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SAN ANGELO, TEXAS — Lawmakers, business owners and other professionals gathered at Angelo State University's CJ Davidson Center Tuesday morning for the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce's 21st annual West Texas Legislative Summit.

San Angelo Mayor Tom Thompson began the conference by thanking state and federal lawmakers for their help during and after the Fourth of July floods. Rep. August Pfluger spoke early, calling a moment of silence for flood victims and their families before the first panel began.

The morning's first session- a fireside chat with Pfluger and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Executive Assistant Commissioner Jonathan Miller, focused on national security; including border and cybersecurity. Miller said small drones have been a topic of focus, especially at the country's southern border, expressing concern groups could use them to harm federal agents.

Other sessions focused on ways to use artificial intelligence in business, learning and national defense. Pfluger said future tech developments in San Angelo could make it a hub for AI and data.

"West Texas is gonna be at the epicenter of the build out of AI (and) of data centers because we have a couple of things that are needed," he said. "Number one, we have land and number two, we have energy.”   

In a breakout session, small business owners spoke about AI's future, encouraging other entrepreneurs to find creative ways to use technology to simplify tasks that would normally take hours.

Simple Host's Simeon McCullough mentioned web scrapers- tools that pull information from multiple websites at once- as an easy way for entrepreneurs to grow their customer base.

"Next thing you know, you have 10,000 people on a customer list," he said. "Who’s not gonna make money from that?”  

The afternoon continued with a lunch keynote speech from Gen. Dan Caine, the 22nd Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Caine is the highest ranking military officer in the United States.

Caine visited Goodfellow Air Force Base Monday, mentioning key moments in his career requiring intel from graduates of the 17th Training Wing. These included the United States' recent strike on Iran and the immediate aftermath of September 11. In 2001, he was stationed just outside of Washington, D.C.

The final sessions of the afternoon focused on the issues affecting farming and ranching. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller spoke about the new world screwworm- a parasitic fly threatening the country's cattle supply, spiking beef prices.

Miller said his team will consider baiting the flies with a chemical solution which would lead them to an insecticide. He said solely relying on releasing sterile flies, the current fix, would take too long to control the population before the outbreak begins to affect Texas.