CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The City of Mathis is seeing tremendous growth, along with the western side of San Patricio County in general. As a result, city leaders are looking to create an incentive program to help attract big business to the area.
Mathis City Manager Cedric Davis said the plan could bring big names to the Coastal Bend.
“We are talking about Tractor Supply, we are talking about a potential Buc-ee’s, we are talking about Cracker Barrel, things like that,” Davis said.
He said businesses could see big benefits for coming to the city.
“Tax abatements, or putting sidewalks in, or laying a road, or laying water lines, even maybe waiving some fees,” he said.
Davis said that due to the city’s proximity to Highway 37, there is a high traffic volume to support a decision like this.
“About 26-27,000 cars pass there daily,” he said. “If we can get them to pull off and spend some money in West San Patricio and Mathis, definitely a large impact.”
It’s an impact Mike Culbertson with the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation said can be felt in bigger cities like Corpus Christi.
“We are seeing the green revolution," Culbertson said. "We are seeing hydrogen, ammonia, things like that, things that we haven't really seen before.”
Culbertson said that when it comes to economic development, maximizing potential goes a long way.
“You know, there hasn't been a lot of growth down there in San Patricio, so anything they can do to get growth out there, only helps everybody who lives there,” he said.
Monday was just the first of many discussions on the incentive program, however, Davis says that if everything goes according to plan, Mathis could see an upward of 300 jobs within the next 2 years.