For a decade, the software playbook was simple: buy the best tool for each job and wire them together. idhubs says that era is over. Justin Mackenzie of The Building Texas Show sat down with two idhubs leaders, Founder and CEO/CTO Rojit Sorokhaibam and Chief Growth Officer Brandon Fears, to discuss why the integration model breaks under AI, what replacing the traditional software stack actually looks like, and how the company is addressing the challenges of enterprise migration. 

Justin: Start on a Tuesday morning. What does this problem look like for an actual business owner?

Brandon: It looks like chaos they didn't choose. A business under 200 employees runs about 42 separate applications. A manager who wants to convert a prospect, send an onboarding agreement, bill a deposit and assign a kickoff task touches five of them: copy from the CRM, paste into a document tool, download, upload to e-signature, log into accounting to invoice, open a project board to assign. Five apps; five logins; one simple objective. Multiply that across a week and most of the day goes to running software instead of running the business.

Rojit: And none of those systems actually agree with each other. The data in one is a slightly different version of the data in the next. For ten years the industry sold that gap as a feature and called it "best of breed."

Justin: You're saying the integration model itself is the problem. Why does it break now?

Rojit: AI. When AI was a chatbot, siloed data was an annoyance. Now that AI is becoming an agent that executes multi-step work, siloed data is a wall. An agent cannot intelligently complete a workflow if it has to reach across five databases that only pretend to talk through brittle webhooks. We call that context blindness. True intelligence needs one data foundation and you cannot bolt that on after the fact.

Brandon: That's the line that matters: integrated means two databases that learned to talk. Native means there was only ever one.

Justin: "Context blindness" is a great phrase, but let’s get concrete. What does an AI agent actually do in idhubs out of the box? Give me a real workflow, not just a buzzword.

Rojit: Let’s look at customer success. In a fragmented stack, if a user posts a complaint in a community forum, a support agent has to manually read it, open the CRM, find the account, check the billing module and draft a reply. In idhubs, the AI agent natively reads the community post, instantly pulls the user's billing history from the unified invoicing module, identifies a double-charge, auto-drafts a credit memo and routes it to the manager for one-click approval, all without a human ever copying and pasting data between tabs. It executes the workflow because it has the context.

Justin: So what did you build?

Rojit: One natively unified operating system. Core business functions, CRM, E-commerce, community, invoicing, AI on a single shared data layer. We're not another tool for the stack. We replace the stack.

Justin: You also offer a white-label community and social commerce layer. Why does that belong in an operating system?

Brandon: Because the front office and the back office are the same database. An organization that deploys idhubs gets its own branded, private ecosystem: a secure internal collaboration suite for staff and a white-label community and commerce platform for its members or customers. When you build your community on a third-party social platform, you rent your audience; you don't own the data, you don't control the algorithm and you can't monetize without a cut taken off the top. Here the organization owns the relationship and because the community data lives natively beside the CRM and commerce data, a discussion can become a transaction or a support ticket without ever leaving the branded environment. It's a closed loop instead of five disconnected ones.

Justin: Let me push on the architecture. If I put my CRM, financials, community and commerce in one platform, haven't I built a single honeypot? One point of failure?

Rojit: That's the right question for any CIO to ask and it's why we didn't just stand up one central database and call it done. We run a permissioned, private Hyperledger Fabric network underneath the platform. Think of a public blockchain as a town square where everyone sees every transaction; this is the opposite. Fabric uses channels and private data collections, so sensitive records are visible only to the nodes, the users or departments, that are cryptographically authorized to see them. The organization gets the decentralization and immutability of distributed ledger architecture entirely inside its own walls, which neutralizes the single-point-of-failure risk that comes with traditional monolithic software.

Justin: But running a private blockchain network sounds incredibly resource-intensive. Doesn't that introduce latency and bloat the infrastructure costs for a 50-person company?

Rojit: That’s a common misconception based on public chains like Bitcoin. Hyperledger Fabric is built for enterprise performance. We don't store heavy payloads on the ledger itself; we use off-chain storage for large files and media, while the ledger only cryptographically anchors the state changes and audit trails. It runs asynchronously in the background. It doesn't slow down the user interface or query speeds, but it gives you military-grade auditability and data sovereignty without the enterprise infrastructure bill.

Justin: Who's behind this and how big is the opportunity?

Rojit: We're a live, revenue-generating platform, not a stealth lab. I'm a three-time exited CTO who has scaled 150-plus-person engineering teams. Brandon has launched more than $2 billion in products. Sav, our COO, is a 30-year operations leader. Our advisory board includes Grant Johnson, former CEO of a NASDAQ-listed company and Craig Kaufman of Kaufman Bros.

Brandon: On the market: our total addressable market is roughly $158 billion. We've acquired more than 50,000 registered users organically, with no paid marketing spend.

Justin: Let’s drill into your pricing model. You’ve mentioned a "flat, predictable annual rate" that lands well under fragmented tools. But a 5-person company and a 150-person company have vastly different needs. How does your pricing scale without becoming a new "idhubs tax" as they grow?

Brandon: We specifically killed the per-seat pricing model because it punishes companies for scaling their teams. Our pricing scales based on organizational capacity and active transactional volume, not headcount. You don't get hit with hidden integration fees, per-API-call charges, or forced module upgrades. It’s a flat, predictable rate for the core OS, with transparent, tiered capacity bumps. You know exactly what your software bill will be in Q4, regardless of whether you hired five people or fifty.

Justin: What do the skeptics say? Best-of-breed purists love their point solutions.

Brandon: I hear it constantly and it sounds great until you price it. A five-person company ends up paying for a CRM, an automation connector, a quoting tool, an email platform and an accounting suite, spends tens of thousands a year and its data still doesn't agree across systems. The "flexibility" is a fragmentation tax in a nicer outfit. The opposite of a bad stack isn't a better stack; it's one platform, one login, one source of truth.

Justin: But purists will counter: "Sure, it's unified, but is the invoicing as deep as Stripe? Is the CRM as robust as Salesforce?" How do you avoid the "good enough" trap where you hit a ceiling as the client scales?

Rojit: We aren't building shallow wrappers. We are building deep, API-first modules. For example, our financials handle complex multi-currency and automated tax compliance natively because we built it for global commerce from day one. But if a company has a hyper-niche, proprietary workflow, we don't force them to rip and replace the whole OS. Because we have a unified data layer, they can build custom extensions and micro-apps on top of idhubs. They get the depth of a custom build with the unified context of an OS.

Justin: Even if it’s deep, the switching cost is the real killer. Migrating data, workflows and user habits from entrenched systems is a nightmare. How do you actually get a company to switch without paralyzing their operations for six months?

Brandon: We knew migration was the graveyard of great software, so we engineered it out of the equation. We built automated migration pipelines specifically for the major incumbents, HubSpot, QuickBooks, Salesforce, Slack. We don't do "big bang" cutovers. We run parallel environments and our onboarding team maps the data schema automatically. We measure time-to-value in days, not quarters. The user interface is designed to feel familiar, so the human habit-change is minimal.

Justin: Finally, you're not the only one claiming "all-in-one." Zoho, Odoo, HubSpot, they all have unified suites and are aggressively adding AI. Why does idhubs win against them?

Rojit: Because legacy suites were built as separate apps glued together later. Their data layers are still fragmented underneath; they are still fighting the integration tax internally. We are natively unified from the ground up on a single data layer. Furthermore, our Hyperledger security model is enterprise-grade out of the box, which legacy SMB suites completely lack. They are a suite of tools trying to act like an OS. We are a single, secure operating system. The skeptics are fighting the last war. In the AI era, context is the whole game.

Justin: Last question. If this model wins, what's the ripple effect?

Rojit: Software stops being a daily operational burden and becomes a silent partner. Eliminate the integration tax, secure the data natively and human capital goes back to strategy instead of reconciliation. For member organizations it turns a siloed directory into a connected economic ecosystem.

Brandon: Owners didn't choose complexity; the market handed it to them one app at a time. Every vendor promises the next app will fix it. But the next app can't fix it, because the app was the problem. The fix was never one more tool or one more integration. It was always one secure, unified platform. That's what we built and that's why the shift is inevitable.

Rojit Sorokhaibam is Founder and CEO/CTO of idhubs. Brandon Fears is Chief Growth Officer. idhubs is headquartered in McKinney, Texas.

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The latest episode of The Building Texas Show, published September 14, 2026, features host Justin McKenzie in conversation with Jason Roemer, a 27-year business educator at Fredericksburg High School. Roemer built Fredericksburg ISD's INCubatoredu program, a national curriculum, developed by Uncharted Learning, in which high school students spend a full school year building and pitching a real business from nothing to a sold-out pitch night in one year.

Watch the full conversation on YouTube

Roemer spent three years in retail management before what he calls “the coaching bug” pulled him into education. Twenty-seven years, 23 of them coaching volleyball, and one incubator program later, he says the classroom feels new again: “My education career has really been rejuvenated by this program, and the way that these kids have responded to it.”

In year one, Roemer:

• Recruited more than 30 local business owners, board advisors, and judges into the classroom

• Guided six student teams through building real businesses, from idea to public pitch

• Raised $20,000-$25,000 for the program - money Roemer says stays entirely in the classroom, on top of his teacher's salary, inside a Texas school finance system that pulls funding back out of rural districts

• Closed the year with a sold-out theater pitch night and $21,000 awarded in seed money and scholarships

One of his mentors has a story he tells the students every year - a Main Street business owner who scaled too fast, nearly went under, and had to sell. It's not the version of him you'd find on LinkedIn.

Hear the full mentor stories - watch on YouTube

The volunteer bench reads like a cross-section of the local economy. David Pedragon, who built and later sold Dogology, a Main Street pet store, mentors students on failure and pivoting. Chad Myers, CEO of Core Javelina Holdings, manufactures and distributes rubber components used on an estimated 90% of new-build airbag suspension systems for 18-wheelers - from a facility just outside Fredericksburg. Dan Kemp, CEO of Security State Bank (headquartered in Fredericksburg, with 19 branches and 120 local employees), talked to students about a different kind of ambition: “I'm not an entrepreneur, I'm an intrapreneur. I look to grow my business every day.” Central Texas Electric CEO Mr. Hinojosa taught project management, and rancher Sam Sage of Hillside Beef rounded out the mentor team.

Roemer credits the model, not himself, for the results:

“The coach is only as good as the players. We've been blessed with a tremendous team of volunteers, starting with David Pedragon and going all the way down.”

Heading into year two, Roemer says the program has already roughly doubled its volunteer pool - helped along by Caroline, a student from the winning pitch team, who asked to come back as a mentor the day after the contest. He's also in talks with Fredericksburg's Chamber of Commerce about a permanent Main Street presence for the program, and he's shared the model with educators in Hondo, Dripping Springs, and College Station who are considering it for their own districts.

FAQ: What Is INCubatoredu?

What is INCubatoredu?

It's a national high school curriculum, built by Uncharted Learning, where students spend a school year developing, building, and pitching a real business to a panel of community judges - instead of studying business from a textbook.

How is the program funded?

Fredericksburg's program raised $20,000-$25,000 in year one through community fundraising. Roemer says every dollar raised stays in the classroom; the only tax dollars involved are his teacher salary.

Can other Texas school districts start a program like this?

Yes - Roemer has already talked with educators in Hondo, Dripping Springs, and College Station about adopting the model, and points interested districts to Uncharted Learning's curriculum as the starting point.

Watch More From The Building Texas Show

This episode is part of an ongoing series spotlighting the founders, educators, and community champions building Texas's entrepreneurial economy - from rural Hill Country classrooms to fast-growing metros. New episodes post 2-3 times a week.

Subscribe to The Building Texas Show on YouTube

About The Building Texas Show

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, spotlights the founders, educators, civic leaders, and community champions shaping Texas's entrepreneurial economy. Each week the podcast travels from rural Hill Country classrooms to fast-growing metros, telling the stories of the people quietly building what comes next. New episodes are available on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and all major podcast platforms.

Media Contact:

Justin McKenzie

Email Contact

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The latest episode of The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie and recorded live at the San Antonio Home & Garden Show, features Sloan Rinaldi. She's the founder of Texas Q, a barbecue brand built on sauces, rubs, and a media business she's building around it. She's also a fourth-generation pitmaster: her family has been in barbecue since 1909, when they opened a shop in Crockett, Texas.

Watch the full conversation on YouTube

Texas Q is based in Houston, where Rinaldi hosts private barbecue crawls and is building out the rest of her media ventures.

Rinaldi spent years in construction before walking away at 50, right as the industry moved from paper plans and cold calls to phone-based bidding and takeoffs. She'd already sold her business to a team of longtime employees and was still deciding what came next. Then a sliced brisket sandwich at Killen's Barbecue changed her mind about a cuisine she'd never much cared for. She'd never cooked a brisket in her life.

That one sandwich led to:

• Commissioning her own smoker from East Texas Smoker Company and teaching herself fire management from scratch, after noticing only one woman, Melissa Cookston, on the barbecue competition circuit

• A first competition at Bands, Brews and Barbecue, benefiting the Ronald McDonald House, followed by a 14th-place finish out of 250 teams at a Texas State Championship

• Landing a statewide deal with H-E-B for her original Texas Q sauce, then pulling it back off shelves to reformulate without high fructose corn syrup

Rinaldi has a simple explanation for why she thinks barbecue connects people like nothing else:

“You can put the richest guy and the poorest guy at the same table, having the same meal. You can't get that in any other cuisine. So it is the most uniting cuisine or culinary culture on earth.”

Hear Rinaldi's full story - watch on YouTube

That philosophy is the spine of her next project: From Texas With Love: United We BBQ, a nine-episode series filming across eight countries and three continents, including Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Argentina, and Japan. It looks at live-fire cooking traditions from Ibérico hogs to Japanese wagyu to Argentine gaucho asado. Every episode ends with a Texas barbecue collaboration, and the final episode brings every featured cook to Houston for one last cook-off.

Rinaldi's international reach is already further along than a TV pitch. She recently hosted two Taiwan-based venture capitalists on a private Texas Q barbecue crawl in Houston. They flew 15 hours and fasted for a full day beforehand to prepare. The itinerary included one of only three Michelin-starred barbecue restaurants in the world, plus two Top 15 stops, one of them Top 10. By the end of the day, the conversation had moved from barbecue to business. Rinaldi shares which cities are now in play in the full episode.

Back home, she's also filming Grillz on Grills, a new Houston culture series with Bun B, Slim Thug, Trae tha Truth, and Paul Wall. It digs into the city's food, music, and custom-grillz scene, which Rinaldi says has gone global. She and her co-host get their own custom grillz built during the series.

FAQ: Texas Q and Sloan Rinaldi's new projects

What is Texas Q?

Texas Q is Sloan Rinaldi's barbecue brand: sauces, rubs, custom cutting boards, and barbecue crawl experiences, built after she left a career in construction to become a competition pitmaster.

Where is Texas Q based?

Texas Q is based in Houston, where Rinaldi hosts the brand's private barbecue crawl experiences.

What is From Texas With Love: United We BBQ?

It's a nine-episode TV series filming in eight countries across three continents. Each episode pairs a Texas barbecue tradition with a different country's live-fire cooking culture, and the series ends with a finale cook-off in Houston.

Where can I watch Grillz on Grills?

It's expected to launch on YouTube. Rinaldi says she'd like to bring it to Netflix too.

Watch more from The Building Texas Show

This episode is part of an ongoing series spotlighting the entrepreneurs, tradespeople, and creators shaping Texas's economy and culture - from construction and home services to food and media. New episodes post 2-3 times a week.

Subscribe to The Building Texas Show on YouTube

About The Building Texas Show

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, profiles the entrepreneurs, tradespeople, and creators shaping the state's economy and culture, from construction and home services to food and media. Recorded on location at industry events like the San Antonio Home & Garden Show, each conversation surfaces practical lessons and Texas-sized stories.

Media Contact:

Justin McKenzie

Email Contact

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Helen Ramirez, economic development director for the City of San Marcos, walks host Justin McKenzie through the city's biggest active projects on this week's episode of The Building Texas Show, “San Marcos Spaceport? Here's What's Coming”: the purchase of nearly 200 acres from the U.S. Department of Labor to extend the San Marcos Regional Airport runway, the 2,000-acre TriTexas mega site next door, and the aerospace, defense and manufacturing companies moving into the college town between Austin and San Antonio.

Four threads from the episode:

• TriTexas. A 2,000-acre, rail-served site next to the regional airport. Regional detention and utilities are already built, before a single tenant has signed.

• The airport. FAA and Texas Aviation grants are funding a runway extension. The airport already has 18-plus tenants, including Berry Aviation, now owned by publicly traded Bristow Group (NYSE: VTOL).

• Star Park. Texas State's incubator is home to the Innovation Corridor Defense Accelerator, run with Starburst Aerospace and the Hays Caldwell Economic Development Partnership.

• The Midway Hotel. A 130-key boutique hotel is coming downtown on land Texas State donated to the project, with a minimum-wage requirement tied to inflation written into the incentive deal.

Ramirez turns the spaceport question back on itself. San Marcos isn't chasing a launch pad. “We are looking at that future of space. It is not necessarily launching rockets,” she tells McKenzie. “You can have it in Starbase, SpaceX, but that's not what we're looking for. But we can be part of the intelligence of creating that ecosystem.” Her reference point is Hawthorne, California: home to Raytheon, Boeing and Northrop Grumman. That's the side of aerospace she thinks Central Texas can build.

The numbers back up the pitch. A survey Ramirez's office ran itself, sent to 98 companies, came back with more than 90% reporting they were stable or growing and about 40% actively expanding. Epic Piping is adding 100 employees. Amazon keeps growing its footprint. Collins Aerospace, which also operates in California, told Ramirez business is better here. Nabaco, a company that came out of Texas State and went through a Rice University accelerator, now operates in Spain and still hires Texas State grad students. US Aviation trains active-duty Air Force cadets at the airport. Texas State is adding a hospitality program tied to the downtown hotel deal.

The clearest example of how the city operates: Ramirez's staff has direct access to the city's own permitting software. Texas Building Supply, on track for roughly $40 million a year in sales tax once it's fully ramped, with no incentive package attached, gets its permit questions answered in real time because her downtown manager can just look it up.

About The Building Texas Show

Justin McKenzie hosts The Building Texas Show. Each episode is one conversation with a developer, manufacturer, city official or university partner building something exciting in Texas.

Watch the full episode with Helen Ramirez now on YouTube: youtube.com/@thebuildingtexasshow

Media contact: Justin McKenzie, Email Contact

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The latest episode of The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, was recorded live at the San Antonio Home and Garden Show and released September 14, 2026. Titled San Antonio Homeowners Are Choosing Fiberglass, Here's Why, the episode features Jeff and Kelley Turner, owners of Staycation Fiberglass Pools, in the second installment of the show's San Antonio Home and Garden Series.

Watch the full episode on YouTube

A wave of concrete pools built during the COVID-era construction boom are now failing. Repair bills are landing in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the Turners spend a good chunk of the episode explaining why.

Jeff and Kelley walk McKenzie through the questions every homeowner should ask before signing a pool contract:

• The rise of ASR - “concrete cancer” - in pools built during and after COVID

• Why Texas requires no certification to build a pool, and what PHTA (Pool and Hot Tub Association) certification actually covers

• The true cost of a low bid, and what a genuine turnkey fiberglass price should include

• Why manufacturer warranties from builders like San Juan and Aqua Technics matter

• Renovation options, including EcoFinish flame-applied polymer resurfacing

Jeff doesn't soften the point about who's regulating this industry:

“In Texas, you need more certifications to do hair than you do to build a pool. It's wild. And you need to be a chemist to be a hairdresser, and you don't need to be a chemist to build a pool.”

He described fielding calls from homeowners whose concrete shells are disintegrating - forcing $200,000 to $400,000 tear-outs that most builders carry no insurance to cover. Kelley has her own way of framing the manufacturer relationship:

“You're dating us as a builder...”

She finishes the thought in the episode - it's one of the more useful ways we've heard a builder explain what a warranty is actually worth.

The Turners also break down a hybrid negative-edge rebuild they recently completed in Dripping Springs - a rescue job for a client whose original fiberglass installer left them with a one-year-old pool that looked thirty. The full build sequence, from shell to a 30-foot infinity edge over the Hill Country, is in the video.

See how they rebuilt it - watch on YouTube

They credit training from Jason Hughes and River Pools, out of Virginia and Illinois, for shaping how they educate clients before they ever sign a contract. San Juan (more than 70 years in the business) and Australia-based Aqua Technics are the two manufacturers they point to as warranty benchmarks - and bonding, pump sizing, and deck scope are where they say cut-rate contracts quietly fail.

Homeowners can see the Turners' completed projects at staycationfiberglasspools.com.

FAQ: Concrete vs. Fiberglass Pools in Texas

Why are so many Texas concrete pools failing right now?

Many were built during the COVID-era construction rush, when demand outpaced skilled labor and oversight. The Turners say a large share of those pools are now showing ASR, or “concrete cancer,” and repairs can run $200,000 to $400,000.

Does Texas require a license to build a pool?

No. Texas has no state certification requirement for pool builders. PHTA certification exists, but it's voluntary - homeowners have to ask for it. Jeff explains exactly what that gap means for a homeowner signing a contract in the full episode.

What separates a real turnkey fiberglass quote from a low bid?

Engineering plans, proper bonding, correctly sized pump equipment, and full deck scope - the Turners walk through where cut-rate contracts quietly cut corners, and what to ask a builder before you sign.

Watch More From The Building Texas Show

This episode is part of an ongoing series profiling the builders, tradespeople, and entrepreneurs shaping the Texas economy - recorded live at events like the San Antonio Home and Garden Show. New episodes post 2-3 times a week.

Subscribe to The Building Texas Show on YouTube

About The Building Texas Show

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, profiles the entrepreneurs, tradespeople, and innovators shaping the Texas economy. Through on-location conversations at events like the San Antonio Home and Garden Show, the podcast delivers practical, consumer-facing insight from the operators actually doing the work. This episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard.

Media Contact:

Justin McKenzie

Email Contact

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The first installment of the San Antonio Home and Garden Series on The Building Texas Show, titled No Storage Unit. Still 24/7 Access: Tuff Shed and hosted by Justin McKenzie, brings listeners a floor-side conversation with Richard Castellanos of Tuff Shed, recorded live at the San Antonio Home and Garden Show. Published August 30, 2026, the episode unpacks how an employee-owned American manufacturer is helping South Texas homeowners reclaim garages, cancel monthly storage rentals, and add fully customized backyard structures that in most cases go up in a single day.

Castellanos walks McKenzie through the practical mechanics of buying a Tuff Shed in the San Antonio market, with specific attention to details that buyers frequently overlook:

• San Antonio's 300-square-foot threshold for building without a permit, and how municipalities like Castle Hills and Alamo Heights differ
• Stick-built framing using 2x4s at 16 on center, with 2x6 or 2x8 upgrades on designs like the two-story barn
• Residential use cases (studios, workspaces, garage overflow) alongside commercial work for school districts, government entities, and San Antonio Air Force bases
• The Woodmaster's division for truly portable structures, including popular chicken coops and greenhouses

Castellanos frames the company's employee-ownership model as central to the customer experience, not a footnote. "It's not just me as a sales design consultant trying to sell you a product. It's actually me trying to get you an experience that one, you're going to recommend to your friends and two, is going to keepsake your valuables, your memorables that you're storing in your shed," he tells McKenzie. On the shift driving current demand, he is blunt: "A majority of our business is residential, obviously, but they want to get out of their storage unit that they're paying for, get something on their property that they can access 24/7."

The conversation also traces Tuff Shed's national footprint back to founder and CEO Tom Saurey, who launched the company 45 years ago and has grown it to 74 factories across the United States. Locally, Castellanos points listeners to two South Side locations outside Loop 410, a display yard at 410 and Bandera where he is based, and a new location off I-35 in New Braunfels. Turnaround, he notes, currently runs a week to 10 days from design to build slot, with the actual assembly typically completed on site in a single day. Customers can also self-design at tuffshed.com before ever contacting a consultant.

About The Building Texas Show

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, profiles the operators, tradespeople, and entrepreneurs shaping how Texas gets built. From job sites to trade-show floors like the San Antonio Home and Garden Show, the podcast delivers practical, name-a-name conversations for homeowners, builders, and small-business leaders across the state. Episode 1 of the San Antonio Home and Garden Series is available now wherever podcasts are heard.

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MHarketplace (mharketplace.com), a new online platform for everything mobile and manufactured homes, launched today with a nationwide directory of manufactured home communities and a growing network of the service professionals who make affordable homeownership work - from transport and installation to title, financing, and insurance. Rolling out state by state and scaling nationally, MHarketplace is built on a simple belief: homeowners deserve a better starting point, and when homeowners succeed, every business serving them succeeds.

A $12 billion industry that's easy to buy into - and hard to navigate

Manufactured housing is America's largest source of unsubsidized affordable housing. The industry ships roughly 100,000 new homes a year, and at an average price of about $115,600, a new manufactured home costs less than one-third of a comparable site-built house. Communities are effectively full, with national occupancy near 95 percent, and researchers point to manufactured housing as a critical tool for closing the affordability gap.

Yet for the families it serves best - often first-time buyers making the largest purchase of their lives - the industry remains remarkably difficult to navigate. Questions about titles, financing, transportation, insurance, land, and communities are answered by dozens of disconnected businesses that buyers struggle to find, because no single place connects them.

"The problem was never a lack of good people," said Jacob Campbell, founder of MHarketplace. "I've sat in homeowners' living rooms and worked alongside manufacturers, retailers, lenders, transporters, and community owners. The expertise exists everywhere in this industry. What's been missing is the connection - homeowners simply don't know these businesses exist. MHarketplace makes the ecosystem visible."

What MHarketplace does

• Community directory - searchable profiles of mobile home parks and manufactured housing communities across the country, organized by state and city.
• Trusted services network - transporters, installers, contractors, title professionals, insurers, and lenders, discoverable where buyers actually need them: locally.
• Buyer and homeowner education - plain-language guidance on the questions every responsible buyer asks about titling, financing, transport, insurance, and community living.
• Listings and connections - a growing marketplace for buying, selling, and renting manufactured homes.

Positioned to complete the market, not divide it

Established listings marketplaces have made it easier to find a manufactured home for sale. MHarketplace addresses everything that surrounds that transaction - the education before it and the services around and after it. The platform's position in the market is deliberately complementary: it exists to make the industry's thousands of businesses - many family-owned, many decades old, most invisible online - discoverable to the homeowners who need them.

"Visibility isn't marketing - it's opportunity," said Jacob Campbell. "Great businesses deserve to be found, and homeowners deserve to find them. Manufactured homes have improved dramatically; public perception hasn't kept pace. Every confident, well-informed homeowner helps close that gap, and that strengthens the entire industry."

Availability

MHarketplace is live now at mharketplace.com, launching state by state with national coverage of community directories. Manufactured housing businesses can claim and enhance their listings at launch; homeowners and buyers can browse communities, services, and educational resources free of charge.

About MHarketplace

MHarketplace is the everything-mobile-homes platform, simplifying how manufactured and mobile homes are bought, sold, rented, and serviced. Founded by a real estate professional who learned the industry from the inside - in homeowners' living rooms, on transport routes, and across closing tables - MHarketplace connects buyers, homeowners, community owners, and service businesses with the education, visibility, and trusted connections that make affordable homeownership work.

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The latest episode of The Building Texas Show, titled 'Texas Flood Recovery for Small Business: Grants Up to $10K & Where to Apply,' hosted by Justin McKenzie, sits down in San Antonio with Amy Hereford, President and CEO of LiftFund. Published August 6, 2026, the conversation arrives as the Texas Hill Country reels from a second major flood in as many years. LiftFund has deployed 525 grants and loans totaling more than $17 million to Hill Country businesses in the past year and is now rolling out the 2026 Texas Hill Country Flood Relief Program.

Hereford walks McKenzie through how the 30-year-old San Antonio nonprofit fills the gap when traditional banks decline early-stage founders, veterans, and creative entrepreneurs. Key threads include:

• Grants up to $10,000 for flood-impacted small businesses and nonprofits across 16 eligible counties, including Bandera, Blanco, Kerr, Kendall, Hays, Comal, Uvalde and Gillespie.
• Zero-interest loans made possible when cities, counties and private donors buy down the rate.
• Free technical assistance and a capital readiness questionnaire available at LiftFund.com.
• The threat of predatory lenders and title-loan storefronts targeting cash-strapped founders.

Hereford is blunt about why speed matters after a disaster. Citing LiftFund's data from more than 50 disaster recoveries, she tells McKenzie:

The faster you help a small business, the faster you secure the entire recovery of the community. Because in many communities, especially in rural areas, those small businesses are going to be the majority employers.

She warns that most small businesses carry only about 10 days of cash on hand, and that SBA relief typically arrives after payroll cycles and mortgage payments have already come due.

The episode digs into the ripple math of a shuttered Main Street: an average small business employs roughly four people, each supporting families of about four, and is often linked to 20 other businesses through local supply chains. Hereford references Trinity University economist Dr. Butler, who has publicly endorsed LiftFund's work and named the organization in his planned giving. She and McKenzie also spotlight San Antonio's Alamo Kitchens as a case study in how one commercial-kitchen loan can seed dozens of downstream food entrepreneurs, and discuss second-chance founders, rural daycares, and gap financing for hospitals where banks stop at 80 percent.

About The Building Texas Show

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, profiles the founders, funders, and civic builders shaping the Texas economy from Main Street to the Hill Country to the state's biggest metros. Each episode blends startup-ecosystem insight with on-the-ground stories of resilience, capital access, and community development. This episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard, and at buildingtexasshow.com.

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The latest episode of The Building Texas Show, titled "Why Texas Data Centers Must Build Their Own Power," hosted by Justin McKenzie, brings listeners inside one of the most urgent infrastructure debates in the state. Recorded in San Antonio and published August 6, 2026, the conversation features Nash Whitney of Stella Power Company breaking down behind-the-meter generation at a moment when ERCOT reports more than 300,000 megawatts in its interconnection queue by 2032, roughly four times the grid's current 85-gigawatt peak load. The episode arrives as Medina County residents brace for six new data centers.

McKenzie and Whitney walk through the technical, economic, and policy layers shaping large-load power in Texas. Topics covered include:

• What behind-the-meter power is, and the difference between power and energy, kilowatts and kilowatt-hours
• Texas Senate Bill 6 and Governor Abbott's newly expanded large-load rules covering both power and water
• Hyperscalers such as Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Google, and the strata of tenants beneath them
• Winter Storm Uri, ERCOT price signals, and on-site generation as a hedge against real-time spikes
• Diesel versus natural gas versus renewables, and why Caterpillar remains sold out of backup units

Whitney frames the scale problem in blunt terms. "Behind-the-meter power is ultimately going to be one of the only viable solutions to do that at the scale that everyone is asking it to be done," he tells McKenzie. He describes utilities across the country now demanding non-refundable deposits in the hundreds of millions of dollars for substation buildouts, with no committed schedule, pushing hyperscalers toward on-site generation. McKenzie, drawing on his utility background at Bandera, recalls the crypto boom: "We wouldn't touch it unless they prepaid for everything." The message is consistent: large loads must carry their own cost.

The discussion goes deep on Stella's model. The company develops, designs, owns and operates natural gas power plants long-term, backed by Arroyo Energy Investment Partners in Spring, Texas, with sister company Mesa manufacturing generators in Loveland, Cheyenne, Wyoming, and San Antonio. Whitney invokes Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell to explain how ERCOT's energy-only market sends price signals for investment, and he argues reshoring manufacturers face the same constrained grid as data centers. On fuels, he credits diesel's BTU density for backup roles but points to Texas natural gas from the Marcellus and Bakken as the scalable answer. His summer tip for Texans: download the ERCOT app and be a good grid citizen.

About The Building Texas Show

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, spotlights the entrepreneurs, operators, and industry leaders shaping the Lone Star State's economy, from energy and infrastructure to small business and community. Each week the show delivers candid, deeply reported conversations with the builders behind Texas growth. New episodes release weekly across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. This episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard.

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The latest episode of The Building Texas Show, titled Fractional CFO: The 2 Hires Every Founder Gets Wrong Before Their Exit, hosted by Justin McKenzie, features Bart Davis, founder and CEO of Austin-based 512Financial. Published July 16, 2026, the conversation lands as Central Texas founders navigate tighter capital, growing compliance demands, and rising pressure to professionalize back-office operations well before an exit. Davis, who spent 2014 to 2021 running fractional finance across Joel Trammell's portfolio, argues that most Texas startups wait far too long to build the accounting, finance, and HR muscle that separates a clean exit from a broken one.

Recorded virtually the pair connected through Texas Venture Fest, the episode walks founders through the practical mechanics of fractional leadership. Threads covered include:

• Davis's rule that healthy startups spend 2 to 4 percent of top-line revenue on the accounting and finance function.
• Why a Fortune 500 or Global 1000 CFO rarely translates to a company scaling from $1 million to $15 million in revenue.
• The 2025 acquisitions of Austin PeopleWorks and HireBetter.com, and the 'monetizing churn' thesis behind them.
• The 1099 versus W-2 risk that Davis says he sees regularly when onboarding new HR clients.

Davis is blunt about what he inherited when he first began working with Trammell's portfolio companies Packet Design and iGrafx. "He had been using a different outsourced accounting firm and what he referred to as the output was random number generator financial statements," Davis tells McKenzie, warning that founders eyeing an exit cannot repair years of bad books on the way out the door. He points to Trammell's 2018 and 2021 exits as proof that early investment in the finance function directly shaped valuation, and challenges founders to confront "the things that make it real uncomfortable at night."

The conversation goes deeper on the counterintuitive hiring order Trammell used when he first raised significant capital: a controller and an HR leader before product or go-to-market hires. Davis extends that logic to today's fractional market, arguing founders often ask for a CFO when they actually need a staff accountant at roughly 20 percent of the cost, calling the mismatch "bringing a bazooka to a knife fight." He also weighs in on AI, noting that his team uses it daily but has inherited Claude-built financial models "riddled with errors" that only a trained CFO would catch. His 80/20 framing: let humans drive the 20 percent of work that produces 80 percent of the value.

About The Building Texas Show

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, spotlights the founders, operators, and investors shaping the Texas economy from Austin and San Antonio to Houston, Dallas, and beyond. Each weekly episode surfaces the strategies, hires, and inflection points behind the state's fastest-growing companies. New episodes are available every week on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and all major podcast platforms.

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The latest episode of The Building Texas Show, titled "This Texas Border City Is Trading Farmland for Factories," published July 13, 2026, hosted by Justin McKenzie, brings listeners inside Socorro, Texas, a small border city just east of El Paso where generations of irrigated farmland are being sold off to developers. Mayor Rudy Cruz explains why families are walking away from the tractor, how the city is standing up a foreign trade zone, and how a community anchored by 400-year-old adobe missions is rebuilding its economy without erasing its history.

McKenzie and Cruz work through the specific pressures reshaping Socorro today, pulling in the people and institutions driving the shift. Topic threads include:

• Why salty irrigation water, fewer allocations, and triple-digit summers are pushing grandkids off inherited farmland into commercial and industrial deals.
• The city's new foreign trade zone and the manufacturing and logistics tenants feeding cross-border trade with Mexico.
• The partnership between Socorro and Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, one of only three federally recognized tribes in Texas.
• Socorro ISD's 6A programs sending students out of high school with associate's degrees and barber licenses, and Fort Bliss's interest in busing students in.

Cruz speaks plainly about the tradeoffs. On the shrinking fields, he tells McKenzie, "It's sad to see the farmland going away... the water isn't what it used to be. There's a lot of salt here and the salt kills off a lot of those plants." On the pitch to visitors, he offers a fuller picture:

You want to see a building that was built by people with their own hands 400 years ago? Come down here and visit it. It's an adobe structure built with these natural elements of wood and mud, but at the same time, it tells a story of the people that still reside here.

The conversation goes deep on how Socorro's civic and tribal economies reinforce each other. Cruz, who previously worked as a small business development specialist for Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, describes building incubators on the former Braceros Farm site so local entrepreneurs can grow past rent, payroll, and insurance costs before entering the wider market. He also credits the tribe with securing federal highway dollars to rehabilitate an irrigation bridge the city could not have funded alone. On the Mission Trail, a nine-mile corridor linking three missions, homes have been converted into restaurants, bistros, and breweries pouring pecan and pomegranate beer, keeping 300 to 400 years of foodways alive.

About The Building Texas Show

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, profiles the mayors, founders, tribal leaders, and operators shaping the next chapter of the Texas economy. Each episode digs into the specific decisions, deals, and cultural stakes behind the state's growth, from border trade zones to small-town Main Streets. The episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard.

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As communities across the Texas Hill Country are once again impacted by the devastating flooding that has swept across businesses, families, and local economies, LiftFund has launched the 2026 Texas Hill Country Flood Relief Program to help small businesses and nonprofits access funding and support to relieve the current hardships caused by new flood damage.

Many small businesses were still working to recover from last year’s devastating floods when the latest storms brought new damage, disruptions, and financial setbacks, compounding the challenges facing entrepreneurs and the communities that depend on them.

Through the 2026 Texas Hill Country Flood Relief Program, eligible small businesses and nonprofit organizations may apply for grants of up to $10,000 to support recovery efforts, including:

• Grants of up to $10,000 for eligible small businesses and nonprofit organizations impacted by the July 2026 Texas Hill Country floods.
• Funding may be used for rebuilding and repair expenses, replacement of lost or damaged equipment, and general business operating expenses.
• Eligible applicants must have been operating on or before July 1, 2025.
• Applicants must be located in one of the following counties: Bandera, Blanco, Burnet, Comal, Edwards, Gillespie, Hays, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Llano, Mason, Medina, Menard, Real, or Uvalde.
• Applicants must demonstrate they experienced a negative economic impact as a result of the July 2026 floods.

“Our hearts are with the Texas small businesses that are facing yet another tragic disaster. When disasters strike, they need trusted partners who can respond in a matter of days to sustain the business and its employees," said Amy Hereford, President and CEO of LiftFund. "Our team is prepared to help business owners stabilize, recover, and continue serving the communities that depend on them.”

Over the last year, LiftFund has deployed 525 grants and loans totaling more than $17 million in funding for small businesses across the Hill Country. For more than three decades, LiftFund has helped entrepreneurs recover from disasters and economic crises by providing responsible and affordable lending, grant administration, and educational support and assistance. The organization has supported businesses affected by hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and the COVID-19 pandemic, developing purpose-built disaster recovery systems that prioritize speed, accountability, and equitable access to capital.

"Every small business that reopens strengthens its community," Hereford said. "When entrepreneurs can recover, employees return to work, families regain stability, and local economies begin moving forward again."

LiftFund is also working with philanthropic organizations, corporate partners, and community leaders to expand available recovery resources for affected small businesses and nonprofits. Additional funding will help increase access to affordable financing, grants, and business support services as recovery efforts continue.

Organizations and individuals interested in supporting the recovery effort may donate at donate.liftfund.com or contact Liliane Spenle at 469-607-0624 to discuss partnership opportunities.

Small business owners seeking assistance can visit https://www.liftfund.com/2026-texas-hill-country-flood-relief-program or call 888-215-2373 to learn more about available recovery resources and determine eligibility.

About LiftFund

LiftFund is one of the nation's leading nonprofit small business lenders, dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs and advancing economic opportunity. For more than 30 years, LiftFund has generated billions in economic impact by providing responsible loans, managing grant programs, and delivering accessible financial education. Through mission-driven capital and trusted partnerships, LiftFund helps entrepreneurs build stronger businesses and more resilient communities. Learn more at LiftFund.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Devan Karp
210-215-8355
Email Contact

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The latest episode of The Building Texas Show, titled The Aerospace & Defense Companies Picking Buda Over Austin, published July 13, 2026, features host Justin McKenzie sitting down in Buda, Texas with Jennifer Storm, CEO of the Buda Economic Development Corporation, and Monica Davidson, CEO of the Greater Buda Chamber of Commerce and a Buda City Council member. The conversation challenges the prevailing narrative that Central Texas aerospace and defense growth is an Austin story, arguing instead that the real footprint is landing in smaller I-35 corridor cities that offer right-sized space, workforce access, and lower rent.

Listeners get an insider look at how Buda built momentum in under a year. Topic threads include:

• Why aerospace and defense firms are choosing Buda over Austin, Round Rock, and Pflugerville, often seeking 10,000 to 20,000 square foot spaces rather than greenfield.
• The Hive incubator, which moved 60 entrepreneurs through four cohorts in its first year across industries from salons to AI apps to drones.
• A new retail incubator opening in Buda's restored 1884 train depot on Main Street.
• The Hays CISD teacher externship program placing 17 educators inside local businesses this summer.

Storm is candid about her recent recognition from the International Economic Development Council, accepted at the Library of Congress, and equally candid about the community's positioning against its larger neighbor. "People are saying aerospace and defense is coming to Austin, but that's not true. It's coming to Buda and Bastrop and Lockhart and Kyle and San Marcos," Storm recounts a recent caller telling her. Davidson, who has doubled Chamber membership in two years, describes her role bluntly: "I want to be where business begins in Buda."

The episode digs into the mechanics behind the growth. Storm explains that the Buda EDC uses rebates rather than abatements, paying incentives only after jobs are delivered, which she frames as a low-risk taxpayer investment tied to a single mandate: economic prosperity. Davidson details how the Greater Buda Chamber rebrand widened the tent to include South Austin, Mustang Ridge, Luling, and Lockhart businesses, while partnering with anchors like US Foods, Texas Lehigh, and Jardine's. The pair also unpack the origin of Buda's trademarked title as the Wiener Dog Capital of Texas, a Lions Club idea from the 1980s that is now the city's largest annual event.

About The Building Texas Show

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, spotlights the founders, civic leaders, and operators shaping the next generation of Texas communities and companies. Each week the show travels the state to unpack how economic development, entrepreneurship, and local leadership intersect on the ground. New episodes release weekly across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. This episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard.

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The latest episode of The Building Texas Show, titled Texas School Finance's Biggest Misunderstanding: Recapture Isn't Robin Hood, hosted by Justin McKenzie, dismantles one of the state's most persistent policy myths. Published July 13, 2026, the conversation with Missy Bender, Executive Director of the Texas School Coalition, drills into where the nearly $3 billion Texas schools sent back to the state in 2025 through recapture actually ends up. With about 20% of all Texas districts now paying, and roll calls of urban and rural payers growing, the episode arrives as legislators head into election season.

Recorded in Plano, the discussion breaks down the mechanics and consequences of the post-House Bill 3 formula in plain language. Listeners can expect three specific threads:

• How property valuation divided by average daily attendance triggers the recapture threshold, and why declining enrollment plus rising valuations create a "double whammy" for districts like Plano ISD.
• The 2025 top payers, including Austin ISD at $770 million and West Texas oil district Pecos-Barstow-Toyah at $198 million.
• Why a student leaving for a doctor's appointment can cost a district a full day of state funding, even when the absence is excused.

Bender, a former Plano school board member turned statewide advocate, is blunt about the misconception baked into the program's nickname. "So what does recapture do? It generates state savings," she tells McKenzie. "That's why I don't call it Robin Hood anymore. It's not the property wealthy helping the property poor, like many think, but it's only helping the state." She adds that some boards have considered withholding payment as a form of protest, but warns, "you can actually go to jail for doing that." The exchange reframes a debate most Texans have only encountered as a tax-bill line item.

The deeper policy conversation traces the money's path into the Foundation School Program (FSP) and out again as reduced state contributions, funds Bender says can then be redirected to "water, transportation, it could be vouchers, it could be anything." She cites the funding adequacy study led by Dr. Lori Taylor at Texas A&M, notes that the Legislature went six years without increasing the basic allotment despite inflation, and argues that 96% attendance, once religious and medical absences are counted, should be treated as the practical ceiling. She also flags legislation she is working on to stop penalizing districts for excused partial-day absences.

About The Building Texas Show

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, spotlights the operators, advocates, and civic leaders shaping the state's future through candid, long-form conversation. From public policy and education finance to entrepreneurship and community building, each weekly episode digs into how Texans are making the state stronger. New episodes release every week across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. This episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard.

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The latest episode of The Building Texas Show, How NexCourt Built 50 Dallas Mavericks Courts & World Cup Futsal Pitches, hosted by Justin McKenzie, brings listeners inside a 35-year North Texas construction story now converging with the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Published July 9, 2026, the conversation features Mark Kundysek, CEO and founder of NexCourt, whose company was awarded the contract to build six mini-pitch futsal courts across North Texas for the World Cup planning committee. With ribbon cuttings underway and a legacy footprint that already spans nearly 50 Dallas Mavericks Foundation courts, the timing makes NexCourt one of the tournament's most visible community-legacy builders.

Across the episode, Kundysek walks McKenzie through the projects and partnerships that defined NexCourt's rise from a $250 dealer kit in 1988-89 to a full sport construction operation. Topic threads include:

• The six 5,000-square-foot mini-pitch futsal courts commissioned by the North Texas World Cup Committee, referred by FC Dallas after six prior builds.
• Long-running foundation work with the Dallas Mavericks (25 years), Nancy Lieberman's Dream Courts (17 years), Dallas Stars Foundation, Make-A-Wish, and the Dak Prescott Foundation.
• The 2021 pickleball boom, including recent commercial builds like City Pickle in North Fort Worth (16 courts) and a 12-court facility in Celina.

Kundysek's voice throughout the episode is that of a builder who watched the metroplex grow up around him. Recalling the early days of expansion into Collin and Tarrant counties, he tells McKenzie:

I can remember building courts in Southlake when nothing was there. I can remember building courts in Collin County when nothing was there. 121 through Frisco and The Colony, and it was just a two-lane country road.

He also describes futsal for listeners unfamiliar with the format, explaining that the ball has almost no air, that everything is played below the waist, and that the surface trains passing, foot skills, teamwork, and character in ways traditional outdoor soccer does not.

The deeper context is the community-legacy model NexCourt has refined over two and a half decades. Kundysek explains that most renovation sites, whether for the Mavericks, Dallas Stars, FC Dallas, or the World Cup committee, are aging tennis or basketball courts no longer in active use. The first ribbon cutting for the World Cup pitches took place at the Esperanza Community Center in North Dallas on June 20, followed by George Stevens Park in downtown Arlington on June 26. Recent builds for Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham in Arlington and Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein in East Oklahoma City underscore the referral-driven pipeline. FC Dallas Foundation is currently working with NexCourt on another mini-pitch in Mansfield, tied to the city's new soccer stadium.

About The Building Texas Show

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, profiles the founders, builders, and civic leaders shaping Texas communities. Each week the show highlights the entrepreneurs and organizations investing in the state's future, from small business origin stories to marquee civic projects. This episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard, along with drone footage of the World Cup court installations on NexCourt's social channels.

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The July 9, 2026 episode of The Building Texas Show, titled Frisco's Population Boom: What's Really Happening?, hosted by Justin McKenzie, features a candid conversation with Stephanie Elad, a corporate HR executive turned two-term Frisco ISD trustee. The episode arrives as one of North Texas's most talked-about school districts navigates a new reality: after years of explosive growth, Frisco ISD is now landlocked, built out, and facing declining enrollment. Elad, reelected last year to a term running through 2028, unpacks what that inflection point means for teachers, families, and taxpayers.

The conversation moves through a set of concrete topic threads pulled from Elad's tenure on the board:

• How a 2021 board meeting comment, "this is our meeting, not the community's," triggered a standing ovation, statewide press coverage, and her 2022 run for office.
• Bringing a confidential, third-party employee engagement survey into the district to improve teacher retention.
• Building plumbing, electrical, and HVAC apprenticeship pathways inside Frisco high schools alongside existing CTE tracks like medical terminology, legal assistant work, and e-gaming.
• Preparing students for careers that AI cannot replace, and pushing families to actually vote in low-turnout school board elections.

Elad describes the moment that changed her trajectory in her own words. Recalling the April 2021 board meeting, she tells McKenzie:

"The board president said, you know, this is our meeting, meaning theirs and not the community's. And that just did not sit right with me. I didn't like it. And so I was sitting waiting for my turn to talk, and I realized that what I really wanted to talk about at that point was what he had just said."

She also frames her HR background as central to how she governs, noting that tough conversations with staff and parents "have never really been foreign to me because I've just been doing it for so long."

The episode goes deeper on workforce readiness and the stigma around the trades. Elad points to a neighbor who owns a plumbing business, clears a couple hundred thousand dollars a year, and cannot find apprentice plumbers, arguing that Frisco high schoolers should be able to enter apprenticeship programs earning $60,000 to $70,000 within a year or two of graduation, without debt or a four-year degree. McKenzie connects the thread to his advisory work with the startup Founding Up and to PTECH welding programs in the San Antonio area, where students graduate with as many as 60 college credit hours through community college partnerships. Elad also discusses the district's new superintendent, hired roughly a month before taping, and her renewed optimism about Frisco ISD's next chapter.

About The Building Texas Show

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, profiles the founders, operators, educators, and civic leaders shaping the future of Texas. Each week the show digs into the people and decisions behind the state's growth, from startups and small business to schools, workforce development, and community leadership. New episodes release weekly across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. This episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard.

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The Building Texas Show has released its latest episode featuring John Carona, founder and CEO of Associa, the largest manager of homeowners associations in the world. Recorded at the company's Richardson headquarters, the conversation with host Justin McKenzie covers the origins of a company now in its 49th year, the misunderstood role of the HOA in a fast-growing Texas, and where community association management goes next as Associa expands across Europe.

Carona started the business roughly 18 months out of the University of Texas at Austin, where he worked three jobs to put himself through school. "We started out with just two employees, myself and one rather elderly assistant who I loved dearly," he told McKenzie. "And from that we built this twenty-four thousand employee operation." The growth came, he said, "one client at a time," organically at first, and increasingly through acquisition. Associa has now acquired more than 200 separate companies and adds another 25 to 30 management firms in a typical year.

Setting the record straight on homeowners associations

Much of the episode is aimed at an audience with strong opinions about HOAs. Carona's case for them is a financial one. "The most important thing homeowners associations do is they preserve the value for the owners themselves by adding some degree of conformity, some reasonable rules and regulations," he said, noting that property values in communities with mandatory homeowners associations have been shown repeatedly to grow at a faster rate than those outside them.

He also addressed the friction directly. Survey after survey, he said, shows that just north of 95% of residents living in community associations appreciate the experience. "Now, four to five percent out there feel otherwise. And it's our job as a management company to try to address the issues that those four to five percent bring up." Associa now surveys every board of directors it represents three times a year to catch problems early enough to act on them.

Technology, training, and a family culture

Asked what sets Associa apart, Carona pointed to two things: technology and the amount the company spends each year training its people. "We live in the Amazon age. People want more for less, and there's nothing wrong with that," he said. "That same technological application applies with community associations, and we have to be able to do a better job, a more timely job, and do it for lower dollars."

Associa operates 340 branch offices across the United States, ranging from ten to 150 employees, and serves 44 of the 50 states. That footprint, Carona said, gives employees a rare ability to move markets without leaving the company, one reason Associa still employs people with 25, 30, and even 40 years of tenure. Employees have voted the company a national best place to work for nine consecutive years, an achievement Carona singled out above all others: "Nothing makes me prouder than that."

Next stop: Europe

Associa recently acquired the number two operator in Spain, its first large international purchase, and expects to be the number one operator in that market by the close of December. Carona described it as the opening move in a three-to-five-year rollout across Europe, with the UK, France, and Italy on the list and inbound interest already arriving from Germany.

The vocabulary changes by country, as parts of Canada call them stratas, but the work does not. "Whatever they call them, the procedure and the type of service is more or less the same."

For homeowners buying into Texas's booming triangle, his closing advice was blunt: scrutinize transportation, scrutinize location, and scrutinize build quality, because Texas does not license builders. "From time to time, bad actors can come on the scene."

The full episode is available now wherever you get your podcasts.

About John J. Carona

John J. Carona is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Associa, the industry's leading provider of community management services. A former Texas State Senator and Texas State Representative, Carona combines more than five decades of entrepreneurial leadership and public service experience to advance innovation, operational excellence, and exceptional service for the communities Associa serves worldwide. Carona is a published author of three books, and a highly sought-after public speaker in government relations, public policy, HOAs, communities, and thought leader on issues affecting the community living experience.

About The Building Texas Show

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, spotlights the founders, operators, and civic leaders shaping the fastest-growing state in the country. Each week the show goes inside Texas-built companies to unpack how they scaled, who they serve, and what their growth means for communities across the Triangle and beyond. New episodes release weekly on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. This episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard.

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A recent episode of the Building Texas Show, titled She Left DC to Open a Boutique in Fair Oaks Ranch and hosted by Justin McKenzie, spotlights entrepreneur Kelli Hull as she prepares to open Monkee's of Fair Oaks Ranch on August 20. Published June 30, 2026, the conversation captures a timely story of reverse migration and retail opportunity: a native Texan returning after nearly 20 years in Washington, DC to fill what she identified as a clear gap in the Texas Hill Country market for contemporary women's fashion designers.

Recorded in Fair Oaks Ranch just outside San Antonio, the episode digs into the mechanics of launching a franchise boutique in an emerging development. Topic threads include:

• Why Lemon Creek Ranch, anchored by an H-E-B with I-10 access, won out over other Kendall and Bexar County sites.
• The Monkee's franchise process, from ownamonkeys.com paperwork to Discovery Day in Winston-Salem with VP of Franchising Pete Greene.
• Brand curation across Paige Denim, Frame, Aviator Nation, Farm Rio, Millie, Shoshanna, and Marie Oliver.
• Building a military affinity program tied to Hull's Army Reserve officer husband and the Junior League of San Antonio.

Hull describes walking into her first Monkee's in Raleigh eight years ago and being struck by how a 1,200 square foot boutique could carry major contemporary labels. She credits the franchise's collective buying power for opening doors, recounting a recent New York trip where she bought 2027 collections at the Farm Rio showroom before her store had even opened. On customer experience, she tells McKenzie plainly:

It is my solemn vow to you that I will never let you leave Monkee's of Fair Oaks in something that doesn't look phenomenal on you. I promise.

The conversation goes deeper on the build-out realities of taking a cold, dark shell in a new development from developer Valcour, which Hull praises alongside Bexar County permitting that turned around in roughly 72 hours. She explains her data-driven buying philosophy shaped by 20 years supporting special operations and Central Intelligence Agency clients through her consulting business, and previews a Sunday by-appointment personal shopping model aimed at busy traveling professionals. Store number 8 in Texas and roughly number 67 nationally, Monkee's of Fair Oaks will also host private after-hours events and a grand opening gathering for the Junior League's Military Affinity Group.

About The Building Texas Show

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, profiles the founders, operators, and community builders shaping business and growth across Texas. Each weekly episode delivers grounded, business owner style interviews on scaling operations, navigating local markets, and building companies that reflect Texas values. New episodes release across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. This episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard.

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The latest episode of The Building Texas Show, titled Texas Towns Unprepared for What's Coming in 2027, published June 25, 2026, finds host Justin McKenzie sitting down in Mason, Texas with Katie Milton-Jordan, founder and CEO of SimpleEDO.ai. The conversation centers on a striking claim emerging from a global consortium of AI transformation experts: that 2027 will be remembered as the year of 'intelligence farming,' and that rural Texas communities, along with much of rural America, are dangerously underprepared for what that shift will demand of local government.

The episode unpacks several distinct threads that listeners can follow from start to finish. Among the topics McKenzie and Milton-Jordan explore:

• Why volunteer mayors and lean city councils lack the visibility site selectors already enjoy
• How 'context mining' of town hall records and board meeting archives can surface constituent signals
• The risk of 'tribal knowledge' inside municipalities and small EDOs
• Regional collaboration across the Texas Hill Country versus traditional county-line silos
• The Texas Venture Gala and Forum hosted by C.S. Freeland, where Milton-Jordan was named Texas Venture Fest of the Year

Milton-Jordan, who built SimpleEDO.ai out of her hands-on work with the Kerr Economic Development Corporation, frames AI as a leveling force for under-resourced communities.

"AI is just really democratizing this access to people who didn't historically have access to it. So a lot of these strategies that were only available to bigger communities or people with deeper pockets are now available to that volunteer mayor," Milton-Jordan tells McKenzie.

She argues that economic development leaders must now optimize for both revenue and risk as the AI economy accelerates inside public-sector workflows.

The deeper conversation turns to data centers landing in rural America and what their site-selection metrics reveal about the information gap. Milton-Jordan notes that site selectors arrive armed with tools, funding, and research, while civic leaders often operate blind. She points to a practical fix: synthesizing years of public-record minutes, surveys, and board cadences with AI to expose historical constituent signals. McKenzie and Milton-Jordan also preview the Hill Country Venture Fest, returning October 1 through thetownie.ai, and reflect on Miles Murray, a Tyvee graduate spotlighted at a prior Kerrville-area Venture Fest focused on energy and biofuels.

About The Building Texas Show

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, profiles the founders, civic leaders, and ecosystem builders shaping Texas innovation from the Hill Country to the major metros. New episodes drop weekly across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, with sponsorship support from Chisos Boots. Texas Towns Unprepared for What's Coming in 2027 is available now wherever podcasts are heard.

This press release is distributed by the Newsworthy.ai™ Press Release Newswire - News Marketing Platform™. Reference URL for this press release is here.

The latest episode of The Building Texas Show, titled Glen Rose's Strangest Attraction Isn't What You'd Expect and hosted by Justin McKenzie, takes listeners one hour south of Fort Worth to a town of roughly 2,700 residents that punches far above its weight in tourism. Published June 25, 2026, the conversation features Traci Niedziela, Tourism Director for Glen Rose, who details why 28% of Texans live within a 90-minute drive yet most have never stopped past the state park exit. The episode reframes Glen Rose as a full weekend destination, not a quick day trip.

Across the conversation, Niedziela walks McKenzie through the attractions that pack the small Somervell County seat. Listeners get specific previews of:

• Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, including newly born baby giraffes and a baby zebra born in February
• Dinosaur Valley State Park, Dinosaur World, and the new animatronic Rex Ann installed at the visitor center
• The Texas Amphitheater's June run of The Little Mermaid, staged over an actual water moat
• Two rivers, Big Rocks Park, and Paluxy River cabin stays such as Anderson Creek Cabins
• A citywide scavenger hunt featuring 98 uniquely painted dinosaurs tied to local businesses

Niedziela's pitch is rooted in specific detail rather than generic boosterism. On the signature scavenger hunt, she explains the concept in her own words:

We've got 98 dinosaurs that are located throughout our city. They're all uniquely painted, so each one represents its business. For example, the hospital has a doctor in front of it, the dinosaur is painted like a doctor. Our school district has a tiger, that's our school mascot, so the dinosaur is painted like a tiger.

Players scan a QR code at any hotel or the visitor center to unlock rewards including Fossil Rim entry passes, Dinosaur World tickets, and free ice cream at Shoo Fly.

The episode also digs into the economic backbone behind a small town with five major hotels. Niedziela credits the nearby Comanche Peak nuclear power plant for driving midweek corporate retreat and conference demand Sunday through Thursday, which props up lodging capacity for weekend leisure travelers. She and McKenzie discuss Leadership Glen Rose, the hospitality training culture among local businesses, and the visibility of Mayor Joe Bowles, who Niedziela says stopped by her office moments before recording to plan a July 4th parade, dunk tank, and hot dog eating contest. The town's 250th birthday weekend will close with a fireworks show reflected over Wheeler Branch Park's water.

About The Building Texas Show

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, spotlights the people, places, and ideas shaping the Lone Star State, from booming metros to heritage small towns. Each weekly episode features candid conversations with mayors, founders, tourism leaders, and operators building Texas community by community. The show is sponsored by Chisos Boots. Listeners can find planning details at ExploreGlenRose.com, and this episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard.

This press release is distributed by the Newsworthy.ai™ Press Release Newswire - News Marketing Platform™. Reference URL for this press release is here.