June 2013
| Business World Magazine | 141
moving ahead and capitalizing on other op-
portunities to further bolster economic de-
velopment. He believes there is possibility to
grow businesses in the automotive industry,
particularly among those who supply parts
to manufacturers. Victoria is in the middle
of a corridor between auto manufacturing
operations in San Antonio and Mexico. The
EDC is also active with an initiative known
as TexasOne, a state marketing initiative that
helps promote the development of new busi-
ness in the state. Victoria EDC has ventured
to communities in New York, California and
even Germany and Japan to promote oppor-
tunities for business in Texas. “Coming to
Texas is great, but eventually, you got to nar-
row it down to where in Texas,” says Fowler,
adding that Victoria is the ideal location.
Given the incentives, the cooperation, the
workforce and everything that speaks to this
community’s willingness to work with busi-
ness, Fowler is confident about Victoria’s fu-
ture. “We believe in luck, but you knowwhat
luck is...” says Fowler. “That’s when prepara-
tion meets opportunity. There are things
going on here today because leadership was
willing to put it in place years ago.”
To further validate Fowler’s assertions, one
need only consider remarks recently made
by Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Doug
Oberhelman. In an effort to manufacture
more of their product closer to their market,
Oberhelman says, “We needed somewhere
we could go with a good workforce, with a
very friendly business climate, and a group
of people that really wanted us here... with
taxes, regulations, all the things people talk
about that are attractive, we needed and we
found it here... the Victoria area was very
good.”
