The Logistics Hub for Supply Chain Leaders to Unlock Growth on the Gulf Coast with B.J. Simon

The next segment is focusing on community and industry.

And before we dive into that, Could you explain to us what the Economic Development Foundation is exactly doing? Maybe a little introduction before we talk about community and industry.

The Foundation is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

We were established in 1986.

We represent the city of Baytown, Seamus County, Harris County, Port Houston, and industry partners as it relates to economic development.

Our mission is to spur economic growth, and we've been doing that for the last 40 years.

And so our board is made up of 35 members, which essentially has representation of the entire economy on our board.

And so we are facilitators and mediators of economic growth, essentially.

Talking about community and industry, there's often tension between

industrial growth and community well-being.

How does Metro East navigate that topic?

Well, there's no tension.

I mean, again, Baytown and the industrial profile here, there's harmony between residential development and community development.

And as long as an entity is not doing anything that is counter to the community's expectations with respect to being a good corporate partner, they'll be accepted.

When a company shows

up and says it wants to be part of the community, How do you know it

means it? Behavior.

And I think Talcott would be, and not just self-serving, but Talcott is a very good example of that.

I mean, we worked with Alfred, with the Talcott family when they were looking at locations and their behavior coincides with what they spoke about when they wanted to come into the area.

So people can share their shared values.

They can spout their corporate values and the like, but if they don't act In a manner that's consistent with that, well, then the community is going to call them out on that.

Yeah, absolutely.