All Up In Your Business

Since longtime host Jay Socol retired last spring, it's been a while since our last episode of All Up in Your Business. Due to popular demand, the podcast returns, but with a slightly different look.

College Station Chief Development Officer Natalie Ruiz now co-hosts the program with Economic Development Manager Brian Piscacek to update us on business trends and the restaurants, retailers, industries, and events that might be comin...

It's been quite a while since College Station Economic Development Director Natalie Ruiz stepped up to the podcast microphone to update us on the restaurants, retailers, industries, and events that might be coming to CSTAT.

In this discussion with College Station Communications Director Jay Socol, Natalie covers Midtown, Costco, Gringo's, the Wolf Pen Creek area, and how CS ranked so high on a list of Texas cities with the best tac...

What a difference a year makes! Last year, the pandemic gave us a near-dormant economy and enormous uncertainty. This year, there are genuine signs of hope and recovery -- normalcy, even? -- that went into the development of the City of College Station's proposed fiscal year 2022 budget.

In this four-part mini-series called All Up In Your Budget, we'll talk about the main takeaways from this proposed $353.7M budget (Spoiler: No rec...

What a difference a year makes! Last year, the pandemic gave us a near-dormant economy and enormous uncertainty. This year, there are genuine signs of hope and recovery -- normalcy, even? -- that went into the development of the City of College Station's proposed fiscal year 2022 budget.

In this four-part mini-series called All Up In Your Budget, we'll talk about the main takeaways from this proposed $353.7M budget (Spoiler: No rec...

What a difference a year makes! Last year, the pandemic gave us a near-dormant economy and enormous uncertainty. This year, there are genuine signs of hope and recovery -- normalcy, even? -- that went into the development of the City of College Station's proposed fiscal year 2022 budget.

In this four-part mini-series called All Up In Your Budget, we'll talk about the main takeaways from this proposed $353.7M budget (Spoiler: No rec...

What a difference a year makes! Last year, the pandemic gave us a near-dormant economy and enormous uncertainty. This year, there are genuine signs of hope and recovery -- normalcy, even? -- that went into the development of the City of College Station's proposed fiscal year 2022 budget.

In this four-part mini-series called All Up In Your Budget, we'll talk about the main takeaways from this proposed $353.7M budget (Spoiler: No rec...

Bryan Woods became College Station's city manager in November 2018, but less than two years later he began a year-long deployment to the Middle East with the U.S. Navy Reserve. Now he's back with a lot of work to do, including prepping a draft budget for FY 2022, overseeing completion of a new city hall, and helping sustain economic growth as we emerge from a pandemic.

Woods and Communications Director Jay Socol cover topics rangin...

Our economy is rebounding -- you can feel it. And while so many businesses didn't make it through the worst of the pandemic, no matter how hard they fought, College Station is once again a hot market for retailers looking to establish a location. Filling empty properties is among the top priorities for our Grow College Station team, and that's the primary focus of this episode.

You'll hear Communications Director Jay Socol and Econ...

Earlier this week, we dropped a podcast episode that reviewed what's new in, and what's coming to, College Station. (Spoiler: It's a lot!)

During that episode, we teased an announcement that was expected later in the month -- a development on 19 acres of city-owned land in College Station's Midtown. Turns out later in the month is now: Costco Wholesale has filed a site plan for that location.

We hope you'll take just a few minutes ...

Our first episode of 2021 covers a lot. So much, in fact, that we ditched the studio and did an actual tour of some of the fastest-growing areas of College Station to talk about what's new and what's coming.

Communications Director Jay Socol and Economic Development Manager Aubrey Nettles make stops at Jones Crossing, CapRock, Tower Point, the Lowe's Shopping Center and Midtown -- then finish with a lightning round that covers addi...

This is the first time College Station Communications Director Jay Socol has interviewed Economic Development Director Natalie Ruiz since the pandemic changed everything. In spite of the local, state and federal funding put into the hands of local businesses, we still lost far too many. So, now what?

In this episode, Natalie talks about her dual role of supporting local businesses while aggressively working to bring in more jobs th...

After a multi-month, coronavirus-inspired break, we're back -- this time with a special miniseries: Four episodes that focus on the College Station's proposed budget for fiscal year 2021. We're calling it All Up In Your Budget.

The idea is to take a 330-page budget document and explain the big ideas in it, the changes caused by this health and economic crisis, how sustainable we think those are and what it means to our residents. T...

After a multi-month, coronavirus-inspired break, we're back -- this time with a special miniseries: Four episodes that focus on the College Station's proposed budget for fiscal year 2021. We're calling it All Up In Your Budget.

The idea is to take a 330-page budget document and explain the big ideas in it, the changes caused by this health and economic crisis, how sustainable we think those are and what it means to our residents. T...

After a multi-month, coronavirus-inspired break, we're back -- this time with a special miniseries: Four episodes that focus on the College Station's proposed budget for fiscal year 2021. We're calling it All Up In Your Budget.

The idea is to take a 330-page budget document and explain the big ideas in it, the changes caused by this health and economic crisis, how sustainable we think those are and what it means to our residents. T...

After a multi-month, coronavirus-inspired break, we're back -- this time with a special miniseries: Four episodes that focus on the College Station's proposed budget for fiscal year 2021. We're calling it All Up In Your Budget.

The idea is to take a 330-page budget document and explain the big ideas in it, the changes caused by this health and economic crisis, how sustainable we think those are and what it means to our residents. T...

The Dallis family has operated some of the most-iconic food and beverage destinations in College Station. Cafe Eccell may be their best-known restaurant, but they recently entered the highly competitive burger market through their new concept Burger Mojo.

In this episode, Economic Development Director Natalie Ruiz and Communications Director Jay Socol talk to Costa and Andreas Dallis about their legacy of business ventures and how ...

Who better to open a Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux in College Station than a former walk-on to the Texas A&M football team? Cory ('08) and Jenny ('01) Davis are poised to open their business in south College Station -- their first foray into the restaurant business -- and talk about how College Station was the only city they ever considered for such a major endeavor.

Also in this episode, Economic Development Director Natalie Ruiz and...

In terms of economic development, 2019 was a heckuva year for College Station.

Economic Development Director Natalie Ruiz -- who recently was recognized in public for the first time due to this podcast (such a diva...) -- and Communications Director Jay Socol reflect on some of the successes (and near-misses) from the past year + look ahead at what 2020 might bring in terms of new jobs and a diversified economy for College Station....

We hear it all the time:

"Hey, College Station, how come you don't bring a [fill in the blank] to town?"

Or the other side of that is, "Hey, bozos, why do you keep bringing more [fill in the blank] to our city?"

First, some of you have anger issues. Seriously, though, a lot of people don't understand:

• What the city can be credited for bringing to town
• What the city should not be credited/blamed for bringing to town
• What...