Central Texas Electric Cooperative is best known for keeping the lights on across 11 Hill Country counties, but its role in Hill Country Venture Fest and the Incubator EDU program in Fredericksburg shows the co-op is also investing in the region's next generation of business owners. The connection is the subject of a recent episode of The Building Texas Show, in which host Justin McKenzie speaks with CTEC CEO Tachi Hinojosa about why an electric cooperative shows up for student entrepreneurs.
The stakes are higher than a typical classroom exercise. Hinojosa tells McKenzie that many students sign up to build public speaking skills and prepare as if a venture capitalist were ready to write a check, and sometimes the money is real. "The first place team last year in Fredericksburg won $12,000," he says. At a Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce banquet, another team "raised over $100,000 because people were so impressed with their presentation." Those figures suggest the program is producing pitches polished enough to attract actual community capital, not just applause.
CTEC's involvement extends beyond the pitch stage. The co-op opened its summer internship program to high school and college students, growing from one student in the first year to six this past year, and it invites high schools to tour its facilities so students can see careers beyond the line crews they recognize, including member services, engineering, human resources, accounting and IT. Hinojosa points to Brodie Smith, who toured CTEC at 16, shadowed the operations department, worked a summer internship, was hired full time as a groundman and, at about 19, is now an Apprentice Lineman I. Smith's path, Hinojosa says, is a good example that not every career path requires a college degree.
The co-op's community focus is built into its model, Hinojosa says, through the principle of concern for community. CTEC employees serve on volunteer fire departments and coach youth sports, and after the co-op challenged staff to log their volunteer time, they reached 1,000 hours last year. Line crews and technicians have also helped local nonprofits set up and tear down tables and chairs for fundraisers.
McKenzie raises a challenge familiar to rural Texas: talented graduates leave for college or careers and rarely come back. Hinojosa sees Hill Country Venture Fest and Incubator EDU as part of the answer, because they give students who want to stay the tools to build a business in the Hill Country and contribute to the local economy. "When you call Central Texas Electric Co-op, you're calling the Hill Country," he says, adding that being local is the advantage of the cooperative business model.
The full conversation is available in the episode Inside VentureFest: How CTEC Powers Hill Country Student Pitches on The Building Texas Show, which publishes new episodes weekly on YouTube and major podcast platforms. More information about the cooperative is available through Central Texas Electric Cooperative.
