The City of Early hosted its own booth at the 2023 International Council of Shopping Centers. The Economic Development District of Early, TX sought to get in front of retailers, brokers, restaurants, etc., and get them to place businesses in Early Texas. They were also seeking to connect property owners in Early, TX with retailers. The City of Early furthermore focused on bringing business to the new Town Center Project, nearly having a plat available to sell lots. They are starting preliminary conversations to get retailers in there.

“We’ve had overwhelming support on a national level from it,” said Larry McConn on the Town Center Project. McConn is the Early, TX Assistant City Administrator and Director of Economic Development. “Just from what it represents and the opportunities that it presents like nothing else around Brown County for sure.”

When asked if there was specific retail and business they are trying to bring to Early, McConn said the city has a retail consultant that runs analytics of both the market in Brown County and surrounding areas that matches them with what types of business that need to be placed.

The 2-day conference of the International Council of Shopping Centers allows cities, construction companies, architects, etc. to attract brokers, retailers, and businesses. The City of Early scheduled meetings with people who would be there. Then they could sit down and talk about what Early has to offer, and the market it has.

“It’s very overwhelming your first four years, that I went,” said McConn. “You need to know how those players play. We’re little fish in a big pond, in there.”

McConn said that the retailers want to know first what the benefit is of coming to Early, TX. “In the years past, we really developed the relationships with those retailers, and we can show them hard fast numbers of our retail trade area of why they need to be here, said McConn. “We have to start introducing the market to them and let them do their research and it has to be their idea that they come.”

The overall retail trade area that the City of Early focuses on is anyone who drives into the Brownwood/Early area and the surrounding counties an hour’s drive away. That represents about 90,000 people.

When asked about a specific number of businesses Early was trying to attract, McConn said, “We don’t go to the show with the idea that it’s not a good show if we don’t make a sale.”

“What we did bring back was 5 or 6 different very real possibilities that within the next couple months they’re going to be purchasing the land. That’s not necessarily Town Center land, but that’s any other land that’s available through town,” said McConn.“We have about nine properties right now up and down Early Boulevard, in addition to the Town Center, that are for sale that we help those landowners market while we’re there.”

McConn said that the City has several definite possibilities of businesses coming to view the properties in Early, Texas. “Anybody that we talk to, that wants to come view the market, come into town and actually look at it and walk around with us and talk further, we consider that a win. We had a dozen or more of those wins.” This will be retailers who are giving Early, Texas a second look, talking with the city, and coming down to look at the properties themselves.