The head of a prominent Austin, Texas, technology business said Lawrence appeared similar to the way Austin did 15 years ago: a blossoming town ready for high-tech business development.

“You have a lot of the ingredients in place,” said David Settle, chief financial officer of Mirage NetWorks, an information security company based in Austin.

Settle and a group of development consultants were in town Saturday on a one-day tour of Lawrence sponsored by the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce.

Chamber officials presented the consultants with information about Lawrence-based programs and land availability in hopes of eventually luring new businesses to the area.

“They’ve done a great job,” said Keith Zimmerman, a developer with Equis, the largest commercial real estate transaction firm in the country.

“I had no idea about the focus on biotech here. There were a lot of misconceptions,” Zimmerman said.

Although the trip guaranteed little for the area, chamber President Lavern Squier said that the trip allowed consultants to go back to the businesses they represent and tell them about the space and programs available to companies looking to relocate or open new branches in the Midwest.

The consultants here represented businesses in Kansas City, Chicago and the Austin/Dallas corridor in Texas.

“Our objective is to acclimate them to opportunities,” Squier said, “to raise their awareness and pique their interest.”

The tour included lunch at the new Pachamama’s restaurant downtown, and nice seats for the Kansas University basketball game against Missouri on Saturday afternoon.

During the day, Squier and chamber officials discussed possible locations for a variety of new businesses, including the East Hills Business Park, the riverside area and other property held by Douglas County Development Inc.

DCD Inc. is a nonprofit corporation that brokers local property to businesses wanting to locate here. Squier is listed as the company’s secretary, according to the most recent Internal Revenue Service documents available for the company.

Squier said that the Kansas Department of Commerce and the Kansas City Area Development Council helped fund the visit, and that he thought the experience had been helpful for both the chamber and the visiting consultants.

Zimmerman concurred.

“It’s been fun and educational,” he said.