Quasar Honorees

By Mary Alys Cherry

Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership will honor not one but two outstanding individuals as recipients of its esteemed Quasar Award at its Quasar Banquet Friday, Jan. 28. “Due to the pandemic, we were unable to have the banquet last year,” BAHEP President Bob

Mitchell explained. “We will make up for that in

January with a spectacular celebration recognizing

Rep. Greg Bonnen, M.D., and Houston Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin for all they have done for the Bay Are Houston region.”

Dr. Bonnen will receive the 2021 Quasar Award for Economic Development Excellence. “During the 86th Legislature, he was instrumental in getting the Space Alliance Technology Outreach

Program (SATOP) and the Texas Aerospace

Scholars (TAS) Program placed into the Texas A&M

University system as part of the Texas Engineering

Experiment Station. For 100 years, TEES has performed groundbreaking engineering research and developed technology to address state and national problems. This provided a stable source of funding for SATOP/TAS, two very important programs, into the future,” Mitchell said.

“TEES will provide STEM education expertise for the TAS Program, administered by NASA JSC, and provide engineering expertise to SATOP, administered by BAHEP, to help small business owners complete the development of new products at no cost to the business.

Rep. Bonnen facilitated an increase in the SATOP budget for Texas A&M University Capstone Design Projects during the 87th Legislature as well. Senior Capstone Design courses provide engineering students in their senior year an opportunity to collaborate on team projects sponsored by industry and apply their knowledge and skills in indeveloping a design solution that meets the design requirements of the sponsor. Rep. Bonnen has been a staunch and active advocate of BAHEP in many ways, and we are incredibly appreciative of his support.

Houston Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin will receive the 2022 Quasar Award for Economic Development Excellence. He was first elected to the Houston City Council in November 2012 to represent District E, which includes the Clear Lake area. In January 2020, he was nominated as mayor pro tem by Mayor Sylvester Turner and confirmed by the City Council. Fiscal responsibility and economic development have been his focus from the

Dave Martin Dr. Greg Bonnen

beginning, Mitchell pointed out.

“Mayor Pro Tem Martin’s investment and advocacy on behalf of economic development has been an invaluable resource for BAHEP and the entire district,” Mitchell said. “He has endorsed many of BAHEP’s initiatives including our extensive work on the Houston Spaceport, storm surge suppression / the Texas Coastal Study, the BiggertWaters Act, recovery efforts in coordination with FEMA, and as a traveler on our Citizens for Space Exploration trips to Washington, D.C., just to mention a few.

“He has been influential in advancing the work of BAHEP by his active recognition of our efforts in the region which has, in turn, helped others to recognize and participate in BAHEP’s initiatives. Mayor Pro Tem Martin has a commitment and passion for his work that is both admirable and enviable, and BAHEP is very fortunate to count on him as an ally and a friend.”

By Mary Alys Cherry

Bay Area Houston Transportation Partnership members got a look at the workings of the three area ports as Executive Directors Roger Guenther of Port Houston, Phyllis

Saathoff of Port of Freeport and Rodger Rees of the Port of Galveston spoke at their Nov. 4 luncheon.

They talked of the problems they faced and how they’ve solved them, major projects in the works and what’s ahead. In other words, the ports appear to be in good hands.

Guenther remembered the challenges Port

Houston faced while dealing with the pandemic, then surprising the crowd as he went on to note that “last year was our biggest year ever” before discussing the widening and deepening of the

Houston Ship Channel currently under way.

Rees told how they worked to improve and update the Galveston Wharves Port in recent months, explaining that earlier its infrastructure was old and crumbling. “The Port was just run for jobs. But we changed that. We faced many obstacles, but we survived.”

Saathoff told how she was successful in getting approval to deepen the Freeport Harbor Channel to 56 feet and securing federal funding and in initiating development and financing of the Port’s first container terminal. She also talked about how they dealt with the pandemic.

Past BayTran Chairman Bob Robinson, right, invites Bob Harris, Marcy Fryday and Brady Walker, from left, to join him at his table at the Nov. 4 luncheon focusing on Bay Area Ports Alliance.

Faces in the crowd at the BayTran luncheon at Lakewood in Seabrook included Jared Bargas, representing Congressman Randy Weber; Kippy Caraway of Caraway Associates, Morgan’s Point Mayor Michel Bechtel and Karen Gregory of the Economic Alliance.

Photos by Mary Alys Cherry

Bay Area Houston Transportation Partnership Chairman Carl Joiner, right, and Executive Director Amy Skicki, left front, invite Port Houston Executive Director Roger Guenther, from left, Galveston Wharves Port Director/CEO Rodger Rees and Port Freeport Executive Director/CEO Phyllis Saathoff, featured speakers at the Nov. 4 luncheon, to join them in a photo.

Friendswood Mayor Mike Foreman, from left, stops to say hello to Ashley Judith, Melinda Mintz and Frank Urbanic, as he joins the crowd at the Bay Area Houston Transportation Partnership Nov. 4 luncheon in Seabrook.