| Business Retention & Expansion |
The
City of El Paso's Business Retention & Expansion team has once
again surpassed the annual goal of visiting 500 local businesses.
For the first time, access to capital has been listed as the top
barrier to growth. Given the national economic climate and credit
crisis this is not unexpected. In order to better gauge how El
Paso's economy is doing, the department is currently surveying 500
targeted businesses regarding job growth. Initial responses show
that there have been job losses among a broad range of businesses,
especially in the manufacturing sector, however these losses have been
offset by growth in the healthcare sector.
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| Business Attraction |
Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed House Bill 2169 -- co-written by the Regional Economic Development Corporation (REDCo)
and state Rep. Norma Chavez's staff -- into law in June. The new
law allows the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) to commit Skills Development Funds
to prospective employers contingent on their establishment of a place
of business in the state. Previously, these state-funded
employee-skills-training dollars were only available to current Texas
employers, putting the state at a competitive disadvantage because it
could not use the funds as an economic incentive to court new business.
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Redevelopment
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A
new designation of an "Outdoor Entertainment Area" has been approved
for the Union Plaza area in Downtown El Paso. This designation promotes
outdoor patio cafes in this region by streamlining the approval process
and providing unified standards for the area. El Paso has great weather
for outdoor dining and the City expects to use this designation in
other areas of the city.
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Small Business Development
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 Each year, the El Paso Times and the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce celebrate
15 local small businesses that are successfully expanding, employing
locally and are creating new fruitful opportunities for the
borderland community with the El Paso Times-Future 15 Celebration. The
nomination process is officially open and the search has begun for the
2009 honorees. The deadline for nomination is August 3.
Companies do not need to be members of the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of
Commerce in order to be nominated. The annual celebration will take
place on Tuesday, Sept. 29, beginning at 11:30 a.m. To nominate a local
business, please contact the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
at (915) 566-4066.
 A one-day workshop will be held by The Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce
Business Development Division and Zia Engineering &
Environment Consultants addressing the needs of small business in
securing their place in federal contracting. Topics that will be
covered include Getting Prepared, Proposal Planning, Analysis of the
RFP and Proposal Recovery. The event will be held on Wednesday,
Aug. 19, in the Cactus Room of the Greater El Paso Chamber of
Commerce Center for Workforce Preparedness, 1359 Lomaland. Cost
will be $100 for members. For more information, contact Bea Marquez at (915) 629-6716.
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| Workforce Development |
Project ARRIBA
continues to train individuals for jobs that pay significantly more
than minimum wage, allowing them to contribute more as taxpayers
through increased wages, a higher standard of living and increased home
ownership. People living near poverty level are recruited and sponsored
to train for well paying jobs (minimum $11.50 per hour) that are in
high demand for El Paso. According to a study by UTEP's Institute for Policy and Economic Development,
people that graduated from the Project ARRIBA program between 2001 and
2007 are expected to pay an additional $87.3 million in taxes for the
remainder of their working life. Visit Project ARRIBA's website
to learn more about their award-winning workforce and economic
development model.
One hundred Upper Rio Grande
regional key stakeholders invested their time and mind power to plan
for the future at the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
Workshop on July 15. The event was a collaborative effort between the City of El Paso and Workforce Solutions
and was developed to present the opportunities available through ARRA
and formulate next steps when it comes to the industries of Information
Technology, Healthcare and Renewable/Green Resources. The session was
the first step toward success as it generated positive feedback,
facilitated collaboration, created incredible synergy and gave birth to
planning that can have invaluable results.
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Toro Prepares
for Expansion
The El Paso Toro Company plant has
received word from the corporate office that an expansion of their
local operations has been approved.
Toro
will begin the first phase of a three-phase capital project in
molding and assembling wheels for lawnmowers. This first phase is
a $3.2 million capital project requiring the purchase of two very
large molding machines with assembly equipment. A minimum of four
technical employees will be hired to support this expansion, with
production support to begin at a low level in early 2010.
Purchasing of equipment has a six-month lead time and has already begun.
"We
are very excited about these jobs coming to our plant," said Dennis
Campbell, director of El Paso operations. "The City's assistance
in the past two years has been critical in conveying a strong message
to our corporate office that the State of Texas and the City of El Paso
wants this plant to succeed now and into the future."
Earlier
this year the El Paso City Council nominated two El Paso Toro
facilities as State Enterprise Fund companies, which makes them
eligible for state incentives.
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Economic Development Director
City of El Paso
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