TOWARD A NEW REGIONAL ECONOMIC ORDER
B
y 2018, the impacts of those industrial facilities will shift from primarily constructionrelated employment, which is temporary in nature, to permanent, manufacturing-oriented
employment. A key distinction of those capital intensive heavy manufacturing facilities is its
high value added relative to other industries, such as retail trade. Moreover, unlike retail trade,
those industries are primarily export oriented, so that they will add the underlying sources of longterm regional economic growth.
PARADIGM SHIFT
The economy of the Coastal Bend is about to transform into a heavy manufacturing center
with increasing exports to overseas markets. The economic gravity of Corpus Christi will also be
shifting from the more populated Nueces County to the less developed San Patricio County. Should
Texas’ shale oil and natural gas supplies continue to flow into the region as feedstock and energy
input, those newly developed industrial facilities would continue to be drivers for the regional
economy.
38
. . .this
development
in Corpus
Christi
marked a
milestone for
transforming
Corpus
Christi into
an energy
hub. . .
In addition to industrial materials, such as iron, steel and plastic, energy companies are
capitalizing on the logistical advantage of the Port of Corpus Christi for processing the abundant
supply of shale oil and gas in South Texas. In May 2015, Cheniere Energy Inc. received federal
approval to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its facility under construction near the city of
Gregory. After more than 40 years of a ban on oil exports by the U.S. government, this development
in Corpus Christi marked a milestone for transforming Corpus Christi into an energy hub for the
rest of the world.
Annual Review of South Texas Economy