Tag: business pork prospects

City and LEDC Refuse To Divulge Current Business Pork ‘Prospect’…AGAIN.

I tells ya – it’s like déjà vu all over again!

I have noticed over the last couple months there is a “business park prospect” mentioned in the agendas and packets. Lots of “executive sessions” to discuss “incentives” (free money) for this mystery prospect.

I asked for just the NAME of this prospect. Not financials. Not proprietary information. Not terms of any deals. Not trade secrets. Absolutely NOTHING but the name.

Guess what?

“Yes I did receive your request, unfortunately it is not that simple.   I have reached out to the City Attorney on whether or not the name of the prospect can be released at this time.  I will be in touch.”

This is ridiculous on many levels. One level of ridiculousness is that the LEDC used to LOUDLY trumpet and blather about their prospects. Even the WHISPER of a possible prospect was splashed loudly in the minutes, in the newspaper and everywhere else.

Here is a sampling of past business pork prospects (none panned out, obviously):

A $20 million medical center (2004)

A “second tier supplier to the new Toyota plant in San Antonio” (2004)

LAMCO (2017)

AWI (2017)

The development of the Santa Fe Depot property – where the guy strung Mandy and the LEDC along for most of 2019. LOL.

A “recreational insurance and lending company out of Austin that would EACH bring 15-25 high-wage positions to Lampasas” (2018)

Craft brewing company (2018 and many other times)

“A prospect from Bastrop” (2018)

Mike Irvin’s 5,000 sq ft Steel Fabrication Shop in the “Business Park” (2018)

A “prospect out of Abilene” interested in relocating their business to Lampasas but they “can’t give out details yet” (2018).

But NOW, they can’t even give me a name!

I’m guessing that it ISN’T one of the prospects they coughed up over a year ago, or they wouldn’t be making a big secret of it. After all, they already TOLD me last February.

Those prospects were: Lawson Implements, PhoLicious (now gone to Houston), Legacy Awning and Shade, Nextlink Internet (already has killer location on 580 E) and Eco-Flex Recycled Rubber (who ALREADY screwed over the City once with their lies a couple years ago).

The LEDC also doesn’t seem to have a problem blabbing about other businesses about to enter the City right now – like HTeaO (old Chinese Buffet building) or Anytime Fitness (4th Street).

I’m going to go ahead and predict that my old buddy J.C. Brown denies me this information…thus keeping taxpayers in the dark YET AGAIN about the “goat pasture” they have shelled out over $7.1 million dollars for so far.

Business Pork Prospects – Part II

We covered the first two Business Pork prospects in Part I a few days ago. Let’s look into the other supposed prospects that are going to fill the LEDC’s beloved Goat Pasture and bring in all those piles of money and jobs.

NEXTLINK INTERNET: Seems like a legit and kick-ass company. They sounded too good to be true when they first showed up in the area and their name is unfortunately similar to the much-hated “Suddenlink” – but my neighbor five miles down the road swears by Nextlink. I’m actually having a tech come out to check my location next week. If it’s all they say it is, I get triple the product at half the cost compared to my current provider (Viasat).

So they pass the first test: they are legit, offering a product people want at a great price and they aren’t going to disappear in 9 months, most likely.

The next question is what their actual needs are in terms of space. The main headquarters are up in Hudson Oaks, as near as I can tell. So Talbert and the LEDC can forget about some huge corporate headquarters landing in the Business Pork. That ain’t gonna happen.

The best you’re going to do is a little satellite office – which Nextlink obviously already has. In fact, they are out there on 580 East with all the other commercial enterprises! They are literally a block east of the LEDC’s very own Industrial Park they are trying so hard to fill! Crazy, right??

Shitty ‘industrial park’ weed patch. Not to be confused with the ‘business pork’ weed patch.

Almost makes me wonder why the LEDC wasn’t on-the-ball enough to hook Nextlink up with their shitty “Industrial Park” back when they moved into the area last year! As you can see in the photo, the Economic development team was nowhere to be found. The fact that Nextlink did their own thing and steered clear of the Talbert, Walsh and the other LEDC buffoons makes me think that owner Chris Huffman is a brilliant man, indeed.

Internet service provider Nextlink holds ribbon-cutting
Ribbon cutting April 2021…NOT in the Industrial Park!

Somehow, Nextlink found that spot on 580 east and managed to thrive without any involvement from Talbert, Walsh or the other LEDC Keystone Kops. It is a very big, nice, kick-ass location and it appears that is all they need to function for the foreseeable future.

It’s also odd that Nextlink somehow managed to find a great commercial spot over there when Talbert keeps assuring us that there is “no more commercial space in Lampasas – the Business Pork is it”. Very odd indeed!

More reviews coming soon…