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EDC previews GIS business map, schedules small-business workshop for October
Summary
San Juan Economic Development staff demonstrated a new GIS map with traffic counts and said they are coordinating an October workshop for local small-business owners with UTRGV and the small business development center; staff said the city has been paying for the mapping software but had not fully used it.
San Juan Economic Development Corporation staff demonstrated an updated GIS map and said the EDC is coordinating a small-business workshop with UTRGV and the Small Business Development Center for October.
The demonstration showed multiple map layers and average daily traffic counts at specific intersections. A staff member said the 2024 daily count at one point was 24,193 vehicles and the 2023 count at that corner was 25,126. Staff said the map can display historical layers (including a preliminary subdivision layer) and can be expanded to include water and sewer lines, fire hydrants and other interdepartmental infrastructure data.
Why it matters: EDC staff said the map is intended as a planning and business-recruitment tool that local business owners and prospective investors can use to evaluate growth patterns and traffic volumes.
Board members and attendees discussed past underuse of the mapping subscription. A board member said the software had been paid for previously but not used; staff confirmed the EDC had maintained the account and is now beginning to populate it with data. A board member praised the map as a “backbone” for planning.
Staff also reported they are coordinating with UTRGV, the Small Business Development Center and the FEDC to schedule a workshop targeted at small, local business owners in October; staff said the exact date is still being confirmed.
Board members asked whether traffic-count and utility layers could be added; staff said those layers already exist in other departmental maps and could be incorporated into the EDC web map. The board discussed using the tool for historical data and for outreach to potential businesses.
Next steps: staff will confirm the October workshop date and continue to add map layers and historical datasets to the public-facing map.
