New Braunfels City Council is deciding whether the New Braunfels Economic Development Corp., or NBEDC, should invest $1,125,000 in a program designed to strengthen workforce development and startup support for small businesses.
During a regular meeting on Oct. 12, the council unanimously voted to postpone the item to a November meeting to receive more details on the program.
Some details
The program, named gBETA, is a free, seven-week workshop under Gener8tor, a nationally recognized startup accelerator platform. gBETA is geared toward creating local jobs by assisting small businesses in acquiring outside funding without requiring owners to give up equity.
“We want to make sure we’re investing in the best and the brightest because we do believe bright ideas and brilliance belong everywhere,” said Robert Pieroni, a representative for Gener8tor.
Jonathan Packer, president and CEO of the Greater New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce, said he wants New Braunfels residents to have a resource to get the coaching and expertise they need to grow a company.
“We have young people going through [Texas State Technical College] and Northeast Lakeview that have strong technical skills and are rounding out and ready for opportunities like this,” Packer said. “We’ve got residents that have been working in a highly technical field … who have been commuting and are ready to start a company and just need the place where they live to have a resource.”
The discussion
District 3 Council member D. Lee Edwards said he wants to make sure they would be investing in something that has potential for success.
District 1 Council member Toni Carter said she has constituents who are not happy with the proposal.
“It’s a little problematic for me that we have this program called SPARK that we put a lot of money into; and unless I missed it, I have not seen a presentation of what we get back out of that,” Carter said.
District 6 Council member Nikki Shaw asked if they could bolster the SPARK program instead.
“I don’t really feel like we need both,” Shaw said.
In similar news
The SPARK Small Business Center is a New Braunfels-based business development service contracted by the city in partnership with the UTSA Small Business Development Center.
During an Oct. 15 quarterly update to the NBEDC, SPARK’s Project Manager Ron Richardson said they had several new business startups in Q3 with more business expansions in Q4.
SPARK also partnered with the Westside Community Center to provide on-site business advising services in June 2025. The partnership aims to help eliminate transportation barriers for underserved entrepreneurs, according to the Oct. 15 NBEDC presentation. Richardson said he has helped over 92 individuals through this partnership.
New Braunfels resident Julie King said the NBEDC’s investment into SPARK is producing results.
“I commend the efforts of SPARK. I think it’s great that they’re in the community,” King said.
