I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday season and I know we are all looking forward to 2021 being over. There’s so much going on in Wallis development, it’s difficult to talk about anything that hasn’t been signed on the dotted line. Lots of eyes are on Wallis.

Working together with the city council, our economic development committee endeavors to assist businesses that are interested in developing in Wallis. I am chairman and lead the meetings but there are other board members that it takes to make everything work.

Marti Frost-Turner is the only one that has economic development experience early in her career with the City of Houston. Together, we attend all meetings, serve on committees, interact with developers, the mayor and city council. I’m amazed sometimes at the different perspectives we each absorb from a meeting or event. I would not attempt doing this job without her as we are able to trade off each other’s strengths and weaknesses. She even corrects my agendas or articles that I’ve written (if I give it to her) because her perspective or memory is different than mine. So, there’s not one chairman, there’s really two.

James King, known for his construction business but also his 20-plus years of service on city council. James has so much historical information stored in his memory it’s amazing. We worked with James on several grants to mitigate flooding in the downtown area. Projects he’s familiar with because of his vast knowledge of the infrastructure of Wallis. His deep love of Wallis and its citizens is evident when he serves on city council or the EDC.

Tom Turner is a volunteer at Austin County Appraisal District as well as our secretary. He helps with property owner information and valuation as things are increasing rapidly in Wallis. He keeps us organized and on track during meetings.

Mallori Ramey is a local realtor that is vital to our board for handling transaction sales and purchases. She keeps us informed of sales in the area, market trends and contacts property owners as needed. I don’t think you could have an EDC without a realtor on board.

Belinda Halfin also Chairs the Wallis Chamber of Commerce, serves on the grant committee for city council, the Rails to Trails and Broadband committees. Pretty much everything good for Wallis, Belinda is involved. She is another source for us to keep up to date on current happenings.

Gloria Long is our local food truck owner that also chairs our food truck committee. We seek her advice because she also owned a restaurant in Wallis, works with the school district and so much more. She currently is formulating plans for our food truck court to be a fun destination for all. More to come on this topic.

This makes up your EDC committee but there’s so much more these volunteers do for you. I am limited to 500 words so it’s impossible to list all their efforts; say hello and thank them when you see them in town. Here’s to an exciting 2022 for Wallis!