WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2018, THE ALVIN ADVERTISER
Many successes found in Alvin's economic development By David Rupkalvis Publisher Attracting businesses to Alvin is one of the key elements of city government, so much so the city of Alvin has its own economic development department. Led by Larry Buehler, the department has many jobs, but one of the biggest is keeping existing jobs and working to bring in new ones. “It’s one of our focal points,” Buehler said. To prove his point, Buehler pointed to one of the first things he did after he was hired several years ago. “When I first came here, I met with Team Industrial Services,” Buehler said. “The business was born here and they had purchased property to move their business. I met with them and said I want to compete for your business.” After a series of meetings, Team Industrial Services made a decision that left everyone happy — the corporate offices moved to the new location while the manufacturing side stayed put in Alvin. Several years later, the business now has more jobs in the city than it did originally. It also invested more than $13 million into its facilities at the time and is investing another $3 million now. Buehler said jobs like those provided by Team Industrial Services are what Alvin is always searching for. “Those are what we call the primary jobs where people move here, they buy houses here and the rest will follow,” Buehler said.
One of the big success stories from an economic development standpoint in recent years in Alvin is the move of Empereon to the city. Empereon chose to open in Alvin shortly after Dish Network closed its call center. Empereon brought in new equipment, made a sizeable investment in the city and created hundreds of jobs. (Photo by David Rupkalvis) Buehler said his office also pays a lot of attention to the three plants at Chocolate Bayou. While officially outside the city limits, the plants are still vitally important to Alvin because most of the employees live here and
many of the subcontractors who work with the plants have their offices and employees located in Alvin. He explained that for every direct job at the plants, there are four to six jobs in the region.
Those range from the obvious — companies making or providing parts and services to the plant — to things like waitresses and cooks at restaurants used by the plants. Ascend Performance
Materials, as an example, spends $130 million a year to purchase items from local vendors. “Those are the types of things people don’t hear about or see, but it has a big impact here,” Buehler said.
Buehler said when he is talking to companies about Alvin, he shares a lot of information, but ultimately the message is pretty simple. “You couldn’t come to a better
Third Annual Winter Festival Friday, Saturday & Sunday November 24th - December 22nd
-Activities-
Lights (more than 100,000) and photo opts Hayrides (Lighted at night) Mining Sluice • Berry Funland • Cookie Decorating • Fire Pits • Friendly Fire • Citrus Picking Weekends Ornament Decorating • Corn Cannon • Photos with or without Santa & More To Come
Also Welcoming Fred Dickens & the Garden Rd. Baptist Church Choir - 5th Annual Appearance - COME SEE SANTA! December 8th 10:00 A.M. - 10:45 A.M. For more information & prices for the Winter Festival. Visit our Website: www.frobergsfarm.com
281-585-3531
3601 W. Hwy. 6 • Alvin, TX 77511
Store Hrs: Open 7 Days/Week • Mon.-Sun. 8 A.M. - 6 P.M.
See ECONOMY, page 2