news

October 15, 2021

TEDC Announces Board Chair, New Board Members and Election of Board Treasurer

The Texas Economic Development Council (TEDC) at its Board Meeting on October 15, 2021, recognized Wesley Burnett as the 2022 Chair of the Board of Directors. Wesley will serve as board chair effective October 15, 2021, through October 21, 2022. He has been a member of the TEDC’s Executive Committee since 2018.

The TEDC’s Nominating Committee put forth the eight individuals for election to the TEDC’s board of directors. The TEDC’s board officially elected these new board members for terms beginning October 15, 2021: Jodi Carr, City of Ingleside, Kasey Coker, High Ground of Texas; Jason Ford, Frisco Economic Development Corporation; Raudel Garza, Harlingen Economic Development Corporation; Adam Gawarecki, San Patricio County Economic Development Corporation; Travis Haggard, Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce; Stewart McGregor, City of Grand Prairie and Nathan Tafoya, Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation.

Adrian Cannady, President, Temple Economic Development Corporation, was elected as Board Treasurer and is now in the rotation to be a future board chair of the Texas Economic Development Council.

The following board members were re-elected for another two-year term beginning October 15, 2021: Amy Madison, Pflugerville Community Development Corporation; Craig Rhodes, Greater Houston Partnership; Joshua Schneuker, Seguin Economic Development Corporation and Audrey Schroyer, Gainesville Economic Development Corporation.

The following board members whose terms expired October 15, 2021, were recognized for their board leadership: Ken Becker, Sweetwater Economic Development; Chad Burke, Economic Alliance Houston Port Region; Kim Buttram, City of Mesquite; Kristina Collins, Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce; Jason Greiner, Wylie Economic Development Corporation, John Hubbard, University of North Texas and Carolyn Rowley, Lubbock Economic Development Alliance.

About the TEDC:

The Texas Economic Development Council is governed by a 24-member board and an 8-member Executive Committee.

The TEDC provides information, education and legislative services to its members to foster the expansion of existing businesses, the location of new firms and the development of strategies that promote a positive business climate in Texas. With 850 members, the TEDC is the largest state economic development association in the nation.

For more information contact:

Mr. Carlton Schwab

President/CEO

Texas Economic Development Council

(512) 480-8432

carlton@texasedc.org

MPEDC website provides free market research and business intelligence to help small businesses & foster entrepreneurship

Mount Pleasant, TX, – September 16, 2021 – Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation launched SizeUp Mount Pleasant on its website during National Small Business Week (September 12-18, 2021), making powerful market research and business intelligence available to local businesses and entrepreneurs.

MPEDC is also partnering with the Mt. Pleasant/Titus County Chamber of Commerce to provide an onboarding SizeUp webinar on September 29, 2021. The webinar will be recorded and provided as an evergreen link for future use.

Local businesses can now access industry-specific and hyperlocal information to help them grow and make smarter decisions using Big Data analysis. The research is individually customized for each company. By using the website service, local businesses are able to:

1. Rank their business performance compared to industry competitors
2. Discover potential customers, suppliers, and better understand their competitive landscape
3. Optimize advertising to target ideal customer segments
4. Validate or reject their assumptions about their business performance based on objective local, regional, and national industry data.
5. Analyze the characteristics and spending of consumers in the area.

SizeUp Mount Pleasant provides powerful market research and business intelligence that is both industry specific and hyperlocal. SizeUp helps to level the competitive business playing field by providing small businesses with similar market research that typically only large corporations can afford to access.

“In today’s information economy, if you don’t have access to information your business is at a significant disadvantage. With the launch of SizeUp on the MPEDC website, we are empowering our small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs to be able to make more data-driven decisions to better operate, succeed, and grow,” said Nathan Tafoya, Executive Director, MPEDC.

In the USA, over 99% of all companies are small businesses and small businesses create the majority of all net new private sector jobs (Source: US Small Business Administration and US Bureau of Labor Statistics). From 1993 to 2015 small businesses created 425% more net new jobs than large companies (Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics). In addition, locally-owned businesses create a larger economic impact on the local economy because more money spent with them is re-spent locally.

A national entrepreneurship boom is occurring as entrepreneurs starting new businesses has reached historic highs. This is a positive sign for the future of the economy and welcome news as an economic boost to replace economic activity and businesses lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Every month in 2021 resulted in the highest number of new business starts compared to the same month for the past 15 years.

As this large group of new entrepreneurs enters the marketplace, they need data and market research to create solid business plans.  

SizeUp uses big data, cloud computing, and computer algorithms to deliver custom analysis for local businesses. The data comes from hundreds of public and proprietary data sources covering firmographic, demographic, geographic, labor, wage, cost, consumer spending, transportation, and more.

“Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation wants the businesses that open in Mount Pleasant to succeed and grow. An important way to support our entrepreneurs is by starting them off with a solid foundation to make successful decisions and reduce the risk of failure,” said Tafoya. “We love the concept of providing multi-sourced big data in an easy-to-use technology resource like SizeUp and offering it to our community. If small businesses win, we all win.”

This new service provided by the Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation is completely free to local businesses and available anytime through the MPEDC website at www.mpedc.org.

About MPEDC

The City of Mount Pleasant, Texas Industrial Development Corporation, dba Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation’s (MPEDC) mission is to promote economic development in the City of Mount Pleasant and Titus County by supporting initiatives designed to increase jobs and private investment primarily in the manufacturing and economic base sectors through real property development, workforce education, and infrastructure extension.

MPEDC exists to promote Mount Pleasant as a premier location for business, targeting key industries that provide high wage jobs, and future sustainability and resilience for the community. MPEDC is the primary point of contact for existing businesses and prospective businesses, site selectors, developers, and community stakeholders to obtain technical expertise and support services necessary to properly evaluate business opportunities in the city.

About SizeUp, Inc.

SizeUp is a Fintech (Financial Technology) Internet service company dedicated to providing powerful business intelligence. SizeUp helps its clients better serve their small business customers by providing high-quality market research and business insights. SizeUp enables small businesses to make better decisions through big data. As a result of SizeUp’s disruptive model of small business intelligence it has established itself as a leading Fintech company winning awards, being profiled in the media, and being invited to present at conferences around the world. SizeUp won the 1st Place award from the US Department of Commerce for a business app that helps American businesses be more competitive, improve their success, foster prosperity, and create more jobs.

July 6, 2021- City Council approved assistance package for Cox Concrete Pipe Co. (dba Cox Concrete Products) for expansion.

Cox Concrete Pipe Co. is experiencing significant growth and subsequent operational expansion. This family-owned company is under new management with the next generation taking the reigns. New management is moving the firm beyond traditional markets and increasing both marketing and design initiatives. The company has identified MPIDC assistance as critical to their ability to reach expansion goals.

The MPIDC board approved an assistance package of $40,000.

Cox Concrete Pipe Co. has made a commitment of more than half a million dollars in investment, additional manufacturing space, and job creation.