The Construction Source America

6 | City of Victoria, Tx litical issue, with some suggesting it made no sense to allow a perfectly good spot of ground to go unused when it could be div- vied-up into small parcels to accommodate small enterprise, but the EDC encouraged resistance to such proposals. Like that fa- mous field of dreams, Fowler maintained a positive “if you build it, they will come” pos- ture. Whatever doubt may have once existed, the fact remains that the Victoria EDC has ultimately proven its point. Caterpillar Inc., the $70 billion manufacturer of mechanical marvels critical to the industries of agricul- tural, energy, transportation and construc- tion, has since selected Victoria as the new site for their manufacturing of hydraulic excavators. Now manufactured in Victoria, TX, these excavators range from 11 to 49 tons of machinery crucial to the moving of dirt and Caterpillar moved more than $200 million to Victoria to create the 1.3 million square-feet of required operational space, essentially taking-up over half the available acreage offered by the industrial park. This has already led to the creation of more than 400 new jobs, but when it reaches full pro- duction, Caterpillar anticipates the Victoria facility will employ 800 and upwards. Aerial view of Port of Victoria