The latest episode of The Building Texas Show, titled 'Texas Flood Recovery for Small Business: Grants Up to $10K & Where to Apply,' hosted by Justin McKenzie, sits down in San Antonio with Amy Hereford, President and CEO of LiftFund. Published August 6, 2026, the conversation arrives as the Texas Hill Country reels from a second major flood in as many years. LiftFund has deployed 525 grants and loans totaling more than $17 million to Hill Country businesses in the past year and is now rolling out the 2026 Texas Hill Country Flood Relief Program.
Hereford walks McKenzie through how the 30-year-old San Antonio nonprofit fills the gap when traditional banks decline early-stage founders, veterans, and creative entrepreneurs. Key threads include:
- Grants up to $10,000 for flood-impacted small businesses and nonprofits across 16 eligible counties, including Bandera, Blanco, Kerr, Kendall, Hays, Comal, Uvalde and Gillespie.
- Zero-interest loans made possible when cities, counties and private donors buy down the rate.
- Free technical assistance and a capital readiness questionnaire available at LiftFund.com.
- The threat of predatory lenders and title-loan storefronts targeting cash-strapped founders.
Hereford is blunt about why speed matters after a disaster. Citing LiftFund's data from more than 50 disaster recoveries, she tells McKenzie:
The faster you help a small business, the faster you secure the entire recovery of the community. Because in many communities, especially in rural areas, those small businesses are going to be the majority employers.
She warns that most small businesses carry only about 10 days of cash on hand, and that SBA relief typically arrives after payroll cycles and mortgage payments have already come due.
The episode digs into the ripple math of a shuttered Main Street: an average small business employs roughly four people, each supporting families of about four, and is often linked to 20 other businesses through local supply chains. Hereford references Trinity University economist Dr. Butler, who has publicly endorsed LiftFund's work and named the organization in his planned giving. She and McKenzie also spotlight San Antonio's Alamo Kitchens as a case study in how one commercial-kitchen loan can seed dozens of downstream food entrepreneurs, and discuss second-chance founders, rural daycares, and gap financing for hospitals where banks stop at 80 percent.
About The Building Texas Show
The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, profiles the founders, funders, and civic builders shaping the Texas economy from Main Street to the Hill Country to the state's biggest metros. Each episode blends startup-ecosystem insight with on-the-ground stories of resilience, capital access, and community development. This episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard, and at buildingtexasshow.com.
