YEDC updates community on Industrial Park grant status

The Yoakum Economic Development Corp. presented its annual report at last week’s joint session meeting of the YEDC’s board of directors and Yoakum city council, a report which devoted a sizable portion to the purchase of the city’s second industrial park.

“We have submitted a $2.5 million grant for the extension of water and wastewater improvements to the park,” YEDC Director Genora Young said. “That award should be announced before the end of the year.”

The recently acquired industrial park land is located on land set to the northeastern side of Yoakum’s Carl Ramert Drive, and it includes several acres from about the four-way back to the first county road, which historically, has been outside the city limits and therefore had no utilities of any sort.

The YEDC began looking at grant options when it discovered just how pricey getting things like water, sewer and power to that location might be, especially alongside whatever drainage work was necessary to accommodate whatever street work might be needed to make that property useful as an industrial park.

“Currently, we know that our application has been embraced by the Austin Economic Development Administration office,” Young told the two groups gathered Thursday, Nov. 2.

“From our understanding, our grant is now moving forward, and we’re very hopeful that we will receive that award.”

Ideally, the YEDC hopes to make a couple of pad sites in the park ready, so that can then be marketed to prospective businesses interested in locating here.

All the business needs to do is put up a building and simply hook on to the city’s utilities.

That’s the plan, anyway. It allows new businesses to focus on whatever they do best, rather than them having to find property and get those amenities available all by themselves, which should mean quicker access to more jobs for those who live here, and hopefully, a greater interest in Yoakum, generally, among businesses trying to find that perfect place to grow their operations.

The older city industrial park lies within that same general vicinity but on the opposite side of the airport property (to its southwest), and it includes businesses Circle Y, Sweet Home Sand & Gravel, and Eddy Packing, among others.

If the grant funding is approved, a public workshop detailing the industrial park grant and its planned projects will be scheduled shortly thereafter.

The YEDC’s annual report also game a summary of other projects undertaken in 2023, both in various accomplishments realized as well as a briefing on what goals still lie ahead for the coming year.

One of the goals outlined in the report was ensuring that the YEDC’s website was up and running. The YEDC entered a $30,000 contract with Eisenberg and Associates in Dallas earlier this year, who will help with the website’s development and site hosting for one year.

The old website was in dire need of some updates and lacked many of the now standard options most people expect when viewing something like it, such as smart phone compatibility.

Although it remained active for some months, it was taken down sometime after the pandemic occurred, essentially leaving YEDC without an online presence ever since. The new website should go live by March 2024, Young said.

The annual report also addressed YEDC’s strategic plan, which had sections on downtown revitalization, improving community aesthetics, locating and developing tomorrow’s entrepreneurs, and improving housing options across all income ranges.

Other items on the Nov. 2 meeting agenda included:

• TheYEDC finished its fiscal year in September with $532,000 in revenue and some $362,628 in expenses, which places the organization in fine shape financially for its coming projects. Of current-year expenses, about $249,000 went directly toward community development projects, Young reported.

• The YEDC will continue developing its new logo and brand, a project begun under the leadership of Terry Stokes, Yoakum’s former YEDC director, in 2020.

• The YEDC’s grant and incentive programs were under review to see which programs need to be tweaked, updated or eliminated entirely.

• City and YEDC directors discussed plans for the next South Texas Regional Job Fair, coming to Cuero in January 2024. Young said organizers were already eying a second 2024 regional job fair in June.

For more information, call 361-293-6321 and speak to YEDC Director Genora Young.