Theburg by Ken Esten Cooke

Fall 2015

Agriculture still drives Gillespie economy

Fischer & Wieser: The making of a national brand

Tourism dollars trickle down to businesses large and small

Real estate is on pace for a record

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Real estate market shifts into high gear After 2008 crash, sales and values are hitting all-time highs By Ken Esten Cooke

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here is a lot more than jewelry and wine that people want to buy in Fredericksburg. Real estate has been moving at a record pace in 2015. The first two quarters saw a record 169 units sell for $98.9 million. Barring a slowdown, 2015 will be a record year for sales. People who want a piece of the ’Burg are driving the market upward. Some are young entrepreneurs who see Fredericksburg as a great place to raise a family. Others are frequent visitors who love the town’s many attractions. Still others are retirees who want to build their dream home and still live in a place with lots of activities and good health care, without all the big city congestion. Every place from Boot Ranch to Bowie Street is moving properties at a rapid clip. Mike Starks serves as a Central Hill Country Board of Realtors representative on the Gillespie County Economic Development Commission. Starks said the average price of a home has gone up 17.5 percent

2015 is shaping up to be a record year. Real estate in total dollars sold in the first half of the year beats previous record by

30%

*Numbers, statistics supplied by the Central Hill Country MLS (Mike Starks)

in the first six months of the year. For the first six months of 2015, the average price of a home was $306,171. Drivers “One driver is the built-up demand over the past few years where people were holding back,” Starks said. “Another driver is that people are able to sell houses in other states or towns and that’s helping drive sales here. Say, if someone had to sell a house in California.” One study showed one in seven ▶ Continued on page 21

Average price of a home rose

17.5%

Average price per square foot

$161.87

Steady Climb: Gillespie County real estate valuations since 2000 $7.2

$7 billion $6.0 $4.3

$2 billion$2.1

$2.7

$2.8

$3.0

*In billions

$6.9

$6.7

$6.6

$7.0

$6.8

$6.7

$7.3

$4.9

$3.4

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 P R E M I U M T E X A S R E A L E S TAT E

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Tourism revs economic engine Visitors contribute $93 million to local economy By Matt Ward

here’s an old saying that goes, “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” For residents of Fredericksburg and Gillespie County, what’s good for tourists is ultimately good for local residents. Just ask Ernie Loeffler, director of the Fredericksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, whose job it’s been since 1998 to drive out-of-towners here, leaving money behind hand over fist. “The economic generation from visitors really does trickle down through the whole economy,” Loeffler said. “A (bed and breakfast) decides they want to remodel. Guess what? They hire a local carpenter or they buy new carpet or new wooden floors (locally). Even things that you wouldn’t think are visitor-related do get some of the (indirect) income.” The results don’t lie. In 2014, direct spending by

Photo of Ernie/ CVB Downtown’s Main Street area is still an anchor attraction for visitors, and wineries are attracting many more. — Standard-Radio Post photo

visitors to Gillespie County totaled around $93 million, according to the Office of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism. That number is up from $36 million spent by tourists when Loeffler started in 1998. He also quantified tourism’s

local benefit in terms anyone can get behind: food. “People have a choice of 75 restaurants in Fredericksburg on any given day,” Loeffler said. If the visitors weren’t helping support those restaurants, I don’t know what the number would be, but it sure

as heck wouldn’t be 75 if only 11,000 of us were eating in those restaurants.” The average visitor Quantifying just how many visitors travel to Gillespie County each year — whether it be for wine tours, Main Street

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Tourism shopping or festivals like Oktoberfest — is an inexact science, though the CVB uses a number of metrics to help track visitation. Occupancy rates at local hotels and the number of tourists TOURISM BY THE NUMBERS who stop by the Visi$93 million — How much tor Cenmoney tourists left in direct spendter each ing while visiting Fredericksburg in month 2014 help the CVB gauge 61,727 — Number of people numbers, welcomed at the Visitor Information Loeffler Center in 2014, down slightly from said. 62,960 in 2013 Approximately 60 $536 — Average spent by visitors percent to Fredericksburg in 2014 of visitors hail from $665 — Average spent by one of the overnight visitors to Fredericksburg four major in 2014 metropolitan areas of Texas (Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio) with about 15 percent coming from each metro.

An additional 25 percent of visitors are from out of state, which Loeffler said was up from 10 percent in 1998. International visitors are an emerging market, he noted, with 8-9 percent of tourists coming from overseas, Canada and Mexico. “That is an area we want to grow the business because international visitors are just as likely to come on Tuesday and Wednesday as they are on a Friday and Saturday,” Loeffler said, noting that out-ofstate and international visitors are more likely to spend the night. Quantifying how many tourists visit Gillespie County each year is a According to CVB research, challenging task, though CVB research is able to track larger trends visitors to Fredericksburg have in defining what “the average visitor” looks like. — Data courtesy been predominantly female, Fredericksburg Convention and Visitor’s Bureau with more than half of visitors over the age of 50. “My sense is that the average age (of visiYoung visitors — the pivotal Generation X tors) is going down and that’s because of the and Millenials — have emerged over the past wineries,” Loeffler said. “We love all visitors, five years, Loeffler said, thanks in large part but for the economics and benefit to the city to the development of the wine industry east of Fredericksburg and Gillespie County, if we of Fredericksburg along U.S. 290. target visitors that have a little bit more dis-

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Tourism posable income, obviously they’re going to leave more money behind.” Loeffler said he expects younger tourists, especially day-trippers from Austin and San Antonio, to continue coming in waves as wineries and an emerging brewing industry helps to bring in the next generation of faithful tourists. “People today are looking more for an experience and they’re looking for something that’s authentic,” he said. “The good news is that Fredericksburg really has both of those qualities.” Fredericksburg’s appeal is no more apparent than in its return visitor data, according to a CVB study. As of 2012, nearly 75 percent of tourists were repeat visitors, with 14 percent of all visitors staying 20 or more times. Moving forward With visitation high on weekends and throughout April, July

and October, CVB staff have started to focus on evening out visitor traffic by promoting midweek and off-month dates. A recent feasibility study on a possible Fredericksburg conference center was among the first steps as local officials believe that visitor growth midweek is attainable and would help boost the industry as a whole. “We want to try and manage tourism as best we can,” Loeffler said. “It’s free enterprise, so I can’t control what happens — but in our book, we want to try to massage it as best we can so that we don’t just keep pushing people to the weekend and creating more and more inconveniences for locals and visitors. “That’s why we did the study on the conference center to try and fill in some of that midweek business and in theory grow the (hotel) occupancy rate.” Expected growth will likely continue down the U.S. 290 East corridor all the way from

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Tourism Fredericksburg to Johnson City as wineries continue construction along the highway. At least four new wineries are under construction, with more in the planning stages. “There will be more lodging and food options out on 290, then you have the question of visitors that come to do the wineries and do they come into Fredericksburg (at all) or do they stay out there,”

Loeffler said. “Part of the opportunity for the CVB over the next few years is how do we make sure that all of the product intertwined and interrelated so that people come and do the whole destination, meaning Fredericksburg all the way out to Stonewall.” Despite a change in trend of how people want to travel and what they want to experiAs both hotel room supply and average daily rates have risen ence when they in the lodging sector, overnight stays in Fredericksburg have travel, Loeffler remained consistent relatively through the last three years. — said, Fredericksburg continues to Data courtesy Fredericksburg Convention and Visitor’s Bureau average about 12 percent increase per year in hotel “Those people from the metropolitan occupancy. areas, when they typically think about Keeping those numbers up coming to Fredericksburg, they think on Mondays, Tuesdays and about coming for the weekend,” LoefWednesdays will be a key prifler said. “Part of our job has been to say Traffic at the Fredericksburg Visitor Information Center in 2014 ority for the tourism industry ‘There’s enough to do in Fredericksburg to reflects the peaks and valleys of the local tourism industry. — over the next several years. come for a whole week.’” Data courtesy Fredericksburg Convention and Visitor’s Bureau

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Jobs Task Force

Housing, employees are big needs By Ken Esten Cooke

Fredericksburg’s job market is in need of an infusion — of affordable housing, that is. A local labor task force has been addressing issues to spur the job and housing markets for about two years. It is made up of representatives from the City of Fredericksburg, Gillespie County Economic Development Commission, Hill Country Memorial Hospital, Fredericksburg Convention and Visitor Bureau, Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce, the Texas

Workforce Commission and several other independent representatives. A recent apartment market survey showed the town’s 624 apartment units to be 98 percent full. That leaves little room for employers who need jobs filled, but have few options for new employees. The good news is that some relief is on the way. That’s a good thing, considering there are new retail and development projects that promise to bring another 400 to 500 jobs to the local market. Those workers will need places to live. Crabapple Grove is a 78-unit apartment complex due to break ground soon at the corner of Lower Crabapple Road and North Llano Street. Another 36-unit townhome complex is planned, and a 48-unit quadplex unit is in the works. Another 100-unit assisted living project is in the design phase. (All

projects must be approved by proper city boards.) Some of these projects await federal and state tax credits for offering a part of their inventory as affordable. Lastly, finding contractors also can be a challenge. Many local contractors are booked up with custom home projects that have a higher profit margin than would affordable housing units. And, affordable land for sale within the city limits is becoming like finding a four-leaf clover. Still, representatives from the city and EDC have been active in recruiting developers to consider projects for the area. Website The Labor Task Force also worked with Fredericksburg Publishing Company to create a new jobs web-

site, www.fredericksburgtexasjobs. com, to help get the word out to potential new employees about the market. While currently a jobs listing site, updates and additions to the website are in the works and the task force is in the process of creating a marketing plan to expand the reach of the site through targeted digital marketing. Other projects The Chamber of Commerce also has taken the lead in doing wage studies for the market the past two years. Recruiting by offering competitive wages for service and retail jobs in this high-rent area has become yet another challenge. The Labor Task Force is working on these and other projects, including opportunities to expand higher education offerings.

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Group seeks ways to bring housing for new employees

My First Job

Hotel job experience teaches customer care By Penny McBride

was not always keen on having to tackle the aftermath of an especially messy guest and sometimes When I was 10 years old, I had attempted to avoid certain tasks. cash money in my pocket and But working under the superviroutinely hung out at the pool. This was not because I had indul- sion of two strong-minded relagent parents (although I had real- tives steeped in German workly good ones), but rather because ethic, I learned that if it’s worth I had landed a part-time job as a doing, it’s worth doing well. My grandmother once asked me motel maid. if I remembered the time my parIn all fairness, I only got the ents took us across the border to job because my great-aunt and Mexico and we stayed at a hotel grandmother also worked there in Del Rio. Of course I did! part-time. It was hard work and It was so exciting to pull up to sometimes not pleasant, but I the property, wait while my father loved this first taste of indepenchecked us in, peek into our very dence. And let’s be honest, use own room, then change for an of the pool before guest check-in outing to the pool! After talking was a seriously cool perk. to me about how much fun we’d The greatest lesson I learned had, she reminded me that somewas to take pride in what I was one special had worked hard to doing. Like any kid that age, I

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‘Maybe, a girl like me was on the way to Fredericksburg for a special outing and a clean, tidy room would seem just as fantastical to her as it did to me.’ once having done that for others.

Penny C. McBride is the president and CEO of the Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce, a post she has held four years. Prior to that, the Fredericksburg-native managed the local convention and visitor’s bureau and owned a marketing and management firm.

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make sure that everything was perfect when we arrived. I’m sure I still complained from time to time about mopping (a task I still loathe) but it was fun to think that maybe, a girl like me and her family was on the way to Fredericksburg for a special outing and a clean, tidy room would seem just as fantastical to her as it did to me. To this day, I remain an excellent hotel guest. I use only one of the trash cans in the room. I return anything I moved to its original location. And if I have time, I strip the beds and gather all the towels together in a bundle as a little nod of appreciation to the person who worked hard to give me a safe and sound night’s rest. And I take pride in

Workforce Wellness

Healthy means happy By Joshua McKinney Good health makes good business, which is why Hill Country Memorial Hospital’s Wellness Program sets the example on how to keep employees healthy and lower insurance costs. Leigh Dempsey, the Employee Wellness program coordinator and a trainer at Hill Country Memorial, says a majority of the employees are in the program because of the discount they get on health insurance premiums. “That’s their incentive to stay healthy and participate in the Employee Wellness Program,” Dempsey said. “People in the wellness program have 31 percent better claims than those who are not enrolled. We’re spending a whole lot less on those participating than those who aren’t.”

Good health saves By her count, the hospital spends about $6,000 on employees enrolled in program opposed to the $9,000 spent on employees not participating in the Employee Wellness Program. A lot of that is due to a credit system the program uses to reward employees for healthy behaviors. “You get credit if you work out,” Dempsey said. “You get points if you go to your doctor and get a flu shot or for watching an online video for health stuff. If you stay engaged and participate, you get to keep your health insurance discount.” Under this system, employees get discounts for things like taking a biometric screening, where blood pressure and body mass index are measured, or a free lipid panel that measures triglycerides, cholesterol, glucose and other blood lips.

Beacon of health The Employee Wellness Program, which was proposed in late 2001 and began in 2002, originated from a desire to project healthiness on Fredericksburg and the surrounding area by creating healthier employees. “If you go to a respiratory therapy and your nurse is coughing all over the place, seems down or smells like smoke, it’s not a representation of health,” Dempsey said. “We want our employees to feel empowered to be healthy here, so we created an incentive program.” Dempsey hopes that the hospital’s example of how to promote good health will eventually rub off on the community and help Fredericksburg become a beacon for good health. “We are here for the community and we are here to serve them well,”

HCM employee Diane Patteson works out in the Wellness Center.

she said. “We’re supposed to be the role models of wellness, self-care and health care, so if we want to help others in that journey, we have to lead by example. The goal is to eventually be one of the three healthiest counties in the state.”

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Workforce Wellness Salud for You Another way Hill Country Memorial tries to spread the health is through implementing Salud for You. “We’re giving screenings to local employers in Fredericksburg and delivering a report on their personal health,” Dempsey said. A Hill Country Memorial nurse administers a health assessment either online or on paper, per each employee’s preference. Then the employees receive the following screenings based on gender and age: • Mammogram breast cancer (women 40-49 annually, 50-74 biannually) • Ankle brachial index to check for peripheral arterial disease (men and women) • Diabetes (men and women) • Hypertension (men and women) • HIV (men and women) • Alcohol abuse (men and women) • Lipid disorders like high cholesterol (men and 1omen) • Group nutritional consultation/Intensive behavioral dietary counseling for

adult patients with hyperlipidemia and other known risk factors for cardiovascular and diet-related chronic disease

A nurse takes each employee’s medical history and administers the exams. Then summary report is created from the information and recommendations are made. Examiners from the hospital will explain what might be a problem and what can be done about it to the examined person. “Some people are afraid of the unknown and if you just sit down and explain what they should expect up front, they’ll feel more comfortable about what they should expect,” Dempsey said. Another benefit of the Salud for You program is a free, one-year membership to the Hill Country Memorial Wellness Center for anyone who completes a screening. Dempsey thinks that wellness programs are more prevalent because of the cost effectiveness of keeping employees healthier compared to treating illness.

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Ag remains a cornerstone

A farmer combines his milo using “modern day” equipment. Agriculture in Gillespie County has evolved and changed over the years. — File photo

By Yvonne Hartmann

aces have changed, crops have evolved and technology has improved, but Gillespie County is still known for its agriculture and agri-tourism. Gillespie County Extension Agent Brad Roeder helped put the “then and now” of agriculture into perspective. “Agriculture has evolved over the years,” Roeder said. “Before the drought of the 1950s, most of the farmers and ranchers lived on their land and made their living on their farm and ranch.” “The old-timers,” according to Roeder, “have said that the drought forced people to go to town and find work. Today, very few people are solely dependent on farming.” Pre-1950s drought To look at how farming has changed, Roeder said one way to compare is to use the time frame before the drought of the 1950s and then up to the most recent drought. He said that as far back the 1900s, cotton and sugar cane along with oats, wheat, barley and corn were

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the predominant crops in Gillespie County. He said that farmers were also a lot more diverse in that they raised pigs, chickens, vegetables and more for themselves as well as grains to feed their horses and mules. Up until the 1940s, a lot of farming was done with teams of horses and mules. The tractors starting coming in more and more in the 1930s and 1940s. “Some farmers, as with farmers

today, took innovation and ran with it and others held on to the past,” Roeder said. Back in the early days when they used teams to plow, farmers could expect to plow an acre a day with a one-disc plow. Now, he said, farmers can average five-plus acres an hour with a 12-foot disc. Also in those earlier days, the majority of cattle were Hereford, the sheep were Merinos and the goats

were Angoras. “I don’t know the time frame, but lots of people raised chickens for eggs and for meat and sold them at market,” Roeder said. “One of the things that separated the drought of the ’50s and this most recent drought is that we were a very localized market back then because of roads, transportation and no interstates,” Roeder said. “Products got marketed in a relatively small area.” When cattle prices were down, he said, there was no way to move them to find a better market. Also, he said, farmers bought very little stuff — everything was built or repaired. “They did the majority of the work on the farm from building barns to building and repairing fences,” Roeder said. “There was also a sense of neighbor helping neighbor when it came to doing the work,” Roeder said. Drought brings changes The drought of the 1950s brought change, the county agent said. Along with taking jobs off the farm, the type of crops planted changed ▶ Continued on page 21

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Family Owned and Operated

Case Fischer (right) began working for Mark Wieser (left) in high school. Today, their Fischer and Wieser partnership does business all over America and also internationally. — Photo courtesy of Fischer and Wieser

From roadside to worldwide

Fischer and Wieser’s gourmet jellies, sauces extends far beyond Texas reach | ’burg THE

By Richard Zowie

hen Case Fischer was in high school, he began working for Mark Wieser’s roadside peach stand outside Das Peach Haus. “I started really seeing how you could make and grow a product,” Fischer said. “People would come back, summer after summer, to buy from us. That got me interested in the whole marketing aspect of what today is a farm-to-table type of product.” Initially, Wieser’s goal with the business was to raise peaches and have a roadside market,

along with his mother’s jams and jellies. “When Case came along, he really saw a lot of potential in the business,” Wieser said. “And I saw a lot of potential in Case.” After Fischer returned from Texas A&M University, where he’d studied science, marketing and food, they began to create new products that would eventually turn into what is now Fischer & Wieser Specialty Foods — the top gourmet food company in Texas. They sell jellies, jams, sauces and salsas. Fischer serves as president and CEO, while Wieser is chairman of the board and founder.

Building a brand For a couple of years, they spent their weeks making product and weekends on the road to different shows, festivals and events to present the product. Wieser would go in one direction while Fischer and his wife, Deanna, would go another. “I learned from Mark that if you put a product out to be sampled, if you make a good product, when people try it, they will buy it,” Fischer said. “I knew we had great products. The beginning of it was going to people, getting them to try our products and embrace them.” The two also presented their

products to national shows and continue to do so: San Francisco in January and New York in July.

place in four to five months. We can move fairly quickly.” Wieser considers his partner an “expert” in creating flavor profiles and believes this aspect is the key to their national business. The flavors that don’t go into the marketplace usually go into a “library” where the company keeps track of what it has experimented with.

From local to beyond As they worked to build their customer base, the two preferred taking things step by step, a “1-2-3-4” approach, rather than rushing into a “1-2-4-7” approach. “We really just wanted customers in those towns we were in,” Fischer said. Market demands “We had to decide if we were going to Years ago, when someone asked be in the wholesale business or retail.” Fischer what kind of business he and As different people sampled prodWieser operated, he had one word: ucts, Fischer and Wieser would try to gift. convince them to become customers “Many people were buying our prodor to partner with them to sell their ucts in stores as gifts or at Christmas products. time,” he said. “We didn’t see going national as our The market started to shift. Besides next step,” Fischer said. “We saw the the specialty grocery stores, other gronext step as getting two more customcers like H-E-B began carrying Fischer Most of Fischer and Wieser’s business is in Texas and the West, ers, three more customers, five more. & Wieser and other higher end prodalthough they also have an international market. — Graph courtesy We just added customers. Texas is a ucts to satisfy customer demand. Preof Fischer and Wieser big state and it became our base. We viously, it was difficult to compete on have a lot of business here.” the store shelves against the cheaper But they started branching out, name or store brands. courtesy of receiving the National Some of their business also involves Association for the Specialty Food contracting with private labels. The Trade’s Gold Award for Outstanding clients they’ve dealt with in their busiBest New Seller for fruited pepper ness include cookbook authors and sauces in 1997 for their roasted raspmovie stars. “You’d be surprised some berry chipotle sauce. of the products we make that are sold “Even today, it’s still an incredible under other people’s labels,” Wieser flavor combination,” Fischer said. said. The national exposure resulted in more people contacting Fischer & Keeping the standard Wieser about the flavors they were While they remain in pursuit of new developing. Today, Fischer & Wieser flavors, Fischer & Wieser runs its not only sells products all over Texas business on principles they grew up These sauces are among Fischer and Wieser’s most popular brands, and the U.S., but also in the United with, principles that have worked and including Original Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce (left). — Photo Kingdom, Korea and Taiwan. brought success. courtesy of Fischer and Wieser “We do really well in Mexico,” said Among them: good customer service Wieser. “We’re working on the Canaand high-quality products. dian market, and a little bit of India.” “I think we’re second to none in takMost of Fischer and Wieser’s busiing care of our customers. That’s really only handfuls win. “Winning this is equivaness today is in the Lone Star State (31 per- lent to winning an Oscar,” Wieser said. important,” said Wieser. “We’ve never cheatcent). Their next biggest customer base is in ed on ingredients. It’s never been our goal to Developing new products helps them stay the Western U.S. (29 percent). Their intermass produce products that are made with on top. national customers make up seven percent fillers.” “In the specialty world, people want someof the product shipment. “We’ve always believed in quality, prething new,” Fischer said. “They crave it. Besides new customers, they also have Those people talk about your product, share mium ingredients,” Fischer said. “We’ve also a loyal customer base that continues purunderstood the fact that premium ingrediit with others, write about it, and at a dinchasing their products. ents command a premium price. You can’t ner party, they basically market for you.” have premium ingredients and then try to In their test kitchen, Fischer & Wieser Staying on top be the low price leader.” creates up to 10 new flavors a week, which Fischer & Wieser has won numerous yields approximately four new flavors a year. awards for their products, including “sofi Most popular brands “You’re always learning when you put Awards” (specialty outstanding food innovaFischer developed the roasted raspberry the different flavors together,” Fischer said. tion, formerly known as the National Assochipotle sauce and said it’s probably their “Sometimes we’ll try out a new pepper that ciation for the Specialty Food Trade Award). people are talking about. We can go out and best-selling sauce. Other popular sauces Thousands enter products annually, but include mango ginger habañero, charred find it, and we can have it on the market

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Fischer & Wieser pineapple bourbon and smoky mesquite mustard. In 2001, Fischer & Wieser added another product to their line when they purchased Austin-based Mom’s Spaghetti Sauce. Organic and all natural, made with cloves of garlic and fresh basil, it’s their top spaghetti sauce. “It’s very similar to our high-end ingredients,” Fischer said. “They were already in some natural food

grocery stores across the country. When we acquired them, we acquired their distribution stream and were able to go in to those same distributors and say, ‘Hey, why don’t you take a look at these wonderful, natural great flavor profiles that we also have?’ This helped us transition into national grocery around the country.” Recently, on the Mom’s line, Fischer & Wieser has added a

whole line of meal starts, such as chicken pot pie. “They make home cooking easier, but take it up a level,” Wieser said. “Those are brand new but are doing quite well.” Sauces are Fischer & Wieser’s top selling products, and among their jams and jellies: amaretto peach and pecan preserve is number one. “We were the first to introduce amaretto peach pecan preserves,”

Wieser said. “This is our number one preserve. Mild Green Jalapeño Jelly was one of our first profits that we made and worked on. It’s still a strong seller.” Wieser

Fischer & Wieser’s local retail store is at 315 East Main Street and other local stores carry their products. For more information, call 830-9908490 or go online to www.jelly.com.

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Agriculture in Gillespie County

Mid-range neighborhood developments like The Preserve (pictured) and Stoneridge are helping drive the local housing and construction markets. — Standard-Radio Post photo

Real estate market ▶ Continued from page 4 people looking to sell a home in another state were headed for Texas. Starks said the oil boom has driven some sales, but that number is only about five to 10 percent of buyers. Interestingly, Starks said even politics has driven some people to Texas, looking for a more politically conservative environment, though that accounts for a smaller portion of sales. “You also can’t take out of the equation that people just want to be in Fredericksburg, period,” he added. Challenges That demand is driving up prices at all levels, and the town’s lack of housing at the lower end of the income scale is making it more difficult for employers to attract workers.

Still more changes In the 1990s, Roeder said farmers started becoming more conscious about the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency, he said, started adding more regulations on pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. Some products deemed unsafe for the environment were taken off the market. “A lot of pesticides were gone because they didn’t break down and caused problems further down the line,” Roeder said. “Now,” he said, “a lot of our products that are marketed don’t have much residual. They are contact herbicides and they begin to break down quickly.” Agri-tourism (the wine industry) also started to blossom in the 1990s and continues to flourish.

“We have come into more of a world market with our commodities and our livestock,” Roeder said. “On the downside, other things happening around the world can affect our markets locally, but on the upside, like during the last drought, we could move cattle, sheep and goats to other areas to market them so it wasn’t as drastic,” he said. “And even though we had some low prices, it could have been a lot worse.” Moving forward The major crops for Gillespie County continue to be peaches, corn, milo, small grains and improved grasses. “The crop that has grown the most is our improved grasses with our small marginal fields,” Roeder said. “People have decided to plant improved grasses and not maintain all of the equipment necessary to farm.” More and more people are using custom farmers to harvest their grain and hay crops. More land is also being leased out. As far as livestock goes, the majority of the cattle are Angus, the sheep are now hair sheep and peaches are more retail with lots of roadside stands dotting the countryside. “The Angora goats gave way to Boer goats and now we are back to Spanish goats,” Roeder said. “Cattle are still pretty much king. “The wine industry is at the forefront of what brings visitors to Fredericksburg, now,” Roeder said. “From now on, I think agri-tourism will definitely be the leader with wineries at the forefront.” “Going forward, we’re seeing a big movement toward going local — buying local — and knowing where your food comes from,” he said. Roeder said that is good because consumers are more aware of where their food comes from and how it is produced.

real estate units sold in second quarter of 2015 — a record.

Total amount sold to date for 2015 is

$98.9 million

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One recent study saw fewer than 10 properties available for less than $200,000 and all needed significant work before movein. And that average sales price that topped $300,000 means residents must have good income streams just to meet the basic needs. The main downside, he said, is that “it takes a lot of money for the average Joe to make it here.” Starks said the next 12 months should bring continued appreciation in value and high demand. Fredericksburg usually runs 10-12 months behind what is trending in Austin. “If you look at Austin, they were super-hot about 12 months ago. We’re just getting to that level,” he said. But the overall state should stay red hot for the next year, and Fredericksburg should remain near the top of that list.

▶ Continued from page 16 and other crops were introduced. Over time, cotton and sugar cane were replaced by peaches, corn, milo and improved grasses. Braham cattle, along with Exotics and Europeans, became more popular than the Herefords. Herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers started to come into play a lot more in the 1950s and 1960s, Roeder said. “Farmers marketed locally, but a lot more thought was put into selling their products and increasing the yield as the years progressed,” Roeder said. Perhaps one of the biggest changes that started taking place pre-1950 was the complete eradication of screwworms. “The old-timers say that was probably one of the biggest changes of the time,” Roeder said. “And because of that, the deer population dramatically increased.” Hunting really started to become a source of income in the 1950s when people from all over came here to hunt deer, he explained.

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‘It’s About Time’ there another parent with whom you can share the responsibility? If you want or need to be the driver, what other activity can you accomplish while waiting for practice to end? I once found the perfect way to begin a regular walking routine: While my child ran on the soccer field, I walked around it.

Professional Speaker and Business Coach

n business coaching, you never know what new insight will emerge to propel someone forward or reveal what is holding them back. That makes it a thought-provoking and stimulating career. Ironically, although the conversations are unique, goals often fall into similar categories. A universal topic for both business owners and employees is time, as in how to spend time on what is valued without short-changing something else. Time is a resource we are equally given. It’s essential to first acknowledge we really cannot “make up” time. Once passed, time is irretrievably spent. We also will not receive “more time” in the future. There will be the same minutes in every day 10 years from now as there are today. All that actually matters is how you spend your time. If you feel out of balance with how you spend time versus how you want to spend time, first identify what is important. Many people feel they are not spending enough time in relationships, whether family, friendships, or both. Others describe days filled with too much activity, frantically going from task to task. Time spent is hurried and diluted by the thoughts of what’s next. Another value often ignored is in time for one’s self. This shows up as “not enough time” to exercise, decompress, plan, learn something or engage in a hobby. Those things that once brought us pleasure can become just another chore crammed in between other responsibilities. Fortunately, you can bring back the fun and satisfaction of living life well by taking time to make changes. First, reflect on your values and identify where you most want to spend time. Next, look at where you actually exchange the minutes in your days. Don’t judge or defend yourself for where you spend your time, simply analyze it. I’ve seen this first step alone reveal important insights to clients. Sometimes taking a hard look at your values and comparing

Lorrie Hess them to your actions makes it plain what you need to do in order to spend time on important stuff and leave the less important stuff behind. If there is nothing in your regular routine which you feel can be exchanged for a more valuable activity, then you need to go deeper. This is the point where many people give up or try sleeping less. Seriously! Sleeping less doesn’t work, at least not in the long run. Instead, take the next step and look at each of your current activities. Here are three ways to evaluate: Which activities are more habit and obligation than supporting your values? These activities are a good place to start! If you were to reduce or give one up, how would you begin? Think of possibilities and choose one. Which activities are incredibly inefficient? How could you be more efficient with those tasks? For example, if you drive your child to soccer practice twice a week, is

How can you change the time you spend on an activity and still live your values? Let’s say volunteering is important to you, however you’ve increased your volunteering hours to more than you spend with your partner. How can you be a committed volunteer without overcommitting? Remember Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign? Maybe it’s time to apply the idea to the next project, committee, or board position. There are many more examples, and you can find what works for you. The hard part is taking the first steps and sticking with it. You must be willing to look for what might work and set aside thoughts of how it might not. Trust yourself to find strategies which work for you, even if it takes a few different tries to be successful. Here is a final tip: It often works well to start with small changes and build from there. When you look for ways to spend more time with what you value most, you find yourself automatically looking for ways to make it work. Efficiencies will be found and distractions reduced. It’s easier to say “No” to good things, once you consciously decide to spend your time on something even better. You will find your happiness and energy increases once you tackle the task of finding ways to spend your time better. Even the first few positive changes feel great when you find yourself successful, and I have no doubt you will be. Now go make your time count! Please note: Coaching conversations are private and confidential. Strategies and insights are a conglomerate of many different conversations and techniques discovered over years, none of which is a representation of a particular person or discussion.

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By Lorrie Hess

Donna McMahon Broker/Owner djmc@me.com

DREAM

830 456 1948

INVEST

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Tim Squyres Realtor Associate timsquyres@gmail.com

830 998 7789

Simply Results Announcing AdmiriAl HeigHts Gillespie County’s Premiere Subdivision

Opening Fall 2015 Lot 4 14.49 Ac.

Lot 7 12.88 Ac. Lot 5 16.47 Ac.

Lot 3 15.14 Ac.

sOld Lot 2 14.57 Ac.

Lot 14 12.68 Ac.

965

sOld

Lot 1 19.22 Ac. Lot 13 13.57 Ac.

Harper

290

Lot 15 14.28 Ac.

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Lane

ship

290 S t

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Comfort

Fr ie nd

Airport

Lot 16 13.59 Ac.

Fredericksburg

San Antonio

Lot 11 13.52 Ac.

Lla

2093

Lot 12 13.22 Ac.

le pp ba ad Ro

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Lot 8 16.72 Ac.

Lot 10 13.12 Ac.

ADMIRAL HEIGHTS

n Maso

1631

Lot 9 12.50 Ac.

H Luxury Development H Exceptional Views H Wildlife Exemption H Located off Lower Crabapple

Lower

Lot 8 16.72 Ac.

UNder CONtrACt

all