August Newsletter

Dear Chamber & Community Members,

This month, on August 25, I’ll celebrate my 10-year anniversary at the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce. At our August luncheon, the Chamber Board and staff surprised me with some thoughtful and moving recognition, including my “headshot” photos spanning the last 10 years. I was also presented with multiple certificates, including the “Yellow Rose of Texas” commission from Governor Abbott as well as a Congressional Patriot Award from Congressman McCaul. To say I was humbled is a great understatement. I thank all of you for allowing me to lead this Chamber to where it is today.

A lot of things have changed since 2014. To continue moving forward, it’s important to look back – to see just how far we have come:

Other significant achievements since 2014 include:

Completed Institute for Organizational Management (IOM) from US Chamber.

Achieved Certified Chamber Executive (CCE) designation from Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives.

Received Accreditation with 4-Star Distinc tion from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Only 199 Chambers out of nearly 7,000 are accredited.

Consistently ranked in the Top 10 Largest Chambers by the Austin Business Journal.

Converted to Chamber Master Database management system and established a tiered-dues system.

Introduce four new and successful initiatives that are supported by independent websites.

Multiple building renovations and enhancements.

Developed a Five-Year Strategic Plan.

Beyond the Chamber, what’s changed in the Bastrop Region since 2014? A lot!

In 2014, the Bastrop County population was 77,700; 2024 is projected to be 115,161 – a 48% increase!

Several major businesses opened in Bastrop, including Ascension Seton Hospital, Hobby Lobby, Austin Regional Clinic, Home Goods, TCS Mechanical, Ulta, Old Navy, the Boring Company, SpaceX, and soon X (formerly Twitter).

We helped pass TWO school bonds, bring ing more schools and improved facilities to our ever-growing Bastrop Independent School District. BISD enrollment is up by 17% over the last 5 years, and they project almost 20,000 students in the district by 2033 due to

housing growth in the area. The district’s current enrollment is 13,006 students across 16 campuses.

Locally, we’re working to preserve our history but have a pro-business environment when it comes to development. When properly focused, a politically active Chamber is a great asset to the community. The Chamber published its first Public Policy Guide in 2017, to communicate our mission to our members, political leaders, and to the public at large. This year, we’re elevating the Chamber’s advocacy activity by developing an effective and actionable Legislative Agenda for 20252026. If you haven’t provided your input on this, please take the short survey here: Legislative Agenda Survey.

People all over Texas (and the nation) recognize the assets we have in Bastrop. We are strategically located in the heart of the Texas triangle making commerce easy between Houston, San Antonio and Austin. When talking about accessibility, TxDOT is investing millions of dollars in infrastructure in the way of overpasses on Hwy 71. We’re only 20 minutes from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, making us closer to the airport than several of our friends living in the Austin area. We are also only 20 miles from SH130. These are demographics that are a major asset when considering location.

I’ve been saying this for several years, and it’s still true today: this is a time in our community’s history we are going to look back on and say, “Remember When.” As we head into a pretty heavy election season, I’d like to remind you of this: #BeKindBastrop. This has been our “theme” this year and it’s important that we continue to be kind to others who may have different viewpoints and/or opinions. Let’s not lose sight of what’s most important: being a community that is strong, resilient, friendly, and tight knit.

If you want to get more involved in your community, come by and see us at the Chamber. Our office is located at 927 Main Street in the heart of downtown Bastrop. Stop by anytime, ‘friend’ me or ‘like’ the Chamber page on Facebook, send me an email at bwomble@bastropchamber.com or call me at 512-303-0558. Engagement and connectivity are what makes a GREAT community.

Your Bastrop Chamber is open for Business and Bigger Better Bastrop!

A decade of service to you,

Becki

Womble,

CCE, IOM President / CEO Bastrop Chamber of Commerce

DINNER

As we kick off the 2024-25 school year, Bastrop ISD is thrilled to welcome back more than 13,300 students. In addition, we’ve had more than 1,700 dedicated teachers and staff members hard at work preparing everything from classrooms to campuses, lesson plans to lunch menus, schedules to bus routes, and so much more! This is all being done throughout over 2 million square feet of facilities across the District.

One thing is for sure, Bastrop ISD is growing! Year over year we’ve seen increases in student enrollment of approximately 4%. That equates to about 250 more students in our classrooms this fall compared to the spring of last year. This trend isn’t expected to slow down anytime soon. We project that our enrollment will increase to almost 20,000 students by 2033.

As enrollment has increased, we have responded with increases to capacity and facility improvements. Thanks to the support of our community we passed bonds in 2021 and 2023. Those bonds have made it possible for us to keep up with this growth. All projects that were included in the 2021 bond are either complete or on schedule to be completed near the end of this school year, and I am proud to say that in addition to being on-time, these projects were also on or under budget.

The majority of the 2023 bond projects are already underway, including two new elementary schools that will take place over the next two years. Construction of elementary school #9 has already begun and is on schedule to open in the fall of 2025. Elementary #10 is in the design phase and set to open in the fall of 2026. Our middle schools are expanding too! We currently have two 6th grade intermediate campuses and two 7th & 8th grade middle school campuses. Beginning with the 2025-26 school year all four campuses will be middle schools serving grades 6th - 8th. We will look forward to naming the two newest middle schools and elementary school #9 later this fall.

The safety of our students is our top priority and measures to improve security were also included in both the 2021 and 2023 bonds. Completed renovations include the addition of secure vestibules in the entryways at our campuses, as well as improved badge access, security fencing, cameras, and more.

While we celebrate all of our physical growth, I want to assure you that we are also committed to addressing academic and attendance challenges and increasing student outcomes. Students are still recovering from pandemic-related learning disruptions, and average attendance rates remain lower than our pre-pandemic average of 94%. To address these challenges, we put a plan in place that started in the 2023-2024 school year and will continue into this school year and beyond until we see the results that we all aspire to. District and campus leadership will continue to work together to implement campus-specific strategies and interventions tailored to close gaps and increase achievement for all students.

In closing, I’d like to remind you that our growth is fueled by the incredible support from our community, businesses and partnership with the Bastrop Chamber. As we move forward into this new school year, Bastrop ISD remains committed to one primary purpose, serving our students.

“Their Future is Our Focus.”