BG Reads Weekend Edition (7.27.2025)

PRESENTED BY

[TOP CLICKS OF THE WEEK]

[WEEKEND NEWS]

🟪 New pipeline to address Austin's $25B construction project labor shortage begins to flow (Austin Business Journal)

The Austin Infrastructure Academy is seeing early returns on its efforts to bolster Austin’s construction and mobility workforce, and talent should start to exit the new pipeline soon.

The academy, which launched in March, has seen notable interest from the private sector and job seekers over its efforts to connect locals to training opportunities in the construction industry. It was spawned by projections that Austin won't have enough workers as it embarks on at least $25 billion in projects, including light rail expansions, I-35 upgrades, a new convention center and a larger airport — not to mention the usual private sector construction.

“We've seen slow momentum, but I think it's going to increase over the next couple of months,” said Yael Lawson, the chief operations officer for Workforce Solutions Capital Area, which oversees the academy. “We're training people now, so we're going to start to see them graduating and hired.”

The academy has held career fairs that have been attended by more than 500 job seekers, and about 58% of Workforce Solutions' training enrollments since have been toward Infrastructure Academy efforts, Lawson said… ✅ (READ MORE)

🟪 A new hotel and convention center are coming to Circuit of the Americas (KUT)

The city of Austin hopes to bring in more tourism dollars and create jobs with a new hospitality real estate deal in Southeast Austin.

The Austin City Council accepted a transfer of about 21 acres of land for the project. The council approved acquiring the piece of land at its meeting on Thursday.

The hand over gives the city ownership and means the city will be allowed to collect a portion of hotel occupancy taxes from the state of Texas. Hotel occupancy taxes, which come from additional charges tacked onto hotel bills, go toward efforts that promote tourism in Austin.

The move supports a plan by Houston-based RIDA Development Corporation to build a 1,000-room hotel and convention center next to the Circuit of the Americas racetrack… ✅ (READ MORE)

🟪 Hundreds of new units rising under Austin's HOME program (Community Impact)

Almost 800 new residences have been proposed citywide under the Home Ownership for Middle-income Empowerment, or HOME, initiative after more than a year of the policy being in effect.

Under the two-part program, supported by most of City Council in late 2023 and last spring, multiple housing units can now be built on single-family lots and individual homes can go on smaller lots than previously allowed. The city began accepting single-family building plans with up to three units under HOME's first phase early last year while subdivision and small lot plan reviews under HOME 2 started later that summer.

More than 400 applications for multi-unit HOME 1 projects were filed as of mid-May, with the majority new builds. HOME included a provision to encourage preservation of existing housing alongside new additions but only five projects have taken advantage so far.

Less than two dozen HOME 2 project plans have been submitted, alongside five property subdivisions for smaller lots…  (READ MORE)

🟪 Austin City Council approves purchase of four-legged security robot (Community Impact)

Austin Police Department is set to add a Boston Dynamics robotic vehicle to its equipment supply for use during high-risk security situations.

Austin City Council voted to authorize a contract to purchase the technology during the July 24 council meeting. District 10 council member Mike Siegel was the sole dissenting vote.

Per agenda documents, the vehicle—named Spot—is a four-legged robot that can navigate indoor and outdoor environments and will be used by APD’s special operations unit when responding to critical incidents.

The robot can be operated manually by remote control or automatically using its perception and guidance systems to follow predefined routes, and will reduce officer exposure during high-risk events such as explosive or suspicious packages, hazardous materials or barricaded subjects…  (READ MORE)

🟪 Texas House redistricting committee’s Houston hearing draws criticism over absence of maps (Texas Tribune)

The Texas House’s redistricting committee visited Houston on Saturday to hear out local residents’ concerns on the state Legislature’s plans to consider redrawing nearly a handful of congressional districts in Texas — all of which are held by Black or Latino Democrats, three in the Houston area.

But the testimony portion of the hearing, limited to five hours, had to wait while Democratic committee members spent the first hour grilling committee Chair Cody Vasut on why they were there in the first place.

When Vasut, R-Angleton, welcomed the standing-room only crowd for the committee’s second “public testimony regarding a revised congressional redistricting plan,” state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, offered a correction.

“I just want to advise the public that they would not be testifying on a revised congressional redistricting plan, because there is no revised congressional redistricting plan,” she said… ✅ (READ MORE)

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