Janeth M

MPEDC Sponsors 2022 TEDC Mid-Year Conference

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June 2-24, 2022– MPEDC staff attended TEDC’s 2022 Mid-Year Conference in Corpus Christi. This conference includes numerous presentations on important economic development topics and challenges. Topics included:

  • Innovative Workforce Ideas for Retention and Recruitment Efforts
  • Business & Industry Collaboratives in Workforce Development
  • The “Secret Sauce”: Intentionally Bringing Together the Worlds of Workforce, Economic Development, and Education

About TEDC:

The Texas Economic Development Council (TEDC) is an Austin-based, statewide, non-profit professional association dedicated to the development of economic and employment opportunities in Texas. The TEDC is a 501(c)(6) membership organization; and therefore, any dues, registration fees, or sponsorships paid to the organization are not tax deductible.

The TEDC is a one-stop shop for ideas, information, and influence.  We are the largest state association of economic development professionals, volunteers, and elected officials.  Our diverse members share a common goal — bringing new investment and jobs to Texas.

MPEDC Celebrates National Small Business Week with Revolving Loan Fund Launch

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Mount Pleasant, Texas – The first week of May 2022 is National Small Business Week, according to the USA Small Business Administration. To celebrate, Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation is pleased to announce the launch of a $234,000 small business revolving loan fund.

During Q1 2022, the United States Department of Agriculture approved the transfer of a $234,000 Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) from the City of Mount Pleasant, Texas to Mount Pleasant Industrial Development Corporation (dba Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation or MPEDC).

A revolving loan fund is a gap financing measure primarily used for development and expansion of small businesses and entrepreneurial ventures. It is a self-replenishing pool of money, utilizing interest and principal payments on old loans to issue new ones.

Since 1994, MPEDC has played an active role in the industrial development of rural northeast Texas, specifically Mount Pleasant and Titus County. Now, through the transfer and activation of a $234,000 Revolving Loan Fund granted to the City of Mount Pleasant in 1999 (but only used once in 2008), MPEDC seeks to broaden its ability to provide support for small business and entrepreneurial endeavors.

“We appreciate the City’s partnership on the RLF transfer and city council’s recognition that this specific financing mechanism is best utilized outside City Hall, through economic development channels,” said Nathan Tafoya, MPEDC Executive Director.

Applications for RLF funds will be accepted on a continual basis until funds are depleted. All applicants for RLF funding will be required to complete an application form and provide a corresponding business plan with verifiable data which demonstrates that their proposed projects are economically feasible, sustainable, and will provide benefits to the rural/micropolitan community, either through job creation or infrastructure and/or facility improvements. This includes façade improvements.

The MPEDC RFP is designed to finance and/or develop small and emergining private business enterprises physically located within the City of Mount Pleasant or its Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ).

The RLF will be operated under the guidance of the following Revolving Loan Fund Plan and more information can be found at mpedc.org.

The MPEDC Board of Directors have agreed to sit on the RLF’s Loan Review Committee (LRC) to review all RLF loan applications as part of their existing review processes. Other key members of the LRC will include leadership from the Northeast Texas Small Business Development Center (NET SBDC) and the Mount Pleasant/Titus County Chamber of Commerce.

“The City of Mount Pleasant has a strong history of forging partnerships to do what’s best for both industry and the community and this is just another example of that,” said Mr. Tafoya.

MPEDC has been expanding its assistance offerings to the small business community since 2018, to the degree it is able by state statute.

For instance, during the COVID-19 2020 shutdown, MPEDC provided technical assistance and a $25,000 relief match to the Mount Pleasant/Titus County Chamber of Commerce for its utility assistance program.

The MPEDC also hosts and updates a publicly available commercial real estate listing database on its website at mpedc.org. Additionally, it funds a small business portal with enterprise-level business intelligence tools such as SizeUp Mount Pleasant and Local Intel. The tools are available for free to the public.

In today’s information economy, businesses without access to information are at a higher risk of failure and stunted growth. MPEDC is committed to helping local small businesses successfully start and grow by subsidizing programs and services like GIS Planning, SizeUp, and Local Intel.

“At MPEDC, we want any business opening in our community to be the most prepared for success,” Mr. Tafoya said. “To that end, we offer a repository of business-oriented and development-related data on our website that we hope our community continues to take advantage of.”

MPEDC Sells Speculative Building

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Mount Pleasant, Texas- Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation (MPEDC) is pleased to announce the sale of its first speculative building to RoadClippers, Inc (d.b.a. Diamond C Trailers). The 40,000 square foot, concrete tilt up shell is under finish-out construction at 450 Commerce Drive and is located on a 6.2 acre tract within the 200-acre Mount Pleasant Business Park along Interstate 30.

Diamond C Trailers has grown employment by nearly 300% since 2017, rapidly scaling from approximately 200 employees to about 720 team-members currently. The company expects to reach 900 employees by the end of 2022. Additionally, the company has made tens of millions of dollars in private investment in the community since 2018 through mergers and acquisitions and substantial facility and equipment expansions at four different sites in Mount Pleasant and one outside city limits.

“MPEDC is elated to be working with Diamond C, a family-owned, homegrown, and nationally respected firm,” said Nathan Tafoya, Executive Director of  MPEDC. “This was a win-win for the company and the community.”

Mr. Tafoya credited his predecessor, Charlie Smith, with his vision and implementation of a quality built speculative building.

“It is important to note that the speculative building did exactly what speculative buildings are supposed to do . . . reduce the time, cost, and risk to an industry firm considering relocating to, or expanding in, our community,” said Mr. Tafoya.  “In fact, a major decision factor in Diamond C’s purchase was the need to quickly locate a facility large enough to house a 2-story industrial laser being delivered from Europe, as well as locate a building that could facilitate current and future operations with adequate infrastructure already in place.” 

On December 8, 2021, the MPEDC met at a special called board meeting and approved the sale and assistance package to the company. Final approvals were made by City Council on January 4, 2022.

Diamond C purchased the speculative building for $1.8 million. In addition to more than $6 million in private investment in 2022 alone, the company will conservatively create 40 jobs at this facility within 12 months with an average wage of $20/hour. The purchased facility will house Diamond C Trailers’ Technology Advancement Center. Diamond C expects to expand the facility within the next 36 months, doubling its size to approximately 80,000 square feet.

To assist Diamond C’s hyper growth, including other multimillion dollar investments and significant job creation in the City of Mount Pleasant, MPEDC will provide $900,000 cash in the form of a forgivable loan with clawbacks. The forgivable loan is tied to a strict performance agreement.

“We are thankful for the partnership of the MPEDC and for the availability of this spec building, just in time for our laser delivery which is the beginning of a big step forward in technology for the growth and success of our team-members, customers, and community.  The team at this facility will utilize high-tech, automated metal cutting and forming machines along with robotic weld cells and automated material handling to manufacture small parts and assemblies to support our trailer manufacturing teams at other facilities with ultra-high quality parts, just in time.  We are thankful for the many incredible team-members and leaders that are making this progress possible!  It will be a positive force for good in Mt. Pleasant and beyond,” said Jeffery Crabb, CEO of Diamond C Trailers.

Diamond C was founded on the principles of #DoWork and #LoveStrong, extraordinary trailers, and extraordinary people.

For more information contact:

Nathan Tafoya, CEcD, EDP

MPEDC Executive Director

903.717.7241

nathan@mpedc.org

Pilgrim’s Community Center Groundbreaking

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Congratulations to the People of Mount Pleasant! MPEDC staff & board members attended the Pilgrim’s Community Center groundbreaking at Oaklawn Park yesterday. The center will cost $2.8 million and is on target to open in late 2023! Special thanks to the City & Pilgrim’s for demonstrating what a public-private partnership looks like!

  • Longtime & longstanding former city councilmembers, Erman Hensel and Robert Nance (pictured left to right). Mr. Hensel is the Board President for MPEDC.

2021 Workforce Development Grant Recap

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Background:

At the July 6th City Council meeting, MPEDC received the final approvals needed to award a $25,000 Workforce Development Grant it co-developed with NTCC for its CDL training academy.

In late 2020, Northeast Texas Community College (NTCC) launched its Professional Driving Academy, an educational training program intended to funnel students towards CDL licensing.In 2021, NTCC reached an important milestone and became a certified testing/driving site for CDL licensing. Students in the region can now drive to Mount Pleasant to take their driving tests on a physical course.

The Mount Pleasant Industrial Development Corporation (also IDC or MPEDC) staff and board have created and approved a workforce development grant. The grant will be specific to the Professional Driving Academy and will be geared towards training community members for the logistics industry.

MPIDC believes the grant will benefit both constituents and regional industry in addition to promoting NTCC as a quality institution. The grant will be made to NTCC and available to the community in the form of scholarships and financial assistance. The grant will only be available to constituents of Mount Pleasant and Titus County. MPIDC has a rich history of partnering with NTCC to meet industry needs. With all of Mount Pleasant’s local industry logistic activity and a national distribution center in a neighboring county, MPIDC believes this workforce development grant is a pragmatic, relatively simple, and next logical step towards increasing the skill set of our existing workforce for both current and future industry. The grant also supports one of NTCC’s newest and industry-relevant programs.

Address- Temporary Office Location

302 North Jefferson Avenue, Suite 140  •  Mount Pleasant, Texas 75455

Phone

Office: 903.572.6602  •  Fax: 903.572.0631

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