The Boerne Kendall County Economic Development Corporation
This week I had the opportunity to interview Amy Story, the President and CEO of the Boerne Kendall County Economic Development Corporation (BKCEDC). Having held this position for nearly five years, Amy has gained a great deal of experience in what it takes to both get businesses to invest in the area and keep them here and involved in the community. While interviewing Amy, I asked questions about her role in the EDC, as well as the EDC’s larger role in the community. Her answers and our discussion will be detailed in the following sections.
While most people know that the EDC exists in Boerne, not many people know exactly what it does. For this reason, the first question I asked Amy was to describe, in her own words, what the EDC does and what services they provide. Amy explained there are three main roles of the EDC: bring new businesses to the community, help businesses stay, grow, and expand, and support entrepreneurs in the area. The EDC helps to connect entrepreneurs and small businesses to the resources they need to be successful through a variety of ways; some of which include Das Greenhaus as well as the BKC Angel Network. They want to organically grow and stimulate the economy, showing that Boerne is a good place to both host small businesses and an equally good place to start a business.


After learning about what the EDC does, I asked Amy what a normal day looks like for her. Her immediate response was “something different every day.” No day is the same for Amy; some days she is in meeting after meeting while others she is out talking to locals and making connections with businesses in the area. Even with so much variety in what she can be found doing, her mission remains constant—to promote business opportunities that will strengthen and grow a vibrant and diverse economic future for Kendall County. This involves determining what businesses need and figuring out ways to market the opportunities. No matter what her schedule looks like, Amy continually strives to not only promote growth, but also to ensure she helps maintain everything that makes our community unique and special.
Shifting gears, I asked Amy what encouraged her to join the EDC. Amy explained that she was previously an attorney. She then had her four children, so she decided to take time off to stay home and raise them. As her kids got older, she was looking for something more to do. Her friend and former President/CEO of BKCEDC, Misty Mayo, told her she could use an extra set of hands at the office. Amy came on part-time to help with marketing and really loved it. The work tied in with her passion for staying involved in the community. After Misty took another job, Amy stepped into the interim role until she was hired as President/CEO in late 2019. While Amy’s career has taken a windy path, she believes she has “ended up where she is supposed to be.”

In order to gain some perspective about the different positions in the organization, I asked Amy what her roles and responsibilities are as President/CEO of the EDC. She detailed that her responsibilities are managing everything that happens both day-to-day and long-term at the office. Her main overarching responsibilities deal with determining “strategic partnerships and overall vision” of the organization. She explained that she has a “higher-up view of the projects, connections, and partnerships” that the EDC needs to be involved with. However, even as the President/CEO, Amy must also act in the direction that the board sets for her. As a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization, she reports to the board who then determine what her main activities look like moving forward. Lastly, Amy said one of her main responsibilities is to ensure that businesses who come to the area have a positive experience and enjoy their time in Boerne/Kendall County.

I thoroughly enjoyed sitting down with Amy and learning more about the EDC and her role as President/CEO. I was able to learn about how the EDC impacts people all throughout our area—even those without their own small businesses. I look forward to seeing the continued impact that Amy and her team at the EDC have on the local community.
Boerne Kendall County Economic Development Corporation Board Members
This week I sat down with one of the executive committee members of the Boerne Kendall County Economic Development Corporation (BKCEDC), my dad, Frank Ritchie. Frank is the mayor of Boerne, Texas, and is an appointed member of the EDC due to this role. As an “Ex-Officio,” he is a non-voting member of the EDC, providing input and opinions instead of an actual vote. He is on the board because it directly affects the community he leads. He has only been on the committee for a year since his election win in 2023. The Boerne Kendall County EDC mission is to promote business opportunities to strengthen and grow a vibrant and diverse economic future for Kendall County.


This week I also sat down with Charlie Hill, a Boerne Kendall County Economic Development Corporation (BKCEDC) board member. Charlie has been on the board for several years now. He has sat on the executive committee, on the board, and was a chairman of the EDC. Charlie is also the President of Development for DH Investment Company (DHI). He graduated from the University of Texas – Austin, with a BBA in Finance back in 2000. In 2005, after working for Guaranty Bank in Dallas as an Assistant Vice President of commercial real estate lending and homebuilder finance, he moved to Boerne and joined DHI. He has been actively involved in finance, entitlement, development, construction, and marketing for new development projects, the management and leasing of multiple commercial properties, as well as strategic investment and finance planning for DHI.
I asked Frank what he believes the job of the executive committee is for the Boerne Kendall County EDC. He shared that the committee meets quarterly and monthly to discuss what is going on in economically developed areas in Kendall County, future projects, and business development possibilities. The role of Ex-Officio doesn’t have a vote on the board, therefore I asked Frank what his role looks like in that position. Frank explained that his role is being engaged in the community and taking that engagement to the economic development committee, being a voice for the people of Boerne on the board, letting them know what is or isn’t a fit for the community of Boerne, and giving them direction to what the city would like to see as part of Kendall County.
I asked Frank what he believes the job of the executive committee is for the Boerne Kendall County EDC. He shared that the committee meets quarterly and monthly to discuss what is going on in economically developed areas in Kendall County, future projects, and business development possibilities. The role of Ex-Officio doesn’t have a vote on the board, therefore I asked Frank what his role looks like in that position. Frank explained that his role is being engaged in the community and taking that engagement to the economic development committee, being a voice for the people of Boerne on the board, letting them know what is or isn’t a fit for the community of Boerne, and giving them direction to what the city would like to see as part of Kendall County.

“As a board member you try to get a broad array from the community of business people and all elements of business, to have touch points for members in the community to have a real pulse on what’s going on in the business community,” Charlie stated when speaking on how the EDC works to facilitate quality business opportunities coming to the community and assist in growing and supporting small business already calling Boerne and Kendall County home. I also asked Charlie to explain his role as a board member. Charlie shared that his responsibilities include going to the quarterly meetings, bringing ideas, providing input to the Executive Committee and Executive Director, providing feedback and guidance on business prospects for the community, and lastly sending the EDC leads on potential prospects.

The next question I asked both Frank and Charlie was to describe the impact they have seen from the EDC. Frank said he has seen them help organize and bring in new businesses to the community, such as Das Greenhaus. “It’s a great start-up incubator, driven behind economic development,” Frank stated. He has seen several other businesses and development opportunities come to Boerne, helping them find locations, assisting them in plans moving forward, meeting with them, and seeing what fits and doesn’t fit in our community. He specifically mentions the Honda dealership coming to the EDC looking for a place to build a business and understand the culture of Kendall County.
Charlie also mentions the tremendous impact he has seen, giving examples of new businesses moving their headquarters to the area. “Oftentimes they’re coming into the market from another place and don’t know our political process, permitting process, who to talk to and how to navigate those,” Charlie goes on to say, “Amy and her team do a really good job on behalf of the EDC connecting those people with the right individuals and entities in the community.” Over the years, the EDC has been supporting and advocating for companies coming into the community. Charlie believes that some of the businesses wouldn’t have made it through and been able to land in Boerne or grow here without the BKCEDC.
I was then curious to see how Charlie believes the EDC has not only helped the City of Boerne, but Kendall County as a whole. He states the first major way that the EDC has benefited our community is its infrastructure. “County resources, county staff, law enforcement, and local government require funding. Those funds come mostly from property taxes.” Charlie goes on to explain, “if you don’t have good commercial properties like office spaces, retail, industrial, and others as a property tax base then the tax burden would fall on the homeowners, causing their property taxes to be higher to support local government costs.” Charlie believes it is important for people to recognize that it is essential to have different types of property in a community to support the costs of the local government. He states that the EDC acts as an advocate to share that message and help commercial businesses grow, thrive, and find a home in our community; because without that the financial burden of funding the city and county falls directly on homeowners.


My final question for Frank and Charlie was to share what they believe the goals for the Boerne Kendall County EDC are. Frank sees the main goal as looking for future economic development and growth—what makes sense, what is smart and right, and what fits into our community and our culture. “We don’t want to become a conglomerate out of San Antonio where we just continually grow economically with no control, but to have smart controlled economic growth that makes sense,” stated Frank.
Charlie’s response was, “helping support and facilitate business growth in the community and being a liaison and a resource in the community for businesses from start to finish.” I was happy to see that the Executive Director, an executive committee member, and a board member, in different words, all see the goal of the EDC in the same way. I informed Charlie of that and he said, “you don’t want a bunch of wildly different answers, then you know they’re not all in sync and going the same direction.” It’s comforting to know that the people who help Boerne and Kendall County grow beneficially all have the same goal.
When I asked Frank and Charlie if there was anything else they would like to share, both immediately expressed their gratitude and appreciation for the team at the EDC. Frank shared that he believes economic development committees and corporations are good for the counties and cities to shape the future of those places. He compared it to locations in Texas without these committees; how those places can’t grow and how there aren’t any guidelines to control growth. “Having the BKCEDC in place helps facilitate where the best place for a business in the community is, and helps determine if it is a fit for the community. It also helps regulate and manage smart growth, which is what we want in Texas,” stated Frank. I asked if the EDC can deny businesses to build, but he informed me that “no, they are not able to deny a business. Instead, we work with them to find the best place and the best fit for them.”
Charlie wanted to express his appreciation for the work Amy Story, EDC Executive Director, and her team have accomplished. One of the things he is most proud of was hiring Amy after the prior Executive Director moved on. He talks about how proud he is to see the work she has done and continues to do and the team she has beside her. “They are very organized, very driven, and work hard to advocate for businesses that otherwise may not have a way to find support because they are new,” Charlie stated. He also mentioned Das Greenhaus being a great example. “I think what they’re doing there will seed business growth and families, making a foothold here for a long, long time,” Charlie said of Das Greenhaus.
