thought about running for any office at the time .”
“ Things went on . I was building a business . Her activities did influence the boys . One boy is a judge now , and the youngest son runs the family business and sits on Behind the Badge Board , which helps a lot of families whose loved ones lost their lives in their service to the community . I was in a business partnership for 23 years . In 2003 , I offered to buy the business I help founded . With a different vision I took a different direction . GreenScape Associates , LLC was born in 2004 .
“ In 2014 , the longest running mayor for the City of Rosenberg , called me up and asked me to run for mayor . I was taken back . When I do anything , I am going to give it a hundred percent . So I talked to my wife . My son Justin had a background in IT . He was at that time helping me to take our business to another level in technology . So , I told them that if I decided to take this job , I needed him to stay on and be my eyes and ears . My opponent was a lady who grew up in Rosenberg and was part of a family business , so I knew it was going to be a challenging race .”
The result of that race launched his career in public service and new beginnings for Ft . Bend . Immediately following the election , he said he rolled up his sleeves and went to work making Rosenberg a desirable location for major business , creating a greater tax base and making Rosenberg attractive for entrepreneurs . He worked with a developer to take a land parcel that was going to be single family starter homes to create the Rosenberg Business Park . As a partner with another company , he acted on the knowledge that business wants infrastructure in place so that they do not have to worry about any of the infrastructure . That tract is now a 184 acre business park . The first tax abatement went to Tex Pharma , the first manufacturing facility to come to Rosenberg with 300 jobs . That was the aftermath of his term as Mayor .
Long and involved negotiations for a major national grocery distribution corporation , Aldi USA put Rosenberg in the national spotlight . They began with 12 possible site locations . The list came down to Pearland and Rosenberg . The site broker wanted $ 1.2 million in incentives from the City . He talked with the now Mayor of Sugar Land , Joe Zimmerman , also
former engineer for the firm that worked with Aldi , at the TML Conference in Grapevine , and told him that he really wanted to meet with a decision maker . Joe Zimmerman said he would see what he could do . At the meeting that finally happened , he told the company that he could not offer the $ 1.2 million , but he could guarantee them the best experience they would ever have . He offered instead $ 500,000 in infrastructure because that would leave the city an asset should they leave . Now it is 650,000 square feet of distribution and regional headquarters . Doing the
math , the project saved the taxpayers $ 600,000 plus and provided 150 plus jobs . At the ground-breaking for the building , the Aldi Management said that the deciding factor for the location was the way in which the County and the city of Rosenberg work together , all part of his plan , in economic development and in improving the quality of life for both the County and the City . Now that land formerly agricultural , provides a $ 60 million taxable value that benefits Rosenberg , Fort Bend County and LCISD .
Visiting internationally abroad and working with international companies , he has become involved in trying to attract foreign businesses to Fort Bend County . In his own words , Ft . Bend is the most diverse county in the nation and has become the model of what the United States will become .
He is recognized for his economic development and job growth efforts . Ultimately , he wants people to look back and say he not only helped his generation , but also other generations to come .
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