TexAmericas Center was ranked as the #8 industrial park on Business Facilities' 16th Rankings Report, an annual assessment of economic development leaders.
Added this year, the category for industrial parks reflects the increasing recognition of their importance to the growth of small and middle-sized enterprises and weighs the size, space availability, shovel readiness, growth potential and unique assets in order to rank facilities. In addition to TexAmericas Center's ranking, the State of Texas earned 48 total placements in the lists.
TexAmericas Center is a catalyst of economic investment in the Texarkana region. Its 12,000 acres and 3 million square feet of space is fully entitled, providing potential tenants of specialized industries options that would be difficult or cost-prohibitive to secure in other regions.
Its location in the Texarkana metropolitan area offers a pipeline of talent and a logistics network to rival many larger and therefore more expensive urban hubs. TexAmericas Center also offers a complement of unique assets like utilities, rail, fiber, and a transload provider.
These factors, coupled with the organization's reputation as problem-solvers and partners in mixed-use industrial development, led to the ranking.
Since May 2014, TexAmericas Center has increased its total leased square footage by more than 85 percent to over 1 million square feet.
"A great industrial park needs to promote economic activity for its region, and sometimes that means taking a slightly speculative approach to development," Executive vice president and chief economic development officer with TexAmericas Center Eric Voyles said. "Where others put up roadblocks, we put up welcome signs and work with current and potential tenants to find solutions that help them establish solid footing so they can grow. We're more than landlords, we're their partners, so we have skin in the game, too."
The recognition comes as several other announcements are on the horizon, including long-awaited news from TexAmericas Center, in addition to placemaking projects in the community.
"We've worked for the last ten years to remove environmental encumbrances from our properties and we anticipate an announcement by the end of the year regarding those opportunities," Executive Director/CEO Scott Norton said. "It will be a game-changer for TexAmericas Center and the Texarkana region, which we are excited to share."
In July, TexAmericas Center announced that Lockheed Martin, a global security and aerospace company employing more than 110,000 people worldwide, will expand operations into a building at the TexAmericas Center in support of a Public/Private Partnership contract with the Red River Army Depot (RRAD).