Insights from our San Antonio small business summit

On December 2, Texas Mutual brought together business owners and community leaders for our Texans Get It: Small Business Summit in San Antonio. The event provided an engaging space for participants to discover new strategies for fostering employee wellness and business resilience in an ever-changing landscape. Attendees listened to lively panel discussions, took part in interactive Q&A sessions and had meaningful networking opportunities.

Texas Tough: Wellness That Works

Both panels were moderated by Kristin Marcum, owner and CEO of ECPR Texas. The first panel, Texas Tough: Wellness That Works, featured the following panelists:

• Dr. Stephen Bekanich, medical director at Texicare
• Maggie Grueskin, mental fitness & workplace wellbeing strategist at Lifestyle As Medicine
• Glenn Revell, owner of Revellation Facilitation

This panel emphasized that effective wellness strategies do not have to be expensive or complicated—they start with culture and leadership modeling. Grueskin encouraged leaders to view wellness as a spectrum, moving beyond “not sick” toward the “symptoms of health” like energy, intention and resilience. A consistent theme was that supporting mental wellness often begins with basics like sleep, movement and nutrition, and that small changes in the work environment can help employees better manage day-to-day stress.

Bekanich shared a small-business lens on wellness: it shows up in retention. When employees feel supported and energized, businesses are more likely to reduce turnover and maintain productivity. He highlighted walking as one of the simplest, most practical wellness habits to encourage as it can support mood, sleep and connection at little to no cost. He suggested implementing walking meetings, lunch walks or short movement breaks.

Revell emphasized the people side of wellness, noting that belonging and purpose play a major role in how teams show up at work. He shared that facilitated team experiences, whether led by an outside consultant or an internal “champion” on the team, can strengthen connection, reinforce values and help employees feel seen. Panelists also discussed how to measure wellness in smaller organizations, noting that while small teams may not have enough data for complex dashboards, leaders can still gauge progress through culture signals like retention and engagement as well as through employee stories that reflect real impact.

Built to Last: Resilient Businesses, Resilient Texas

The second panel, Built to Last: Resilient Businesses, Resilient Texas, featured the following panelists:

• Eric Bourquin, vice president of safety services at Texas Mutual
• Sarah Morales, senior vice president of business engagement at greater:SATX
• Matthew Palacios, technology solutions architect at DOCUmation

Bourquin framed resilience as an organization’s ability to anticipate, absorb and adapt to challenges. He highlighted risks small businesses often underestimate, including motor vehicle incidents, contingency planning gaps and evolving cyber threats, encouraging leaders to bring in trusted partners for a fresh set of eyes and practical risk assessments before issues turn into major disruptions.

Palacios shared how technology resilience is ultimately about continuity and keeping operations moving when the unexpected happens. His practical recommendations focused on starting with manageable steps: centralize business-critical files and workflows in scalable cloud tools, automate where possible and invest in documentation so operations don’t depend on one person’s memory (or desktop). During Q&A, he addressed a common challenge: improving adoption when employees resist new systems. His advice centered on meeting people where they are, reducing friction through training and support and making the “why” clear so digital tools actually get used.

Morales emphasized that resilience also includes economic readiness, or monitoring the “business climate” the way Texans monitor the weather. She encouraged employers to diversify supply chains where possible, stay aware of policy shifts that impact operations and leverage chambers, associations and regional partners for advocacy and support. She also highlighted workforce development as a long-term resilience strategy, encouraging small businesses to participate in job shadowing and internship opportunities to strengthen the talent pipeline and prepare for future staffing needs.

The discussion wrapped with rapid-fire advice for business owners preparing for the unexpected:

• Treat preparedness and safety as a strategic investment, not just an expense
• Build a playbook through documentation and checklists
• Plan for key-person risk with succession planning and knowledge transfer
• Consider continuity planning for power disruptions if your operations are critical

Continued commitment to small businesses

With more than 80,000 policyholders across Texas, we remain committed to helping small businesses thrive. Events like our Texans Get It: Small Business Summit are just one way Texas Mutual supports employers by providing resources, sharing best practices and fostering a culture of safety, wellness and resilience across the state.