Smart Companies Find a Home in Texas Midwest
Look one way, and it’s the wind-energy business; look the other, and it’s biotech and a host of related research efforts.
Whichever way you look, the Texas Midwest is proving that it’s one of the most hospitable parts of the nation for businesses of any and every kind.
That’s certainly been the case with Genesis Networks Solutions Inc., which began in August 2006 with 18 employees and now has some 140 on its payroll.
The company, which tests software and works with software developers on other areas of support, received a forgivable loan of $1.9 million from the Development Corporation of Abilene at its startup, and in April 2008 got an assistance package worth up to $2 million in recognition of its job-creation history and potential.
“We have met and exceeded our growth projects to this point, and we hope to continue that trend to get where we want to be in the next two years,” says Mark Viertel, president and chief operating officer.
“We received not only cash but also resources like our building at a reduced rate for a period of time to get started,” Viertel says.
The exploding wind-energy industry is well represented in the area by Wind Clean Corp., which was founded in 2000 and has been in full production since July 2004 at its Coleman facility.
About 150 people work at the company’s 125,000-square-foot facility, which Wind Clean converted from a former use. That ability to use what’s on the ground, including a close partnership with the Coleman Career Center for worker training, has given the company deep community ties, says Tim Manley, vice president.
“As we’ve continued our growth and development, people have become comfortable with the fact that we’re really here to stay,” he says.
Receptor Logic, which researches and develops antibodies that search out and kill cancerous cells while ignoring normal ones, got up and running about five years ago.
The company relocated in 2007 from Amarillo to Abilene, in part because of a $2 million incentive package from the Development Corporation of Abilene.
“We’re continuing to collect preclinical and other data, and we’re hoping to move one candidate into a clinic setting within the next year,” says Dr. Jon Weidanz, chief scientist and founder of Receptor Logic and also an associate professor and director for the Center for Immunotherapeutic Research at Texas Tech’s Health Sciences Center.
The development corporation is moving forward on plans for the $5.3 million, 20,000-square-foot Life Sciences Accelerator that could house six to eight biotech-related companies including Receptor Logic.
The addition of such facilities is another draw for high-skilled knowledge companies to come to the region.
Not only does that bring economic benefits, but the influx of people from around the nation and world recruited by those companies adds to the region’s cultural diversity.
“We are providing a very good rural source for technology companies in the region to get their business done, and also providing jobs to employees who have a great value structure and work ethic,” Viertel says.
