Three new Corpus Christi Walmarts opened Wednesday October 26th, 2011. The openings, all one hour apart beginning at 7:30 a.m., marked the first time the retail chain has opened three locations in one city on the same day. The first opening was at the Parkdale Plaza location at 4081 Staples Street. The second opening at 8:30 a.m. was on the Southside at 6101 Saratoga Blvd. and the third opening at 9:30 a.m. was in Flour Bluff at 1250 Flour Bluff Dr. All three stores had packed parking lots for the openings. The three stores replaced two older stores and added a new one. The openings created 400 new jobs in the community.

Baker Hughes has purchased approximately 30 acres of land off of Clarkwood Rd. and State Highway 44 with plans to develop a 140,000 square foot facility of office and operational workspace.  They will invest nearly $20 million in real estate, equipment, and personal property.  They plan to relocate 40 employees to this site and add 75 new positions.

“M&G Group, an international PET resin manufacturer, has chosen to locate its third North American plant in Corpus Christi. This expansion is expected to create at least 250 direct jobs at the facility and generate several millions in capital investment. The total economic impact of the new plant in Corpus Christi is expected to be $4.8 billion over 10 years, according to Corpus Christi’s Regional Economic Development Corporation. The EDC also anticipates direct and indirect payroll resulting from the new plants to reach $780 million during that same time period.” 

 Martin Midstream Partners recently converted an option into a full lease with the Port of Corpus Christi.  The company will pay $250,000 annual rent to build and operate a tank farm on port property for five years with extendible terms.

Cheniere Energy Inc. has a six-month lease option worth $126,750 for land at the La Quinta Terminal.  The company is reserving the land for a possible Eagle Ford gas processing plant valued at 1.7 billion dollars.

Koch Pipeline Co. announced plans in April to add a 20 inch pipeline with a capacity of 250,000 barrels of oil per day from Pettus to Corpus Christi to the company's existing network by mid-2012.

Corpus Christi — The job market in Corpus Christi grew faster and has more momentum than most cities across the country, according to a ranking published by Forbes Magazine.
The magazine listed Corpus Christi No. 2 on its 2011 Best Cities for Jobs list in the midsized category, which are communities with fewer than 450,000 jobs.
Corpus Christi ranked 12th overall when its growth trends and momentum were measured against all cities.” 

The Texas Workforce Commission has estimated 12,500 new jobs have been created since the startup of the Eagle Ford's oil field. In addition, 65,000 new jobs are projected over the next five years.

Cornell Carriers’ lease with the Port has been approved. They will be entering a lease for three years with options to renew on two buildings totaling approximately 87,000 square feet.  Cornell Carriers is in the business of sorting, bagging and delivering various grades on fracking sands to the oil industry during the drilling process.
They will be hiring 35 new employees.

Texas A&M at Corpus Christi has purchased the Wells Fargo building on Flour Bluff and has opened the cities first Innovation Center to assist nearly 60 startup companies having innovative concepts for the private sector and transfer of technology.

KST Electric, which was purchased by Rosendin Electric, is the largest private electrical contractor in the U.S.  They have purchased a 16,000 square foot facility on Saratoga and the Crosstown where they will retain 60 existing jobs and hire an additional 20 employees. 

Kiewit Offshore Services and Gulf Marine Fabricators announced their plans to hire over 1,000 new employees in their response to new projects in the Gulf of Mexico

Corpus Christi Army Depot will hire over 1,000 new employees in the next three years. They already have over 6,000 employees.

Topaz Power has purchased two gas fired power plants previously owned by CP&L in Flour Bluff and at the Port of Corpus Christi.  They have invested over $800 million in the two plants and are now in operation.

The former Naval Station Ingleside has been placed under contract with Canyon Supply & Logistics for the development of a multipurpose site which will create more than 2,000 new jobs.

Fed Ex, in partnership with the Corpus Christi International Airport has leased 8.18 acres of land and is developing a new 70,000 square foot ground facility.

Developers broke ground Friday Aug. 5^th on the 2.5 acre Hurricane Alley Water Park next to Whataburger Field.  The water park, planned by Innovative Leisure Partners, a Houston company, and Corpus Christi’s Durrill family, will open by Spring 2012.