Austin: An Environment for Food Truck Entrepreneurs
Food trucks are entrepreneurship on wheels. Their clever dishes and savvy social media have jump-started a $2 billion-plus industry in cities across America. Government regulators, though, have been slow to adapt their rules to this new breed of entrepreneur. From Boston to Washington, and San Francisco to Seattle, food trucks today continue to navigate tangled bureaucracies and costly processes. Austin is one of the friendlier environments for food trucks. It's easy to open a food truck there, but research shows that there are regulatory hurdles — such as permits, registration and location — rules that may make daily operation more a bit cumbersome than necessary.
Join us in the heart of the Austin food truck community with dinner from local food truck, Bon Bon Banh Mi, as scholar Michael Hendrix discusses the economics of food trucks, their entrepreneurial value, and what makes a city, like Austin, hospitable to them.
Suggested Reading
Speaker
Michael Hendrix was formerly a senior fellow and director of state and local policy at the Manhattan Institute. Previously, he served as senior director for research and emerging issues at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Hendrix is a frequent public speaker, and his writings have appeared in, among others, National Review, City Journal, and National Affairs. He holds an M.A. in international relations from the University of St. Andrews (Scotland), as well as a certificate in strategy and performance management from Georgetown University.