The Odessa Development Corporation began 2018 with District 4 Councilman Mike Gardner appointing industrial warehouse-owner Ted Tuminowski to replace the board’s President Charles Carlson, whose term expired.
Gardner made his appointment on Tuesday, when District 3 Councilwoman Barbara Graff reappointed rancher Betsy Triplett-Hurt. The full council unanimously approved both appointments to the ODC, which oversees tens of millions of dollars in sales tax revenue intended for economic development.
Tuminowski, a former teacher, owns Diversified Warehouse in the 600 block of Industrial Avenue. The company’s warehouses store materials used in the oilfield including equipment such as motors and various substances used in hydraulic fracturing jobs or at the petrochemical plant. The business also manages document storage for local companies.
It’s the sort of business that the ODC, which began meeting in 1998, was created to help develop in Odessa after voters approved the creation of a 4A sales tax.
Gardner said Tuminowski’s background building a small logistics business would prove valuable on a board he wants to help other small businesses grow.
“The biggest reason I chose him is because he is a small businessman and a successful one,” Gardner said. “He’s been a school teacher in Odessa, he’s got deep roots here and he understands how business works.”
Tuminowski said he was honored to serve on the board and support growth of small businesses in Odessa.
“The board itself needs to be good stewards of this money it was entrusted with by the taxpayers,” Tuminowski said. “This is public money. And we need to make sure the projects we select and fund are going to be beneficial to the community to help increase jobs and the tax base.”
