During the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation’s latest episode of Build Your Talent Toolbox, Sam Silverstein, national keynote speaker, helped employers see the value in building a culture to retain the right employees. Sam teamed up with Cal Zant, President of Betenbough Homes, a local employer in Amarillo, Lubbock, and Midland.  After they shared their experience and expertise on work culture, Sabrina Meck Perez, AEDC Director of Workforce Attraction & Retention, sat down with both Sam and Cal to share their thoughts with you on the importance of being purposeful with work culture.

As we visit with many businesses, it becomes clear that a prominent challenge facing employers is the opportunity to engage with local students in a way that offers the greatest impression with minimal amount of sacrifice in work productivity. This is why the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) highlighted Junior Achievement of the High Plains in our first “Build Your Talent Toolbox” event. Junior Achievement (JA) helps employers bridge this gap and provides staff an opportunity to interact with local students.

You’re only as strong as your team. And a company is only as strong as its workforce. We know businesses, cities, educators, non-profits and everyone in between is constantly looking for the right talent who will stick around and be assets for their organization. But it is tough! With low unemployment, labor participation and new generations entering the workforce, the challenges of recruiting, retaining and engaging employees can be daunting and harmful to a business.

Melissa Sager is a millennial, senior designer at Cre8 Direct, Inc. and the owner of Things Like Us. Born and raised in Amarillo, Sager moved away to attend the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. Fifteen years later, after she and her husband had their first child, she moved back to her hometown.

Could living in a mid-sized city actually be advantageous for your business?

According to a recent study, this may be the case.

The Amarillo EDC and the West Texas A&M Enterprise Center is sending eight local entrepreneurs to represent our thriving business community at the INC. 5000 Conference & Gala in San Antonio in October. Each of the attendees has offered to contribute a blog about their experiences as an entrepreneur working in the Texas Panhandle. This is a guest post by Jacob Moreno,‎ co-founder of Altura Engineering & Design.

As I think back to my adolescent years and try to figure out why I wanted to be an entrepreneur, there are two people that come to mind. One is my dad, “Jimmy” Casimero Moreno, and the other is a group of people, the migrant workers I spent my summers with.

We often look back and wonder how it is that we find ourselves in the positions we’re in, but in my case, I know exactly what drove me to start my own business. It was the lessons that my father and the migrant workers taught me.

The Amarillo EDC and the West Texas A&M Enterprise Center is sending eight local entrepreneurs to represent our thriving business community at the INC. 5000 Conference & Gala in San Antonio in October. Each of the attendees has offered to contribute a blog about their experiences as an entrepreneur working in the Texas Panhandle. This is a guest post by Kyla Frye,‎ Marketing Communications Director - ‎West Texas A&M University Enterprise Center.

Growing up in Amarillo, there was always a stigma about staying here upon graduation or returning after college. Maybe every town goes through this, but I felt that it was said too often and continues to resonate in the minds of Amarillo’s youth.

During the 2008 recession, small business owners had to become extremely savvy in their cash management, accounting for each dollar going in and coming out of their organization. New entrepreneurs hanging their shingle for the first time shared the same anxiety that long-term business owners had as they considered the future of their companies.

Whether born from a brainstorm in the shower or thought up while daydreaming in a boardroom, new businesses provide significant opportunities within the economy. When the thoughts and ideas of entrepreneurs lead to the establishment of a new business, the entire community benefits.

A healthy economy requires small business growth and sustainability. When small businesses are healthy and prosperous, the community-at-large benefits and prospers, too.