Establishing a Corporation
The Llano Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) was incorporated in 1994 as a 4A Economic Development Corporation for the City of Llano, Texas. The corporation is governed by a citizen board following the true intent of the Texas Legislature as expressed in the Development Corporation Act of 1979. This act allows municipalities to create non-profit corporations (called development corporations) and levy up to .5% sales tax in order to promote local business development.

The development corporations operate separately from the municipalities, with boards of directors that over see their efforts. "The first meeting of the LEDC Board was held on October 4, 1994, with a beginning bank account of $17,000. The first project approved by the LEDC was improvements to the airport (pavement and hangars). The project was funded at almost $140,000. At the same time they also approved an expansion of the golf course from 9 to 18 holes.

At the beginning of 1995, the first LEDC budget was approved. Shortly afterward it was recognized that a 4A corporation could not fund the development of the golf course. In May 1995, the citizens of Llano voted to change from a 4A corporation to a 4B corporation, thus giving the board a wider latitude of economic development projects that it could fund. In July of 1995, the LEDC was reconstituted as a 4B corporation. View the LEDC Milestones (PDF) for a complete list of accomplishments for each year since 1994.