The vote came after one of the firm’s representatives, Wil Galloway, outlined plans to help the BDA in its efforts to acquire state grant funds for future development projects at the Chase Field Industrial Airport Complex.
Galloway is a Beeville native and a graduate of A.C. Jones High School. He earned degrees from Texas A&M University and the University of Texas School of Law before returning to Beeville where he served two terms as a member of the City Council and was elected to the position of mayor pro tem.
In the early 1990s, Galloway was named chairman of the Beeville-Bee County Redevelopment Committee, which later became the BDA. He was instrumental in achieving a rapid turnover of the Chase Field Naval Air Station and the Capehart Navy Housing Area to the community.
Since leaving Beeville in 1995, Galloway has worked on the staffs of State Sen.Todd Staples and served Gov. Rick Perry as general counsel of the Texas Department of Agriculture and as legislative aide to Texas Sen. Bill Sarpalius.
Galloway went to work with Booth, Ahrens & Werkenthin in 2003, representing river authorities, water districts, municipalities, major Texas corporations and agricultural and trade organizations before the Texas Legislature and various state agencies.
Under the agreement, the firm will assist the BDA in pursuing grant funds from the Texas Capital Fund, the Texas Military Preparedness Commission and the Governor’s Enterprise Fund. All have been sources of development assistance to BDA and local governments in the years since the Navy closed Chase Field.
Under an agreement presented by Galloway at the meeting, firm will only charge for its services in the event that the BDA requests its assistance in getting grant applications through channels.
The authority would pay the firm $5,000 for each submission and the fee would be charged only by a grant-by-grant submission.
One of Galloway’s jobs would be to arrange face-to-face meetings with the individuals who make the final decisions in awarding state grant funds to applicants.
“I really agree with him,” said BDA Executive Director Joe B. Montez. “It’s getting tougher and tougher for us to get grants.”
“From here on out, the competition will be keen,” Montez added. “All in all, we need as much help as we can get.”
Galloway had encouraging words for board members. He said several senators from rural areas sit on the boards which review the grant applications and they routinely ask why it is that all the money the state awards seems to be going to places like Dallas, San Antonio and Houston.
Galloway said those rural senators always are looking for opportunities to provide funding for rural communities where economic development efforts are providing new jobs.
“I would cherish the opportunity to work with this group and this community,” Galloway commented. He said he was excited to see what is going on at Chase Field.
“I could kind of bird dog it from that point,” Galloway said of his position in the state capital. “We would give the BDA a pair of boots on the ground in Austin.”
Montez said that messages sent from Beeville to top staff members in Austin do not always get forwarded accurately to the directors of the organizations.
“I want that message to be heard by the right people,” Montez said. He said Galloway could make sure the those officials hear the BDA’s point of view.
Board member Duwayne Dumas made the motion to enter the contract with the firm and board member John Brockman seconded it. The motion passed without opposition.
Board members also voted to postpone a request from the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation for the BDA to join its “Stepping Out. Thinking Big!” The effort is the 2009-2013 strategic plan for economic development in the Coastal Bend.
Montez said the CCREDC’s director, Roland Mowers, was scheduled to meet with the directors Monday evening but he had to cancel those plans to meet with a prospect in Corpus Christi.
The director said he would like to reschedule Mowers’ meeting with the board for its Jan. 12 meeting.
“I think it’s good for us, for Bee County, to be involved in a bigger effort,” said BDA Board President Laura Fischer. She said membership in the effort would cost the BDA something but she thinks the authority could benefit.
Dumas and board member Elias Chapa had questions about the plan and what the BDA’s part would be in it. They both wondered what input the BDA would have in approving the final version of a plan in return for its investment.
“Those are good questions that we need to ask,” Montez said.
“I think it’s a good idea too,” said Brockman. “But we need to see some cooperation between some of the entities represented.”
Board members later gave Montez the authority to seek a $230,000 grant from the Beeville Economic Improvement Corporation for an expansion of the warehouse that Kay and Associates leases from the BDA as part of its Sikorsky Support Services operation in Hangars 24 and 25.
Sikorsky’s operation is growing, the company is hiring more employees and it needs a larger warehouse for storing its inventory of helicopter parts, Montez said.
Montez said the BDA was awarded a $71,000 grant out of 371,000 in discretionary funds from the Texas Military Preparedness Commission. That was a significant success because the BDA was vying with larger projects in El Paso and San Antonio, he said.
The warehouse expansion is expected to cost the BDA about $300,000 but the project will allow Sikorsky and Kay to expand their operations at Chase Field and create as many as 100 new jobs for the community.
Some local residents already are enrolled in training classes at Coastal Bend College and they could be qualified for those new positions in the near future.
Montez said the BDA turned in the application for the state funds in October and the grant was awarded in November.
Board members also voted to turn over a request for the use of the Ground Electronic Building by a group of Chase Field veterans for an “All Hands” reunion at the former jet training facility to its attorney, Tom Beasley. They want to make sure the BDA would not be held liable for any injuries or damages that might result from the event.
The board also approved the BDA’s $213,600 admistrative operation budget and the $276,082 maintenance and operation budget for the 2009 fiscal year.
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