Austin , Texas was the destination of the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce’s most recent City-to-City trip, an annual event that brings a leadership delegation from San Jose to another metropolitan city to gather information about best practices and lessons learned specific to identified urban and regional issues effecting community and economic vitality. As a native Texan who remembers Austin as a sleepy university town, I had a personal interest in seeing how this city had changes since my years as a student.
 
Sixty delegates and guests participated in a program of activities that opened with an enthusiastic welcome from Austin Mayor Will Wynn in the Victorian Room of the historic Driskill Hotel, the very room where former President LBJ and Lady Bird Johnson held all of their election parties. Mayor Wynn spoke for over an hour about his beloved city and how it fosters a strong local economy through subsidy of its local entertainment industry. Over the decades, Austin has maintained an amazingly predictable growth rate and has consistently doubled its population every 20 years.

For more information about the Chamber's annual City-to-City Trip, please contact Jody Hansen, Vice President Public Affairs & Communications at jodyh@sjchamber.com, 408-291-5262.