February 27, 2008

Lanes Open on SH 36
Beginning Monday, March 3, 2008, TxDOT's contractor will open all four lanes on US 77 (SH 36) in Cameron, Texas. On Monday, the two new southbound lanes will be open to the travel public. On Tuesday, the second northbound lane will be open to traffic.

TxDOT ask that all drivers use caution when driving through this area and follow all traffic control devices to ensure they are driving in the correct lanes.

Theses openings are part of the $26.4 million dollar widening project contracted to James Construction Group out of Temple, Texas. TxDOT and their contractor appreciate everyone's patience during this construction.

October 1, 2007

Regional Drainage Project Underway at Cameron Busienss Park
The Cameron Business Park located on US Highway 190/77 and State Highway 36 began a project to implement a regional drainage solution for the Business Park. The project includes storm drains; grading and a regional detention pond. The Cameron Industrial Foundation is pleased to have this project underway as it will maximize the land usage at the Business Park. Future projects will benefit from this project with an anticipated reduction in the need for project based drainage work. For information on lots available at the Business Park Contact Ginger Watkins at 254-482-1119.

February 21, 2007

Seasonal Positions Available
Local travel with outdoor work required. Work vehicle provided. No experience necessary and we are willing to train the right person for a very enjoyable job. Must be at least 18 yrs old. Must have valid driver's license and be insurable under the Foundation's fleet insurance policy. Retiree's welcome. More information at www.txbollweevil.org or 877-605-0705. Pre-employment drug testing required, EOE, Drug-Free Workplace.

February 15, 2007

Second Motel Opens in Cameron
Today, Cameron, Texas's second motel opened. The new motel, a Budget Host, adds 40 rooms to the existing motel room inventory available through the Varsity Motel. For more information on lodging in Cameron, Texas contact the Cameron Chamber of Commerce at 254-697-4979.

October 27, 2006

Hwy Frontage Restaurant Site Available
The Cameron Business Park located on US Highway 190/77 and State Highway 36 has a frontage lot available idea for a restaurant. The lot is adjacent to a new 40 room in-corridor motel due to open in January or February of 2007. In addition, to the new motel a 20,000 square foot medical mall is in the planning stages and anticipated to begin construction after the first of the year. For information on this 2 to 3 acre lot contact Ginger Watkins with the Cameron Industrial Foundation at 254-697-4979.

October 27, 2006

Hwy Frontage Restaurant Site Available
The Cameron Business Park located on US Highway 190/77 and State Highway 36 has a frontage lot available idea for a restaurant. The lot is adjacent to a new 40 room in-corridor motel due to open in January or February of 2007. In addition, to the new motel a 20,000 square foot medical mall is in the planning stages and anticipated to begin construction after the first of the year. For information on this 2 to 3 acre lot contact Ginger Watkins with the Cameron Industrial Foundation at 254-697-4979.

August 10, 2006

Motel Begins Dirt Work
The new Milam Inns and Suites Budget Host Motel is one step closer to reality as site preparation work began today.

July 19, 2006

Ground Breaking Ceremony Held for New Hotel
The Cameron Business Park will not be empty for much longer. Tuesday morning, the heat did not keep the Cameron Industrial Foundation (CIF) and Cameron Industrial Development Corporation (CIDC) from holding a ground breaking ceremony for a new motel at the Cameron Business Park.

Nearly 35 city and county officials gathered to celebrate the event. The new hotel will be affiliated with Budget Host corporation. This modern 38 room facility, will include a continental breakfast area, a workout room, laudry facilities and high speed internet accessibility. Some of the rooms will include unique designs, including two rooms with jacuzzies.

June 18, 2006

Proposed Clinic Increases in Size
It appears Richards Memorial Healthcare System's medical mall will be bigger than originally expected. The facility, originally set to be around 15,000 square feet, will be as large as 30,000 square feet. The new facility also might include a 12 bed hospital. The mall will be located at the Cameron Business Park.

The project is a partnership with Cameron's Dr. Mike Locklear. After the medical mall is complete, Dr. Locklear's office will be located there. The medical mall is estimated to cost in excess of $12 million. Construction on the new facility could begin as early as January 2007.

May 11, 2006

Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Field Office Locates in Cameron
The Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation is coming to town. The Foundation recently made arrangements to relocate one of its field offices to Cameron. The site for the office, when complete, will be at 1713 Industrial Blvd. While the Industrial Park site is being prepared, the Foundation has established a temporary office just off the square in downtown Cameron at 208 West First Street.

The Cameron Industrial Foundation and Cameron Industrial Development Corporation are pleased to welcome the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation to Cameron. The Foundation has full-time positions available: Zone Secretary, Field Unit Supervisor Assistant, Field Unit Supervisor and several seasonal Field Technician positions that will be based out of the Cameron Office.

The Foundation is taking applications for these positions, which you may review at www.txbollweevil.org, www.workintexas.com, in the Employment section of the Cameron Herald, or by stopping in at 102 East 1st to review the Foundation's job description binder in the Economic Development office.

The Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation is a non-profit, grower-initiated and funded organization dedicated to eliminating the cotton boll weevil from the state in the safest, most cost-effective and environmentally responsible manner possible.

The state Legislature has given the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation, Inc., the authority to implement eradication throughout the state. The Texas Department of Agriculture has been given responsibility for holding referenda and has oversight of the Foundation's operations. TDA also sets the assessment each year, which cannot exceed the maximum amount approved in a referendum and approves the due dates for those assessments.

April 6, 2006

CAMERON ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF HOUSING PROGRAM
Cameron has a new Workforce Housing Program designed to enable working families that meet certain income requirements, to buy their first homes. Initially, announced in September of 2005 this program is now ready to take applications from prospective home owners.
This program is made possible through a grant partnership with the Central Texas Housing Consortium out of Temple, the City of Cameron and the Cameron Industrial Foundation.

To make this program possible, less expensive lot were needed and local builders were asked to consider becoming qualified to build on the program. All the pieces of the plan have come together. A 4 acre tract of land has been set aside by the Cameron Industrial Foundation for the program launch. This site is located on the side of West 16th just east of Karnes Street.



Initially, 7 lots are planned; however, more could be developed if needed. The proposed plat shows an initial 7 planned lots.

The homes built under this program must be built by builders qualified under the Workforce Housing Program. This is to ensure that homes are built to program standards of quality and cost. Local builders were asked to consider becoming qualified builders under the program. Locally, Jason Dohnalik of EBCO Development has gone through the process of becoming a qualified builder under the program (for information on becoming a qualified builder under this program please contact the Central Texas Housing Consortium). The floor plan designed by EBCO for the program is shown below.



The efforts that started this program originally came from the Cameron Industrial Foundation forming a committee to research housing programs that might be suitable for Cameron. Over the last two years that committee investigated several options, which ultimately resulted in forming a relationship with the Temple Housing Authority, now under the umbrella of the Central Texas Housing Consortium. Dave Barkemeyer, Cameron City Council Member and Cameron Industrial Foundation Board member, has been the primary interface between the Central Texas Housing Consortium and the City of Cameron in these last stages of the project organization. He has been instrumental in finalizing the relationship with the Central Texas Housing Consortium as well as orchestrating the City of Cameron's participation.

Applications for the Workforce Housing Program will be handled by the team at the Central Texas Housing Authority: Barbara Bozon, Executive Director; Karen Prentice, Administrative Manager/Project Coordinator; and Joanne Wood, Administrative Assistant/Homeownership. Joanne Wood is the lead contact for prospective home owners. Joanne will assist applicants in completing their applications and understanding the program parameters. In Cameron, applications for the housing program are available through James Thompson, Director of the Cameron Housing Authority or see Ginger Watkins, Cameron Economic Development Director.

December 20, 2005

ROYAL SEATING ANNOUNCES MAJOR LIBRARY EXPANSION AND ACQUIRES TEXWOOD BRAND Cameron, Texas
Royal Seating announced today that it has agreed to purchase certain assets of Texwood Furniture, Ltd. and that it will begin producing the Texwood educational library product line in early 2006. Royal, through its affiliate L.L. Sams, Ltd., already manufactures and distributes the popular Oakwood library line in the educational market. The transaction is scheduled to close on January 6, 2006.

"Library furniture represents our most rapidly expanding segment over the last three years," said Royal CEO Jeff Whittle. "The Texwood brand is well established and broadly respected. This investment allows us to supplement Oakwood's rapid organic growth with the addition of a venerable brand that customers have known and trusted for more than 40 years."

Texwood Furniture is a subsidiary of Sagus International, Inc. and is based in Paris, Tennessee. A tornado struck its Tennessee manufacturing facility on November 15, destroying a significant portion of Texwood Furniture's plant and production equipment. Following a brief transition period during which the production of current Texwood orders will be outsourced to ensure uninterrupted delivery, Royal will move Texwood's production to its manufacturing facility in Cameron, Texas.

L.L. Sams President Dave Gaskins estimated that the addition of Texwood will change the landscape of the educational library market.

"Oakwood has made great strides and captured impressive market share during the last few years," Gaskins observed. "We believe that the additional business and opportunities resulting from this deal make us one of the market's major players."

Royal Seating has manufactured classroom, library and institutional furniture in Cameron, Texas since 1964. Sagus International, through its subsidiaries, is a leading manufacturer of school furniture and casework with continuing subsidiary operations in Temple, TX, Chicago, IL, and Minneapolis, MN.

November 7, 2005

Alcoa Signs Letter of Intent with TXU
In an announcement greeted with a sigh of relief throughout Milam County, " Alcoa (NYSE:AA) today announced it has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with TXU Energy Company (TXU) regarding the development, construction, ownership, operation and maintenance of the Sandow 5 Generation Station adjacent to Alcoa's Rockdale, Texas aluminum smelter."

October 31, 2005

Cameron Business Park Lands its second tenant
The Cameron Industrial Foundation and Cameron Industrial Development Corporation are pleased to announce a new hotel planned for the Cameron Business Park. The new hotel project is anticipated to be a two-story, 37 room in-corridor Budget Host property. The hotel is expected offer many of the amenities that travelers have come to expect such as high speed internet and continental breakfast. A variety of room configurations will be available to accommodate everyone from the business traveler to larger family groups.

The hotel will be located on the west corner of the frontage road as you enter the Business Park. The hotel will be directly across from the much anticipated medical clinic.

We are pleased and excited about this new project and look forward to the additional capacity this property will afford for Cameron area events.

October 4, 2005

Cameron Business Park gets first tenant
Dr. Mike Locklear of Cameron and Richards Memorial Healthcare Systems of Rockdale announced Tuesday, October 4,2005, that they intend to open a 15,000 to 25,000 square foot state-of-the-art medical mall in the Cameron Business Park in about a year.

The proposed facility would include a "medical mall" with a 24 hour non-emergency clinic, expanded medical office services, medical lab and other diagnostic services such as a state-of- the-art 64 slice CT machine, MRI and cardiac utlrasound. Richard Memorial Hospital Administrator, Jeff Madison said that they plan to recruit new physicians and specialists to work out of the Cameron facility such as cardiology and urology.

Dr. Locklear said "we are truly blessed that we are able...to join forces to bring a facility to this area". The new facility will bring improved medical services to Cameron residents as well a those in Milam county and surrounding areas.

Jeff Madison, was very clear about the funding for the project... no tax dollars will be used for this expansion. The partnership will pursue private financing.

"We couldn't ask for a better project for the Business Park," said Ginger Watkins, Cameron Economic Development Director. "The best way to grow our economy is for local individuals to invest here. This demonstrates commitment and faith in our community and presents a vision for future growth".

August 8, 2005

Cameron Economic Development Hosts Agriculture Commissioner, Susan Combs
The Cameron Economic Development office had the honor of hosting Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner, Susan Combs on July 26th. Commissioner Combs spoke to a crowd of Cameron and Milam County citizens and leaders about programs for rural economic development available through the Texas Department of Agriculture. The Commissioner spoke of grants available through the Department of Agriculture for community development as well as beautification grants available through the Texas Department of Transportation.

Commissioner Combs reminded the group that being pretty isn't a "girl thing" when you are talking about your town. Flowers in planters, attractive landscaping around businesses and being neat and clean make a positive first impression on visitors that should not be overlooked.

The Commissioner also spoke about the wonders of Texas. We might take stars at night for granted but there are people who visit Texas who haven't seen stars at night in decades. Those people are awed by a beauty we may take for granted. Believe it or not a stary night is something rural Texas can capitalize on that and many other things such as a unique town name or location. Commissioner Combs suggested that we take a look at our community for those things that are unique that can be promoted to encourage visitors. Visitors bring money to rural Texas, shopping at unique stores, dining at restaurants and staying at local B and B's and hotels.

The Commissioner fielded questions about the viability of renewable energy for rural Texas and the availability of water. She was very positive about renewable energy and ethanol in particular as a growing industry for rural Texas. Water is another story. Its something that we must keep an eye on and ensure that rural Texas needs are met before metropolitan needs are considered.

July 29, 2005

Cameron Economic Development Hosts Texas Rural Rail District Workshop
The Cameron Industrial Foundation was host to The Texas Alliance of Rural Rail Districts on July 19, 2005. John Helsely, Executive Director of the Alliance, led the workshop outlining the benefits of a Texas Rural Rail District. Essentially, a rail district provides financing avenues for a county to build new rail spurs and siding; maintain and/or upgrade existing rail; and manage rail on an ongoing basis. A rural rail district is created by a single county or multiple counties. The workshop was well attended. Attendees included Milam County Judge Frank Summers, representatives from Milam County's Cities and economic development organizations, and a representative from the Central Texas Council of Governments. Milam County is rich in rail with both Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe crisscrossing the county. Rail road combined with available land means Milam County is a prime location for businesses needing rail service.

March 3, 2005

Business Expansion Workshop Held
The Cameron Industrial Foundation hosted a Business Expansion Workshop February 17th. The workshop featured a panel discussion with representatives from Buckholts State Bank, Citizens National Bank, and First National Bank. The financial panel discussed documentation needed for a business expansion loan; common barriers to obtaining a business expansion loan; and various types of loans available. Panelists also addressed specific questions from workshop participants.

The Brazos Valley Small Business Development Center (BDC) added to the financial discussion with information on SBA loans. The Executive Director of the Brazos Valley BDC, Mr. Jim Pillans, is available for FREE consultations in Cameron on the 3rd Tuesday of each month by appointment to assist with reviewing applications for an SBA loan, business plans and much more. Mr. Pillans also spoke about identifying new markets and use of the internet as an avenue for business expansion.

Texas Department of Agriculture, Rural and Agribusiness Development Field Representative, Judy Fort contributed to the program with information on various programs available through the Department of Agriculture including the Texas Capital Fund.

Cindy Jerman, with the Central Texas Workforce and Business Service Center talked of the services and resources available through the Central Texas Workforce and Business Service Center from sourcing new employees to information on employment practices to assistance in starting a new business. The Central Texas Workforce and Business Service Center is a tremendous resource for area business seeking to expand their workforce. The Central Texas Workforce and Business Service Center in Rockdale also offers many courses to Milam County businesses and Residents for example as QuickBooks and Web Design. Most of the services through the Central Texas Workforce and Business Service Center a free of charge. Some services do have a small fee.

TEEX and the Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center (TMAC) were represented by Pat Wallace, TEEX Program Manager. Pat spoke to the group about the programs available to businesses through TEEX and TMAC. One of the many areas TMAC consults in is process improvement which can be applied to any type of business.

The Business Expansion Workshop could be available in the future is sufficient interest is expressed. In addition, a Business Start-Up Workshop could also be offered given sufficient public interest. If you are interested in attending one of these workshops please email the Cameron Industrial Foundation at CIFinquiries@tlab.net.

February 15, 2005

December 14, 2004

Cameron is changing for the better with a TxDOT bridge and highway expansion on US 190 and 77. The bridge work is well underway with bridge piling and dirt work moving along quickly. An exciting aspect of the bridge and road expansion is the view now open between the Cameron Business Park and downtown Cameron. The removal of trees and a few structures opened the line-of-site from the business park to downtown Cameron featuring a nice view of the Milam County Court House. On this day, earth movers and burning brush show the hussle and bussle of activity and progress on the bridge and highway improvements.