June 2013
| Business World Magazine | 139
ter of all those mining operations, Fowler
says industries such as Eagle Ford Shale typi-
cally spur the growth of other businesses,
new jobs, new housing, which all again adds
to the economic vitality of the region.
Fowler observes that only five years ago,
there were many people speculating that
there would never be another major petro-
chemical facility complementing economic
activity in this gulf coast region, but all of
that has changed. Last month, the delivery
of more than 1.3 million barrels of crude was
accommodated by operations at the Port of
Victoria, in fact, for the last few months; the
port has averaged more than a million bar-
rels of monthly transit. Fowler says he is also
seeing expansion occurring among the major
petrochemical companies in the area. For-
mosa Plastics, a driving economic force for
more than 30 years, is currently undertaking
a $1.7billion expansion project in the county
just adjacent to Victoria.
With businesses growing, educational
and employment opportunities increasing,
and new companies coming to Victoria,
there’s little wonder as to why the EDC, as
well as all others in Victoria, are especially
excited about the economic future of this
Texas community. Not one to rest on lau-
rels, Fowler says the EDC is still focused on
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