Monday Morning Report
January 22, 2008

MLK Edition

Internal

The Executive Committee of the Austin-San Antonio Corridor Council met last Wednesday, January 16, 2008 at the Council offices in San Marcos. Minutes of that meeting will be distributed later today.

The Economic Development Committee meets next Tuesday, January 29^th at 10:00 am at the Corridor Council offices in San Marcos, 304 C.M. Allen Parkway. Please RSVP to jeffwebb@thecorridor.org.

The Executive Board of the Digital Convergence Initiative meets next Tuesday, January 29^th at 12:30 pm at the Corridor Council offices in San Marcos, 304 C.M. Allen Parkway.

Infrastructure

The New York Times weighed in editorially over the weekend on a controversial new plan to wipe out New Jersey's staggering $32 billion debt and raise untold billions more for transportation projects by selling bonds backed by revenues from the state's main turnpike. The paper says the plan "has potential pitfalls but may be the best solution to a difficult problem." Read the editorial here.

Work begins about Feb. 1 to widen a 12-mile stretch of Texas 46 from west of Smithson Valley High School to Range Road, where the Comal County road department is located. The Dean Word Company of New Braunfels will perform the $5.6 million in work to add additional passing lanes.

With a $155 million interchange at Loop 410 and US 281 underway at San Antonio International Airport, and with a $394 million expansion project in the works, officials have added closure alerts to a handy hotline and a new Web page they'll announce today (1/22). Details here

Correction to MMR 01/14/08: We said "Beaumont Engineer John Barton will take over the Number Two spot at TxDOT." Actually, there's been another organizational shift that puts Mr. Barton on the same level as Phil Russell, David Casteel, Ed Serna, and James Bass. All 5 are under Steve Simmons, who is the Deputy Exec. Director and Number Two in charge under Amadeo Saenz. Here's an organizational chart that explains.

Economic Development

San Antonio Insurance firm Fred Loya is looking to expand its claims division. That expansion could result in as many as 500 new jobs. The call center will handle claims for the firm's customer base in several states. The full-service insurance firm specializes in automobile insurance.

Reynolds, Smith and Hills Inc. (RS&H), a national engineering firm, has opened the company's third office in San Antonio since 2006. RS&H's contracts with NASA's Johnson Space Center and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineering's' Fort Worth District are also managed out of San Antonio, which serves as the firm's Aerospace and Defense Program's South Central Region hub.

The Renaissance Austin Hotel is spending $2.5 million on a special events center. The expansion will give the hotel 67,000 sq. ft. of meeting space -- the largest meeting space offering of any hotel in the city, according to the Renaissance. The Hilton Austin in downtown Austin boasts about 60,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, including a 28,000 sq.ft. ballroom.

Alamo WorkSource announced that Chakib Chehadi has been chosen as the new executive director. Chehadi, 50, had been Alamo WorkSource's interim executive director since former chief Alan Miller left. The agency supplies job training , child care assistance and other services to job seekers and employers in a 12-county area.

The Austin City Council announced the selection of Marc Anthony Ott, a Fort Worth assistant city manager, as the next city manager of Austin. Ott will become Austin's 17th city manager and will be the city's first African-American city manager. As city manager, Ott will be responsible for the day-to-day management of a city work force of more than 12,000 employees in approximately 25 departments with a total operating budget of $2.5 billion.

Semiconductor company Applied Materials Inc. will cut 300 jobs from its Austin manufacturing facility. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company will slice its workforce by 7%, or 1,000 jobs, worldwide through job elimination and attrition.

VMS, Inc. is partnering with TxDOT and Lone Star Infrastructure seeking qualified subcontractors to perform operations and maintenance of sections of the new State Highway 130.  Learn about contracting opportunities and ways to expand and develop your business on Tuesday, 1/29 from 3:30 – 5:00pm at the Wingate Inn Round Rock Conference Center.  Email vms@vmsom.com or call 888-547-4404 to RSVP.

Thought for the week:

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”         -Martin Luther King, Jr.