Vol. 3, No. 3, December 2018
Amit Bhandari, CEO of West Plains LLC (third from right), is pictured with the Chairman’s Award along with company representatives present during the Customer Appreciation Luncheon held Dec. 4, 2018, at the Ambassador Event Center in Brownsville, Texas.
2018 Chairman’s Award Presented to West Plains LLC
The Port of Brownsville presented West Plains LLC with its 2018 Chairman’s Award in recognition of the company’s investments and rehabilitation efforts of the port’s iconic grain elevator.

Brownsville Navigation District Chairman John Reed presented the award to West Plains CEO Amit Bhandari at the port’s annual customer appreciation luncheon, Dec. 4. The event was attended by nearly 200 guests, including local, regional and state public officials, port tenants, community and regional business leaders.
Public Opinion Survey Results Revealed
The Port of Brownsville completed its first public opinion survey of port tenants, logistics, stakeholders and other service personnel, revealing that 95 percent view the port favorably, with 57 percent of respondents planning to increase their port business activity in the next year.

Overall, the Port of Brownsville’s future is promising with 94 percent of respondents stating the port is vital in creating a positive impact in the U.S. economy.

Other key findings from the survey:

  • IMPACTFUL: Ninety-five percent of respondents are favorable towards the port, with 82 percent citing that the port has a very positive impact on the Brownsville economy. Respondents believe that the Port of Brownsville positively impacts the economies around it, particularly Texas as a whole, thanks to steady job creation and the port’s position in global trade.

  • IMPROVING: Seventy-one percent of respondents say their opinions of the port have improved during the past five years.The Port of Brownsville has become a major economic player responsible for more than 44,000 jobs and with $43 billion in potential new projects in development.

  • EXPANDING: Fifty-seven percent of respondents say they’ll do more business with the port in 2019, with 80 percent citing excellent to good intermodal connections. The majority of its clients agree that the port has the resources needed to help maintain and grow their businesses. Across the board, those who do business with the Port of Brownsville expect to do the same amount of or more business with the port in the next year.
The Port of Brownsville has seen an increase in truck traffic in recent years, registering more than 300,000 truck movements in 2017. The port has issued more than 28,000 truck permits for overweight corridor usage so far in 2018.
Port of Brownsville Receives TxDOT Grant
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has awarded the Port of Brownsville a $1.5 million Rider 45 grant to enhance the port’s intermodal connectivity, further facilitating domestic and international trade in the Rio Grande Valley.

The state funds will be used for the construction of the South Port Connector Project, which is part of the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority’s (CCRMA) East Loop Corridor plan. When complete, the port connector road will span two miles and will connect Ostos Road at the port with State Highway 4.
Brownsville Navigation District Chairman John Reed, center, cuts the ribbon during the official grand opening of the new administration office complex Nov. 1, 2018.
A Grand Opening Indeed!
The Port of Brownsville held an official dedication ceremony for the grand opening of the completely repurposed and enlarged administration office complex at 1000 Foust Road.

More than 200 people attended the event held Nov. 1. Guest were treated with a tour of the building complex, live music, food and refreshments.

The $8 million expansion/ renovation adds more than 7,000 square feet of new office space for a total of 21,816 square feet, including a special area dedicated to the port’s 82-year history, featuring maritime memorabilia and photographs.
Annova LNG Project Advances with Resumption of Permit Review
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) resumed its Section 10/404 Department of Army permitting process for Annova LNG, in response to the project’s timely data request submission.

This resumption supports the timeline to receive federal approval by July 2019 as indicated in the  August release of the FERC Notice of Schedule  for the Annova LNG project.
BROWNSVILLE NAVIGATION DISTRICT BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

Chairman

Vice-Chairman

Secretary

Commissioner

Commissioner
PORT OF BROWNSVILLE ADMINISTRATION

Port Director & CEO


Contact Us:
Ph:  956.831.4592 / 800.378.5395
Fax:  956.831.5006
CALENDAR
December 7
Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

December 18
BND Board Meeting at 2 p.m.

December 21
Winter Begins

December 25
Christmas -  Port offices closed Dec. 24-25

December 26
Kwanzaa Begins
Boxing Day (Canada)

January 1
New Year's Day -  Port offices closed Dec. 31 and Jan. 1
Kwanzaa Ends

January 2
BND Board Meeting

January 16
BND Board Meeting

January 21
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

February 2
Groundhog Day
Photo Courtesy of Short Line Connector Magazine

Norma Torres, President and COO of the Brownsville and Rio Grande Railway, is the first female president of a short line railroad in Texas.
From Customer Service to President
Short Line Connector Magazine features in its Fall 2018 issue stories of female leaders who are shaping the short line and regional rail industry in the U.S.

One of those leaders is Norma Torres, President and COO of the Brownsville and Rio Grande Railway (BRG). Read Norma's success story HERE.
Donated Caboose to Become Children's Library
Once upon a time there was a lonely caboose, fenced off and neglected for years until the day it was befriended by humans, given a fresh paint job and a new purpose in life: making children happy — through books.

It’s not a fairly tale: The newly refurbished caboose in Brownsville’s Linear Park will begin a new chapter as a children’s library early next year, possibly by March.

Donated to the city of Brownsville by the Brownsville & Rio Grande International Railway through the efforts of the Raul "Mr. B" Besteiro Jr. family, the caboose was placed in Linear Park in 2007. It weathered the elements behind a chain-link fence, largely ignored, until early this year when the city and Brownsville Preservation Society teamed up to restore it.

The city budgeted $40,000 for the restoration, while BPS coordinated the project, which involved sandblasting, painting, construction of a new platform and getting rid of the fence. Almost the only thing left is to put up signs denoting the historical significance and recognizing those who contributed, BPS President Trey Mendez said.
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