Business View Magazine | May 2019

263 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE MAY 2019 got several that have been here for several years, and several that are being erected, right now. A lot of solar generating plants have looked at us, too; we have some pretty sunny skies for the most part, most of the year. We’ve had a few that have started the process of purchasing some land and going down that avenue, and we are looking to incentivize them, as well.” Hawkins agrees that incentivizing businesses to relocate or expand simply makes good sense. “The Economic Development Corporation’s job is to recruit industry and business to the City of Hereford and Deaf Smith County,” he states. “But each case is different; with Caviness, we did offer them a $1.2 million incentive, essentially $2,000 for every job they’ll be creating, in the form of a forgivable loan if those criteria are met over a stated period of time. We’ve done similar things with Merrick Pet Food. Certainly, if a business was interested in coming to Hereford, we would look into anything we could do to incentivize them to be here.” Indeed, Hereford has proven to be a high-value, low-cost place to do business. With its convenient accessibility, highly productive workforce, favorable operating costs, aggressive incentives, and vibrant quality of life, Hereford provides a fertile environment for businesses to grow and prosper. Sitting at the crossroads of major shipping routes that stretch in every direction, Hereford provides easy access to markets, customers, and suppliers. Whether by highway, rail, or air, Hereford’s transportation infrastructure facilitates fast, efficient flow of raw materials and finished goods across North America and the world. “Agriculture and cattle are the things that drive us,” says Simons, “We’re very supportive of the agricultural industry and we’re going to continue to do that, going forward. All of the entities and expansions that we talked about are pretty much based on the ag industry. The reason the ethanol plant is here is because they have a co-product that’s fed to the cattle; the same way with the packing plant, the feed yards, the dairies, the agriculture that’s produced here – we’re geared DEAF SMI TH COUNTY , TEXAS