Monday Morning Report
March 26, 2007

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The Austin-San Antonio Corridor Council Executive Committee Meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. on April 18 at the Corridor Council offices located at 304 N. CM Allen Parkway in San Marcos.  Please RSVP to Ann Rogers if you plan to attend.

IMPORTANT:  Texas House Bill 3747 is scheduled for public hearing tomorrow (4/3) at 8 am. in the House Transportation Committee.  This bill finances the Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement Fund for rail projects across the state.  The bill is authored by State Representative Ruth McClendon of San Antonio.   Bill details

Infrastructure

The New Mexico Rail Runner commuter train has its entire first phase, nine stations, now open and is setting fares based upon distance traveled.  Read more…

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization has concluded a structural revamp that reduces the number of people on the CAMPO Board from 23 to 18 and reduces the number of state elected officials from 10 to three. The representation from Williamson (1), Travis (3) and Hays (1) Counties, City of Austin (4), City of Round Rock (1), TxDOT (1) and Capital Metro (1) remain the same.

With gasoline prices topping $4 a gallon on the West Coast last week - and although there is contradictory rhetoric and research - a new study continues to suggest that global oil production will peak sometime between 2008-2013. The latest, published Friday, concludes an analysis of large oil firms efforts by saying that 'Although their investments in exploration and production has increased, the companies have not succeeded in increasing either production nor reserves despite an increase of the oil price.' See the complete study here.

A San Antonio Business Journal poll says Austin-San Antonio will be the next Texas Metroplex, a single, unified commercial market - poised to attract even more businesses, jobs and investment opportunities than as two single markets. Many respondents referenced commuter rail as an important ingredient in the area's growth. Read more

Federal budget woes - the Iraq war, hurricane responses and inflation - led TxDOT to announce last Friday that $132 million needs to be slashed from its $547 million 10-year road-building plan for San Antonio, covering 2009 -18. Texas has already lost $305 million in Fed dollars over the last 15 months and another $288 million will be shaved by mid-April. Details

Economic Development

Austin's unemployment rate went down from 4.5% a year ago to 3.8%  in February 2007. According to the Texas Workforce Commission, 808,000 people were employed in the Austin-Round Rock area in February, compared with 816,600 in February 2006. About 32,000 people were unemployed in the area, compared with 36,000 people during the same period last year.

San Antonio is one of the best cities in the country for college graduates who are seeking entry-level jobs in the labor force, according to CollegeGrad.com Inc. The Alamo city is 20th on the list of 25 best markets for entry jobs. The top five cities are New York, Los Angeles, Houston, San Francisco and Philadelphia. Dallas ranked ninth and Austin ranked 19th. For example, if a person earned $20,000 a year in San Antonio but moved to New York City, that individual would have to earn at least $40,966 in New York to maintain that current standard of living.

Trinity University in San Antonio has been listed in Kiplinger's 100, a college guide ranking the best private liberal arts colleges and universities in the country. Trinity ranked 21st in the top 100 list of universities. "Its total sticker price of $30,797 per year is one of the lowest of all the universities in our rankings," the magazine noted.

Texas State University-San Marcos will offer a new master's level program in accounting and information technology through the school's McCoy College of Business. Texas State officials say the curriculum is designed to meet the growing demand for accountants with a strong background in information technology. The master of science in accounting and information technology might be ideal for students who are preparing to become auditors, IT auditors, information security specialists or information systems consultants.

Gov. Rick Perry awarded the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA) $3.5 million in grants to recruit nationally recognized cyber-security expert Ravi Sandhu to lead the UTSA Institute for Cyber Security Research. Dr. Sandhu will become the founding executive director and chief scientist at the institute, starting June 1, 2007. At UTSA, Sandhu and his team of researchers will form partnerships with public and private cyber-security organizations in the region. UTSA officials point out that nearly all daily functions, such as the use of electric power, air travel and banking all depend on secure cyber systems to operate.

Port of San Antonio received a $38.6 million loan from the Texas Military Value Revolving Loan Fund to invest in a series of projects at the multimodal port. Port of San Antonio, the former Kelly Air Force Base, plans to build an 89,500 sq ft. cargo hangar and a 14-acre ramp for A380 and B747 planes. In addition, there will be a 50,000 sq ft. staging area for aircraft. Since the decision was made to close Kelly in 1995, local officials have been working to develop the port into an aerospace complex and multi-modal logistical hub.

Kyle's' chamber of commerce named Ray Hernandez as its new executive director. Hernandez formerly served as executive director at the San Marcos Hispanic Chamber of Commerce from 1998 to 2000. During his tenure, Hernandez grew the Hispanic chamber from 98 to more than 300 members.

North American Development Bank (NADBank) of San Antonio announced it has named Héctor Camacho Calderón  as its new deputy managing director.  Camacho Calderón, who worked for Ministry of Finance offices in France and Mexico, will fill the vacancy 5/1.

A state emerging technology grant of $600,000 was awarded last week to Quantum Logic Devices of Austin for the commercialization of its patented nanoelectronic platforms, which allow hospitals, clinics, physicians and consumers to perform simple medical tests to immediately identify possible illnesses.

The Blackstone Group agreed to sell 10 buildings in Austin to Thomas Properties Group for $1.15 billion last week, the city's largest real estate deal to date. The transaction includes five downtown office buildings with 2.5 million square feet and five properties in northwest Austin with almost 1 million square feet.  Read more on the real estate deal

Thought for the week:

“The latest definition of an optimist is one who fills up his crossword puzzle in ink."    -- Clement King (1857-1926)