Businesses flock to airport

MIDLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT A spurt of business growth has given the area around the intersection of Highway 191 and FM 1788 between Odessa and Midland the look of a growing community.

And it could only be the start of what some say will be the continued merging of the two Permian Basin cities.

"I always thought Odessa and Midland were just two suburbs waiting for a city to develop," said Bob Trentham, director of the Center for Energy and Economic Diversification at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. The university's CEED facility has been at the windswept intersection for about 18 years.

Now, earth-moving equipment is busily reshaping the Permian Basin soil a short distance south of the CEED facility and west of FM 1788 as metal buildings take shape near Absolute Nationwide Storage, which Don Hoffman of Midland opened two years ago.

A construction sign at 1118 S. FM 1788 announces the future home of Permian Trucking & Hotshot LLC, an additional location being developed by company president Chris Harris.

Harris said construction on the $1 million, 10,200-square-foot structure started in February and will provide room for the company's expansion when it opens about June 15. Permian Trucking & Hotshot is now located along Highway 80, but Harris said the company's volume of business has tripled since 1998.

The FM 1788 location was a carefully chosen decision.

"I wanted to be out there for the future," Harris said confidently. "It's a very busy area."

In addition to the move, Harris said, he will be starting a heavy equipment escort service that will operate out of the same facility.
Harris, who's also employed as a Midland firefighter and emergency medical technician, said Permian Trucking now has 25 to 30 employees and contractors. Construction is being done by Corellas Construction, he said.

Meanwhile, Hoffman is now constructing two facilities just south of his 100,000-square-foot Absolute Nationwide Storage. One is a 21,000-square-foot facility for Kojo Energy and the other is a 10,000-square-foot building for Multi-Chem, he said. Both structures are to be completed about May 15, he said.

Hoffman's Absolute Nationwide Storage, which was completed in 1986, is now 99 percent filled, he said.

Adding to the construction excitement at that location is a 13,000-square-foot expansion to the manufacturing facility New Tech Systems moved into in 2007. Pat Hanlon, part-owner and chief executive officer of New Tech Systems, said the company's personnel will begin using the expanded manufacturing facility in about two weeks.

But a few feet closer to FM 1788 from the manufacturing shop of New Tech Systems, construction crews are also working on a 10,000- square-foot office structure for the company. That building will be completed and personnel ready to move into it in August, Hanlon said.

All the new construction, he said, will give the manufacturer of pipe inspection equipment facilities 55,000 total square footage, Hanlon noted.

That company's motivation in locating to the FM 1788 site, Hanlon said, was "we wanted to get somewhere between Odessa and Midland because our workforce now is pretty evenly divided 50-50 between the two cities."

The location near Midland International Airport also worked to the company's benefit, Hanlon said, though lack of city water and sewer means new businesses have to utilize water wells and septic systems.

While noting that city water and sewer would be more convenient for new businesses at the location, Hanlon said, "It will bring more control and more costs." Overall, he said, "We're real happy with the location. There's good accessibility, and it's real easy to give directions of how to get here.

"The only downside is the traffic (along FM 1788)," he said. "It has probably doubled since we moved in."

Several major traffic accidents have occurred at the FM 1788-Highway 191 intersection, he said, adding impetus to the calls for a center turn lane at the juncture.

Glen Larum, director of public information for the Odessa District of the Texas Department of Transportation, said work on the Highway 349 reliever route won't start until next year and will not be completed before late 2010.

The reliever route, Larum said, will connect with FM 1788 from County Road 60 about three or four miles north of CEED, and follow the route of FM 1788 to connect with Interstate 20.

And while the City of Midland has committed to provide water to the UTPB Performing Arts facility through construction of a separate water plant, Midland Assistant Director of Utilities Stuart Purvis said it won't be a large water plant, but rather one that can be expanded at a later time when more need exists in that area.

Calling the decision to put the performing arts facility at CEED "outstanding," Trentham noted the Highway 349 reliever route "would make this a very active form of development."

"I've been waiting," he said. "I'm glad to see it occur."