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Friday, April 28, 2000

Spaceport support solidifies
Officials join forces to attract project
By Tara Copp
Caller-Times

Paul Iverson/Caller-Times

Tom Moser, Texas aerospace commissioner, talks to the crowd of regional officials, economic leaders and state politicians at the Sarita Spaceport meeting Thursday, held at the parish hall of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Sarita.

SARITA - A show of force from 120 South Texas political and business leaders Thursday demonstrated that they aren't about to let Florida steal away a proposed spaceport for Sarita without a fight.
   State representatives, county judges, city council members, mayors, economic development leaders and chamber of commerce representatives from Corpus Christi to Harlingen packed the parish hall of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in the town of 250 people. The officials heard an overview of South Texas' efforts so far to lure Space Access LLC, a California-based company, to build its next-generation space shuttle and spaceport facilities on the Kenedy Foundation Ranch, near Sarita.
   Armed with the information, the leaders returned to their cities to propose allocating a total of $500,000 for a non-profit consortium that would represent all the counties in their effort to win over Space Access and Congress, with the help of KPMG Consulting.
   Jim Kolter, an investment adviser who has been consulting with Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, on potential spaceport government loan guarantees, said the consortium would need half of the money by June 15 to make a down payment on consulting services with KPMG. The consortium's leaders are seeking donations from city governments and private donors.

For mor information
Contact Ray Covey, Economic and Community Development Project Manager, Central Power & Light Co.
P.O. Box 2121
Corpus Christi, TX 78403
Rcovey@csw.com
(361)-299-4861

   Space Access CEO Steve Wurst has committed to South Texas, if it can secure government loan guarantees. But he was angered last month when Gramm put a stop to an amendment seeking a government loan guarantee.
   But Gramm, who as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee would oversee any bill offering government loan guarantees to Space Access, has said he wanted the loan guarantees to get a fair committee hearing, and not be rushed through.
   And he said he wouldn't pursue them without confidence that the SA-1 project is truly committed to Texas, and that it has sufficient private funding and local support.
   That's where Thursday's power meeting came in, Kolter said.
   'A plan of action'
   Gramm "can't start legislative hearings until he knows what the community's plan is," Kolter said. "The community needs a plan of action to give Gramm what he needs to continue along the path of government loan guarantees. You have to have a business plan."
   If contracted, KPMG would open a home office in Corpus Christi with a full-time staff to market the Sarita site, said KPMG senior manager Graham Shirley, a retired Air Force general.
   The real challenge
   Officials from Corpus Christi's City Council and Chamber of Commerce expressed support for the venture, saying that a spaceport could inject a strong engineering base into the region's economy and increase tourism, as people visit the area to see a plane take off for the stars.
   But finding the money will be challenging.
   City Councilman Mark Scott said the council probably would discuss contributing money to the consortium, which will be called the South Texas Spaceport Consortium, at a retreat Tuesday.
   "Out of the retreat comes council priorities and the city budget reflects those priorities," Scott said.
   Planning for the future
   The spaceport could create as many as 7,000 jobs and contribute an estimated $1.3 billion to the economy, according to an impact study by Shiner Moseley and Associates.
   Scott likened the decision to commit money to the venture to parents choosing a smaller home so they can afford college for their children.
   "We need to make an investment for the future economic development of this area," he said. "This could be one of those investments."
   Tom Niskala, CEO of the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber is interested in finding contributions for the consortium.
   "We'll be working with the chamber and other agencies to see the project move forward," Niskala said. "It's too important a project. We've got to have ownership of making it a reality."
   'Heck of a tourist attraction'
   Councilman Arnold Gonzales suggested that some of Corpus Christi's contribution could come from the Economic Development Corp. or the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
   "That's economic development," Gonzales said. "And that'd be a heck of a tourist attraction, too."
   Space Access' craft, called the SA-1, would take off from a runway, fly directly into space, return and land like an airplane.
   The proposed site, on a 10,000-acre tract inside the Kenedy Foundation Ranch, would include a spaceport, a support facility that resembles a traditional airport.
   Time to swing back
   After Space Access only sought an FAA license in Texas, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush flew out to meet with Wurst, and since then Florida has enacted a slew of funding commitments to lure the space company back, said Texas Aerospace Commissioner Tom Moser.
   So now it's South Texas' time to swing back and secure the spaceport by meeting Gramm's requests, so government loan guarantees can move forward, Kolter said.
   Advice from experts
   At the dedication of the new renovations and construction at the Corpus Christi International Airport last month, Kolter asked both Gramm and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, what the area needed to do to win.
   After a brief chat from Gramm on how local leadership needed to take charge, Hutchison waved him over, Kolter said.
   "She told me, '(Gramm) always does the right thing. It's always his way, and always on his time. If you listen and do what he says, and do what you say you'll do, you'll have a spaceport in South Texas.' "


Business writer Tara Copp can be reached at 886-4316 or by e-mail at coppt@caller.com

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