to continue.

“As the city grows, our options for our visitors and residents improve,” he says. “That’s just a win-win for everyone involved.”

But the city needs a base of businesses to support its schools – a draw to the area – and city services and infrastructure. The top-heavy demographics of over-50, very mobile and affluent help drive the business base. Amenities are gradually being added to complement the historical and artistic aspects of the city. Two new hotels opened in recent months, as well as two fine-dining restaurants, and a hospital is planned for the near future.

A master plan to attract additional retail businesses is in place, and the medical/health-related industries are also growing.

“We’re projected to grow, the question is how we manage that growth,” Rogers says. “We’re constantly getting more executives from San Antonio businesses. We’d like to have more executives from Boerne.”

The top employer, Albany International Corp., has committed to expanding its Boerne aerospace composites plant. The expansion brings about $41.6 million in capital investment to Kendall County, along with an additional 330 jobs over the next seven years.

“We got a new injection of growth – good-paying jobs in a good high-tech industry that will grow astronomically over the next 10 to 15 years,” Rogers says of the January 2008 announcement. “It’s overall a good fit: a clean industry, not a large water user and a company that will work with the community. We couldn’t be happier.”