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Brazos Valley's economy sees growth due to companies moving to Bryan-College Station

Posted at 5:10 PM, Nov 05, 2020
and last updated 2020-11-06 13:31:54-05

COLLEGE STATION, TX — Though the nation's economy has taken a huge hit from COVID-19, the Brazos Valley has one of the strongest economy's in the state.

Experts say that strength is mainly due to the biotechnology industry in Bryan-College Station.

“What we’re looking at is just the success of the partnership with Texas A&M University and the Blinn College District, as well as the clustering of particular industries in our community. For example, projects with Fuji Film Diosynth, Biotechnology and others,” said Matt Prochaska, Executive Director of the Brazos Valley Economic Development Corporation.

The corporation says their project work, or companies looking to locate or expand in the Brazos Valley, has seen great growth when comparing numbers to last year, with over 100 projects currently.

“We track the amount of dollars that would be invested for a project. That's up over 300% from 2019 to 2020. We all track the average number of jobs per project or per company that’s looking at our community, and with that we are up 500% year over year," said Prochaska. "And last but not least for the real estate side, commercial real estate that is, we look at the amount of occupied space that company may need in order to bring their company here or start their project, and that average is over 800% year over year."

CardioQuip, a company in College Station, is a great example of a successful project for the Brazos Valley EDC.

“CardioQuip really for us is a flagship company for the Brazos Valley. They literally launched, grew and relocated in a new spot within the Brazos Valley,” said Prochaska.

CardioQuip manufactures the leading patient temperature control devices for cardiovascular perfusionists in the health industry. Eric Harry, Director of Strategy for CardioQuip Global, says the company has been able to grow exponentially in Bryan-College Station.

“The Brazos Valley being small is a big plus for us because we aren’t getting overlooked by other big companies. That being said, we know everyone who is here. The Brazos Valley EDC works really hard to support small companies and that's huge, but let's not forget we have a world-class university here,” said Harry.

The average number of new jobs the Brazos Valley EDC projects are creating locally is 260. CardioQuip, like other local companies, says being located in Bryan-College Station is a great place for employee recruitment.

“Just a couple of emails and we are getting to talk with people who are leaders in the industry. Biomedical engineering, industrial distribution, so the resources here are significant,” said Harry.

As CardioQuip continues to break into the international market, its success will continue to play a role in the Brazos Valley successful economy.