We Want To Grow- Opportunities Abound
Matagorda County wants to expand its industrial, agricultural, tourism, aquaculture and marine fisheries sectors. We have existing assets to support such expansions. We seek individuals or companies seeking opportunities in these sectors. In turn, such expansions will provide greater opportunities for residential, retail and service sector developers and builders.
What We Have
- Large tracts of flat land
- Lower land prices than in the Houston metro area
- Commercial barge service on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and the Colorado River
- Rail service by Union Pacific RR and Burlington Northern/Santa Fe RR
- An extensive pipeline network carrying multiple products
- A network of heavy electrical power lines
- Surface water, Gulf water, large supplies of potable and brackish groundwater
- An aggressive educational “grow our own skilled employees” program
Where We Want To Go
- Expansion of our existing energy cluster
- Green energy expansion and use of our agriculture sector
- More tourism infrastructure around our Gulf and bay frontages
- Value added production for our aquaculture and marine fisheries sectors
Matagorda County is positioning itself as an “energy cluster” for conventional and “green” power generation and energy fuels production. We have an existing nuclear plant that will expand in the future. We have a power generation plant in the permitting process that will be driven by compressed air from salt dome caverns. We have companies storing gas and oil in salt dome caverns. We have gas processing plants and oil and gas well production. We have an extensive network of 345KV and 138KV power lines. We have a demonstration farm growing energy cane. We have an extensive network of oil, gas and other pipelines crisscrossing the county. We have large tracts for solar, wind, algae-to-green fuels and biomass production.
We have two shallow draft ports with developable industrial and commercial sites. Our LyondellBasell, OXEA, Celanese and Chemicals Inc. plants turn petroleum products into plastic resins, solvents, acetates, plastic pellets and special chemical blends. We want customers of these products to locate next to our production plants to eliminate shipping prices for these products.
But we have more. We have 67 miles of beach on the Gulf of Mexico, 63 miles of which will remain undeveloped. We have two large, shallow bays. We are known for our excellent bay and off-shore fishing. We host 60+ fishing tournaments annually. The Colorado and Tres Palacios Rivers and Caney Creek provide freshwater fishing. 200 shrimp and oyster boats operate from the county. Matagorda County is also known as a prime birding location, having recorded the most species sighted during the national one-day Audubon Christmas bird counts for 14 of the past 15 years (244 species in the 2011 count). Goose and duck hunting are seasonal attractions, and bay and river kayaking and canoeing are growing in popularity.
Matagorda County has a strong historical heritage. The village of Matagorda was the primary entry port for Stephen F. Austin’s early colony. It still has a large number of historic and architecturally interesting homes and sites. Bay City has mapped, self-guided historic home tours. Museums in Bay City and Palacios contain artifacts from “La Belle”, one of LaSalle’s ships that sank in 1686. Our ranching and farming history continues today. We have sixth and seventh generation ranch families. Twice annual cattle drives still occur down public highways and include swimming the Colorado River to and from pasturing on Matagorda Peninsula. Our farmers produce large quantities of rice, sorghum, corn and cotton. We want to expand into crops for renewable fuel production.
We are poised for growth. Come! Join us in making it happen.
