By BETH FOLEY
The Palestine Herald
Growth along Loop 256 aiding local economy

PALESTINE — When he talks about the economic environment around Palestine and Anderson County, Brian Malone can’t hide his enthusiasm.  The director of the Palestine Economic Development Corporation has plenty to fuel his enthusiasm — two national hotel chains and a new medical clinic all building on the South Loop and a bottled-water manufacturer signed on for the Willow Creek Business Park — plus other inquiries from businesses interested in building around the city and county.  Add in the current growth in the oilfield, the city’s efforts to rejuvenate downtown Palestine and the state’s approval of a deal to allow American Heritage Railways to operate the Texas State Railroad, with the expected increase in tourist traffic associated with it, and Malone has a lot to smile about. 

“We’re in a very good growth time in terms of the city and state,” Malone said Friday. “A lot of what’s happening here is in response to what the city has done.”  Although the city did not finish among the top five applicants last year for the Texas Main Street program, it was awarded provisional Main Street status and began taking steps toward improving the downtown area by hiring a Main Street director/historical preservation officer, Neely Plumb, and forming a Main Street Advisory Board.

City and county officials and others worked with University of Texas at Tyler officials and state legislators to secure funding for a Palestine campus expansion which calls for more classroom and lab space to serve the growing number of students there.  “Put it all together and you can see a very opportunistic business environment in Palestine,” Malone said. “People recognize that. It’s a good time to invest or have a business in Palestine.

“There are a lot of success stories,” he added, referring to businesses such as CapGemini and its 600 employees. “I think Palestine has definite capabilities and a reputation to show it can undertake projects and get them done. That type of attitude bleeds over into what people see. Success breeds success.”  One thing in the city’s favor is its location, Malone said.  Based on population growth between 1990 and 2000, he said, the city was considered to be one of the 10 fastest growing “micropolitan” areas — less than 100,000 in population — in the state.

Although the city’s population was 17,598 in 2000, ranking it as the largest city between the Tyler-Longview area to the north, Waco to the west, Bryan-College Station and Huntsville to the south and Nacogdoches-Lufkin to the east, Malone said, some 100,000 people are considered to live in the city’s multi-county shopping area.  Along South Loop 256 between Old Elkhart Road and Gillespie Road, La Quinta Inn and Suites, a new Pizza Hut and a medical clinic are well underway. Signs mark the planned locations for a Hampton Inn and Tire Max.

At the back of Willow Creek Business Park, Mountain Pure plans to build a facility to bottle water, while on Crockett Road by the Palestine Mall, a Chicken Express restaurant is rising on the site of the old Burger King.  In addition, two other hotel/motel chains have expressed interest in coming in, Malone said, as have oilfield suppliers and several individuals contemplating opening small businesses in the downtown area.

The oilfield industry in particular has the potential for more local growth, he said, as more oil and natural gas are found using techniques and equipment not available in years past.  “We’ve got probably four or five years of development with the reserves they know about,” Malone said. “That growth, I think, will be a steady thing for us.  “The oilfield can be volatile. Palestine has that history. At the same time, we’ve never had a world economic influence like now. OPEC can’t open the valve fast enough now.”

In addition, the medical community continues to expand, he added.  “Medical is still a force in our economy,” Malone said. “That is an area I think we as a community need to continue to support — it’s a vital cog to our growth. Having a good healthcare system benefits us in particular.   “It’s easy to take it for granted. It helps feed our economy. It gives people from outlying areas a reason to come here.”