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Regional Expo Center: Agriculture, Economy, and the Long Game · Conservation Stories

• 0:00
  Speaker A: Foreign.
• 0:08
  Speaker B: And welcome back again to another episode of Conservation Stories. Conservation Stories is a podcast brought to you by the Sand Hill Area Research Association. And as you know, if you've been listening, we really love to highlight people that are forward thinking and getting ideas and trying to get things going in our community and on the west side of Texas that will be nothing but beneficial for us. So that's why I have invited two folks today. My, my very dear friend, Dr. Jim Bazer Pitch. And then Randy Jordan, who I have known. Gosh, well, we're you and my uncle, my husband's uncle who's also my uncle. Very good friends. So a lifetime of history there. So Dr. Jim leads the TALL program, which I was in Cohort 18. Cohort 19 is in the middle of happening right now. And every time I see pictures, I want to go again. I want to start all over. Well, it's the best time, just such a good time. So I want to visit today about the Lubbock Expo Center. So if you've been around for the last four or five years in Lubbock and the surrounding area, I'm sure you've heard rumors, some true, some not true, let's just put it that way. And then, then you've probably wondered like what, what's happening? And when I was in Tall, our graduation was held at an Expo center in Bryan. And Dr. Jim told us at that event, like the work that, that he did putting that Expo center in. But what impressed me at the time was the amount of economic impact which we're going to leave for the very end of this podcast because I want you to really, I want us to really remember this, that, that, that that piece is so important to this, like what it can do for us. But what I'd like for us to do is start with Dr. Jim and let, let him tell us his story about putting this in and Brian and the years that it took to get it going and all of those things.
• 2:15
  Speaker A: Well, Tillery, thank you for having me. And Randy, it's good to see you again and I'm happy to talk about this. We're very proud of the facility that we now have that we didn't have anything prior to that. So there's, it was quite a journey. I really don't know where to begin, but I'll just say this just to give a little historical perspective. The first fair that was ever held here in Brazos county was 1932. It ceased in about 1956. And then they started the Youth Livestock show, kind of like the Lubbock county livestock show or like, you know, that they have, where we have an auction for the youth. And that was done in about 1956. So next year it'll be going 70 years. But let me. Let me go back. We, in this county, we were the largest populous county of this size back before we had this expo here without such a facility. And the reason the. The Fair stopped in 1956 because it was held at the American Legion. It was a lack of space, you know, growth you couldn't grow. You know, they were contained in the area that they have the youth livestock show, too, have eight acres. Then later it was deeded to the. To the county and they could have their county show there. But, you know, we're 250,000 plus people now here in Brazos county and, and over a half a million or more in the surrounding counties. And, and we're growing. We're a central regional hub. And there was no facility to have a fair or to expand our youth livestock show or to host other events. When I became county agent here in 1986, that was one of the first things that was pointed out to me by a lot of the civic leaders here in the community that we needed a facility, but no one really knew how to get it started. They tried a couple of times. As you know, it's difficult to get people to want to raise taxes or put a bond issue or to put something in place to help the community, to help, you know, to bring in more events and revenue to the community. Hotels and motels and restaurants and things like that certainly benefit from that. So what I did was early on, in 1986, as a very young, youthful county agent, we had what we call the extension long range extension program, where we would sit down once a year and identify issues that were pertinent that were needed in the community. And so that was one of the issues there. And then we went to the chamber of commerce and they had their annual meeting of priorities and got the chamber of commerce to buy into this concept for economic development, for the community, for growth, bringing events and activities here outside people for hotel, restaurants and things like that, gas station, you know, sales and that type of thing. So we got that in place. Well, at the time, the county judge had been county judge here for about 28 years. I went to see him just young, you know, visionary county agent. And I went to see him and he laughed me out of the office. And he says, not, no, but, you know, no. And he says, we're not spending any money, not on My watch, I'm a conservative, blah, blah. And I says, well, you know, you've got to spend a little to make a little. And of course, you know, that's the young approach. And at that time, I was probably, what, 30, 30, 35 years old. And anyway, so what happened was he was challenged by a challenger that year, and he had been a county judge for a long time and a good guy and a personal friend, but a general named Al Jones decided to challenge him. And so I went to see him, and he really didn't have a stump speech or a reason other than he thought we needed change. 28 years being county judge was too long, in his opinion. And he ran and he ran with the idea of a center because it was something we didn't have. And I had to have a champion. And so he was my champion. And I'll be dern if he didn't win the primary. And since he was a Republican, he won the county the next year, and he served as county judge for four years. But during that first four years, he did not. We did not accomplish that. So he made it his priority the second term. And then we did and got together and formed a bond issue. And he put it up and actually more too quickly. I wasn't really ready for it yet. Neither was the community, you know, to sell the idea. But he did it on the ballot. And that was in the year 2000. In August, he put it on the ballot for a bond issue. $18.6 million at that time. But during this time, you know, we had a advisory committee. And so I helped them put together 10 opinion leaders during this process prior to bond issue to help us, guide us and lead us, and also be, you know, that they are the opinion leaders in the community. And. And so as we move forward, we did put that forward. And let me just say this, the hotelers and some of the. The people in the community, mostly people didn't like the idea of a tax, okay? And doesn't matter what kind of tax it is, they didn't like it. It only was about $25 per year per household in the community at that. We went forward with it, but we didn't have any money. We raised a little bit of money for advertising and things like that. But let's move forward. On November 7th, we held. Held it. And let me say this. When the. When the absentee votes came in, we lost by 1000 votes. And when the regular votes came in on that Tuesday from, you know, the. Not the free ballots, we won by 166. We gained some momentum. And what was the reason for that? Well, there was some negative campaigning going on. The media was giving a negative spin on it during the absentee voting. And so I went down to the TV station, Nora Thompson, who was our treasurer for our pac, our political action committee, to raise money. And she said, you got to come down here. So anyway, I sat there with them, her and her husband, they left. And then I stayed another two hours. And I told this lady, I says, look, if we don't tell the true story, why we need this facility, we're the largest community in the state without one. I'm going to chain myself to a tree out here in front of the station until I get some attention. Because I grew up in that era where protest, hippie movement. I was never hippie.
• 8:57
  Speaker B: Oh, come on.
• 8:59
  Speaker A: Anyway, I said, but I do know how to get attention. And so she sat down and decided to listen to my story and completely changed the narrative. So from that Friday night, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, we got positive news coverage. Not necessarily advertising, but positive news coverage. And so the bond issue did pass, but you understand, we lost by a thousand prior to that because it was in the community that we're trying to raise taxes and spend money previously and all this kind of stuff. It did pass, as I said, by one.
• 9:30
  Speaker B: That was 2000.
• 9:32
  Speaker A: That was in the year 2000.
• 9:33
  Speaker B: Okay.
• 9:34
  Speaker A: And so then we continued with our advisory committee. At the time, I was not on it because I was county agent. I helped put it together, but I didn't think I should be on it as the county agent. Then when I moved to Tall at that time, then they put me on there as one of the leaders of that. And I was already a leader in it anyway. I just put it on paper. Yeah. And they put Nora and and myself on there. And so. And then my deal was this, that the facility had to have 100 acres plus and it could not be landlocked any way around. I've been county and I've been to every fair in this, in this great state that we have in every facility, major stock, shop, whatever. And you do not want to be limited by access of getting in and out for multiple events going on. And so we ended up buying a track outside of town here for 159 acres. That is completely. It was out nowhere. And the town is growing to it now. But we were criticized early on, but we wanted to move out there so that we would be grandfathered out there if there was noise complaints, if there was smell complaints. Like that.
• 10:44
  Speaker B: Right, right.
• 10:45
  Speaker A: We're in a. You know, we're more densely populated here than you are out in West Texas, except for Lubbock proper, probably. But. So anyway, we moved out there, found a track of land at highway frontage all the way around it. Today, we're only using 52 of the 159 acres. And Randy, I'm having trouble right now keeping our leadership at bay for selling off five acres on the corners and some of this kind of stuff. And I told him I was a young man when it passed, and I still got a lot of good years in me. That's not gonna happen on my. As long as I'm still living. And the new court knows that as well. And I said, I know how to chain myself to a tree because I want to protect that. That land out there for the future. We don't know what the future leaders will need for that facility. And we've got. We would like to have a coliseum one day, but we're not. We're not big enough yet.
• 11:40
  Speaker B: You need an easement on that piece of property, right?
• 11:43
  Speaker A: Well, there's no will to do anything right now. And so that would give them some fun, that.
• 11:47
  Speaker B: Give them some money, because you could get, you know, some of the value of the land. Anyway, so we'll talk about.
• 11:51
  Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. But. So anyway, I've been fighting that a little bit, but anyhow, since the. The situation was built, we did come up with the fair 15 years ago. I've been president of that ever since. And that is the signature event for that facility. And any profits and proceeds of that fair goes back into either scholarships or capital improvements of the facility. And so it was about 2007, I met a man named David Swinford, who was state representative from the Amarillo area and a dear friend of mine personally. And he told me that he had just passed a hotel occupancy tax where the counties could benefit as well as cities. At that time, only cities could benefit from that. And he said, jim, you ought to look into it. So I brought that to the commissioner's court. So anyway, in the year 2000, through State Senator Steve Ogden, we did get that put into effect where we could obtain 2 cents, hotel, motel tax of the 16, I believe, since that's available. 16, 18, something like that. And normally cities were doing that, but now counties that have access to doing that. And so then shortly after that, we went ahead and built the first phase. And then a few years later, with the hotel occupancy tax money coming in we did phase two. Now we've done three and four, and. And so we still have phase five and six yet to go down the line. So it is. It's been a huge success, but it wasn't easy, Randy. And I'll say this. The key to this thing, in my opinion, is to going to. Like I did to the extension group, where that made it a. You know, that the community said it was a need. Then I went to the Chamber of Commerce, where they saw it was a need, and then identifying key opinion leaders in your community to get behind something like this. But as you sell this idea to them, they need to see that the economic impact of such a program or such a facility and what it does. We were handicapped here. We could not have horse shows here. We couldn't. I mean, we're in the center of the golden triangle. We're in the middle of 71% of all the state's population, and we had no facility. And it was just a lack of, I guess, vision and leadership, etc. But today we have one of the nicest facilities in the state, one of the most active facilities in the state. And we're very proud of the staff. And one thing that we did, too, that was an idea that I brought with me from Odessa when I was county agent out there. We made the facility employees, county employees. So they had, you know, county state benefits insurement so that we could retain quality people. And I think that's a key factor in this thing, too, is the staff. You're no better than the people that run it and organize the facility for you.
• 14:53
  Speaker B: Wow. Boy, that's a. You've gone through a lot of phases. It's been 25 years. That's. I mean, when you think about the four phases that you've done in 25 years, you've kind of. Y' all been on it.
• 15:05
  Speaker A: Yes, well, I've been on it since 1986.
• 15:08
  Speaker B: Yeah, I know. Yeah. So it's a long time coming, huh?
• 15:11
  Speaker A: And. And I'm still here, knock on wood. I'm still healthy and I'm still. I'm going to have a meeting with the new county judge tomorrow morning, and we're going to talk a little bit about this history. But I'll say this. I think education is the key. It's too easy to sell negative propaganda.
• 15:29
  Speaker C: And.
• 15:30
  Speaker A: And, you know, I was interviewed just recently in Warsaw, and they want to know why we have so much division out there. And I said, you're the problem. And he looked at me and he said, what do you mean? I said the media. I said we're too easy to create drama and, and opinions versus facts and, and so, you know, we're guilty of that. And, and activity sells, unfortunately.
• 15:53
  Speaker B: Well, you know, if I've, I've been saying this, if it makes you mad, if it makes you sad, if it makes you scared, it's propaganda.
• 16:00
  Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. I agree.
• 16:02
  Speaker B: Yeah, don't listen to it. I don't care if it's on the right or the left. Like I don't even if you think I agree with it, but it makes me mad. Like no, don't, don't listen, don't listen.
• 16:10
  Speaker A: And exactly. So are you any questions that you might have? I mean I've got a, a whole PowerPoint here on the history from 1986 to today. Oh my God. I've documented so that people would know. The other thing is that I, that the founding fathers, myself and the others included do not want anything built on that facility that does not belong to the Expo center and, and managed by the manager. Because if we start letting one group, I know when I was out in Odessa, there's five or six entities that all have their own building, their own facility and then they all get mad about parking during fair or when they have fat stock show or when they have the whatever, you know what I'm saying? And too many chiefs, not enough Indians. The fair manager and expo manager needs to be in control of the whole thing and it needs to be one facility and all under one umbrella.
• 17:02
  Speaker B: Yeah. So why I brought you two together is because I heard that Randy came to visit with you and I, that, that, I think that was the thing that impressed me very first about like thinking, okay, this is being, someone's being thoughtful in this because when you go and you do your homework and you willing to spend days and listen to wise counsel, that, that shows wisdom. And so I want Randy to kind of visit about with us about, like tell us what you did. Like you are, are you the original visionary behind this? And if so like, what did you do to prepare for even thinking like before this became a deal? That makes sense.
• 17:57
  Speaker C: Hillary, thank you for allowing us to come and visit and appreciate the opportunity to talk about a, a very important piece of what's going on in Lubbock right now?
• 18:07
  Speaker B: You know, Randy, let me just say one minute, I'm not sure I did a really good job introducing you. You are. Can you tell us what you do with Western bank and give us a little bit of your history in the area because you're not just like a newcomer.
• 18:22
  Speaker C: Oh well thank you. I am still full time banker. I'm executive vice president with Western bank here in Lubbock. Been in the banking world nearly 15 years but prior to that I was accounting extension agent. So I've known Dr. Jim a long time. One of the best cattle judges that ever walked on the planet State of Texas. So last time I thought Jim he was judging the local County Junior Livestock Show. So it is good to see you Dr. Jim. Thank you Ways But Terry, I like to say that yes I was part of the visionary group back in 2015, 2016. We saw the need that we were outgrowing the facilities we had here. In 2017 the citizens of Lubbock opted to give back the old Citibank Coliseum back to the to Texas Tech with the purpose of that probably facilitated that in the old auditorium being tore down. So there was a group of us, there was 25, 26 that came together and said hey, we've got not only an immediate need but we're going to have a future need of something to take the place of the Coliseum and something that could even be used even for greater things. A venue that could serve the purpose of not only for ag events but also all kinds of multi events type deals whether it be concerts, monster trucks, everything. So that that vision come out of that. And then after a couple meetings I was asked to serve as chairman of that that was in in 2017 and I said yes, I'll be happy to do that. So and so we've held that capacity. I've been chairman of of our Lubbock County Expo Center Board of directors since 2017. We created a 501C3 to start to springboard that and to give us a organization that could be used to spearhead the plan design and also to raise private funds. So with that in mind and then after the vote in 2017 of the people Lubbock to do away at the Coliseum then we put together similar to what Jim spoke of while ago. Dr. Jim spoke up about a hot tax. So we put together a a movement and got a resolution put together a proposition to take to the voters in November 18th. Passed overwhelmingly. Nearly 67% of the voters said you bet, let's go ahead and do it 2 cents and use that as the as the springboard and the initial funding for that. So Dr. Jim, I'll also say this that we used your playbook. Whenever we first started talking about this we went back to look at what McLennan county had done at Waco we looked at what Brazos county had done with Bryant College Station. We went and looked at what Belton had done in Bell county and we went back and looked at how all of these communities put together to one identify their lead and then how do we get there? So we followed your playbook. In fact, a gentleman that you went out and hired a boy named Tom Quarrels and I called him a boy. Tom had been the head man at Houston Livestock show on Rodeo. And you guys went out in Brazos county and grabbed Tom and said, tom, come help us with, with getting.
• 22:01
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 22:03
  Speaker C: Started in this county.
• 22:05
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 22:05
  Speaker C: So I contacted Tom, went down to visit with him. He subsequently came up here, visited with us and was my consularity all through the initial phases and so forth. Hillary with that said, since we started talking about this in 2018, I have personally visited many, many, many facilities and venues all across the state of Texas, eastern New Mexico. We've even gone to North Carolina.
• 22:36
  Speaker A: Wow.
• 22:36
  Speaker C: Florida. We've gone to Oklahoma City, we've gone to Kansas City, Missouri to look at that goodness. Because we just didn't want to say, okay, you know, we, we do this. So to sit down and visit with those managers and those operators and those people to make sure that we had the groundwork done. And so where Brazos county started with phase one, and now as Dr. Jim reported earlier, that they're in already in 15 years. Excuse me, Jim. Dr. Jim, y' all started. When did phase one? Was that in 08?
• 23:14
  Speaker A: Well, we, we opened with our first event in 2020. 207-20-207. Yeah.
• 23:20
  Speaker C: And so phase one. So in a matter of 15 years, you've gone phase one, phase two, phase three, six, four. That gave us the idea then that certainly we love to have the vision we had is that we needed an arena that we could hold a very important event that comes to Lubbock every year called the ABC Rodeo.
• 23:40
  Speaker A: Right.
• 23:41
  Speaker C: Which was started 80 some odd years ago and it's the primary fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Lubbock. When the coliseum was torn down, that took away a facility for us to have the rodeo. Since 2020, 19, 2020, April of 2020, we've been having to have the rodeo in a neighboring city because we did. So when you said while ago, Jim, back in that, that time that that Brian Collins Station was the largest community in the state of Texas without a venue, some type of a dirt event or month event.
• 24:17
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 24:18
  Speaker C: Lubbock carries that standard. And we have since 2018, Lubbock, Texas is the largest Town in the state of Texas, the largest city. Not town. City and community.
• 24:29
  Speaker A: Right.
• 24:29
  Speaker C: It does not have a facility large enough to handle a major rodeo to handle something. We've got some wonderful smaller venues. They can handle weekend robins and handle things like that. But to bring in four or five thousand people.
• 24:44
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 24:45
  Speaker C: Down and enjoy a PRCA top rodeo event.
• 24:48
  Speaker A: Right.
• 24:49
  Speaker C: Don't have that deal. And so that was the inspiration that we had inspired by the good people in Bryan, College Station and Brazos county to give us the ideas and how to move that forward with a high tax idea to stay away from ad valorem. To. To do that. So that's where we got started. And I'm proud to report that we have progressively moved along certainly. And I'm not going to expand on this. All of us know what Covid did to us from 20 even today. Yeah, it's completely changed up the economic side and so forth. So we had, you know, what we had hoped to be able to do economically. We just have to do that. So we've had in the last year to basically go from one plan to go back to another plan. It's an old saying, but a good one. We had to go back and, and say what can we afford? And we can build. Can afford plan call for, you know, a ninety million dollar type investment. Yeah, we've been able to do that. We're in, we're down to a plan now where we're going to be in the, in the mid-60s, 60s, 67. We could do 90, we couldn't do. Okay, new plan in place and do that. So I'm proud to announce that that's moving along. County's on board. People in L. Texas know I say this kindly, that everybody you talk to says, rj, when you gonna get started? Because they know we need it. People want it.
• 26:24
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 26:25
  Speaker C: The problem that you got, Jim, as you run into is that everybody wants it. Everybody knows they need it, but they want somebody else to pay for it.
• 26:34
  Speaker A: That's right. That's right.
• 26:37
  Speaker C: Challenge from our side because our private. We did the hot tax that gave the county the revenue created by the hot tax to be able to go out and sell a bond and to be able to do that.
• 26:51
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 26:51
  Speaker C: Our side on the private side was to go out and raise the difference and do that over a period of time that is working together. Certainly there's challenges about that. Certainly there's cohesiveness that you got to work through. But you know, if something's important enough to you, you're going to figure out how to take care of those challenges.
• 27:10
  Speaker A: That's right.
• 27:10
  Speaker C: You're going to be able to do that. Extension service taught me that, that working together, working cooperative, you're going to get more done than a bunch of individuals do that. So Jim, it's just great to see you.
• 27:23
  Speaker A: Good to see you too.
• 27:26
  Speaker C: Neither your age.
• 27:30
  Speaker A: Well, Randy, what I'll Great, great time.
• 27:33
  Speaker C: To talk and visit and we're excited about the L County Expo Center. Certainly there have been challenges along the way. We have addressed those challenges, we have accepted them. We have found solutions to those challenges. And, and we're, we're moving forward with, with this deal. Everybody wants it. And the first thing is, is when are you going to start? When you go start. Well, give me a check and we'll start tomorrow.
• 28:02
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 28:04
  Speaker C: Well how about next week? I'll be perfect. Yeah, I say that new kindness. But Hillary, we're excited. You look around the state and you see the success. And Dr. Jim talked about this from the very beginning and this was something that Tom Quarles made available to me. The study that A and M had done. Not only potential, but the existing potential economic impact that a venue like this has on the city, on the county and the surrounding area.
• 28:43
  Speaker A: Right.
• 28:43
  Speaker C: And that's what we've espoused from the very beginning, that this venue, if it breaks even operationally, will be jumping for joy. I tell people I'll be doing handsprings right down Broadway if, if he'll break even. But what you've got to look at is past that. The economic impact of people coming to Lubbock for these various events, whether it be a concert, whether it be a rodeo, whether it be a weekend roping, the people that are coming in that stay in our hotels, that shop our. Stay in our restaurant, stay in our hotels, shop in our businesses and our retail, that eat in our restaurants, that buy the fuel. All of that over time to that. Jim, when I looked at that report that the most recent one I think was in 2010.
• 29:30
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 29:30
  Speaker C: Made available to me at that time. It was about a 10 million dollar impact in their study. And I've got, still got a copy of that.
• 29:39
  Speaker A: You know what it is today?
• 29:41
  Speaker C: I think you said over 50 million. About 47 million.
• 29:43
  Speaker A: 47. 47 manually. Yeah.
• 29:48
  Speaker C: In that period of time. And that impacts your sales tax. That impacts everything, everything that goes back to, to coming back, it goes full circle. It's people of the county and the city enjoy that benefit and long term it does that. So we again, not, not to be repetitive, but we sold your playbook. We followed that.
• 30:11
  Speaker A: I'm happy. That's the biggest compliment you could pay somebody.
• 30:17
  Speaker C: It's a good one. And other people have done the same thing. So, Randy, short period of time, but we're. We're moving forward. We're excited. We're excited.
• 30:27
  Speaker B: Well, I'm excited about it, too, and I'm glad that you. You guys have been willing to push, push forward, push through the, you know, the. The struggles that it's been with COVID and other things. And, and that kind of grit and determination is what. What our region is known for. But, you know, like I would say, sometimes the flip side, like, the weakness to that is, like, stubborn and unchanging. That's kind of like our coordinating weakness. And so we're, you know, really pushing into the positives of our. Of our area, which is that determination is. You can see that, you know, that's something that you've done. And I'm going to. I'm going to keep with this. You know, I like people like that. My mother used to tell me the thing that she hated most when I was growing up was to tell me no.
• 31:17
  Speaker C: I understand that too. Of course, not always forever. And you just got to, you know, if you get a no, then you just back up and try to figure out a way to get a yes.
• 31:31
  Speaker B: That's right.
• 31:32
  Speaker A: Certainly.
• 31:33
  Speaker C: We had to do that.
• 31:34
  Speaker B: Yeah. So. So can you give us a little more detail where you guys are with the county right now? You're moving forward?
• 31:41
  Speaker C: Yes.
• 31:42
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 31:42
  Speaker B: And it's going to be out on the original property north of town. It's going to be out on the north.
• 31:48
  Speaker C: North of town, out on what we call North University. And we've got 80 acres out there that are our private side. People have been able to secure back in 2020, and we needed 80 acres of that to the county to be the home of the deal. And again, going back to what Dr. Jim alluded to earlier is that the one thing that all of these places I visited have said, do not land like yourself.
• 32:14
  Speaker A: Exactly.
• 32:15
  Speaker C: Dr. Jim told us, and Tom told us that.
• 32:18
  Speaker A: That.
• 32:18
  Speaker C: That phase one is going to become phase two. And if you're sitting on 10 acres and that 8 acres of that was taken with phase one, what are you going to do if you're landlocked?
• 32:29
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 32:29
  Speaker C: Oh, we went to 80. We've got other lands that could be available to us if needed, because these things are successful.
• 32:36
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 32:37
  Speaker C: And we've already, in our master plan, we've got phase one. We've got Phase two, that'll be an exhibit all we've got. Phase three, that'll be an equestrian bar. We've got an outside arena for phase four, we've got a number of things that we do that. So yes, North University is the place to do it in lbock. There was some talk for a while about being downtown. We were at a crossroads about our fundraising and so forth so we had to look at that. But, but it, it, it the vision and the mission statement would not, would not work in, in downtown Lubbock. We appreciated the city and, and applaud them. Hey, are you reaching out and saying hey what if so we, and we're appreciative of that offer and we love those guys and, and we want. I'm all about downtown redevelopment. I work for a bank and we spend millions of dollars downtown and we'll continue to money. But the vision and the mission statement for the Expo center north of town works a whole lot better and gives us a chance to not only build that initial phase but to have land and availability.
• 33:45
  Speaker B: So that 47 million impact. Have you looked at what, what other industries or I guess industries is the word like but what, what's, what is that comparable to for people to understand like have you looked at that like hey and also this industry brings in X millions of dollars of impact. The ag industry has X million dollars of impact on the city in that, you know what I mean like in that pie chart be interesting to see. You know what that's comparable to the.
• 34:19
  Speaker C: I'm sorry Dr. June.
• 34:20
  Speaker A: No, go ahead, go ahead.
• 34:23
  Speaker C: Our, our Lubbock Economic Development alliance recently asked a group to to do a niche study for the city of Lubbock. And back in October we heard the results of that niche study and it was pretty impactful. What they indicated the amount of economic impact that a facility like this would be. They looked at it from what if we went downtown? What if we put it on North University also they did this to show the city of Lubbock what the needs are. A renovation of our existing civic center, the need of a, of a 5 star, 200 room, 250 room major hotel downtown Lubbock to bring, to draw folks into Lubbock that renovate our civic center and then possibility of combining that with the Expo. And it was pretty interesting to see. But that study really shed light on exactly what Dr. Jim spoke and I spoke earlier about what a facility like this, the economic impact and they gave some pretty good numbers about the effect it would be. That's the closest Thing tillery to what we've had as far as a comprehensive study about dollar wise and about that impact. But this group, you know, independent third party comes in, talks to people, talks to industries, talks to everybody and then formulates this deal based upon what they've seen in other communities, other cities, other counties about what it could be. But bottom line is folks, the quicker you could get this done, the better off you're going to be for the entire populace of Lubbock County.
• 36:02
  Speaker B: Well, not just. I mean Lubbock's called. It's the hub for a reason.
• 36:06
  Speaker C: Absolutely.
• 36:07
  Speaker B: I mean you're talking about Hobbes, New Mexico. I mean Portales, Clovis. I mean all of that area. Yeah, that we're just, we're a big hub.
• 36:21
  Speaker C: Lubbock itself's roughly 300,000. You know, when you pick up the communities around us, we're, we're closer to 450 probably. And then you go out to that 60 mile radius. Now we're, now we're in a half a million people that are going to be affected. We have as many people coming to us from Clovis, Lovington, Artesia, Hobbs. I mean people come this direction. There's not a day goes by that you don't seem to make no tags on cars all over. Absolutely. And then you go south, you know, you pick up the communities down there. Yeah, but when you go south and you look at Schneider. Got a very nice coliseum water. I was in there for a big sale a couple weeks ago. A couple months ago Dr. G got a beautiful facility in Sweden. And then I come back to Lubbock and I'm going, holy smokes. You know guys, get rolling.
• 37:14
  Speaker B: Well, I think it also, you know, it's easy when you're in Lubbock and I mean I'm ag every day and. But live in Lubbock and so I think about it all the time. But you know, if you're not in that world at all and you live in Lubbock, it's really easy to forget how many people are in that world where we are and the impact that it has. And so it can seem like inconsequential to other people that, that aren't in that world. And I think it's part of this is, is us. We always say this, you know, in agriculture all the time it's about telling our story. And, and I think this is another place where, you know, it's a chance for us to say thank you to those people that are in ag. Like we know that you're coming here. We know that you're eating at the restaurants in Lubbock, we know that you're shopping here. We know that you are spending your dollars here. It at the cost of your own community at times. So to me it is, it is a way for us to say it's a thank you. It's a thank you and we appreciate what you're doing and we want something that, that reflects our appreciation for the impact that you have on our region and, and on our daily lives. Because we are just so, we're just, we're just so far away anymore, even though we're right here. You know, we're just not involved every day. So I think it's a great selling point too to say these are the people that are feeding and clothing you. And let's find a way for, for us to, to make a tribute to that, to that effort.
• 39:08
  Speaker C: Absolutely. And, and Hillary, so well spoken, so well said. Certainly AG has been the key and will continue to be in our, in our part of the world. Granted, you know, we've got great medical, we've got Texas Tech that's growing. Things abound. I guess we're going to be over 40 enrollments. Probably we're 40 now. And I can remember when Dr. Chancellor Hands was talking about, man, I'm working hard to get us to third and getting boat. And it went right past that little Christian university. I mean, we've got education, medical. But yet again, the, the, the driver of all this is the AG community.
• 39:51
  Speaker B: It is, and it's suffering. We're really, really, I mean, those people are suffering right now.
• 39:56
  Speaker C: Years in the ag community has been absolutely frightening. It really is. So we've got it, We've got to have some turnaround there. And certainly that's impacted our abilities with, with raising and so forth, because it has.
• 40:11
  Speaker B: Sure, absolutely. But, but let. I hope that what I'm saying is an encouragement to entities, corporations that, that aren't specifically ag adjacent to think about investing in this as, as a thank you as. Because even if you aren't in the ag industry, you're impacted by it. And, and that this is just such a great way for us all to come together and do something and, and to be able to use that facility for other, you know, things that could educate our urban, our urban neighbors. But 47 million is the current numbers annually of an impact of a facility like this. This facility, like every other facility like, it will not start out at phase six, it will start out at phase one. So if people are hearing it's going to be too small. That's because we're going to do it in a way that makes sense. We're going to do it in phases. And eventually, whatever it is that you want that it's too small for, it won't be too small for.
• 41:22
  Speaker C: My oldest grandson is 18 years old, and a gentleman came up to him at a recent Jackpot Pig show that knows me pretty well and knows our family pretty well. And he said, Tristan, your, Your granddad's going to get the Expo Center. That group's going to get it done. But in 10 years they're going to walk up to you and say, why did your granddad build it so small? Shared that with me and I said, well, that's probably right because. Because what you're. What we're having to do now is to do the phases and that with the resources that we've got.
• 42:00
  Speaker B: Right.
• 42:00
  Speaker C: The funding that we've got, we're building what we can do.
• 42:03
  Speaker A: Right.
• 42:03
  Speaker C: And so I don't, I don't know if I go back to Dr. Jim, you remember back in the 70s and 80s that Lubbock was kind of the hub, all of the breed associations, whether it was pigs.
• 42:16
  Speaker A: Yes. Yeah.
• 42:18
  Speaker C: And in Bell county, the light came on at Belton and they said, you know, what if we took our existing facilities and we added to them and we renovated and we do that. And Belton went in at that point in time and did a makeover of their deal in Belton, Texas, and boom, everybody went to Belton because facilities were improved, they were air conditioned, they would do that. All of the breed associations, everybody went there.
• 42:46
  Speaker B: Wow.
• 42:47
  Speaker C: And so when people say to me, well, these things don't make money, they don't do that, I go, and if that's the case, why are everybody, why are these other communities, other cities in Texas building these things? Because don't look at just the operational again, Jim. Go back and look at the economic impact.
• 43:07
  Speaker A: Yeah. I can tell you our facility, not.
• 43:12
  Speaker C: Only that, but then they added and they added and they added. Drive to Colorado City. No, no. Drive to Stanton, Texas, and look at what Mills county has just completed down there. 150 million dollar deal. It's absolutely gorgeous now.
• 43:29
  Speaker A: Wow.
• 43:30
  Speaker C: Well, they've got the wind and they got the oil and they got this and that and the other. But how in the world can, can you say that? Okay, are those people dumb? No, those people are smart.
• 43:43
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 43:44
  Speaker C: People that have done these things are smart because they. Look at that. When I have some of our leadership Say to me, well, these things don't make money. We don't need to do it. Look past that. Look at what it, what it does. So those people were visionaries, right?
• 44:00
  Speaker A: Yeah, it's an, it's an investment in your community.
• 44:05
  Speaker C: Bring short term and long term. You can't put a, you can't put a pencil to that.
• 44:10
  Speaker A: Right.
• 44:10
  Speaker C: The vision, the visionary.
• 44:13
  Speaker A: Well, well, let me say this. When we were promoting this facility, we did not say that this thing itself was going to make money. We promoted the economic impact facility. Today is in the black. I mean, they do bring it enough to pay for the staff and you know, the maintenance and things like that. But it's not making big money. It's. But it's paying for itself. I mean, it's a, it's a flush budget. But it's the economic impact that we were trying to tell. Because, you know, it's not only the hotels and restaurants and gas stations and things like that, but it's also the, the, the, the. The stores like Cavenders for example, you know, a machinery, we got a. Rent machinery a lot of times to set up and take down out there. There's so many other things that are spin offs. And we have. We had 465 event days last year. And that's a hundred days more than, you know, 100 events more than we have days. But we had multiple events out there.
• 45:11
  Speaker B: Wow.
• 45:12
  Speaker A: We've got enough facility out there. We've got. We're not landlocked. And as long as I'm here, we're not going to be landlocked. But anyway, that. We got different ways people can come in. We can have a wedding, a quincetta, a rope and a rodeo all at one time. Wow. And so, you know, and we've got the staff to do it and they're all, like I said, county employees. Back to Tom Quarles. He was godsent when he came on board. We took him from Houston and came here. He retired there and then he worked for us for a number of years and helped us get off the ground. And one thing that he did teach us, and this was before there was such a thing as a buc EE's is it's customer service and clean restrooms. And that was the Bucky's model. That's the Bucky's model. Okay. That's one of them. You know, cheap gas too, and clean restrooms. But, but Tom said this place has got to be clean, you know, and customer service because you can get them in the door One time, It's the second time, they may not come back. And so that model Tom taught us, and we're still, we're still playing that.
• 46:19
  Speaker C: To this day and paying dividends for you. Dr. Jim is so funny. One of the things that Tom talked about, and this is how basic we got in talking about the various portions of the venue, certainly the arena and, and what that would do. But then we're going to be doing an exhibit hall that would be able to serve for trade shows and things, but also livestock. And Jim or doctor, I mean, Tom says to me now, rj, if you've got a water faucet anywhere in that facility, you've got to have a big drain underneath that water faucet.
• 46:56
  Speaker A: That's another thing for my.
• 47:00
  Speaker C: It's so funny how when you said that about the, the very simple things that Tom espoused that. That pays dividends for you, customer service, all those little things. So all of those notes that I took for dominant, I shared that with our contractors and our people and they're going, damn, we would never thought about that.
• 47:20
  Speaker A: Right. And if you look where the electrical is, is up in the ceiling, it's dropped down. So that.
• 47:28
  Speaker C: Abilene built a beautiful facility down there. But the first event they had, they figured out they didn't have enough electricity. It was all a simple matter of throwing another switch. But they didn't know that. Well, they were grabbing generators and stuff. So you learn, they said to you, if we, if we'd have known that, we'd have done this.
• 47:47
  Speaker A: Well, when we started, we didn't have Tom. Tom came in after the facility was under construction and he saved us a lot in change orders. But there was one thing I told him that we had to have was parking and electricity.
• 48:00
  Speaker C: Yes.
• 48:01
  Speaker A: And not to be landlocked and, and insulated roofs because it's hot down here because of the humidity. I mean, at night at least it cools down in love, you know. But. But if you'll notice, all our facilities are insulated. We'll have a piece of tin underneath and tin on top, but insulation for the roof that knocks off 10 degrees. And. And so when we have the big fans that we have, it's very comfortable here when it's 100 degrees here with the high humidity because there's some wind moving. Yeah. Inside.
• 48:32
  Speaker C: Aren't y' all still hosting the state four horse show?
• 48:34
  Speaker A: Yes, sir. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
• 48:38
  Speaker C: They wouldn't be coming there if it wasn't comfortable.
• 48:43
  Speaker B: Well, guys, this has been great. Exactly what I wanted. I wanted exactly what I was, I had in mind. And I'm, I'm really grateful. Of course. Dr. Jim, a man of many interest and talents and tons of energy. And Randy Jordan, a pioneer leader in our community. And thank you both for your efforts, for what you're doing for your neighbors. Sometimes it's appreciated and sometimes it's not. Sometimes it will be in 10 or 20 years. But we appreciate it and we're grateful that you joined us today. Thank you so much. And friends, thank you for joining us for this episode of Conservation Stories. And I hope that you will join us again next time. And Randy, we're going to put all the information and links for people to go to the website and I'll just encourage you all to think about what, what that will mean, that facility will mean for the people in agriculture. And I encourage you to hear it's the end of the year. If you need to get tax break. Even if you don't, it's a good time to give. So thank you all.
• 49:51
  Speaker C: One real quick. I've been so blessed to have worked with some great people in this project and truly believe they're gifts from God.
• 50:02
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 50:02
  Speaker C: And a young lady that's sitting here beside me now that has come to us and her and her family have moved to this area and she's brought us a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge about these facilities. And that was a God thing. I truly believe it. So without Amber, a lot of what we've seen had done like this. She's been a champion for us.
• 50:21
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 50:22
  Speaker C: Dr. Jim was a champion. To see the vision of what Brazos county needed and what it could do for that community and for the citizens of Brazos county and Bryant Collins Station. And I'm blessed to have had a great volunteer group around me. And then we put together a team that's allowed us to move this forward. Yeah, without that, I'm just a. I'm just a. I jokingly say I'm here for eye candy.
• 50:53
  Speaker B: Absolutely. Absolutely.
• 50:57
  Speaker C: Well, see you again and enjoy. Sorry it was missing like this, but we'll need to make time and, and do that. Some great memories. One last thing.
• 51:06
  Speaker B: Yes, sir.
• 51:06
  Speaker C: The extension service taught Jim and myself both not to be quitters. There's always challenges. If you've got the right vision and you got the right state of mind, you can make it happen. I'm not a quitter. I could have quit. Just saying it would have probably been better for my health and everything. My family would have said, hey, we get to speak, but we're not quitters. And we want things to be, to be better for the community short term and long term. And the generations. Look at there, Dr. Jim, what he started in 20, 25 years later, two generations now are enjoying the fruits of his labor. Because of that, my grandkids and my great grandkids will enjoy the expo for the generations to come. That's what it's all about. I think about all the great things that have happened. In love with somebody somewhere. Had to be Randy Jordan. Had to be Jim.
• 52:05
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 52:08
  Speaker C: And then people carrying on so.
• 52:10
  Speaker B: Well, let me, I want to say Randy to that point and I know we're going over my producers lifting her finger over and over and over. Just kidding. No, let me tell you, I want to tell you something, Randy. I was at the Southwest Corner Collection not long ago at Texas Tech looking through their records because I was curious about the Ropesville resettlement, which is a talk, something to talk about in depth at another time. But this was projects that came out of the New Deal and they were basically cooperative farms that the government put together and interviewed people to come out there and live. And they did, I think around 30 maybe or so these around the country. And the one at Rose Robesville was one of the top two most successful. And the thing that stood out to me is that the applicant for this grant and the USDA project was the Chamber of Commerce for Lovett, Texas. And, and that reminds, this, reminds me of that, that effort. So that's a whole nother episode story. But thank you guys so much for your time. We really appreciate it. Thanks. Bye bye.
• 53:16
  Speaker A: Thank you so much.
• 53:17
  Speaker C: See you in a short row.
• 53:18
  Speaker A: Okay, God bless.