The Greater Mason County Venture Fest has been named the 2025 Texas Venture Fest of the Year by the Texas Venture Alliance, recognizing the event as a model for rural economic development. The award was announced at the alliance's 3rd Annual Meeting, held at the Texas State Capitol and the Headliners Club in Austin, which brought together investors, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and economic development organizers from over 20 Texas cities.
The Venture Fest, hosted in Mason County, connects student entrepreneurs, local business owners, and Main Street investment through a grassroots festival format. Katie Milton Jordan, who has organized the event since its inception as a single-campus pitch event in Kerrville in 2023, accepted the recognition on behalf of the 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 other distinguished recipients, including the Texas Investor of the Year and Texas Innovator of the Year, during an evening that highlighted Texas'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 is also the founder and CEO of SimpleEDO.ai and a former Deputy Director and Interim Executive Director in regional economic development.
The award underscores the importance of grassroots initiatives in driving economic growth in rural areas. By providing a platform for student entrepreneurs and local businesses, the Venture Fest demonstrates how small towns can foster innovation and investment. The recognition from the Texas Venture Alliance places Mason County alongside major innovation hubs, signaling that rural communities can indeed lead in economic development.
More information on the Greater Mason County Venture Fest, including details on future events, will be shared in the coming weeks through thetownie.ai.
