< Previous38 COASTAL BEND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDEin the lives of real people in the Coastal Bend who are now gainfully employed. Matt Carvajal, process technician for GCGV, is currently in training in Baytown to become an operator for the plant. His work enables him to provide for his two daughters. “This project will be great for the community and keep people chasing jobs closer to their families,” he says.He is not alone. Alejandra “Alex” Diaz-Korff, GCGV site project administrator, has three kids. She and her husband have lived in Portland near the project site for seven years. “Working for this project is an amazing chance to benefit an entire community by bringing in this world-class plastics manufacturing plant,” she notes.Mark Evans agrees. He is an environmental consultant for SABIC. He and his wife are longtime residents of Portland and together they have three sons who were raised in the area. “This project is going to have a major positive impact on San Patricio County, and I’ve come out of retirement to be a part of it,” he adds.Evidence of progress abounds. While the project still awaits the final air permit, site clearing and road work continue. Speed limits on roadways leading to the site have been lowered to promote safety, and a new traffic signal has been erected at County Road 3667 and U.S. Highway 181.A new dedicated project road is in the works, as are planned upgrades to County Road 1612 to improve intersections at site access points. Utility crews are also installing new power poles nearby.The site was officially announced in April 2017. Upon completion, the plant is expected to generate in excess of $50 billion for the state’s economy during its first six years of operation. “Working for this project is an amazing chance to benefit an entire community by bringing in this world-class plastics manufacturing plant.”— Alejandra “Alex” Diaz-Korff, Site Project Administrator, GCGV6,000 CONSTRUCTION JOBS 636 FULL-TIME PERMANENT POSITIONS3,500 INDIRECT JOBS IN COASTAL BENDGULF COAST GROWTH VENTURES IS CREATING40COASTAL BEND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE billion in industrial projects either completed or announced since Corpus Christi region has become pivotal player in keeping the lights and computer screens on across America and around the globe.That integral relationship was on display Jan. 15 when Houston-based POTAC LLC, otherwise known as Pin Oak, announced it had purchased another 236 acres of land at the Port of Corpus Christi for the purpose of expanding its crude oil terminal there.The agreement means that additional tank storage space will be added, as well as a new connection to the Kansas City Southern Railroad line. The KCS rail line, unlike the existing connection to Union Pacific Railroad at the terminal, will extend all the way south into Mexico.“We are excited to be expanding our footprint through this acquisition, which will bring incremental tankage and logistics solutions to our customers,” said Mike Reed, CEO of Pin Oak.The previous owner of the terminal was Gravity Midstream. Craig Peus, CEO of Gravity Midstream Corpus Christi, said, “The team at Corpus Christi is excited to be joining the Pin Oak family and partnering with investors who are dedicated to taking the terminal to the next level by expanding the terminal’s operations and building a strategic hub in Corpus Christi.”The new development will enable even more oil emanating from the rich Permian Basin in West Texas to reach the Port of Corpus Christi and then eventually key global destinations.Buckeye Partners, meanwhile, is developing a new deep-water, open-access marine terminal in Ingleside. MIDSTREAM AND PIPELINE GROWTH by RON STARNER e Corpus Christi region has become an indispensable cog in the global energy market. e Switch is Always On In Coastal Bend e Switch is Always On In Coastal BendCOASTAL BEND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE 41The South Texas Gateway Terminal is being built on a 212-acre waterfront parcel at the mouth of Corpus Christi Bay. The terminal will offer 3.4 million barrels of crude oil storage capacity and connectivity to the Gray Oak pipeline and two deep-water vessel docks capable of berthing Very Large Crude Carrier petroleum tankers. Pin Oak and Buckeye are just two of the many critical midstream and pipeline projects popping up in the Coastal Bend. Other notable investments include the following:• PERMICO Midstream Partners is building three fractionators capable of processing 100,000 barrels of oil per day each at the end of a pipeline from the Permian, Delaware and Eagle Ford Shale basins. The $550-million project will create 52 full-time jobs.• EPIC Y-Grade is building a fractionator at the end of a 600-mile pipeline starting in New Mexico. The firm plans to invest $200 million and create at least 10 new jobs. The EPIC pipeline is expected to begin moving Permian crude in the third quarter of this year.• Plains Terminals has begun construction of its $200-million condensate storage and dock facility, which is to be built as part of the Plains Terminals Corpus Christi facility at 5500 Up River Road.• Tex-Isle is in the construction phase of its $100-million plant, creating 100 new jobs.• Trafigura, Plains Marketing and Martin Midstream are investing into new storage tanks for product flowing from the Eagle Ford Shale. More than $1 billion in new investment will come from these three companies.• The Chemours Company is commissioning its $265-million plant that will make the follow-on to the company’s refrigerant product. About 65 new jobs will be added.• TexStar has completed construction of its $100-million gas fractionation plant.• Corpus Christi Polymers LLC is acquiring the integrated PTA-PET plant currently under construction in Corpus Christi in a deal valued at about $1.125 billion.• Superior Weighting Products is developing an $18-million barite processing plant in the Rincon Industrial Park at the Port of Corpus Christi. About 20 new jobs are being added.• Moda Midstream in San Patricio County is investing more than $1.3 billion and creating 140 full-time jobs at the former Naval Station Ingleside at the Port of Corpus Christi.• LyondellBasell has completed construction of its $500-million expansion of its ethylene plant, which employs 300 workers and spends nearly $43 annually with local vendors.• Magellan Midstream’s new condensate splitter plant is a $400-million investment that creates 110 jobs and an annual payroll of $7.8 million. The splitter will be capable of processing 50,000 barrels per day of condensate.• Celanese is building a $150-million plant at its Bishop location, adding 106 jobs.• voestalpine Texas built a $700-million plant, creating 179 jobs and an annual payroll of $9.15 million.• TEDA TPCO America is investing $1.3 billion to build a 1.3-million-sq.-ft. plant with 400 jobs. “We are excited to be expanding our footprint through this acquisition, which will bring incremental tankage and logistics solutions to our customers.”— Mike Reed, CEO, Pin OakMidstream energy projects are popping up all over the Coastal Bend.ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF CCREDC42 COASTAL BEND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDEy all accounts, Clara Driscoll was a pistol. Born into wealth on the Texas Gulf Coast and educated at elite finishing schools in New York and France, Driscoll became famous for writing a personal check, in 1903, that saved the Alamo from destruction. In addition to her philanthropy, Driscoll was an author, businesswoman, cattle rancher and confidante of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. When she died in 1945, Time Magazine noted that:“Politicians … learned to respect her: she could drink, battle, cuss and connive with the rest of them, outspend practically all of them.”In keeping with her will, money from Driscoll’s estate initiated a fund to establish a hospital for indigent children in Corpus Christi. Driscoll Children’s Hospital, a charity, opened in 1953 with 25 beds. Today, Driscoll Health System is a non-profit serving 31 counties in South Texas through the original Corpus Christi campus plus eight additional specialty centers. And Driscoll is growing.By the middle of next year, the hospital plans to open a two-story North Pavilion at its flagship campus, part of a multi-phase expansion pegged at $100 million. The 70,000-sq.-ft. building is to house an Outpatient Surgery Center and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), by GARY DAUGHTERSBHEALTH CAREHealing HandsCorpus Christi is a long-time leader in health care.44 COASTAL BEND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDEwhich will feature 16 private rooms. The new facility, five stories tall, will be adjacent to an expanded and renovated Operating Room. “There’s no doubt that Driscoll Children’s Hospital is the top source of medical care for the children in South Texas, and this massive project ensures it will be that way well into the future,” says Sam L. Susser, chairman of the Robert Driscoll and Julia Driscoll and Robert Driscoll, Jr. Foundation Board of Trustees.Driscoll, with a staff of 175 active doctors and 600 licensed registered nurses, provides emergency care to some 40,000 children annually. Each year, approximately 6,500 children are admitted for inpatient care, more than 3,500 patients stay for day surgery, and 132,000 receive outpatient care. “Driscoll,” says Donna Quinn, vice president of operations, “is the only stand-alone children’s hospital in South Texas. We work to make sure that we have trusting relationships with our families, and to insure throughout the entire construction process that patient services continues uninterrupted.”Driscoll is one of four major hospitals that have made Corpus Christi one of the premier health care centers in the state of Texas. The others include South Texas Surgical Hospital, the seven-campus Corpus Christi Medical Center and the expanding CHRISTUS Spohn, founded in 1905 by Dr. Arthur E. Spohn and managed, at the time, by the Sisters of the Incarnate Word. Today, CHRISTUS Spohn Health System is the largest hospital system in South Texas, with six family health systems throughout the Coastal bend, including three in Corpus Christi. CHRISTUS Spohn has received national recognition for several pioneering programs, including cardiac care, clinical excellence and cardiology. Additional offerings include primary care, pediatrics, urgent care and emergency services.Under a multi-year, $350-million expansion, CHRISTUS Spohn opened its 43,000-sq.-ft. Hector Garcia Memorial Family Health Center in February of 2017. The expansion also includes construction of a new patient tower at CHRISTUS Spohn’s Shoreline campus, which will include the creation of approximately 420,000 sq. ft. of new space and the removal of 320,000 sq. ft. of aging buildings. “There’s no doubt that Driscoll Children’s Hospital is the top source of medical care for the children in South Texas, and this massive project ensures it will be that way well into the future.”— Sam L. Susser, chairman of the Robert Driscoll and Julia Driscoll and Robert Driscoll, Jr. Foundation Board of Trustees46COASTAL BEND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDEMANUFACTURINGL BEND ECONOMIC DEVNOW THAT’SWHAT YOU CALL A PROJECT PIPELINECOASTAL BEND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE 47hen the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation (CCREDC) conducted a targeted industries study in 2015 that identified steel manufacturing as a natural fit for the region, little did area leaders know how much would happen in just a few short years.TEDA TPCO America, a Chinese company, opened a $1.3-billion customized steel pipe rolling facility in 2015 that was projected to need 600Unprecedented investments including pipeline manufacturing itself cascade into Corpus Christi.by ADAM BRUNSWPHOTO: GETTY IMAGESNext >