Alamo City accolade

Alamo City applauded as one of the 10 best cities for Hispanic entrepreneurs

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San Antonio is one of the top cities in the U.S for fostering Hispanic businesses.

San Antonio is one of the best cities in the U.S. for Hispanic entrepreneurs, according to a new ranking from personal finance website WalletHub. As a state, Texas shines on the report, taking eight spots among the top 20.

Among the 23 factors that WalletHub considered in creating its list were Hispanic entrepreneurship rate, Hispanic income growth, and share of Hispanic-owned businesses. The site then took data from, among other places, the U.S. Census Bureau, Council for Community and Economic Research, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics and applied the metrics. In all, 182 large U.S. cities were ranked.

In addition to San Antonio at No. 8, these Texas cities made the top 20:

Laredo (No. 1)
Corpus Christi (No. 4)
Amarillo (No. 7)
Grand Prairie (No. 13)
Irving (No. 17)
Fort Worth (No. 18)
El Paso (No. 19)
Austin (No. 20)

Seven Texas cities were outside the top 20:

Plano (No. 25)
Houston (No. 29)
Dallas (No. 31)
Brownsville (No. 37)
Arlington (No. 46)
Lubbock (No. 53)
Garland (No. 63)

Texas has long been a bastion of success for Hispanic entrepreneurs. According to a new report from the Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative, Texas is tied with Florida for the second highest number of Hispanic-owned businesses (15 percent) in the country. Only California has more (24 percent).

One of the things that’s helping Hispanic businesses thrive in Texas is access to money. The initiative’s report shows Texas is one of the country’s five most funding-friendly states for Hispanic entrepreneurs. The others are California, Florida, New York, and Nevada.

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leading the way

CultureMap founder David Gow named CEO of Houston policy nonprofit

Photo by Daniel Ortiz

David Gow will begin his new role in September.

A nonprofit organization dedicated to leading Houston into the future has named its next leader.

The Center for Houston’s Future named David Gow as president and CEO, succeeding Brett Perlman, who was announced in April to be remaining at the Center with a focus on the Center’s hydrogen initiative. Gow is the founder and chairman of Gow Media, CultureMap's parent company. His role is effective September 3.

“I am excited to step into this opportunity with the Center and work with the team, the board and many other stakeholders to help shape Houston’s future,” Gow said in a statement. “The Center presents an exciting opportunity to cast a vision for our region and identify initiatives that will make an impact.”

Gow — whose portfolio includes CultureMap, its sister sites, and ESPN Radio's Houston affiliate — is a board member of Goose Capital and chair of MSAI, an entity he formed through a SPAC acquisition. Before he founded Gow Media, he served as CFO and CEO of online watch retailer Ashford.com. Prior to Ashford, Gow was director of corporate strategy at Compaq Computers and a consultant at McKinsey & Co. He received his master’s in public policy from Harvard and his bachelor's in economics from Williams College.

“David’s portfolio of experiences and skills, record of innovation and success, and deep commitment to the Houston community make him the perfect fit to lead the Center as we chart and execute on our next set of initiatives focused on ensuring a bright future for all residents in the Houston region,” adds Center for Houston’s Future Board Chair Cindy Yeilding.

In his new role, Gow will lead the Center’s next effort, Vision 2050, which plans to identify the city's key issues, gaps, and opportunities.

“Today’s announcement also reflects the success of the Center’s clean hydrogen program,” Yeilding continues. “On behalf of the Center’s board, I’d also like to recognize Brett for launching and building such a successful and important effort as well as his overall leadership and record of achievement at the Center these past seven years.”

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This article first appeared on our sister site InnovationMap.

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