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MPEDC Executive Director Announces Retirement
Charlie Smith, executive director of the Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation, announced his coming retirement at a recent EDC board meeting.
He submitted his resignation, to be effective January 17, after almost 15 years of leading the local economic group in its goal of growing and enhancing the economy of Mount Pleasant and Titus County.
During his tenure here he led the effort to locate Newly Weds Foods in the Cypress Industrial Park in 2007, including the securing of $1.5 million dollars in state funds to add to local incentives to construct the required rail spur. Newly Weds has grown to now employ 150 people and is currently expanding to grow the employment number to 179.
Sweet Shop Candies moved its nationwide chocolates operation and 100 jobs to Industrial Road in 2007, where it has grown and currently employs 130.
He also helped to aid the growth of existing local industries through tax abatement and other incentives as they added buildings and jobs, including Diamond C Trailers, Priefert Manufacturing, Dekoron, and Performance Trailers.
“We enjoy a strong local manufacturing base, and Charlie Smith led us in expanding and strengthening many of our new and existing businesses,” EDC President Erman Hensel said.
Hensel also pointed to the Mount Pleasant Business Park along I-30 as an important boost during Smith’s tenure. “We have to have inventory of ready and available manufacturing sites. Charlie led an extensive review of all available locations before we settled on this 200 acre spot,” he said. “Already we have PDI Plastics and a 40,000 square foot speculative building there that is drawing attention and will be filled over the course of time.”
The property has concrete roads, plus water, sewer, and electrical service to make it “shovel ready” for any industry, Hensel said.
Hensel said that the Industrial Technology Training Center on I-30 serves Northeast Texas Community College and MPISD students as a premier technical training center and aids new and existing industries as well. He praised Smith as the leader in creating this NTCC-led training center.
Smith worked with the state to begin the cleanup of the former Dorchester refinery site in west Mount Pleasant. “This is land that can and should be brought back to productive use,” Hensel said.
Smith, 65, began his public sector career in 1988 as the executive director of the Castle Rock, Colorado, chamber of commerce. In 1991 he entered the economic development field as executive director of the McNairy County, Tennessee, Economic Development Commission. In 1994 he moved to Texas to become director of the Belton EDC, and in 2003 he and his wife Julie moved to Mount Pleasant.
He is a 1974 graduate of Baylor University, where he majored in marketing and management. He is a native of Roswell, New Mexico.
Hensel said that a search committee has begun the process of finding a new executive director, and that the process will take several months.
MPEDC EXTENDS ITS CONTRACT WITH NAT’L RETAIL CONSULTANT
The Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation (MPEDC) board on Oct. 3 approved extending its contract with a professional consulting firm that assists in marketing the city to prospective retail businesses.
The firm, The Retail Coach, describes itself on its website as “the first name in retail recruitment,” offering “a fully customized system of products and services that better enable communities to maximize their retail development potential.” This includes market research and consulting.
The city has been under contract with the firm for a year already, with the current term expiring this month. Last week’s vote extended the arrangement for an additional 12 months, at a cost of $25,000.
“This will maintain continuity in our retail study and allow The Retail Coach to continue to work on projects in our area,” MPEDC staff wrote in materials prepared for the board prior to last week’s meeting.
The market research the firm provides the city is available to existing businesses as well, board members said. Over the period the city has been working with The Retail Coach, the firm’s services have evolved beyond such research, to also include making contact with potential retail businesses.
Some of the businesses the firm has worked with in the past include Petsense, Schlotzky’s and Dairy Queen, MPEDC Executive Director Charles Smith said.
Those companies now do business in Mount Pleasant.
In other business last week, the board:
-Approved forwarding to the Mount Pleasant City Council a tax abatement application from Priefert Manufacturing/PMCI Properties. All such applications must be approved by the council.
-Approved authorizing Smith to sign an Educational Cooperative Agreement. A cooperative agreement between the MPEDC, Mount Pleasant Independent School District and Northeast Texas Community College has been in existence for five years. Following staffing changes at some of the entities involved, this was considered a good time to renew the partnership’s shared goals and objectives.
Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation Supports Major Grants for Training
The Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation (MPEDC) has supported grant applications with a pledge of matching funds to the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). The Texas Workforce Commission has conducted three rounds of grants designed to encourage additional career training capacity in the State. The program allows a Workforce Area to submit a grant application for a maximum of $75,000. The application requires matching funds from a Community Type A Corporation.
In the past two years, the MPEDC support of grants from TWC has enabled the school to add CNC training and robotics training to their curriculum. CNC refers to computer numeric controlled machining which can be two dimensional or three dimensional. The robotics control curriculum will teach students how robotics are used in manufacturing today and allow them to learn both the programming of these robotic arms and the maintenance of this type machinery. In selecting CNC and robotics equipment is was important to the college to find controlling software which was actually used in industry today and both these new curriculums meet that goal.
In a recent tour conducted by Dr. Kevin Rose and Dr. Brad Johnson, the MPEDC Board was able to see the equipment they had helped to purchase and learn more about current offerings at the ITTC.
The Northeast Texas Workforce Solutions Office has four potential participant corporations and the MPEDC has agreed to participate in all three rounds with the goal of bringing additional industrial training to the Industrial Technology Training Center in Mount Pleasant ITTC). MPEDC was one of three original partners who came together to create and fund the Industrial Technology Training Center. The original partners were Northeast Texas Community College (NTCC), Mount Pleasant Independent School District (MPISD) and the MPEDC. Initial monies were used to purchase the building suitable to house the training facility and the training modules designed to train students in Industrial Maintenance. MPISD located their existing electrical trades program to the facility as well. The first classes held at the ITTC was in 2011 and served 20 adult students. Since that time the program has grown steadily to over 200 high-school and adult students.
Representative Cole Hefner Visits Industrial Technology Training Center
Representative Cole Hefner and his staff visited the Industrial Technology Training Center on July 13th. The Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation (MPEDC) partnered with Northeast Texas Community College (NTCC) in 2009 to proceed with the development of the Industrial Technology Training Center (ITTC). The ITTC has allowed for NTCC to expand its job training capacity. Today over 200 persons are receiving advanced training in a wide range of industrial fields of study.
Newly Weds Food partners with NTCC
Newly Weds Food and Northeast Texas Community College have partnered together for job-training. The job-training will be provided due to a $170,267 Skills Development Fund grant that was approved by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). The grant will be used for specialized training that will benefit workers in the Northeast Texas area. Training is a priority at Newly Weds Foods and it shows. When the Newly Weds facility was initially built in Mount Pleasant, a room was already designated specifically for employee training.
NTCC has greatly expanded its job training capacity over the past eight years with the development of the Industrial Technology Training Center (ITTC). Today over 200 persons are receiving advanced training in a wide range of industrial fields of study. The ITTC is a cooperative effort between NTCC, MPEDC and the Mount Pleasant ISD.
To learn more about the Newly Weds Food and NTCC partnership, visit TWC.
