Chamber Mission To serve our members and enhance economic and community development Chamber Vision To be recognized as a vital resource, providing relevant, innovative and impactful programming that produces a healthy business climate and an enhanced quality of life. Inside Member Profile .........................................................................................................................................................................................3 Business of the Month ...........................................................................................................................................................................4 Leadership Mainland .............................................................................................................................................................................6 State of the County and Cities ............................................................................................................................................................7 Ribbon Cuttings ...............................................................................................................................................................................10-11 New Members ........................................................................................................................................................................................11 Vol. 25 | Issue 3 March 2020 Leadership Mainland >> Page 6 B ig improvements are on the way at Mall of the Mainland. Owner Jerome Karam is work- ing to redefine and rebrand the proper- ty to a family entertainment destination and lifestyle center. First on the list is the name change to Mainland City Centre. More visible and attractive signage will be installed around the perimeter of the centre. The 600,000-square-foot property currently houses Cinemark Movies 12, Stuttgarden Tavern and Restaurant, MHMR Gulf Coast Center, Altitude Trampoline Park, Right Move Storage, Tuscany Salons, World Gym, Booker T’s, Palais Royale, Toxic City Comics, Galaxy Nutrition and execu- tive offices. Scheduled to move in are Odyssey Academy, GCCAC Head Start, Texas City Police Station, Aerodium Skydiving Wind Tunnel, along with a 65,000-square-foot race track, laser tag and more restaurants. “The new development of Mainland City Centre will be a showcase for our city and an attraction to the entire area,” Chamber President Jenny Senter said. “Not only will it provide a hub for our citizens, but will be a tourist attraction that will add even more economic impact.” Karam also is planning a massive exterior upgrade that would include water fountains, splash pads, play- grounds and green space. He plans to take advantage of the outdoor area and the sizable parking lot to have more events, including concerts, crawfish boils, community events and more, he said. The first official new restaurant to join Mainland City Centre is Texas Pit Stop BBQ. The menu would include all the popular Texas Pit Stop bar- becue items and also will include homestyle fare items such as meatloaf, chicken pot pie, chicken and dump- lings, fried catfish, chicken-fried steak and fried pork chops. Currently, Ar- nold Garza owns Texas Pit Stop BBQ in La Marque and another in Galves- ton. The new site would make three for the Garza family. The restaurant, which plans to have the buildout for the restaurant ready by October, also will feature outdoor seating. Karam plans to negotiate leases with four other restaurants to join Garza’s concept in what would be an official food court, he said. “The food court buildout should go quickly, we’re building them out his year,” Karam said. More restaurant announcements will be forthcoming, Karam said. He is working to attract an Italian pizzeria, Cajun restaurant and a breakfast con- cept to the center. Rolling into 2020 and doing big things!2 | The Daily News | Chamber Express | March 2020 Chamber Express Newsletter The publication of the Texas City-La Marque Chamber of Commerce is published monthly (second Sunday of the month). Some content and photos provided as a courtesy by The Daily News. Editorials & Photos: Lorrie Koster, Texas City-La Marque Chamber of Commerce 409-935-1408 Advertising: The Daily News 409-683-5224 advertising@ galvnews.com Texas City-La Marque Chamber of Commerce 9702 E.F. Lowry Expressway Texas City, Texas 77590 409-935-1408 www.tclmchamber.com Ron Assad Gallant Builders Ramiro Barba Port of Texas City Kevin Bogard Marathon Petroleum Sally Briggs Gulf Greyhound Park Kirk Broiles Scribbles Embroidery Jay Carnes Carnes Funeral Home Joshua Chapman Chapman Front End & Brakes Craig Colelli Faust Distributing Kedge Cook Cook Ford Shane Day Kodiak Metals Recycling Richard Devries Standard Steel Supply Shannon Doyle South Land Title Gail Figueroa Amoco Federal Credit Union Nick Finan City of Texas City Felix Herrera Awesome Auto Accessories Brook Hrach The Dow Chemical Company Alan Hutchins A&A Machine & Fabrication Charles “Tink” Jackson City of La Marque April Jones Queens Attic Boutique Caitlin Kim Domac, Inc. Manny Lopez El Cubano Cigar Factory Jim Macpherson Valero Refining Sergio Matute Eastman Chemical – Texas City Inc. Genevieve McGarvey Mcleod, Alexander, Powel & Apffel Georgia Meyer Barzilay Karat Creations Jewelry Mike Meyer Ashland Jaimin Modi HCA Healthcare Mainland Sam Navarro Apache Industrial Services Ray Nunez Taylor & Hill Philip Orange Team Mancuso Power Sports Rusty Plackemeier Lyons & Plackemeier Jenny Senter TCLM Chamber of Commerce Sonny Tholcken Trey Industries Candice Towles Texas First Bank Terrance Trevino BP Texas City Chemicals Becky Trout Unbehagen UTMB Diana Vasquez TNMP Cathie Woitina Associated Credit Union of Texas Board of Directors The chamber is partner- ing with Aventura World for a group travel experi- ence. Travelers will depart on Nov. 12 and return Nov. 20. The trip will consist of nine days and seven nights, including hotels, meals, day trips and air- fare from Houston at the rate of $2,999. There is an option for an additional extension to Milan, Italy. This group experience is a great opportunity to get to know your fellow travelers, experience cul- tural knowledge and take advantage of a valuable cost savings. For more information, contact Lauren Perez at 409-935-1408 or lauren@ texascitychamber.com. Travel with the Chamber to Provence and the French Riviera GROUP TRAVELMarch 2020 | Chamber Express | The Daily News | 3 Tell us a little about your background. C&I Engineering was formed more than 35 years ago. Eleven original owners created C&I from the rem- nants of a major engineering, pro- curement, construction (EPC) firm and has grown to more than 300 proud Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) owners. The company has become well-respected within the refining and petrochemical industries. How would you summarize what you do? C&I handles optimization oppor- tunities, compliance regulations and safety directives for refiners around the country. It is relationship-cen- tric. The company has become an extension of the client — constantly looking out for their best interest while always keeping the big picture in mind. C&I Engineering anticipates needs, seeks answers and does the legwork all while appreciating the client’s desire for minimal distraction. Be it grassroots or a retrofit effort, the employees are passionate about their work. Projects are in capable and confident hands with the C&I team. How has your business evolved over time? Initial projects were in the light-in- MEMBER PROFILE Texas City-La Marque Chamber of Commerce members have amazing talents and stories to tell. With this series we want to introduce you to some of our members and spotlight their businesses. If you would like to be spotlighted in our Member Profile, contact Lorrie Koster at lorrie@texascitychamber.com. C&I ENGINEERING 2100 Space Park Drive, Houston, TX 77058 502-451-4977 Representative: Rich Vance, marketing and sales manager dustry sector. Soon, the business expanded into the chemical industry, and, within several years, transitioned into the refinery and petrochemical sectors — which now encompasses 95 percent of business. What are some of your proudest accomplishments? With thousands of projects to the business’ credit, it is honored to receive frequent compliments. A couple of reviews are listed below. “The C&I team truly became an extension of our staff ... from process design through detail engineering and construction, I could not have asked for a group more cooperative and dedi- cated to the success of our projects.” “Multiple disciplines have been very impressed with the quality and ac- curacy of the C&I drawing package, especially the piping. In short, the pipe design was all but perfect and every- thing has fit as designed. We’ve saved a lot of time and effort in the field with the piping fitting up as well as it did.” C&I Engineering also is proud of the hard work put into transforming the start-up into one of the nation’s top En- gineering, Procurement and Construc- tion, Management (EPCM) firms serving the refining and petrochemical sectors — where C&I is currently ranked 14th per Engineering News-Record. What are you working on now? The business has a variety of current projects with clients such as Marathon, PBF Energy, HollyFrontier, Husky Ener- gy, Hunt Refining and Clariant. Projects include crude unit flexibility and optimi- zation, desalter upgrade, crude column revamp, boiler replacement, coker ren- ovation, railcar flexibility, coker heater replacement, NZSD hydrotreater and tail gas treating units and laser scanning.4 | The Daily News | Chamber Express | March 2020 RENT • SALES • REPAIR 2830 TEXAS AVE., TEXAS CITY • 409-948-4497 MAINLAND TOOL Store Hours: Mon-Fri: 7am-6pm, 24 Hour Call Out Service Available MAINLANDTOOL.COM WHILE SUPPLIES LAST! 20 Volt Cordless Drill $ 79 95 BUSINESS OF THE MONTH SNOW KING 1310 Cedar Drive, La Marque, TX 77568 409-739-0521 Owner: Greg Cornett Snow King was established June 8, 1979, by Claude King. Greg Cornett bought the company in 2009, and, after a complete remodel, reopened Snow King on April 15, 2009. After four years of rebuilding the brand through festivals, concerts and other community events, Snow King has built a following. Grandparents bring their grandchildren and tell stories of how their parents had a job with Snow King while in high school. It has become a staple for kids coming home from school and a must-visit on the hot days of Texas City and La Marque summers. Cornett is an avid volunteer for local activities including Bayou Fest, Christmas parades and other community events. He is an active member of the La Marque Lion’s Club, as well as the Texas City-La Marque Chamber of Commerce. Snow King received a Certificate of Achievement from the Galveston County Health District and a mention in Coast Monthly magazine, The Daily News and many other publications. What is the future for Snow King? Now, Cornett has brought Snow King in as the ringleader for the new La Marque weekend destination spot, Market on 3. It is a vendor-centric market filled with children’s activities, food vendors and retail vendors.March 2020 | Chamber Express | The Daily News | 5 Bacliff | Bayou Vista | Clear Lake Shores | Dickinson | Friendswood | Hitchcock | Kemah | La Marque | League City | San Leon | Santa Fe | Texas City | Tiki Island www.uwgcm.org | (409) 948-4211 | 922 14th St. N. | PO Box 3098 | Texas City, TX 77592 LIVE UNITED UNITED WAY FIGHTS FOR THE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND FINANCIAL STABILITY OF EVERY PERSON IN EVERY COMMUNITY www.uwgcm.org | (409) 948-4211 | 2800 Texas Avenue | PO Box 3098 | Texas City, TX 77592 By FALCONTAIL MARKETING & DESIGN S ocial media has disrupted the way businesses advertise. Small- and medium-sized businesses are the big winners with new and exciting ways to reach a stream of targeted customers. However, to be successful using social media takes more than organic posts and ad dol- lars. As with most aspects of business, it takes care- ful planning and strategy. Getting started with a digital strategy doesn’t have to be daunting. The first place to start is choosing a goal. Would you like to generate leads, build brand awareness or strengthen relationships? Once you have your goals set, use them to define your target audience. This will help you to choose a platform and set a bud- get. Each platform has a different audience; however, 75 percent of all businesses can rea- sonably expect to use Facebook in some way. Social media plan- ning and strategy can be complex, but try to remember the basics. Clearly define your goals, choose your target market, set your ad budget and be ready to change frequently to stay current. Getting started with social media David and Christy Landriault founded Falcontail, 3520 Orange Ave., in Texas City in 2012, after 13 years of freelancing. Since the beginning, a simple idea has guided them. They want to make highly effective designs, marketing programs and consulting services affordable, easy to use and accessible to clients. For information, call 409-939-0897.6 | The Daily News | Chamber Express | March 2020March 2020 | Chamber Express | The Daily News | 78 | The Daily News | Chamber Express | March 2020 ‘Lightning Rob’ Balderas - Roofing Specialist 409-945-6920 SERVICING YOU IS A PLEASURE 409-948-4589 My clients say I am their “Favorite Realtor”. Over forty-three (43) years servicing Galveston County Wanda Ables Realtor ® /Broker Associate wmables@aol.com 822 6th Street North Texas City, TX 77590 409-771-4775 Cell 409-948-4589 Direct 409-948-2321 FaxMarch 2020 | Chamber Express | The Daily News | 9 ENGAGE WITH MEMBERS WOMEN IN BUSINESS The Women in Business group pro- vides opportunities to collaborate with local area leaders that inspire me to grow, professionally and personally. Being in an intimate group as this makes it easy to reach out to anyone in the group to meet for great conversation and coffee. It is one of my favorite aspects of the Texas City-La Marque Chamber of Commerce. I am honored to serve as the 2020 Board Chair for the Mainland Young Pro- fessionals group. My professional career began at 18, managing a Smoothie King in Friendswood. Just days after grad- uating from high school, I was whisked away to begin exten- sive training in New Orleans, Louisiana, where I learned so much about running a business. Being significantly younger than the other man- agers from my area, I felt like I still had a lot to learn and had never connected with a mentor to help me figure things out. As I’ve advanced in my career, I’ve real- ized the importance of utilizing those around me to learn and grow, both personally and professionally. Work- Hillary Gramm Executive director, Higher Up Texas P. O. Box 1300 League City, TX 77574 201-705-4167 Does your company have an administrative team member who you couldn’t do without? Nomi- nate them to be recognized! The Texas City-La Marque Cham- ber of Commerce is accepting business profiles on administrative professionals to be showcased in the April Chamber Express news- letter. Nominate candidates who have made a significant impact on an organization, seek continuous im- provement and demonstrate great potential to continue to excel and advance in their role. Please note, this is not an age or gender-related award category. Entry questions 1. What makes this person valu- able? (Include details such as the specific or unique contributions he or she has made to the organi- zation, what elevates this candi- date from his or her peers, what makes him or her highly effective and invaluable, what obstacles he or she may have had to over- come, examples of perseverance, loyalty, etc.) 2. Has this person been involved in the community, and what im- pact did he or she make for his or her service? 3. What makes this person unique? 4. How many years has this per- son been employed by the current organization? 5. Please share any additional thoughts, information and insight that you believe would be helpful in determining this candidate’s unique qualifications. If selected, the chamber will contact you for a photo. Our sa- lute will be featured in the April Chamber Express newsletter, on the chamber’s social media page and a guest at a Business Lun- cheon. Send nominations to Lauren Perez at Lauren@texascitychamber. com by March 20. April is Administrative Professionals Appreciation Month Cathie Woitena Community Marketing Specialist ACU of Texas – League City Corporate CWoitena@acutx.org YOUNG PROFESSIONALS OF THE MAINLAND ing for ACU of Texas, I have been lucky enough to build a net- work of people who encourage and chal- lenge me to become a better professional, leader and community member. I hope to bring some knowledge and insight to the group while connecting our Young Professionals with others who can help them develop as leaders in their respective industries. CALL FOR NOMINATIONS 20 FINALISTS, 1 WINNER BE THERE FOR THE BIG REVEAL For tickets, visit www.galvnews.com/coy/banquet. For advertising and sponsorship information, call 409.683.5224 or email advertising@galvnews.com. 5 PM • April 2, 2020 Sea Star Base Galveston 7509 BroadwayNext >