Brownwood native Roy Spence, Jr. has been named the 2022 “Austinite of the Year” by the Austin Chamber of Commerce.  The annual award recognizes a leader in business and civic affairs in the Austin area.

Spence grew up in Brownwood, and after graduating from Brownwood High School in 1967 he moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas.  After graduating in 1971, he and three friends from the University founded the advertising firm of G S D & M.  The agency started small and slow, but is now one of the most successful and powerful advertising agencies in the nation.  Over the years their clients have included Southwest Airlines, Walmart, Hilton Hotels, Goodyear, Pizza Hut, Capital One, Food Lion, Dodge, the PGA Tour, the U.S. Air Force, Fruit of the Loom, and Avocados from Mexico.

G S D & M also created the well-known and very successful “Don’t Mess With Texas” anti-litter campaign.

Spence is currently Chairman of G S D & M, as well as two other entities that he founded.  “The Purpose Institute” helps businesses and organizations develop and implement their “purpose.”  Spence co-authored the book “It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For:  Why Every Extraordinary Business is Driven by Purpose.”  The book and the Purpose Institute are outgrowths of GSD & M’s “purpose-based” marketing philosophy.

The other organization is the Make It Movement, which attempts to help inform and guide middle-school and high school students into fields that offer good career opportunities.

The Austin Chamber of Commerce will present the “Austinite of the Year” award to Spence on February 8 at its annual meeting known as Cheers to the Year.