The latest episode of The Building Texas Show, titled McKinney's Bold Ecosystem Strategy for 400,000 Residents, hosted by Justin McKenzie and published May 27, 2026, takes listeners inside one of Texas' fastest-growing cities. Recorded on the ground in McKinney, the conversation features Lisa Hermes of the McKinney Chamber of Commerce and Sherrod Davis of EcoMap, the Baltimore-based technology company now partnering with North Texas communities. With McKinney's population having more than doubled in a decade, from 100,000 to 220,000, and headed toward 400,000 at buildout, the episode is a timely look at how growth decisions are being made in real time.

The discussion ranges across the pressures and opportunities reshaping the DFW Metroplex, where Hermes notes 28% of all Texans now live. Topic threads include:

• Infrastructure planning for water, roads, broadband, and energy
• Data centers, electricity demand, and the looming state legislative debate
• How EcoMap centralizes events, funding, news, and resources onto a single platform
• The evolution of chambers of commerce beyond ribbon cuttings into trusted information hubs
• Major McKinney projects, including a new state-of-the-art amphitheater and the Cannon Beach development

Hermes describes the velocity of change candidly, telling McKenzie, "10 years ago we were at 100,000 population. Now we're at 220,000 population, and at buildout we'll be closer to 400,000." Davis frames EcoMap's mission in similarly direct terms:

The two guests trade specific examples of how chambers are being reinvented as 24/7 digital front doors for entrepreneurs who, as Hermes puts it, "want at midnight to be able to find the information that they need."

The episode digs into the substance of how data is changing community building. Davis explains that EcoMap's customers consistently engage most with funding opportunities and community event calendars, while longer-tail analytics, including AI chatbot search data, give leaders like Hermes a quantitative read on what local businesses actually need. Hermes credits that visibility with helping the chamber design programming, workshops, and expert panels around real pain points. The conversation also spotlights McKinney's hyperlocal news strategy through McKinneyToday.com, a partnership posture with Community Impact and founder John Garrett, and McKinney's role as host of the Byron Nelson Golf Tournament.

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, profiles the founders, civic leaders, and operators shaping the state's economy from Austin and Houston to the DFW Metroplex and beyond. The show focuses on the stories behind Texas' growth: how communities plan, how entrepreneurs build, and how technology and policy intersect on the ground. This episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard, and at buildingtexasshow.com.

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