Business View Magazine | March 2018

143 POPULATION: GEOGRAPHIC AREA: MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME: MEDIAN HOUSING VALUE: UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: JOB GROWTH PERCENTAGE: COMMERCIAL TAX RATE: QUICK FACTS | BAYTOWN, TEXAS 72,176 27,416.12 acres $50,200 $101,892 6.6% 1.5% a year 82.203% Baytown’s residents also take sustainability to heart, keeping pace with the city’s commitment to maintain its growing reputation as a leader in environmental education. And that has led to substantial growth in our logistics area.We’vehad an influx of companies buildingmil- lions of square feet of warehousing to both package and ship containers full of these plasticpellets that are beingmanufactured.They’re being sent out byrail and through the Port of Houston–some,overseas,and some tomanufacturing facilities here in the United States,to turn into all sortsof plasticproducts.” According to NickWoolery,Baytown’s Director of Strategy& Innovation,the cityadministrators were careful in deciding howto best invest the accumulat- ing tax revenue as a result of the construction boom. “Whenwe sawall this growth happening,we knew therewas going to be some prettysignificant oppor- tunities for us tomake improvements in the commu- nity,”he recounts.“Sowe endeavored to do our first, real,true community-based strategicplan.Instead of just getting all this newrevenue in and sitting in a roomwith CityCouncil and staff and decidingwhere to spend themoney,we went out and engaged the community to find out what theywanted to see.We did a programcalled Imagine Baytown.We had over 4,000 residents that came out to communitymeetings, or tookonline surveys,and it turned into a great five- year strategicplan for us.And that’s guided a lot of our efforts.” DonCarlos talks about some of the city’s recent in- frastructure projects that are part of the strategic plan: “We have amajor commercial corridor in Baytown called GarthRoad, and it’s been the hub of our com- mercial activity for manyyears,”he begins.“It is,right now,a five-lane thoroughfare and it has around a six to eight mile length inwhichmost of the city’s com- mercial and retail areas are located.The problem that