Forgotten No More: McKennon's Blueprint for an Economic Renaissance in Rural Texas

The numbers tell a sobering story. According to the Texas Demographic Center, more than 180 of Texas's 254 counties are classified as rural, yet those counties account for a shrinking share of the state's economic output and population growth. Young people are leaving. Hospitals are closing. Broadband access remains a luxury in communities where it should be a baseline utility. Main streets that once hummed with commerce now feature more vacant storefronts than open businesses.

This is not inevitable. It is the consequence of policy neglect — a decades-long pattern in which state economic development resources have flowed disproportionately toward the major metropolitan corridors while rural Texas has been left to manage its decline alone. McKennon's rural economic agenda is a direct repudiation of that approach. It is detailed, it is ambitious, and it is grounded in the realities that rural Texans actually face.

A Targeted Tax Incentive Framework Built for Rural Realities

The centerpiece of McKennon's economic strategy for rural Texas is a restructured incentive framework that directs state resources toward the communities that need them most, rather than toward corporations that would have located in Texas regardless of any incentive offered.

Specifically, the plan calls for the creation of Rural Economic Opportunity Zones — designated areas in qualifying counties where qualifying businesses would receive a tiered reduction in state franchise tax liability for the first seven years of operation. Unlike existing enterprise zone programs, which have been criticized for benefiting primarily urban and suburban developments, these zones would be geographically restricted to counties with populations under 50,000 and unemployment rates exceeding the state average.

The projected impact is meaningful. Based on modeling from comparable programs implemented in Oklahoma and Tennessee, a well-structured rural tax incentive program of this nature could reasonably generate between 15,000 and 22,000 new private-sector jobs across rural Texas within a five-year window. These are not minimum-wage service positions — the program is specifically designed to attract light manufacturing, agricultural processing, and technology-enabled industries that pay wages competitive with urban alternatives.

"I have watched three manufacturing plants leave this county in my lifetime," said James Whitfield, a lifelong resident of Rusk County and third-generation timber industry worker. "Every time one leaves, we tell ourselves it won't happen again. We need leadership that actually has a plan, not just promises."

McKennon's plan is that plan.

Infrastructure as the Foundation of Economic Opportunity

No business will relocate to a community without reliable infrastructure. That seems obvious, and yet rural Texas continues to suffer from infrastructure gaps that would be considered unacceptable in any metropolitan area. Roads that cannot support commercial truck traffic. Water systems that are decades past their useful service life. And, most critically in the modern economy, broadband connectivity that is either unavailable or prohibitively expensive.

McKennon's infrastructure investment proposal addresses each of these deficiencies through a coordinated, multi-year capital commitment. The plan allocates dedicated state transportation funding toward rural farm-to-market roads, prioritizing routes that serve agricultural operations and connect rural communities to regional distribution hubs. It establishes a Rural Water Infrastructure Revolving Fund that would provide low-interest loans to municipal utility districts and rural water cooperatives for system upgrades and expansions.

On broadband, the campaign proposes an aggressive public-private partnership model that leverages federal infrastructure dollars already appropriated under existing legislation while adding state matching funds to accelerate deployment timelines. The goal is straightforward: every Texas household and business, regardless of its zip code, should have access to broadband speeds adequate for modern commerce and telehealth services within four years.

The economic multiplier effect of broadband alone is well-documented. Research from the Hudson Institute has found that a 10 percent increase in broadband penetration in rural areas correlates with a 0.6 percent increase in per capita income — a figure that compounds significantly over time.

Standing With the Family Farm and Ranch

Agriculture is not merely an economic sector in Texas — it is a cultural institution. Texas ranks first in the nation in total agricultural land and consistently ranks among the top states in cattle, cotton, and hay production. Yet family-scale farming operations are under sustained pressure from consolidation, input cost inflation, and regulatory complexity that favors large corporate agricultural enterprises over the multi-generational family operations that define rural Texas identity.

McKennon's agricultural policy agenda includes several targeted measures. First, the campaign supports expanding the existing agricultural property tax valuation protections to ensure that family farms are not forced off their land by escalating appraisals driven by speculative real estate markets. Second, the plan calls for the creation of a Texas Family Farm Transition Program — a state-administered initiative that would provide technical assistance and low-interest financing to help aging farm owners transition their operations to the next generation rather than selling to corporate buyers.

"My grandfather started this operation in 1951," said Carol Ann Brisendine, who raises cattle and grows grain sorghum outside of Childress. "My son wants to take it over, but the cost of entry is enormous. We need the state to understand that keeping family farms viable is not charity — it is an investment in the entire community."

McKennon understands that. The campaign's commitment to agricultural policy is not performative — it reflects a genuine recognition that when a family farm survives, the feed store, the equipment dealer, the local diner, and the school district all benefit.

Energy as a Rural Economic Anchor

Texas's energy sector — encompassing oil and gas, wind, solar, and the transmission infrastructure that connects it all — is disproportionately located in rural areas. The Permian Basin, the Eagle Ford Shale, and the wind corridors of West Texas have generated enormous wealth, but rural communities have not always captured their fair share of the economic benefits that energy development produces.

McKennon's energy policy for rural Texas focuses on two objectives. First, ensuring that the severance tax and royalty revenue generated by energy production in rural counties is reinvested in those counties through a dedicated infrastructure and workforce development fund. Second, supporting the expansion of energy workforce training programs at regional community colleges so that rural Texans are positioned to fill the skilled trades and technical positions that the energy industry requires — rather than watching those jobs go to workers recruited from elsewhere.

A Clear Roadmap, Not a Campaign Slogan

Rural Texans have heard promises before. What they have not often received is a coherent, specific, and funded strategy for economic revitalization that treats their communities as genuine priorities rather than photo-opportunity backdrops.

McKennon's rural economic plan is different because it is built on real data, real conversations with real Texans, and a clear-eyed understanding of what state government can actually accomplish when it chooses to make rural prosperity a genuine priority. The path forward requires disciplined leadership, consistent follow-through, and the willingness to make difficult budgetary choices that favor long-term community investment over short-term political convenience.

Rural Texas built this state. It is long past time that Austin returned the favor.

To review the full text of McKennon's Rural Economic Opportunity Plan or to share your community's story with the campaign, visit mckennon4texas.com.