The following is a guest post by Erik Rejino, Director of Administration Services for the
City of Levelland.
It was approximately two years ago that a fourth-grade student went to Levelland City Council and urged them to begin thinking about future generations by beginning a City-Wide recycling program.
It was approximately
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The Levelland Recycling Center |
one year ago that the
Levelland Recycling Center officially opened for operation. Just in the first year of operation, Levelland residents have saved 510 trees, 11,400 gallons of oil, 90 cubic yards of landfill space, 120,000 kilowatts of energy, and over 210,000 gallons of water by taking their recyclables to the Levelland Recycling Center.
The initial goal of the program was to collect 10 tons of recyclable material during the first year of operation. 
The Levelland Recycling Center actually collected over 32 tons in its first year of operation, shattering the initial goal of 10 tons. I applaud all who participated in the program over the past year and encourage you to continue to Go Green.
While the Levelland Recycling Program has had huge success in its first year of operation, please understand that this program is only in the beginning stages. The City of Levelland is working on various ways to make the program more convenient for residents.
The City is exploring ideas with regards to offering a curb-side pickup service as well as possibly adding a more conveniently located drop off location. We understand that only by improving the program and making it more convenient can we achieve our long run goal of recycling 200 tons per year.
For those of you that are not familiar with the Levelland Recycling Program and want to learn more please go to the recycling web page or come by City Hall and pick up a brochure.
Also, the City has posted a recycling survey on their website. Please go to the City of Levelland website and help us improve the Levelland Recycling Program by taking the survey. Click here to go directly to the survey.
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 is a guest post by Camille Torres, Editorial Director of Fort Worth based Talk Back Media and Facebook for Business workshop leader in Levelland in June. You can follow Camille on twitter at Twitter.com/TalkBackMedia or read her blog at www.talkbackmedia.com/blog
CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT -
It's no secret that Facebook is a powerful tool for boosting business. With fan pages, you can connect with customers to build your brand. But if you're just using your fan page as an outlet for outbound information about your company, you're leaving powerful opportunities on the table.
Although it's great to share specials, discounts, and company news with your followers, Facebook can be so much more. Whether you own a restaurant or boutique, car dealership or accounting firm, you should be using your Facebook fan page as a customer engagement tool. If you can get customers talking to you through Facebook, they're more likely to buy from you, show loyalty to your brand, and refer others to your business.
To harness all Facebook's potential and connect with your current and potential customers, follow these five steps.
1. Don't be afraid to open up your wall to fan's comments.
For customers truly to be engaged, they need to have a voice. It's impossible to have conversations and engagement with customers if you're the only one who can write on your wall.
I know some companies are hesitant to allow fans to write on their walls because someone might say something negative. Yes, that is a possibility. But regardless of whether fans can write on your wall or not, there's always a possibility that someone will bash your company through social media.
Disabling fan comments on your wall doesn't eliminate the chance that someone will speak badly about your company online. Disabling comments just eliminates the possibility that unsatisfied customers will voice their concerns on your page. That puts you at a disadvantage because it restricts your influence and opportunity to quickly and openly address the issue. It's much better if someone voices a concern on your wall where you can directly respond right away.
If you reply openly and honestly, address their issues or complaints, and try to resolve them, you have the chance to improve your customers' opinions about your company.
2. Venture beyond sales and promotions.
If you really want to develop a Facebook following, try to follow the 80/20 rule. Only promote your company 20 percent of the time. The other 80 percent of the time, talk about things your customers care about.
Ask them questions and share information that interests your customers-whether that's info related to your industry, community, whatever. It's like any relationship. If you only talk about yourself, you'll alienate the other party. Eventually they'll just tune you out.
3. Check your fan page frequently.
You don't have to stay glued to your smart phone, checking your Facebook page every 10 minutes. But you do need to check it several times a day-once a day at the very least. I suggest checking your page in the morning, at lunch, and at the end of the day.
If you wait a couple of days to respond to fans' comments, the conversation will fizzle. You'll miss good opportunities for engagement.
Also, if someone has a problem, you want to respond quickly to show you care. And if someone says something completely inappropriate (profane or offensive), you want to delete it before many fans see it.
4. Show some personality.
For customers to connect with your company and engage with you on Facebook, they need to see you as more than just a company. They need to see you as person (or group of people). Share photos from your office or store, anecdotes about your day, and anything else that shows who you are.
5. Keep customer service in the forefront.
Providing good customer service through Facebook-responding to questions, issues, etc.-is an obvious must. But you also have to remember to focus on in-store customer service.
No matter how good you are at promoting engagement on Facebook, customers still have to like your company enough to want to talk to you online. If you aren't practicing good face-to-face business, you won't have the engagement you want to see. It's when you focus on your customers both in person and online that you really start to see results.
Facebook for Business: How to boost your business with Facebook
Join Camille in Levelland as she teaches you how you to use Facebook for Business on June 8, 2010 at South Plains College. Levelland Chamber of Commerce members receive a $50 discount by using promo code "Chamber".
The following is a guest post provided by Erik Rejino, Director of Administration Services for the City of Levelland.
Approximately 73 percent of Levelland residents and 67 percent of Hockley County residents have filled out and 
returned their Census questionnaire. Approximately 72 percent of households nationwide and 69 percent of households statewide have filled out and returned their Census questionnaire.
When compared to the 2000 Census final participation rate, the rates mentioned above are actually ahead of where the rates were in the 2000 Census. The final participation rate in 2000 was 72 percent nationwide, 68 percent statewide, 68 percent in Hockley County, and 74 percent in Levelland.
The final participation rate includes the door knocking phase of collecting Census data. 
The rates mentioned above for this year's Census do not yet include the door knocking phase.
Door-to-door census taking occurs in May, June, and early July 2010. Local census takers will visit households that did not mail back a census form. All Census takers carry an official badge and a shoulder bag - both with the Department of Commerce Seal - and a binder.
During a visit, census takers will show ID and hand respondents an information sheet explaining that their answers are confidential. The Census taker will complete the questionnaire, which should take about 10 minutes.
If no one is home, a "notice of visit" will be left on the door inviting the resident to call the census taker to complete the form over the phone. The Census taker is authorized to go back as many as seven times if necessary.
If you haven't yet, it is not too late to participate in the 2010 Census. The 2010 Census will determine how $400 billion per year in federal funds over the next ten years will be allocated.
By being counted, you are doing your part in making sure that Levelland and Hockley County will receive their fair share of that money. For more information about how to identify a census worker and the extra steps the Census Bureau has taken to protect confidential information, CALL 800-563-6499.
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.