BIG SPRING, Texas — A special summit for leaders in Howard County to talk about the vision, challenges and 2022 focus was held in Big Spring. It was the first of what some hope to be many.
Many different topics were discussed, but one of the big topics involved jobs and the economy in Howard County.
Each entity that spoke, from the county commissioners to health care leaders, had different needs. For the city of Big Spring, it revolved a little more around jobs and building the city back a little better.
"Obviously, you know the things that we want to try to get done and do better in the coming year such as infrastructure," Big Spring Mayor Shannon Thomason said. "So streets, water, sewer, also talking some about the business opportunities that are headed our way, potential business opportunities."
Thomason couldn't reveal what those business opportunities were just yet, but one thing he did discuss during the summit was the impact of the GEO prisons closing.
"It’s a huge impact, and obviously the city is working to do what it can to minimize and offset that," Thomason said. "It’s not just a loss of jobs to the local economy. The city is losing over $1 million a year in rent on those facilities just simply because they are unoccupied."
Those are funds that could have gone back to the aforementioned infrastructure repairs.
"It was regular revenue," Thomason said. "So those funds were going into the general fund, and they were used to pay for streets, roads and water lines, everything."
Overall, Thomason wants to see Howard County and Big Spring build back better and bring more jobs to the area.
"Building back after COVID, and building better than before," Thomason said. "One of my points all along has been about declaring Big Spring open for business before COVID, during COVID and after COVID, and we are starting to see some results there."