The Hill Country Venture Fest has finalized its Gold-tier sponsor lineup with the addition of Frontera Healthcare Network, joining Hill Country Telephone Cooperative (HCTC), Central Texas Electric Cooperative (CTEC), and Texas Regional Bank as backers of the festival's October 1, 2026 student pitch night at the Odeon Theater in Mason. Each sponsor contributes at the Gold-tier level, a $1,000 commitment that helps keep the event free for students and families.
This year's sponsor slate represents the essential infrastructure of rural life: healthcare, telecommunications, electric service, and banking. Frontera Healthcare Network brings a regional healthcare presence, while HCTC, CTEC, and Texas Regional Bank serve homes, schools, farms, ranches, and small businesses across the Hill Country. The diversity of sponsors underscores the festival's mission to connect student ideas with established local institutions.
Katie Milton Jordan, a festival organizer, emphasized the significance of this broad support: "When a bank, a co-op, a telephone company, and now a healthcare group all say yes to the same room of kids, that tells you something about what this community values."
The Hill Country Venture Fest, named the 2025 Texas Venture Fest of the Year by the Texas Venture Alliance, is a free one-evening event where rural students pitch real ideas to real judges. The event is designed to be more than a competition; it serves as a public signal that student entrepreneurship is valued by local employers, lenders, and community leaders.
Sponsorships at other levels, from Community Partner ($250) to Presenting ($2,000), are still available. For more information, visit hillcountryventurefest.com.
