HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes City Council - 04/22/2003 - JointI HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Joint
Meeting of the Corpus Christi City Council of April 22, 2003, which were approved by the City
Council on April 29, 2003.
WITNESSETH MY HAND AND SEAL, this 29th day of April 2003.
Armando Chapa
City Secretary
SEAL
MINUTES
CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS
JOINT MEETING OF THE CORPUS CHRISTI CITY COUNCIL
AND THE CORPUS CHRISTI REGIONAL
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
April 22, 2003 - 12:00 p.m.
CITY COUNCIL
* Mayor Samuel L. Neal Jr.
Mayor Pro Tem Henry Garrett
** Brent Chesney
*** Melody Cooper
Bill Kelly
Rex A. Kinnison
Jesse Noyola
Mark Scott
Javier Colmenero
* Arrived at 12:45 p.m.
** Arrived at 12:20 p.m.
*** Arrived at 12:15 p.m.
City Staff Present
City Manager George K. Noe
Acting City Attorney Jay Reining
City Secretary Armando Chapa
Recording Secretary Rebecca Huerta
EDC BOARD MEMBERS AND STAFF
Ray Hayes, Chairman
Ted Puckett
Gene Guernsey
Joe Elizondo
Bill Dodge
Jim Barnette
Ron Kitchens, President/CEO
Mayor Pro Tem Henry Garrett called the meeting to order on the Sixth Floor Conference
Room of City Hall. City Secretary Chapa checked the roll and verified that a quorum of the Council
was present to conduct the meeting.
Mr. Ron Kitchens, President and CEO of the EDC, said that today's report would provide
information on the roles of staff and the corporation itself. He said that the philosophy of the EDC
is to provide meaningful employment to the area. Mr. John Plotnik, Vice President of the EDC,
reported on his activities working directly with businesses who have expressed an interest in locating
their business in the Corpus Christi area. He said that when the EDC was being developed, they
interviewed successful companies who were located here and asked them why they chose Corpus
Christi. They developed a recruitment program focusing on target industries like petrochemical,
marine, aerospace and distribution centers. He said that the top two questions he hears from
potential companies is if the city has a site available and what the labor force is like. He said the
EDC makes 4,000 phone calls annually and travel%extensively to make contacts and educate
companies on what Corpus Christi has to offer.
Mr. Omar Garcia, Vice President, said that he leads the EDC's retention and expansion
program. He reported that the EDC identifies companies in three different categories: core, primary
and non -primary. A core company is defined as one that is a larger employer that has a base
potential to increase a number of new jobs, such as Citgo and Flint Hills. Mr. Garcia said that the
EDC visits with these companies at least six times a year. Primary companies are medium-sized
Minutes - Joint Meeting with EDC
April 22, 2003 - Page 2
companies that create jobs incrementally and non -primary companies are smaller, mom-and-pop
organizations. A primary employer produces goods and services for customers predominantly
outside the local area and create new wealth. Mr. Garcia said that the EDC also provides job
training assistance, impediment removal, access to state programs and networking between programs
to promote companies. Mr. Kitchens added that the main objective for making visits to each
industry is to ask for referrals.
Ms. Jill McKay, Vice President, said that she leads the human relocation program at the
EDC. She reported that the goal of the human relocation program is to bring new residents to the
area. The program addresses three primary concern: shortage of skilled labor, military families and
difficult employment search for trailing spouses. Ms. McKay said that they send out a relocation
packet to relocating families to provide them with timely and accurate information. For military
families, they provide welcome briefings four times a year at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. She
said their resume distribution service and awareness program have been very successful. Mr.
Kitchens also mentioned staff members Gabriela Torres and Sarita Martinez.
Mr. Kitchens reported on several trends in the economic development arena. There has been
more competition as of late, as cities are offering free buildings, cash grants and a pretrained
workforce as incentives. He said that Corpus Christi's competitive niche is not that it is low cost
but a high value. He announced that the Corpus Christi EDC has been named one of the top ten
EDCs in North America.
In response to Council Member Scott's question, Mr. Kitchens confirmed that there were
23,000 jobs created in the Corpus Christi area over the past three years. Council Member Chesney
asked if this information was on the EDC's website and Mr. Kitchens responded affirmatively.
Council Member Kelly asked if the relocation packets included information on schools, housing and
daycare. Mr. Kitchens said that relocators don't usually focus on these things until after they move
to the community. Council Member Chesney asked Mr. Kitchens to address concerns that the data
he uses does not make sense. Mr. Kitchens replied that the population data he uses is complied by
Claritas agency, a well respected agency.
Chairman Ray Hayes commented that during a recent visit to Austin, he was pleased by the
positive feelings about Corpus Christi, which has been doing relatively better economically than
most cities in the state. He said that the board members and staff are committed to working very
closely with the city. Council Member Scott asked Mr. Kitchens for a status on the Bollinger
project. Mr. Kitchens said they have leased two ships to the Navy and they are working very well.
He said funding for the project is in the President's budget and that Bollinger will probably select
a site soon. Council Member Colmenero commented that there was a lack of awareness in the
community about positive developments being expressed at today's meeting. Mr. Gene Guernsey,
EDC board member, said that Al Jones, an EDC board member, was scheduling a meeting with the
new business editor of the Caller Times and other media to help spread the word about the EDC's
accomplishments. Council Member Chesney asked that the EDC continue to provide the
informational e-mails they were sending out. Mr. Kitchens said he would do so.
There being no further business, Mayor Pro Tem Garrett adjourned the meeting at 1:05 p.m.
on April 22, 2003.