Business View Civil & Municipal Apr-2023

40 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 4 to be completed around October 2024.” The county, to its credit, expanded its public golf course from nine holes to 18 over the last couple of years, in addition to building an $18M recreation center that opened its doors in 2021. “There are a lot of things happening in Pecos, Texas right now,” Winkles says. “When I started here in 2016, we’d just brought in Dickey’s Barbecue Pit and a Kentucky Fried Chicken. We helped Sonic move from one side of the town to the other and we acquired a Domino’s and a Burger King. Then, in 2020, we hit a home run—like most smaller West Texas cities, we were known as a one-grocery store town, but that year we convinced United Supermarkets to set up shop,” Winkles reflects. “They bought land on Highway 285 and brought in a brand new grocery store, which added about another 200 jobs to our workforce here. So, that was a great feather in the EDC’s hat. We’re always active in trying to get companies We’ve worked hard over the last couple of years to really rebuild our school system and support the community along the way. You know, just as Ken is working to bring in businesses and develop the economic prowess of our city, we have to do the same as a school district.