Monday Morning Report
 February 2, 2009 

Internal

 

The Corridor Council Executive Committee met last Wednesday (1/21) in San Marcos for updates on the Federal stimulus funding package, Rail Relocation Now! Legislative activities, a discussion of SB 383 (Senator John Carona’s funding legislation for the Texas Railroad Relocation and Improvement Fund, creation of a Rail Division at TxDOT, some developments on higher speed rail in Texas, and an update on various economic development projects including the new Digital Convergence Initiative test-bed project we’re financing. Minutes will be out later this week, but for more information just email corridor@thecouncil.org.

 

The Corridor Council Economic Development Committee will meet this Thursday, January 29, at 10 am at the Council offices in San Marcos. RSVP to council@thecorridor.org or call 512-558-7360 for more information.

 

Infrastructure

 

The Corridor Council and a number of other transportation related groups are joining with Bexar County to co-host a rail development seminar February 18-20, 2009 with the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF). We’re calling it a Central Texas/Transatlantic Rail Workshop. In cooperation with local leaders and organizations in Austin and San Antonio, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, and the Alliance For Public Transportation, GMF invites participants to facilitated discussions on transatlantic cooperation as a means to help solve local problems. Workshops will be held in San Antonio, San Marcos, and Austin, and will offer European perspectives on a number of rail initiatives confronting Central Texas. Some featured topics will include:

 

For more information, email council@thecorridor.org.

 

The Council is also hosting a joint meeting of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and the San Antonio-Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organizations on Thursday, February 26th at 6 pm at the new San Marcos Convention Center.  The agenda and more details will follow soon.

 

We’ve all heard a lot about the congested rail yard Tower 55 in Fort Worth, but few understand the magnitude and complexity of the problem. The Ft. Worth Business Journal had a story this week that outlines in detail the long term solutions to the rail congestion issues at Tower 55, and you can read more here.

 

Economic Development

 

A study conducted by IHS Global Insight indicates that of the 363 U.S. metropolitan areas studied only five are not expected to see job losses this year. McAllen is the only Texas market that will actually see a slight job increase. San Antonio ranks 50th with its projected decline of 8,100 jobs and Austin ranks 141st with 2,800 expected job losses.

 

Caterpillar Inc. broke ground last week on the company’s new manufacturing facility in Seguin. The construction-equipment manufacturer is consolidating operations from plants in Illinois and South Carolina to Seguin and in the process is creating more than 1,400 jobs.

 

During the month of December, San Antonio’s unemployment rate dropped a tenth of a percentage point to 5.3%, down from 5.4% in November. The Austin region’s unemployment rate was up to 5.2%. The Texas unemployment rate for December, however, increased to 5.7% while the national rate rose to 7.1%.

 

Sunrise Solar, a San Antonio-based company that commercializes and distributes solar energy technologies and equipment, has been selected to provide solar power resources to four major hospitals in Brazil. The project is part of a multimillion-dollar alternative energy initiative by Brazil which is making a big push to become energy self-sufficient.

 

The Central Texas Growth Summit will be held in Austin on February 19, 2009 at the Hilton Austin Hotel, 500 East 4th Street starting at 11:00 am – 1:30 pm. Texas State Senator Kirk Watson will be the presenter.

 

 

Thought for the week:

 

“Pain is inevitable. Misery is a choice."

~ Christopher Reeves