After several roundtable discussions, the city of Bee Cave officially announced their worker appreciation card program for employees who work at select locations in the 78738 zip code.
The card will offer qualifying workers 10%-20% discounts at businesses that sign on; according to a press release from the city, more than 20 businesses have offered discounts on products or services, with dozens more expected to sign up in the coming month.
“This idea actually came out of a previous business roundtable we held,” Bee Cave Mayor Kara King said. “We knew that was something we could help put together immediately. This is one way we can thank folks who work in our City and show them that we all, as a community, appreciate and value them.”
The worker appreciation card is intended to help offset the cost of traveling to work in Bee Cave, as the average home price in the area was valued at over $1 million in 2022, making it “increasingly unaffordable” for people who work in the service, retail and education industries to live in the area, according to the press release.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that 92.2% of people employed in Bee Cave live outside of it. This means that workers are potentially traveling long hours to work in the city every day.
“We had some workers commuting more than 50 miles each way to come work at various businesses in Bee Cave,” said Dori Kelley, Bee Cave business communications specialist.
The new worker appreciation card is meant to help ease the burden workers face while providing relief to employers struggling to find employees, the city said.
In a recent interview with Community Impact, Julian King, owner of Capriotti's Sandwich Shop, said the city has been very helpful.
King had trouble opening his business in Bee Cave, which officially opened Oct. 15, because of the lack of staff.
“[Bee Cave is] very, very aware of what's going on,” he said. “They actually have an amazing [gas program] which started back in August or September.”
The gas card program Bee Cave created, in cooperation with the Lake Travis Chamber of Commerce, was meant to help workers who commute more than 15 miles each way pay for gas through the holiday season.
According to the press release, the gas fund campaign raised over $14,000 worth of gas cards in October, November and December.
In order to qualify for the discounts through the 78738 card, workers must present the physical card at participating locations, which can be found on the Bee Cave Economic Development Corporation’s website at edc.beecavetexas.gov.
