Mann Inducted Into Chamber Hall

November 20, 2023

    Hillsboro Economic Development Corporation Administrator Arthur Thomas (Art) Mann was recently inducted into the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame.

     The honoree grew up and attended grade school in Malone before graduating from Hubbard High School in 1975. He attended Hill Junior College in Hillsboro and transferred to Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism in 1979. 

  He joined The Reporter Newspaper and 1560 KHBR Radio staff in November 1981, working there for nearly 33 years before being taking the HEDC position in September 2014. He was promoted to the Community and Economic Development Director position in January 2022.

    Mann is a current member and was one of the founding members of the Hill County Area Go Texan Scholarship Committee in 1991, serving as ambassador from 1994-96. The committee has provided over $400,000 in scholarships to Hill County seniors since its founding. 

    He was among the group that rejuvenated Hill County Ag Youth, which now oversees Hill County Fair operations, and served as president of the board for several years.

     He coordinated the transfer of the fairground property from the Hillsboro Independent School District to Hill County while serving as chair of the board. He wrote several grants to help improve the fair facilities including the exhibits building. 

    He has been the organizer of Hill County Day in Austin during Texas legislative sessions for over 35 years, and worked to raise funds to restore the Hill County Courthouse after it burned in January 1993. 

     For the rededication ceremony in April 1999, he served as master of ceremonies and secured keynote speaker, then Texas Governor George W. Bush.

   He served as president of the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors in 1995, and has been a member of Hill County AgriLife Extension Service Council and the Citizen’s Review Board for the Hillsboro Police Department for over 40 years each. He was recognized by Hill College with a Pillar of the Community Award in 2016.

    In his role with HEDC and Community Development, he has been instrumental in bringing IKO Southwest, Skeeter Brush Trucks, Texas Tank Works, Johns Manville and Buc-ee’s to Hillsboro, plus the redevelopment of the outlet mall.

He also worked to secure major expansions at Gate Precast and L.B. Foster/CTX. He was a member of the Heart of Texas Economic Development District Board of Directors, serving as chair in 2020, and was appointed to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by Governor Greg Abbott in 2018.

    He and his wife, Susan, have been married for over 43 years and they have two daughters and sons-in-law, Peggy and Chris Lidster and Ada and Justin Motherspau, and three grandchildren: Keira Sidney Lidster, Angela Rose Motherspau and Kace Arthur Lidster.