Go Texan program lacks clear benefits for businesses, according to state report

Thermell Refrigeration added the Go Texan logo to its website around the start of 2020, figuring the Texas-shaped sigil might help make a sale or two.

State officials and thousands of businesses thought the same, but the program behind the logo might not be meeting the expectations of the pro-business state — nor those of some members.

“Communication was great until after we paid for our membership,” said Brandon Alanzo, director of sales at Thermell Refrigeration, a Fort Worth company that manufactures refrigerated display cases for supermarkets. “And then it just kinda fell off.”

A June 2020 Sunset Advisory Commission report on the Texas Department of Agriculture singled out the agency’s Go Texan program, arguing the effort to promote Texas businesses and products lacked clear goals, tracking, transparency and accountability. The report suggested the lack of controls resulted in a “pay-to-play” culture inside the program.

Established by the Texas Sunset Act in 1977, the Commission reviews state departments and agencies on a periodic basis and recommends changes to the Legislature. Unlike an audit, the commission assesses whether departments and programs are still needed at all — and, if so, how they might be made more effective and efficient.

Much of the Sunset report focused on how the program has no comprehensive goals or mission outlined in law or within the TDA. The lack of focus makes it difficult to evaluate the program’s effectiveness, the report said.

Assistant Agriculture Commissioner Dan Hunter countered that the program has undergone several changes and reforms since TDA Commissioner Sid Miller took office in 2015. Many of the changes took place during the Sunset Commission’s review period — from October 2019 to June 2020 — and were not captured in the report. The department is working on the issues not already fixed, Hunter said.

Despite the Sunset Commission’s ongoing questions about the value of the program and business manager’s concerns about how much it actually helps sales, the Go Texan has evolved into a popular program statewide. Launched in 1999 for agricultural products, it expanded to promote any kind of Texas-made product in 2003.

Among other benefits, member businesses have the ability to display the program’s state-shaped logo on their products. Hunter said the mark is the main draw for businesses because of its iconic shape and recognition.

“You throw up the Go Texan brand which has the outline with the state of Texas on it, and everyone knows what that is,” Hunter said. “You throw up an outline of New York, and they’re trying to figure out what -stan that comes from in Russia.”

Businesses pay between $100 to $5,000 to enroll in the program, although more than 1,000 of the 1,451 listed members pay for the lowest $100 tier, which allows access to use the logo. Higher tiers give businesses more chances to be featured at trade shows or to be promoted online.

Other benefits for members include features in marketing campaigns, although the report criticized these opportunities as lacking fairness and transparency. Products and companies would be promoted on social media at random, and trade show spots would be offered up on a first-come, first-serve basis — higher paying companies are offered spots first — without any consideration for what kind of products would benefit most.

In fact, the program did not regularly track how effective its benefits were for members, according to the sunset review. If a business stopped paying dues and withdrew from the program, there was no formal process to ensure the business did not keep displaying the Go Texan logo on its products.

Businesses withdrawing from the program most often cited a lack of clear benefits from Go Texan as their reason. Of the 37 featured members on the Go Texan website, only six companies featured the Go Texan logo on their website’s homepage.

Thermell Refrigeration joined the program in January 2020, at the $1,000 annual tier, which is more than most businesses pay to join the program, according to the commission’s report. Alanzo said this will likely be the company’s last year with the program, citing a lack of benefits and the poor communication.

As a Tier 3 member, Thermell Refrigeration has its logo displayed on the Go Texan member finder page, but Alanzo said the company has not received a single client or inquiry from the logo’s placement. The company is also eligible for three hours of marketing consultation with a Go Texan staff member, but Alanzo said emails about the consultation never received a response.

Nor did the company receive other benefits, such as prominent listings in digital publications, Alanzo said.

Getting businesses to talk about their experience with the program proved difficult. Out of 17 businesses contacted around the state — all but one of which were listed as a featured member on the program’s website — only Thermell responded with comments. One other business said that they were having issues, but they did not elaborate and refused further comment.

Despite the reticence and a high turnover rate, the Go Texan program is growing. In 2020, 463 new businesses signed up for the program, according to an email from TDA. About 400 members do not renew their memberships each year, the sunset commission report said.

Go Texan has also started to track member satisfaction with the program via a survey. In its most recent internal annual survey, 94 percent of the Go Texan members who responded said they were satisfied with the program, he said.

Jackson Barton is a journalism student at the University of Texas at Austin. This story was produced and published in collaboration with the UT School of Journalism’s “State Government Reporting” course.