The Construction Source America

City of Victoria, Tx | 15 moving ahead and capitalizing on other op- portunities to further bolster economic de- velopment. He believes there is possibility to grow businesses in the automotive industry, particularly among those who supply parts to manufacturers. Victoria is in the middle of a corridor between auto manufacturing operations in San Antonio and Mexico. The EDC is also active with an initiative known as TexasOne, a state marketing initiative that helps promote the development of new busi- ness in the state. Victoria EDC has ventured to communities in New York, California and even Germany and Japan to promote oppor- tunities for business in Texas. “Coming to Texas is great, but eventually, you got to nar- row it down to where in Texas,” says Fowler, adding that Victoria is the ideal location. Given the incentives, the cooperation, the workforce and everything that speaks to this community’s willingness to work with busi- ness, Fowler is confident about Victoria’s fu- ture. “We believe in luck, but you knowwhat luck is...” says Fowler. “That’s when prepara- tion meets opportunity. There are things going on here today because leadership was willing to put it in place years ago.” To further validate Fowler’s assertions, one need only consider remarks recently made by Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman. In an effort to manufacture more of their product closer to their market, Oberhelman says, “We needed somewhere we could go with a good workforce, with a very friendly business climate, and a group of people that really wanted us here... with taxes, regulations, all the things people talk about that are attractive, we needed and we found it here... the Victoria area was very good.”