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4 months ago
13
A tiny Texas county is determined to become a boom town as it brings in new jobs and focuses on population retention.
Kleberg County is located right outside of Corpus Christi and home to 31,000 people, but officials are hoping to make it a modern-day boom town with the introduction of an emergency operation center.
The center will be located right off the JK Northway Expo Center and could potentially bring in around 2,000 jobs.
'We’re going to see Kleberg County grow literally overnight once these jobs are created,' Kleberg County Judge Rudy Madrid told Kris 6 News. 'We’re calling it a modern-day boom town. It’s happening quick and we’re getting ready for it.'
However, not everyone wants the quiet county disrupted by an influx of new residents, even if growth would be welcome.
'We don't want a lot of traffic, but then of course we can always use some type of growth everywhere,' Monique Gonzalez said.
Kleberg County is located right outside of Corpus Christi and is home to 31,000 people, but officials are hoping to make it a modern-day boom town with the introduction of an emergency operation center
The emergency center will be located right off the JK Northway Expo Center and could bring in a potential of 2,000 jobs. The shelter will be used during natural disasters and will work as a fire training rescue facility and a rural business development center to help out local businesses
The Oxy facility will take up 106,000 acres in the county and will help remove up to 30million metric tons of CO2 from the air each year. It is expected to bring in over 2,000 jobs from construction to operational positions
Gonzalez told the local outlet she enjoys the stillness and quiet of Kleberg County and how 'we take care of our elders' and 'care for our people, especially in a time of need.'
However, she's open to growth, even if it will disrupt the peace a little bit.
'Growth is welcome and we appreciate it,' she said.
Officials expect a lot of growth to happen within the next six months, especially with the emergency center and the arrival of Oxy, a direct air capture facility.
'We just completed our brand new emergency operation center. Construction just completed, we got the green tag. As we speak we are filling it up with furniture,' Madrid said.
The shelter will be used during natural disasters, will be a fire training rescue facility, and and will serve as a rural business development center to help out local businesses.
Not everyone wants the quiet county to be disrupted by an influx of new residents, even if growth would be welcome. 'We don't want a lot of traffic, but then of course we can always use some type of growth everywhere,' Monique Gonzalez said
Officials expect a lot of growth to happen within the next six months, especially with the emergency center and the arrival of Oxy, a direct air capture facility (pictured: county courthouse)
The emergency center will also be used as a bus transit station and will drop off air capture facility workers off at work to make things easier and to encourage people to leave nearby.
The center is set to break ground within the next six months and job fairs and final certification touch-ups will be held for those interested in the project.
The Oxy facility will take up 106,000 acres in the county and will help remove up to 30million metric tons of CO2 from the air each year, according to ESG Today.
It will be one of the world's largest plants and will be located on the old King Ranch.
It is expected to bring in over 2,000 jobs from construction to operational positions.
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