In September 2005, the first edition of Community Impact Newspaper shipped to mailboxes in the cities of Round Rock and Pflugerville. At the time, publisher John Garrett wrote: “Our mission is clear: to provide Round Rock and Pflugerville residents and business owners with a free monthly publication. One that is full of news and information that impacts their lives, business and community.” At the time, Community Impact Newspaper covered Round Rock and Pflugerville. Ten years later it reaches nearly 1.5 million mailboxes in 31 cities throughout the Austin, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Houston metro areas. To celebrate the decade milestone, Community Impact Newspaper is looking at a few of the stories the newspaper wrote about in the first year and the ways the cities have changed.
2005
In September 2005, most readers did not have access to the information of where area toll roads were being built and how much they would cost, said John Garrett, founder and publisher of Community Impact Newspaper. “More importantly, many local businesses along these roads weren’t even sure where the entrance and exit ramps were going to be, which is a very important concern for local business access,” Garrett said. Garrett said he went to the toll road office off Wells Branch Parkway and drew every entrance and exit ramp by hand based off of a huge wall map in the engineering department. “This was before we could easily pull up satellite images on our phone, so we had to buy the rights to a large satellite image and then on our old Mac Mini we had to hand-place every arrow over the map,” he said. “It took all night for our original graphic designer, Patty Smith, and I to place all of these arrows.” Garrett said the readers loved it and expressed through emails, phone calls and in person how much they appreciated this information. “This map put Community Impact Newspaper on the map for local news for our readers,” he said.
2015
Now: Tollways have increased regional transportation options, economic viability The Texas Department of Transportation held ribbon cuttings for Loop 1, SH 45 N and SH 130 segments 1 and 2 in December 2006. Round Rock Mayor Alan McGraw said in 2015 they have made regional mobility much more viable in the area. “One of the biggest transportation issues we have is a regional transportation system,” McGraw said. “The tolls have done a fantastic job in making [regional transportation] in many cases easier. For example, I can get to the airport faster here [in Round Rock] than many people in West Austin.” Pflugerville Mayor Jeff Coleman said the toll roads “fundamentally” changed the city. “[SH 130 and SH 45 N] opened a retail shopping sector for us that didn’t exist prior to the tolls being built,” Coleman said. “Which is now the economic engine driving our commercial sector.” McGraw said the toll roads have helped economic development in Round Rock. “Take a company like Emerson that [has] thousands of visitors, and tell them how easy it is to get to and from the airport,” McGraw said. “That’s a big economic selling point.”
2005
The second front-page story of Community Impact Newspaper’s first edition was about the retail and health care destinations that were coming to Chandler Road, what is now University Boulevard. In September 2005, Simon Property Group had announced its intention to build the Round Rock Premium Outlets just two months before. In August 2005 Swedish retailer IKEA announced its plans to build a location across the street from the outlets. Also at the time, Scott & White Hospital-Round Rock and Seton Medical Center Williamson were more than a year away from completion. Community Impact Newspaper wrote, “The positive consequences for Round Rock and Pflugerville are both immediate and far reaching. More than 2,000 jobs will be created and the property tax and sales tax base will be increased.”
