When the coronavirus epidemic initially broke out in the United States, officials in the Texas city of Brownsville predicted a double-digit decline in sales and property tax receipts. They were completely correct in their assessment. Residential property values, sales tax revenues, and hotel tax revenues have all continued to climb over the past year, which makes this even more shocking.
SpaceX deserves a great deal of credit for achieving this success. It has been significantly increasing the number of staff at the adjoining Boca Chica launch site for the Starship spaceship and Super Heavy launcher, which is based in Hawthorne, California, and has been doing so for the past several years. The number of personnel on the Boca Chica crew has been steadily growing as the organization has expanded its operations. SpaceX began expanding its operations near Boca Chica Beach in 2016, and the company has seen remarkable development as a result of its presence in the area.
As a result of the project, according to Josh Mejia, CEO of Brownsville Neighborhood Improvement Corp., the city has received “attention from multiple industries and sectors that we previously felt would not be interested in our community.” There are numerous examples of what the author is referring to in his piece, including new space technology, aircraft, and technological firms to name a few. It is the big fish in the pond that all of these enterprises want to be located next to because it is the source of their profits.
Additionally, people from California and other regions of Texas who want to start their own businesses in Brownsville are a major force behind the city’s population growth.
Mejia states that as a result of SpaceX’s growing presence, “the entrepreneur activity that we have experienced in our neighborhood has tremendously expanded.” As a result, we are talking about the ramifications and benefits that will not be obvious for another 10-15 years, which means we are talking about the future.
Brownsville is recruiting new businesses and preparing personnel to meet the demands of these businesses as a result of the strengthening of its internet infrastructure and partnership with the state. Aside from that, the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation is investigating the establishment of startup accelerator programs and the promotion of the development of speculative structures that may be utilized to house manufacturing or assembly facilities.
This is despite the fact that Brownsville will have difficulties dealing with all of these changes in such a short amount of time as it has experienced in the past.
As Mejia puts it, “there will always be some bad connotation associated with each beautiful item,” he says. It is claimed by the author that there is a “avalanche of things moving at such a breakneck speed.” The influence on the community will be determined by how rapidly they are able to adapt to meet the needs of the surrounding economy.