Elgin Family Dental traces roots to 1977; owners credit community ties for longevity
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Summary
Elgin Family Dental, founded by the Herring family in 1977, remains a multigenerational practice. Scott and Jennifer Herring discussed succession, Jennifer’s shift from Elgin ISD to practice administration, and the role of Elgin’s small‑town character in sustaining local businesses.
Stacy Ford Osborne, acting public information officer for the City of Elgin, introduced Scott and Jennifer Herring of Elgin Family Dental on a City of Elgin public information program.
Scott Herring, a dentist who said he "grew up here and, been practicing here for about 20 years now," described taking over the family practice after his father retired. "My dad, he opened the practice in 1977," Scott said, and he and his father worked together from 2005 to 2020 when his father retired.
Jennifer Herring, a dental hygienist and practice administrator at Elgin Family Dental, recounted meeting Scott in San Antonio and moving to Elgin. She said she worked as a substitute teacher and later a teacher with Elgin ISD before returning to school for dental hygiene and taking accounting classes to learn practice administration. "I went back to school to dental hygiene school, got became a dental hygienist, and then I also, you know, had to go back for some accounting classes and just so that I can know what to do to how to run the practice," she said, crediting her mother‑in‑law for mentoring her in the business side of the practice.
The couple discussed the practice’s locations over time. Scott said his father built the current office in the early 1980s and that the practice previously operated near what he referred to as the Elginview Center. He identified the current office as being on Highway 95 near a local lumber business.
Both said long‑term patient relationships are central to the practice’s survival. Scott and Jennifer described seeing multiple generations of the same families in the clinic — parents who were patients of Scott’s father and now bring their children — and noted that community familiarity is a feature that keeps customers local.
On the city’s character, Jennifer, who is originally from the Rio Grande Valley, contrasted Elgin’s growth with her smaller hometown and said the increased local services and businesses make it easier for residents to stay in town rather than commute into Austin. Stacy Ford Osborne highlighted that preserving Elgin’s character amid growth has been a priority for the City Council and Mayor McShan.
Jennifer closed by thanking local residents for their support: "Thank you to all the community for trusting us over all these years to you know, we've been very lucky all this time to have patients here in Elgin and then even not just Elgin, but in the surrounding communities to trust us with their care for so, so long." She encouraged prospective business owners by saying the practice shows a business can succeed without being located in a large city.
The interview lasted roughly nine minutes and focused on the practice’s history, continuity across generations, and the couple’s view that Elgin’s community ties and growing local services support small business longevity.
