Brownsville City Commission: $12.2M GBIC budget approved

The Brownsville City Commission has approved the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corp.’s $12.2 million budget for Fiscal Year 2024, which includes $5 million for industrial park development and infrastructure.

Bret Gardella, executive director and new CEO of the GBIC, presented the proposed budget to the commission last Tuesday.

The nonprofit organization was created to oversee the disbursement of a quarter-cent sales tax collected in the City of Brownsville, according to its website.

The budget is separated into three sections: strategic initiatives budget, operating budget and project commitments. Expenditures total $12,269,412. 

The strategic initiatives include industrial park development and infrastructure, job/workforce development and training, space-related activities and professional studies. The total amounts to $5.7 million. 

Industrial park development and infrastructure is budgeted at $5 million. Gardella said the GBIC has had conversations with industry partners and the nonprofit has “720 acres we need to build out.” 

Gardella’s vision is to use the front part of the acreage to build what they are currently calling the “Greater Brownsville Center for Excellence.” He wants class A office space to educate people for a four-year degree.

“The most prominent need that we have right now is in engineering,” he said. “We’ve heard that, certainly, from our two biggest partners right now, with Next Decade and Bechtel, on moving forward on the types of people they need to just build that one location.”

Next Decade is an energy company and Bechtel is an engineering, construction and project management corporation.

Gardella said there are at least two companies “coming online” that are going to be in the “petrochem or LNG fields,” which are going to need master’s and doctoral candidates on the staff who have engineering backgrounds.

The CEO said he has been having conversations with UTRGV regarding a potential partnership, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

GBIC will create a campus located near Paredes Line Road and FM 511/State Hwy. 500 that will be leased to educational institutions.

“It’s my goal to be able to create this type of educational system within our community,” Gardella said. “We have the ability to do it, we have the property to do it, and I think we have the vision to move forward with it.” 

He also mentioned a workforce training center that GBIC wants to build so that students can stay in the Rio Grande Valley for training instead of having to go elsewhere. 

“I’m hopeful [Texas Southmost College], for example, to come in and run this program for us,” Gardella said. “I don’t care what we teach. It could be plumbing and pipe fitting. … I don’t care. What I do care about is that we are providing the opportunities for our working folks in our city to be here.”

He said that not only does this help the community, but it could also attract people to come here. 

Gardella has a master plan for the industrial phases of the buildings but said it may change because nothing is solidified. He said that after the budget is approved, he can resume with the plans. 

“The goal is to get out there and start moving dirt by the first quarter of next year, which I do believe we can do,” Gardella said. 

The budget’s operating expenses consist of personnel services and benefits $1,218,100; a city administrative services agreement, $136,312; materials and supplies, $243,500; maintenance of building and structures, $117,500; miscellaneous, $456,000; professional services, $360,000; consulting and marketing services, $360,000; and landscaping/maintenance, $60,000. The total is $2,951,412. 

Gardella said that there is good and bad news regarding commitments, or financial incentives for companies.

The good news is that GBIC has reached out to many businesses, but the bad news is that it has not done enough follow-ups and they are stagnant. The total for the commitments is $3,618,000. 

GBIC can support businesses with financial incentives but those companies have to do what is required for approval.

Gardella said some businesses have not gotten paid because of lack of documentation. He wants to get the money to those businesses, which in turn can go back to employees to train or hire.

He said that GBIC can work jointly and help these businesses but they have to “help us to help them.”

“Our goal for this year is to get at least up to 50%,” Gardella said. “If we can get 50 of our commitments done, in, out the door, then good for us.” 

“I’d just like to say, you really hit the ground running and I really appreciate the … attitude and energy that you’ve brought to the organization,” Mayor John Cowen Jr. said.  

District 3 Commissioner Roy De los Santos said that what he is most impressed with and appreciates the most is Gardella, just in his sixth week, valuing the staff. 

“This is something that this commission has shown is very important to us, is valuing the staff,”  De los Santos said. “And that’s something just in five weeks I’ve already seen from you, so I think you’re off to a great start.” 

De los Santos made the motion to approve the GBIC budget and it passed unanimously.