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After returning from Washington, D. C. for the CPA conference and legislative visits in mid-March, I traveled to San Marcos, Texas as the guest of the Greater San Marcos Partnership (GSMP).  The Greater San Marcos Partnership is the economic development group representing Hays and Caldwell Counties as a region. San Marcos is strategically located midway between the two major metros of Austin and San Antonio in the beautiful hill country of central Texas. The region is home to a number of other rapidly growing cities, including Kyle and Dripping Springs in Hays County, and Lockhart and Luling in Caldwell County.

I have had a personal connection to San Marcos as my sister lived there for many years, and it is where her youngest son was born. San Marcos is a college town, and the view of the hill above the downtown square is dominated by the campus of Texas State University, only a few blocks away.  My sister actually worked at the university when she first moved to San Marcos.

Dr. Denise Trauth, President of Texas State University is Chair of the GSMP Board of Directors, and Adriana Cruz is President of GSMP. My guides for my visit to the region were Ashley Gossen, Director of Communications and Community Engagement for GSMP and Hanna Porterfield of DCI, the PR firm for GSMP.

The 2017 Greater San Marcos Partnership Annual Report states, “It’s no longer a secret — Greater San Marcos is among the most promising regions in the nation. Hailed by Forbes as ‘America’s Next Great Metropolis’ and ranked among Thrillist’s list of ‘America’s Best Small Cities to Move to Before They Get Too Popular,’ Greater San Marcos is increasingly being recognized by the national media, talent and corporate executives as a region to watch.

The report explains that GSMP “continues to serve as a change agent for smart and purposeful economic growth in the two-county region known as the Innovation Corridor…from welcoming new employers and job creation programs to working major projects and garnering national media placements.”

Compared to the other metropolitan areas of Texas, the greater San Marcos area still offers affordable homes nearly (40% less in housing than Austin), as well as large and dynamic workforce. Each town in the region offers its own unique assets and charm, which provide a strong force in attracting new jobs and investment.

When I met with Ms. Cruz, she said that “A major driver of this progress has been our laser-focus on executing the strategies laid out by Vision 2020, a five-year strategic plan to drive economic development in the region, established in Fiscal Year 2015…For example, 2017 was the first full year of utilizing the Vision 2020 Implementation Work Groups — stakeholder groups that work collectively to maximize the region’s biggest strengths and tackle some of our existing weaknesses in key areas such as infrastructure, workforce and higher education and destination appeal.”

From the annual report, I also learned that “San Marcos, together with Austin, College Station, Fredericksburg, New Braunfels and San Antonio, was selected by the U.S. government to host an exclusive innovation and entrepreneurship event, which brought decision-makers from more than 20 countries to San Marcos to explore partnerships and economic development opportunities. Through the 7th Americas Competitiveness Exchange on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ACE), Greater San Marcos worked with our neighboring cities to share best practices with this influential international audience and to promote the larger Central Texas region as a leader in innovation. The Greater San Marcos portion of the tour included a visit with many of our major employers, a tour of Texas State University and STAR One and a Glass Bottom Boat Tour at The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment.”

Texas ranks second in the 2018 Small Business Policy Index by the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council for not charging a corporate or individual income tax or capital gains tax in addition to having low gas taxes and workmen’s compensation tax. Here are some other key facts about the region:

• 3M Talent Pool within a 45-mile radius
• 66,087 Population Ages 25-44
• 34% of Adults have a Bachelor’s Degree or Higher (Master’s, Doctoral)
• The High School graduation rate for Hays County is 89% and 90% for Caldwell County
• Only 12% of Adults are without a High School Diploma

The top ten Manufacturers in Hays and Caldwell Counties are:

When we visited Texas State University, I realized that the research being done at the university is contributing greatly to the region transforming into the Innovation Corridor of Texas. In 2012, the University was designated as an Emerging Research Institution, working on semiconductors, 3D printing, composite material. This opened the door to major research funding, global research talent, and has contributed to a spike in patent filing activity in Hays County.

I had the great pleasure of being given a tour of the Engineering Technology building that houses the Material Science, Engineer, and Commercialization (MSEC) Program by Dr. Thomas H. Meyers, Associate Dean of MSEC.  Dr. Meyers happened to be home on a break from a year-long sabbatical in Spain. We were joined by Dr. Jennifer Irvin, Director of MSEC, and Dr. Andy Batey, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Engineering Technology.

The purpose of the MSEC program is “to train graduate scientists and engineers to perform interdisciplinary research while equipping them to emerge as effective entrepreneurial leadership the advancement of 21sto-century global discovery and innovation.”

We walked through several labs focusing on different kinds of materials research, such as the semiconductor and solar cell materials lab, Dr. Meyers said, “We work with companies like Texas Instruments and First Solar to do materials research. Students, faculty, and industry work together on multi-year, multi-company contracts to solve problems.  We started a Ph.D. program in 2012 to help students and faculty be able to commercialize technology.  We have graduated about 30 students from the three-year program.  We are not a department, but a program within the College of Engineering Technology.  Students are required to work on important projects, such as purifying water from fracking.”

Dr. Meyers said, “We have two levels of clean rooms, a Class 10 and Class 100, and we are working with Hitachi to teach semi-conductor manufacturing and the fundamentals of making a device. We are one of only two universities in Texas to have a full spectrometry lab, which has been certified since 1990, and there are only 20 in the whole U.S.”

When we walked through the machine shop that contained manual, CNC controlled machines, and a 5-axis machining center, Dr. Batey said, “We want our students to get hands on experience in traditional industries during their four-year engineering technology degree program.  Engineering technology degrees focus on the planning, fabrication, production, assembly, testing, and maintenance of products and services. We offer degree programs in Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, and Civil Engineering.

As we walked through the construction materials lab, Dr. Batey said, “We also offer a B. S. degree with a major in program in construction science and management and concrete industry management. We can do chemical analysis of constructions materials and concrete in our lab.”

Dr. Irvin said. “Texas State University also has a 58-acre site off-campus Science, technology, and Advanced Research Park (STAR Park), which is dedicated to the university’s research and commercialization efforts.  The 36,000 sq. ft. facility serves as a technology incubator for startup and early-stage businesses and provides tenants access to secure wet labs, clean space, conference rooms, and office space.  Since 2014, companies located in STAR Park have created over 60 jobs, funded over $1.5 million in university research, hired 14 Texas State graduates, and raised more then $32 million through equity and strategic alliance investments.”

My next article will feature my visit to some of the tenant companies in Star Park, as well as other companies in the region.

To learn more about why there is such a concentration of musical instrument manufacturers in Northeast Indiana, I interviewed John Stoner, president and CEO of Conn-Selmer, Inc., a subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc.  I learned that the history of making musical instruments really started with this one company. Today, Conn-Selmer has a portfolio of musical brands that has made it the leading manufacturer and distributor of band and orchestra musical instruments and accessories for student, amateur and professional use.

I asked Stoner about the origins of the Selmer Company, and learned that the main Selmer Company is still located in Paris, France. The history of the U.S. company dates back to the early 1900s. It has production facilities in Elkhart, Ind., Eastlake, Ohio and Monroe, N.C.

Next, I asked where the Conn part of the name of the company came from, and Stoner said, “C. G. Conn started a company in Troy, Mich., and then he moved to Elkhart, Ind. The company manufactured brasswinds, saxophones and electric organs in the 1950s.”

When the Selmer company acquired CG Conn, the brands Armstrong and King were part of the acquisition. Later, they acquired the LeBlanc Corporation, which brought another family of brand names such as Leblanc, Vito, Holton, Martin, and the distribution rights to Yanagisawa – making Conn-Selmer the largest U.S. full-line manufacturer of band and orchestra instruments.

“We have a strong portfolio of instruments made here in Elkhart. Seventy percent of our products are manufactured here in the United States and sold globally. The other 30 percent are manufactured in France, Japan and other parts of the Asia Pacific and sold in various parts of the world.” Stoner said.

When I asked if the company had implemented Lean principles and tools, he said, “I looked at Lean when working in a previous industry, and I brought the concepts over to Conn-Selmer. We applied Lean principles so that we could be in a position to be more competitive when there was an upturn after the 2009 recession.”

He added, “Northeast Indiana is a hot bed for musical instruments. At one time there were about a hundred manufacturers of instruments. Over the years, people would leave a company and start their own company to make a musical instrument.  Elkhart became the musical instrument center of the country.”

In my interview with Tony Starkey, president of Fox Products, I learned about the interesting history of another musical instrument company.

Starkey said, “I was an owner of a machine shop before I came to Fox Products. Fox Products is located in South Whitley, a small community of less than 2,000 people, about 10 miles from Fort Wayne. I used to mow the lawn for the company when I was 13. The company was founded by Hugo Fox in 1949 after he retired from being the Principal Bassoonist for the Chicago Symphony and returned to his hometown.  He had the goal of making the first world-class bassoon in the U.S.  He started the business in a modified chicken coup on the Fox family farm, and it took him two years to successfully make a bassoon.”

Later, Hugo’s son, Alan, left his career as a chemical engineer and ran the company for over 50 years, applying engineering principles to making instruments. Fox owned the student market because Alan made the instruments much easier to play.

The first Fox oboes came out in 1974. Later that year, a fire destroyed the woodshop and reed-making equipment, so Alan used other sites in South Whitley to keep the company alive while a new plant was being built. The company expanded and started making English Horns in 1999.

Since Starkey became owner in 2012, the company has grown 30 percent. It now has 130 employees.

“When I took over the company, we didn’t have any prints for the instruments. We had 3D models and patterns and tools in Germany. We had to start over and reverse engineer the instruments to create the drawings. Now, we are able to work in Solidworks and have CNC machines to make the metal parts. We even set up our own silver plating line,” Starkey said. “Indiana is a great business state and a great place to have a business. We did a turnkey operation for our silver line without a lot of regulations and delays.”

I asked if they have applied Lean principles and tools to the company. Starkey said, “I hired people who have a Lean background, so we are using technology and implementing Lean wherever we can, taking the human factor into consideration. We are hoping to get to be where we want to be as a Lean company in about two to three years.”

Last of all, I interviewed Bernie Stone, founder and president of Stone Custom Drum Company. Stone said, “I played drums in a marching band in high school. Then, I worked in a musical instrument store and started doing repair of drums and projects for the percussionists of the symphony.”

He explained, “In 2002, I had the opportunity to purchase the drum shell manufacturing equipment, tooling and assembly line from the Slingerland Drum Company, one of the legendary vintage American drum brands. It gave me the opportunity to own the shell-shaping molds and tools, so I invested my money – and my life – into bringing them up to 21st century standards and crafting Super Resonating^® shells that surround punchy tom strokes with full, fat tone, make bass drums kick with big and round low-end responses, and snares cut with a crisp articulate ‘snap’ that sings with resonance. I bought some other equipment I needed on eBay and some from the Gretsch Company, another drum company.  I learned how to operate the equipment and reverse engineered the drums.”

He added, “I started my own company as a LLC in 2011. I am now looking to expand into a S corporation to get investors to grow the company. I think the skill set we have as a company is unique as very few people know how to make a great drum set. We manufacture our own Stainless Steel and brass tune lock fixtures to keep the drum in tune.”

I asked what kind of drums he makes – drums for rock and roll bands as well as for the symphony. Fort Wayne has a great philharmonic, which is a stepping stone to bigger and more prestigious symphonies. For example, Pedro Fernandez started at Fort Wayne and then went on to San Diego and is now at the Houston Symphony.

“The reason I am in Fort Wayne to make drums is that all the suppliers I need are within 50 to 100 miles for the wood, metals, tool and die shops, 3D printing, etc.,” Stone said.

From these stories, we can see that the musical instrument industry had developed gradually over the last hundred years or so from one company spinning off from another company or one company acquiring another or buying the rights to a brand name.

The craftmanship legacy of the Northeast Indiana region’s workers has played a big role in the success of many companies, along with a strong supply chain of subcontractors and materials. It is likely that the region will keep fostering the development and growth of new musical instrument companies to support the strong creative musical arts community of Northeast Indiana.