< Previous48 COASTAL BEND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDEemployees at full capacity and to have a $2.7-billion economic impact over its first decade. Phase 1, the seamless pipe finishing plant, is complete. Phase 2 will encompass 1.3 million sq. ft. of manufacturing space. Upon completion, the company anticipates creating up to 400 new jobs in the region with a total investment of $1.3 billion.Austria’s voestalpine opened a $1.3-billion hot briquette iron facility in 2016. Tex-Isle, a maker of tubular steel products for the oil and gas industry, opened a $35-million pipe facility in 2017. And in early 2019, Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) announced on an earnings call that the Corpus Christi region was on the short list, along with sites in Louisiana and elsewhere in Texas, for a new $1.8-billion steel mill project.SDI officials said the mill is meant to facilitate the company’s access to northern and mid-central Mexico; the West Coast; and the four south-central states of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana — regions in which steel demand is expected to rise significantly in the near future.“Based on strong domestic steel demand fundamentals and continued customer optimism, we believe North American steel consumption will experience steady growth,” said Steel Dynamics President and CEO Mark D. Millett in a January earnings call. “We have targeted regional markets that currently represent over 27 million tons of relevant flat roll steel consumption, which includes the growing 16-million-ton Mexican flat roll market. Our new planned steel mill will have significant competitive advantages in those regions.”San Patricio County commissioners unanimously voted on February 19 to approve the creation of a reinvestment zone of nearly 2,500 acres located near the city of Sinton for Steel From Pipeline to ProductionIn February, The Chemours Co. announced the startup of the new Opteon™ YF low global-warming-potential (GWP) refrigerant production facility at its Corpus Christi manufacturing plant in Ingleside, where 65 jobs have been created. “The startup completes the final phase of the $300-million project we started in 2016, which triples supply capacity of Opteon™ YF across multiple industries and applications,” said Mark Vergnano, Chemours president and CEO. “This milestone is a tangible example of our steadfast commitment to providing the world with low GWP refrigerant products that are better for the environment.”The investment to build world-scale manufacturing capability has resulted in hundreds of U.S. jobs ranging across R&D, manufacturing, construction support and associated businesses that supply the new manufacturing plant. And it’s one of many manufacturing projects creating jobs in the region. Among others: Celanese is continuing construction on a $150-million compounding facility at their Bishop location which will result in 106 jobs; and Baker Hughes has completed a $22-million, 140,000-sq.-ft. where the company has relocated 40 employees and added 75 new positions.COASTAL BEND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE 49Dynamics’ pending project, which has been highlighted by the White House as a prime example of the return of manufacturing jobs to the United States.CONNECTING TO TALENT, CONNECTING TO COMMUNITYAmong the factors bringing all these steel companies to the area: rock-solid infrastructure; port access; low barriers to entry; low business risks; and competitive operating costs. But just as crucial to all of their strategies is the flow of skilled talent to their payrolls.Voestalpine’s HB1 plant in Corpus Christi is furthering the company’s global workforce as part of an early career program launched across the company’s North American footprint in fall 2017. TEDA TPCO America is also pursuing a strong talent development strategy with the Texas Workforce Commission and Del Mar College — a strategy that expanded in October 2018.“We completed our first grant with Texas Workforce Commission and Del Mar College in 2015, training the first recruits for Phase I, the End Finishing Facility,” the company announced. “We are pleased to announce that the second grant has now been completed in preparation for Phase II.”Indeed, the pipeline of projects in the Coastal Bend area requires training in pipeline work itself, including the Del Mar College Continuing Education 72-hour Pipeline Training Program. Additionally, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures has donated $1.5 million to the college to enhance workforce training and the creation of the Gulf Coast Growth Ventures Process Technology Lab. Students learn about pipeline industry history and development, oil fields, pump stations and oil movements, explains the college. “Through coursework and hands-on learning, students develop a foundation for a growing and sustainable career right here in the Coastal Bend.” The Del Mar College Continuing Education 72-Hour Pipeline Training Program is a key cog in workforce training in the region.50COASTAL BEND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDEouth Texas is home to a bustling banking industry, and much of it is based in Corpus Christi. National banks, community banks, investment banks, credit unions and foreign-owned banks are all in place, catering to the financial services needs of energy industry giants, corner bakeries and every business in between.Some are consolidating operations into fewer facilities as technology recalibrates how businesses and consumers obtain banking services. Others are expanding as they pursue regional banking strategies. American Bank, for example, announced in early 2018 a five-year strategic plan that includes a path to becoming a leading Texas regional bank by 2022. Key elements in the strategic plan include loan and deposit growth in existing markets, the entrance into new markets in Texas — Houston and San Antonio initially — and 50COASTAL BEND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDEGrowing LocalBanks Eye Regional Roles FINANCIAL SERVICESKleberg Bank in Corpus Christi PHOTO COURTESY OF CCREDCby MARK ARENDSCOASTAL BEND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE 51investments in technology to improve client experience and productivity. Technology investments approved by the board in late 2017 included upgrades to the core data processing, online banking and other systems. “While the bank is evolving, the board and shareholders remain committed to Corpus Christi — our headquarters and the place it all started in 1970,” said Patricia Hawn Wallace, Chairman of American Bank Holding Corporation. “Our plans ensure we will remain an independent bank for many years to come,” she added. Corpus Christi’s Frost Bank, a subsidiary of San Antonio-based Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc., is nearly doubling the number of financial centers it has in the Houston region, starting this year and continuing through 2020, the company announced in October 2018. It will open 25 new financial centers in the metro area.Kleberg Bank, meanwhile, the oldest community bank in South Texas, recently opened a new headquarters building in Corpus Christi and has recently shuffled its branch operations. It consolidated two banking centers into one new state of the art banking center and opened a new banking center in the new headquarters. “The decision to consolidate these locations was part of a comprehensive plan to upgrade our facilities to current business standards,” said Gabe Guerra, President. “Our customers deserve to have state of the art facilities in the neighborhood where they live. Customers have become technologically advanced and changed the way they access banking services. The new facilities will include the most current technological advances but are clearly and strongly coupled with the same warm service that our customers love and deserve.”Credit unions too are expanding their foothold in Coastal Bend, including Navy Army Community Credit Union, Charter Bank and Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union (RBFCU). RBFCU is the second largest credit union in Texas and predominately served the San Antonio, Austin and Dallas markets prior to opening its two Corpus Christi branches in 2018. “We know that residents of Corpus Christi and the Coastal Bend place great value in a credit union membership, and they know how a credit union can help improve their economic well-being and quality of life,” RBFCU Senior Vice President of Branch Operations Sarah O’Brien said. “We’re confident that RBFCU’s highly rated member service and products will be a great match for this community. We look forward to opening more branch locations in the very near future.” “While the bank is evolving, the board and shareholders remain committed to Corpus Christi – our headquarters and the place it all started in 1970.” Patricia Hawn Wallace, Chairman of American Bank Holding Corporation52COASTAL BEND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDEBy land and by sea, Corpus Christi keeps the goods owing.by GARY DAUGHTERSWe DeliverLOGISTICS COASTAL BEND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE 53Located 200 miles southwest of Houston, 130 miles southeast of San Antonio, and three hours north of the Mexican border, Corpus Christi anchors an area that supplies the world with fuel and commerce. With a three-county MSA of 450,000 people, Corpus Christi is uniquely situated to take advantage of trade and logistics lines.Port Corpus Christi, the fourth largest port in the United States by total tonnage, is the region’s epicenter for imported and exported goods, including oil and gas, break bulk cargo, dry bulk, refrigerated cargo and containerized cargo. Port Corpus Christi is the leading U.S. crude oil export port, connected via intricate pipeline systems to the South Texas Eagle Ford Shale and to the Permian Basin. As a major mover of food products, the port ranks 17th in the nation for waterborne agricultural exports, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. In 2015, the port handled some 2.5 million metric tons of agricultural cargo.The port, only ten miles from Corpus Christi International Airport, is flanked by Interstate Highway 37 and U.S. Highway 181, thus providing quick access to the entire inland United States. The Joe Fulton International Trade Corridor on the Port’s north side provides quick and easy access to both highways and provides a direct connection to the Port’s Inner Harbor. The port is also part of the Intracoastal Waterway, which reaches from Brownsville, Texas, all the way to Boston.Local officials say that being the closest deepwater port to bustling Monterrey, Mexico, is another strong asset, as is having three Class I railroads — BNSF, Kansas City Southern (KCS) and Union Pacific. With rail through Laredo, Corpus Christi is in an advantageous position to supply refined products to Mexico, especially as the petrochemical sector south of the border opens up in the wake of energy policy reforms.With its distinctive design, the Harbor Bridge, which spans the Corpus Christi Ship Channel, has become the calling card of Corpus Christi’s skyline. Some 60,000 vehicles cross the bridge each day. Completed in 1959, the aging structure is soon to be replaced by the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America. Known simply as the New Harbor Bridge and set to open in 2020 at a projected cost of $1.5 billion, the new span across the channel rise to a height of 538 feet at the peak of each support pylon. An increased clearance of 205 feet (from 138 feet) will allow larger ships to enter the port’s Inner Harbor.Corpus Christi’s logistics workforce is supported by Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, which offers a degree in Marine Administration and Logistics, and by Del Mar College, offering Associates Degrees and certificates in Logistics Management.With Texas dominating the nation’s wind energy production, the Port of Corpus Christi is the busiest port for handling wind energy components on the Gulf of Mexico. Overseas manufacturers ship wind turbine blades and tower sections to Corpus Christi, where they are either hauled by 18-wheeler or shipped by rail to projects further inland across Texas the Midwest. The port began receiving wind turbine parts in 2006 from Siemens Power Generation Inc., and has since reached agreements with Vestas Group, General Electric, Clipper Windpower, CS Wind Corp. and Dongkuk S&C.The port’s new Rincon West Yard is a 25-acre laydown yard for storage of wind turbine components and other breakbulk cargo. “Port Corpus Christi is proud to offer customized logistics solutions for the fast-growing wind energy industry in North America,” says Jarl Pedersen, Port Corpus Christi Chief Commercial Officer. “We also recognize the continued innovation in the wind energy industry and need to make infrastructure investments allowing us to offer competitive solutions for transport of ever larger wind turbine components.” Corpus Christi’s New Harbor Bridge is to open in 2020 at a cost of $1.5 billion.54COASTAL BEND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDEUTILITIESAEP Texas led recovery e orts a er Hurricane Harvey while growing its footprint in Corpus Christi. by SAVANNAH KINGWeathering the Stormaging winds and rain pummeled the Coastal Bend area early in the morning of August 26, 2017. By sunrise, resident woke to see the aftermath of the storm’s devastating power. Mighty oak and mesquite trees had been snapped in half. Their branches tangled among the wires of downed power lines, blocking streets and driveways to homes and businesses alike. Popular tourist destinations like Rockport-Fulton, Port Aransas, along with local restaurants, were unrecognizable with buildings in dire need of repair. Neighborhoods like Bayside, Ingleside, Refugio, Woodsboro and Aransas Pass were littered with debris and damaged homes. Hurricane Harvey was the largest storm to hit the Gulf Coast in more than four decades and the third storm of its size to ever hit Texas. The massive storm developed from a Category 1 to a RCOASTAL BEND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE 55Category 4 storm over the course of 24 hours. The damage left more than 220,000 electric utility customers in the area without power at its peak. While there’s no doubt powerful storms can be devastating to a region, there’s also little doubt to the region’s determination to get to work. Within 24 hours of the storm reaching land, AEP Texas had already brought 5,600 people from across the country to help with the restoration effort — many from mutual assistance companies and sister companies. Power crews hailed from Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and from other parts of South Texas. AEP Texas estimated that the storm damaged or knocked down at least 2,100 utility poles and 55 transmission structures. AEP Texas is headquartered in Corpus Christi and serves more than one million customers in the state’s deregulated marketplace across its nearly 100,000-sq.-mile territory.While the damage from the storm was significant, particularly along the coast, most of the region’s employment centers were unscathed. Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation CEO Iain Vasey said the region “dodged a bullet.”“The economy seems to have fully recovered except in some smaller beach towns in the northern end,” Vasey notes. In February, AEP Texas officially dedicated a new state-of-the-art Service Center facility in Corpus Christi. The 95,000-square-foot facility located on a 22-acre site was built to withstand winds associated with a Category 5 storm and will house approximately 110 employees. The building incorporates energy and environmentally responsible design principals. The facility is one of two new AEP Texas service centers in the area. A Transmission Service Center opened earlier this year in northwest Corpus Christi. A new Aransas Pass Service Center is currently under construction and is expected to open in the summer of 2019.Tom Coad, Vice President of Distribution Region Operations, said that the new service center signals the start of a new era for AEP Texas and its operations in the Corpus Christi area. “This new location replaces two facilities — the Lipan Service Center and the Southside Office — and brings together the majority of the line and service crews, as well as support staff who work in the Corpus Christi area, into one location,” Coad said. “This centralized location is strategically located and offers us plenty of room for expansion and future growth if needed.”In addition to restoring power to the region, AEP contributed $50,000 to the Mayor’s Hurricane Relief Fund in Corpus Christi, a grant-based relief fund administered by the Costal Bend Community Foundation. The company contributed another $25,000 to help the United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce to lead a campaign to raise money to help small businesses that were impacted by the storm. 56COASTAL BEND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDETourists enjoy the sights and a ractions along the Gulf Coast’s Coastal Bend.FTOURISM & HOSPITALITY rom festivals and sporting events to concerts, Corpus Christi has a way of drawing people in. With more than 183 miles of stunning beachfront along the Gulf Coast, including 70 miles of shoreline on Padre and Mustang islands, there’s more than enough beach to go around. Tourism is big business in Corpus Christi. It’s the region’s third largest industry, in fact. In 2017, more than 9.9 million people traveled to the region. Tourism generates $1.3 billion for the community each year, according to the Corpus Christi Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB). Several events attract visitors to the Coastal Bend region including: the third-largest Dia de los Muertos festival in the U.S., Fiesta de la Flor, which celebrates the memory of the late Tejano singing star and legend, Selena Quintanilla Perez, and the cultural celebrations of the Frontera Festival. The annual U.S. Open Windsurfing and Kiteboarding Regatta is held in Corpus Christi. “We’ve become this kind of festival area,” says Paulette Kluge, president of the Corpus Christi CVB. “Almost every weekend, there’s some festival or concert. There’s just so much going on.”Kluge says the annual Barefoot Mardi Grads is a fun festival held each year on the beach. “You’re literally giggling the entire time because it’s so much fun. It’s a barefoot parade on the beach, and there’s a billion beads and doubloons. Everybody is throwing stuff. It’s a hoot.”While there are special events taking place almost every weekend of the year, there are several other attractions drawing visitors to the area. USS Lexington, the famed WWII aircraft carrier that survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, is permanently docked in Corpus Christi. In the more than two decades since the Lexington was brought to Corpus Christi, it has had a direct economic impact of more than $180 million and attracted more than 6 million visitors. The Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi is another major attraction. Each year, more CoastAlong by SAVANNAH KINGCOASTAL BEND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE 57than 77,000 school children learn about aquatic animals and ecosystems through its educational programs. Even in the months after the damaging winds of Hurricane Harvey, the aquarium continued to draw visitors from around the state and the Southeast. Nearly 40,000 guests visited the attraction over spring break week in 2018alone. “I was pleasantly surprised with the turnout. It was very strong. We were up over our three-year average,” said Texas State Aquarium President & CEO Tom Schmid. “We expected a much softer week, due to lingering impacts from Hurricane Harvey. Equally surprising were our increases in membership, retail and food and beverages sales, all of which were up double digits over last year. I think this is a good indicator that people from all over Texas are once again visiting the Coastal Bend region in large numbers. I know this will be welcome news for all of our tourism-related businesses, particularly in the hard-hit areas of Rockport and Port Aransas.”The King Ranch is one of the largest and oldest working cattle ranches in the world. In fact, the ranch is larger than the state of Rhode Island, at 825,000 acres. More than 2,000 miles of fencing surround the ranch. The ranch offers visitors tours of ranch history, wildlife and agriculture. In addition to tours, the ranch is a draw for hunters and anglers. Hunters can trail deer, wild turkey, quail, javelina and other wild hogs on the ranch. Hunters can also find the elusive nilgai — or blue bull — on the ranch. The nilgai is a species of antelope that was brought to the ranch in the late 1920s, and there are currently about 12,000 of the exotic animals. In beautiful Port Aransas, a new development called Cinnamon Shore is growing with a $1-billion expansion. The beach community is tucked behind 300 feet of protective sand dunes. Visitors can enjoy bonfires and horse riding on the sandy beaches and activities like fishing, hunting, beach buggies, bike rides, shopping, parasailing, surfing and more. PHOTOS COURTESY OF CORPUS CHRISTI CVBNext >