132 | Business World Magazine |
June 2013
litical issue, with some suggesting it made
no sense to allow a perfectly good spot of
ground to go unused when it could be div-
vied-up into small parcels to accommodate
small enterprise, but the EDC encouraged
resistance to such proposals. Like that fa-
mous field of dreams, Fowler maintained a
positive “if you build it, they will come” pos-
ture. Whatever doubt may have once existed,
the fact remains that the Victoria EDC has
ultimately proven its point. Caterpillar Inc.,
the $70 billion manufacturer of mechanical
marvels critical to the industries of agricul-
tural, energy, transportation and construc-
tion, has since selected Victoria as the new
site for their manufacturing of hydraulic
excavators. Now manufactured in Victoria,
TX, these excavators range from 11 to 49
tons of machinery crucial to the moving of
dirt and Caterpillar moved more than $200
million to Victoria to create the 1.3 million
square-feet of required operational space,
essentially taking-up over half the available
acreage offered by the industrial park. This
has already led to the creation of more than
400 new jobs, but when it reaches full pro-
duction, Caterpillar anticipates the Victoria
facility will employ 800 and upwards.
Aerial view of Port of Victoria
