8 ideas we brought home from TEDC 2026
Three days in Houston at the Texas Economic Development Council annual conference, eight sessions, and one idea from each that any community can use next week.
TEDC 2026 in Houston came down to one thread: what makes a community different is what nobody can copy. The eight ideas: run the swap test, listen before you announce, let AI draft but not decide, name your sense of place, sort your employers into four types, brief new officials on the economy, use the state's offices overseas, and push for the debrief when you lose.
What did we learn at TEDC 2026?
The Texas Economic Development Council held its 2026 annual conference in Houston from October 7 to 9. We sat in on eight sessions and wrote down one thing from each that a director, a chamber or a Main Street program could do next week. Every quote below was checked word for word against a transcript.
The thread through all three days was the same: the things that make a community different are the things nobody can copy. Your businesses, your people and the relationships between them.
Which ideas should your town steal?
1. Run the swap test
Aaron Brossoit of Golden Shovel Agency asked the room which Texas town calls itself a strategic location with a skilled workforce and a pro-business climate. All of them. Put a neighboring town's name into your pitch. If it still reads true, it isn't yours.
“If it works as easily for them as it does for you, it's not your unique value proposition.”
Aaron Brossoit, Golden Shovel Agency
Steal it for your town: ask one local business owner "Why does your business work here?" and put the answer on your website in their words.
2. Listen before you announce
At the data center session, Bob Hess of Newmark and Christian Koenig of KOENIG Communications said the old model was announce, defend, manage backlash. What works now is to listen early, design with the community and put commitments in writing. And keep the employers you already have happy.
“Make sure those existing industries are happy. The best ambassadors in the world.”
Bob Hess, Newmark
Steal it for your town: visit three of your existing employers this month and ask what would make them stay and grow.
3. Let AI write the first draft, not the decisions
Katie Milton Jordan of SimpleEDO.ai ran a youth pitch competition short-staffed, with AI doing the heavy lifting: the website, the judging rubric, sponsor outreach and the tracker. Her point was that the last stretch of any job is local knowledge, and that comes from your business visits.
“AI can change how your organization gets work done. It can expand what your people can deliver for the communities they serve.”
Katie Milton Jordan, SimpleEDO.ai
Steal it for your town: pick the one task that keeps you up at night, hand AI the first draft this week, and review it before anything goes out.
4. Name your Barton Springs
Jon Roberts of TIP Strategies walked through what Austin got right: a vision, technology, entrepreneurs, culture, and a sense of place he pinned to Barton Springs. Every town has a place like that. It is part of your pitch and part of why your businesses stay.
“The community that has a vision that is forward looking has a competitive edge.”
Jon Roberts, TIP Strategies
Steal it for your town: write your one-sentence vision, then put a photo of your Barton Springs on your website's front page.
5. Know which of four kinds of companies you have
In Thursday's fireside chat with TEDC's Carlton Schwab, Bob Hess sorted companies into planners, pleasers, pausers and poppers. Planners already modeled the tariffs. Pleasers made the big announcements. Pausers are waiting out the uncertainty. Poppers are getting hit hardest. He also warned that every existing employer is running some kind of AI experiment right now.
“Don't forget about existing industry, please, please don't.”
Bob Hess, Newmark
Steal it for your town: list your top 20 employers, mark each one planner, pleaser, pauser or popper, and visit the pausers and poppers first.
6. Whoever wins, it's still the economy
One month before Election Day, Evan Smith of The Atlantic walked the room through Texas politics. Set the races aside and one point held: when voters rank the issues, the economy is at the top.
“Overwhelmingly, it's the economy, the stuff that you all and your communities have your hands on.”
Evan Smith, The Atlantic
Steal it for your town: write one page on what your community did for local businesses this year and hand it to every winner, new or returning, in their first week.
7. Use the state's offices overseas
The State of Texas runs offices in Mexico, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and Israel, and any Texas community can call them for market intelligence, introductions and help with a trade mission. The directors agreed on one thing: companies that already chose Texas introduce the next one.
“You don't need an international office in your community to have an international strategy.”
Shirley Temple, Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office
Steal it for your town: list your employers with a foreign parent company or overseas customers, ask each one who back home you should meet, and email the state office for that country.
8. Push for the debrief
Houston came in second on a major biopharma project and pushed the consultant for the reason: no proven pipeline of trained workers. San Jacinto College answered with a training center, built with its developer partner McCord Development and a curriculum licensed from Ireland's NIBRT.
“Push for the debrief if you don't win the deal.”
Craig Rhodes, Greater Houston Partnership
Steal it for your town: when a local business expands somewhere else or a prospect says no, ask why and write it down. Take the top workforce gap to your community college.
What was the thread through all of it?
Relationships, said eight different ways. The swap test works because your owners can say things no ad copy can. Existing employers are the best ambassadors. AI handles the draft, and your visits supply the local knowledge. International companies decide through trusted networks. Even the lost deal turned into a win once someone asked why.
Most of these cost nothing but a calendar. That is the point.
Who are we congratulating?
Congratulations to this year's TEDC award winners, and to the newest class of Certified Texas Economic Developers. The CTED takes real work, and it showed in the room.
Thank you to the TEDC staff and board for three well-run days, to Adrian Cannady for a year of leading TEDC, and best wishes to incoming chair Misty Mayo. And thank you to every speaker who let us steal their ideas.
What comes next?
These eight ideas lead the first issue of The BRE Brief on Tuesday, October 13. The full session notes, with every steal-it line, are on our TEDC 2026 page.
Safe travels home, everyone. See you next year.
Want the full notes? Every session we covered, with quotes and a steal-it line, is on the TEDC 2026 page. The BRE Brief is independent coverage and is not affiliated with TEDC.
Questions directors ask
What is TEDC?
The Texas Economic Development Council, the statewide association for economic development professionals in Texas. Its 2026 annual conference was held in Houston, October 7 to 9.
What is a CTED?
A Certified Texas Economic Developer, a professional designation from TEDC for economic developers who complete its program requirements.
Which idea should a small office start with?
The debrief and the four kinds of companies. Both start with a list of your own employers and a few visits, and neither needs a budget.