On Monday I had the honor of giving Congressman Randy Neugebauer a tour of the new Levelland Industrial Rail Park before his town hall meeting at South Plains College. The tour began with a
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| Congressman Neugebauer listening to Dallas Pena in Allied's Fabrication shop in Levelland Texas |
tour of Allied Oilfield Machine and Pump, an existing Levelland business that is a full service company providing unlimited solutions to the oil and gas industry. Dallas Pena, Director of Sales gave the
Congressman an informational tour of the Design & Fabrication, Pump Sales and Service and the custom Machine Shop divisions of Allied. Dallas also explained to Congressman Neugebauer how
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| Dallas describes their process to the Congressman |
Allied has captured a niche market in producing out-of-production parts for older pumps with their highly qualified team of machinists who use the latest CNC technologies available in the machining industry.
After leaving Allied, Randy and I went on a windshield tour of the new Levelland Industrial Rail Park and watched as crews from Railroad Specialties, a Littleton Colorado company installed some of the 21,000’ track feet of 132# rail going into the park.
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Workers clip 132# rail sections into the concrete ties in the new Levelland Industrial Rail Park. Photo by Steve Conway
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We then drove by crews from Allen Butler Construction, a Lubbock Texas company working on Commerce Drive, a 40’ wide concrete street leading into the park.
As we made our way through the rail park Congressman talked about the importance of instilling confidence and certainty in the private sector to help
push America back into recovery. I explained it was our hope that with our public investment in Levelland we will give investors the confidence to move off the sidelines and begin to invest in progress here Levelland.
After leaving the park we drove by the new construction taking place at the Farmer’s Cooperative Compress of Lubbock, a $2.5 million dollar expansion taking place just west of the new rail park. I also was able to give the Congressman a brief recap of all the progress taking place in Levelland.
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| Congressman Neugebauer gets a look at the Levelland Industrial Rail Park Scale Model at Levelland City Hall built by a Texas Tech Landscape Architect Student |
As we finished up the tour we stopped by City Hall to see the scale model of the Levelland Industrial Rail Park and to speak with Elgin Conner - LEDC board chairman, Rick Osburn- City Manager & Erik Rejino- Director of Administrative services.
When asked about his thoughts about the tour Congressman Neugebauer had this to say, “It was great to be back in Levelland this week. In this time of economic uncertainty, projects such as the Industrial Rail Park are examples of the common-sense solutions that help provide small businesses and other employers here in the 19th Congressional District with some certainty. It’s refreshing to see a community coming together and working to build a better future for the next generation, despite the economic challenges our nation is facing. It just goes to show that you can’t stop the West Texas spirit and innovation.”
All in all it was great to have the opportunity to give the Congressman some good news from his district. While times may still be tough and the future a little uncertain one thing is for sure, in Levelland, we are not waiting for someone to save us. We are working hard and investing in infrastructure now that will allow businesses to invest, grow and secure a brighter tomorrow for the citizens of Levelland. Thanks Randy for stopping by and being willing to listen. Good Day and God Bless Texas!
You can keep up with Congressman Neugebauer through his social media channels on Facebook, Twitter (@RandyNeugebauer) and YouTube.
I snapped this picture a week ago 
as I was going in to eat at Something Different Grill along State Hwy 114 in Levelland. The restaurant is located just 30 minutes west of Lubbock and has appeared in the Texas Monthly.
I couldn’t help but notice a connection as the train rumbled past a sign advertising NTS Commuication's digital service in Levelland. While these two things may not seem all that similar they have one very important connection as far as Levelland is concerned. They both connect Levelland and its businesses to the global market place.
Over the last several months the Levelland EDC’s new $8.6 mil Levelland Industrial Rail Park has been under construction on the eastern edge of town. With over 21,000 feet of track being installed and new roads, water & sewer lines being put in place to make sites shovel ready, Levelland is banking on the recovery of a global market place that requires the use of rail as an efficient and practical means to move goods in and out of the South Plains and High Ground of Texas.
While Rail serves as the more traditional connection to the global market place, NTS Communications’ newly installed fiber-to-the-user (FTTU) network provides the more modern connection to the world. In August of 2009 NTS opened their Levelland office and began installing interface devices throughout the community.
NTS Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of publicly traded Xfone, Inc. (AMEX: XFN), that provides integrated voice, data and video solutions made the installation of fiber across a 30 mile distance between Lubbock Texas and Levelland over the past two years. The fiber offering by NTS is particularly efficient for business and residential customers because it provides higher bandwidth, increasing the speed with which information may be uploaded or downloaded.
With both the Levelland Industrial Rail Park and the NTS Fiber-to-the-user (FTTU) network in place Levelland has brought the world market place to local businesses. This continued investment in infrastructure will pay huge dividends to the Levelland community and surrounding region as more and more companies call Levelland home.
Invest in Progress. Invest in Levelland. Find out more about opportunities that exist in Levelland at GoLevelland.com/Progress.
Today I received and email from Governor Perry's office with the news that Texas was ranked the No. 1 Business Climate in the Nation by CNBC.
This is great news as Levelland continues to
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| $15 mil Mallet Event Center & Arena |
invest in public infrastructure projects like the $8.6 mil Levelland Industrial Rail Park, $15 mil Mallet Event Center & Arena & a slew of other public works projects now underway or in the final stages of engineering.
Taking advantage of incredible low construction costs the public entities pursuing these projects are maximizing the public dollars provided by taxpayers. By being progressive and “moving into the wind” during this economic storm Levelland and Hockley County are preparing themselves to reap huge benefits and economic growth in the coming years as the economy returns.
This announcement will draw the attention of businesses worldwide looking for opportunities to invest and our community is poised to capture a share of those dollars being drawn into the state.
For more information on how Levelland Economic Development can help you and/or your business be progressive visit GoLevelland.com/progress
The complete CNBC study is available on www.topstatesforbusiness.cnbc.com.
Multinational wind company
Alstom Power Inc.
announced yesterday at an
American Wind Energy Association conference in Dallas that they will begin their activities in the American market at
Amarillo's CenterPort Business Park just over two hours north of
Levelland Texas and the
Levelland Industrial Rail Park.
A ground breaking is planned for Alstom 11 a.m. Thursday to celebrate at the plant site at the CenterPort near Loop 335 and Northeast 24th Avenue, on Amarillo's eastern edge.
The construction, equipping and staffing of the 115,000-square-foot wind-component manufacturing plant represents "a significant investment." The plant is expected to employ 275 full-time workers.
In March, the city of Amarillo awarded Alstom a $12.5 million economic development incentive package, which included an existing building at CenterPort and a job-creation grant to support the building's expansion, and the company likely will spend an additional $12 million to $20 million equipping the plant.
The plant will assemble nacelles, which contain the generator, gearbox and control systems that make up a wind turbine. The site is a $5 million speculative shell structure the city built as an incentive to attract industry to CenterPort, part of the package presented to Alstom, which enabled the company to move forward more quickly.
Alstom has procurement people who have been meeting with companies in the region that they might buy goods and services from. This announcement represents a huge opportunity for Levelland's local businesses and the Levelland Industrial Rail Park (LIRP) in the heart of the High Ground of Texas.
The following post is a reprint of the
Levelland & Hockley County News Press April 21, 2010 article written by Jacob Tucker. As part of their corporate incentives program, the Levelland Economic Development Corporation donated 223 acres of land to the Ethanol Plant in 2005. The City of Levelland also wrote and received a $750,000 grant from the
Texas Department of Agriculture's Texas Capital Fund Program for the gray water conveyance system used as the process water for ethanol production. The renewable energies plant is located 3 miles east of the new Levelland Industrial Rail Park (LIRP) and just 24 miles west of Lubbock Texas and has a current Texas workforce of 51 employees.
Ethanol plant ends fiscal year in black
The ethanol plan in operation east of the City of Levelland ended 2009 operating in the black financially. Levelland Hockley county Ethanol LLC held its annual banquet on Monday April 19 to inform the shareholders of the progress of the plant in the past year.
Sam Sacco, plant manager, said, "There were lots of times where the board could have given up on us, but they continued to believe in us." The plant is currently doing 80 to 90 percent of its ethanol sales by truck pickup. "The trucks give more money than the rail cars," Sacco said. "And we are continuing to see increases on ethanol trucks coming in." He also informed the share holders of the sale of distillers' grain to area dairies.
"We are getting buyers for distillers from dairies as far north as Hereford," Sacco said. "We are also getting calls from New Mexico dairies as well." He said nutritionists at the dairies are raving about the nutritional value of the distillers grain and are having people come a long way for the product.
Since the plant has become more productive, Sacco said that they aren't going anywhere. "We are the only ethanol plant in Texas who has not filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy," Sacco said. "We have reached a point where we aren't just a flash in the pan."
Last year the plant paid $650,000 in property taxes, and $40 Million was paid to area producers for their crops. Another $15 million went to city and local vendors. "Notice, I said local," Sacco said. "That is very important to us." The plant used 12.3 million bushels of grain to make 33,115,294 gallons of ethanol last year. Ninety-five percent of the grain came from local producers.
"This plant means a lot to the community," Sacco said. "Without the continued support of the community, all of our efforts would have been for nothing," Sacco said. He said that "local farmers spreading their eggs out of one basket" is the key to producing more ethanol and cutting cost from importing additional grain to produce the product.
B.J. Fidaleo, controller at the plant, reported strong monetary figures to the shareholders. "Our total current assets are $12,074,822 which is up from last year," Fidaleo said. "Last year's total assets sat at $7,464,648. The audit has not been completed due to a discrepancy so these numbers aren't final," Fidaleo said.
The board also reported that a lawsuit involving the
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ETHANOL BOARD - Monday, Levelland Hockley County Ethanol LLC held their annual shareholders banquet in the Sundown Room of South Plains College. Shareholders heard information on the plant from General Manager Sam Sacco, who reported that the plant reported is currently operating in the black financially. Pictured above is the LHCE Board, from left: Doug Bruggeman, James Halbert, Greg Methvin, Ricky Neal and Zafar Rizvi. (Staff Photo) |
builders of the Reverse Osmosis facility on site has been settled. "We weren't out to make money on the deal," Board Chair Greg Methvin said. "We came out with just enough to cover what we were due." The RO facility is now operating at full capacity and the plant has been running on gray water from the City of Levelland since December.
Spring is a time of renewal and rejuvenation. It is a promise of things to come and gives us hope for the future. This spring in Levelland everywhere you look you can see the signs of that hope as it relates to Economic Development. With winter behind us, busy bees are out in force creating opportunity and growth in Levelland.
On the retail side of development you 
have Paxton Construction, who is one such busy bee building multiple houses on college as well as expanding their Amazing Space Storage 
franchise by building a brand new facility on North Sherman across from the Wal-Mart Super Center.
Another busy bee is Michael Stueart who is building Stueart's Pitstop on Clubview Drive
just east of Ace Hardware. This is the first new construction on Clubview Drive in over two decades. You can join the Stuearts PitStop Facebook Fan Page to track their progress and specials once they are open.
There are also two new restaurants in the works. 
Atlas Grill located in the old Tipps building downtown in the Levelland Main Street District and The Hamburger Construction Company located between Bealls and Radio Shack in the Gentry Square shopping 
center on Clubview. Both are in the process of remodeling the retail space for business and should be open soon.
On the "Quality of Life" side of development the Mallet Event 
Center and Arena is getting closer each day to a ground breaking.
Lee Lewis Construction Company was chosen as the Construction Manager at Risk and has begun preparing bid packets for the project. Hopes are that this project will break ground sometime this summer.
This brings us to Industrial Development progress being made in Levelland. Brown McKee of Lubbock 
as begun work on a $2.5 million dollar expansion of Farmers Co-op Compress of Lubbock's Levelland plant. They are building two new 150,000 square feet cotton warehouses, increasing their storage capacity by 72,000 bales brining their total capacity in Levelland to 300,000 bales. The project will also create a number of jobs in Levelland. The Levelland EDC brokered tax abatement agreements for the new construction with both the City of Levelland and Hockley County. Construction is expected to take at least three months to complete.
Work also continues on 
the new Independent Electric and Watt2Learn office and warehouse in the Levelland Industrial Park. Owners, David and Janet Duffee are ALL-In when it comes to investment in Levelland.
The Levelland Industrial Rail Park construction continues to make progress in spite of the wet winter and spring. The lion share of the dirt work and utility installation has taken place and the rail should be coming in very soon.
All of this activity points to a very good 2010 for Levelland, please pass the word that opportunities are abound in Levelland for someone willing to simply take the time to notice. Believe it and see it - "Progress" is in the making in this rural West Texas town.
The following is a guest post from our neighbors to the east at the Reese Technology Center. Reese is a master-planned research and business park just 20 minutes east of the Levelland Industrial Rail Park. Their continued success signals additional growth opportunities for Levelland in the wind energy industry's supply chain development.
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Zachry Engineering- High Voltage Division Becomes The Newest Customer To Join The Reese Technology Center Campus. The deal brings Zachry into approximately 25,805 square feet of space. There are 35 jobs being brought to the campus with the opportunity for the creation of an additional 35 jobs in the next 24 months. Zachry plans to inject capital investment into their Reese facility.
Bill Miller, Executive Director of Reese says, "Zachry is a valued added customer and tenant adding to the mission of Reese to support and develop education, research, technology and engineering collaborations and support for the South Plains of Texas and the United States."
The Reese Campus was a perfect central location for Zachry as they currently work with area cities such as Lubbock, Brownfield, Floydada, and Tulia; as well as area cooperative power providers. The new Reese office will handle work in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, and Utah. Zachry also works with many of the area wind farms that are utilizing the wind resources of West Texas to generate economic growth.
Zachry High Voltage is a subsidiary of the Zachry Engineering Corporation based in San Antonio, Texas. The company was founded back in 1924 by H.B. Zachry and is still family owned and privately held. The company currently has almost 20,000 employees spread out across 32 states in the United States. According to the Engineering News-Record, Zachry Holdings ranks in the top 10 of the top power contractors in the United States.
Levelland would like to congratulate
Amarillo on their announcement of landing
Alstom, a wind turbine manufacturer. Amarillo is offering financial support to the company for development of the wind component manufacturing facility in the
CenterPort Business Park. The new project will create attractive green manufacturing jobs in Amarillo and will help meet growing demand for clean, renewable wind energy in Texas and across North America.
This development is just the beginning of what will be a cluster of wind energy manufacturing development created by the development of wind farms throughout not only the High Ground of Texas but throughout North America.
Our location in the heart of the High Ground of Texas and its recent $8.6 million investment in rail transportation infrastructure make Levelland an ideal site for future wind energy manufacturing. We can leverage development taking place across the region to position the Levelland Industrial Rail Park as a major player as this alternative energy industry matures.
Congratulations once again to our neighbors to the north. Keep up the good work.
The greatest historical event in transportation on the continent occurred at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869, as the Union Pacific tracks joined those of the Central Pacific Railroad.
On Wednesday, December 30, 2009 Levelland participated in another historic event involving transportation of goods via rail.
Along with mayors from Brownfield, Seagraves and Lubbock the mayor of Levelland helped drive golden spikes into to the Permian Basin Railways' West Texas & Lubbock line to mark the start of a $9.4 million dollar renovation project.
The project will upgrade some 70 miles of track by replacing deteriorated ties and rails and installing new concrete panels at 20 grade crossings from Levelland to Lubbock and down to Seagraves.
Permian Basin Railways General Manager, Bruce Carswell, gave attendees a brief overview of the project as coffee and refreshments were served aboard a passenger car that shuttled the group along the tracks to the ceremony site.
This investment in the rail upgrade allows Levelland to further leverage our investment in the Levelland Industrial Rail Park. As the line is upgraded into town customers located in the rail park will be better served by Permian Basin and rail time to the BNSF interchange will be lowered. This will provide more efficient shipping of products into and out of the region.
Texas Music star
Mark Mckinney's "Are We Doing This" seems an appropriate song for the Levelland Industrial Rail Park. This weekend crews from
Railroad Specialties Inc. began work on the much anticipated rail served industrial park located just 30 miles west of Lubbock Texas and the
BNSF interchange point which opens opportunities for Levelland based businesses to ship and receive freight from anywhere in the world.
With over 21,000 feet of rail being installed on the 300 acre site, the LIRP will offer rail service to companies looking to gain access to the booming renewable wind industry taking place throughout the High Ground of Texas. Located in the heart of the South Plains, Levelland is positioning itself as a logical hub for other fields of business as well, including agriculture, manufacturing and petroleum industries.
For more information on putting your business in the Levelland Industrial Rail Park and accessing global markets visit www.GoLevelland.com/rail today.