The City of San Angelo announced a new Economic Development Executive Director. It is the current Assistant Finance Director Ryan Gaddy. He replaces Assistant City Manager Michael Dane, who acted as in that role since Guy Andrews surprise retired in August 2022. Dane will retire from the City on January 2, 2026.
Gaddy's appointment speaks to the current stance of the Development Corporation, creating financial packages for new employers (regardless of how few actual jobs are provided on a long term basis). Council approved an 85% tax abatement for three years for Peregrine Energy's Project Zeppelin. The City would receive $351,000 in taxes over years 1-3, while Peregrine gets a $2.4 million tax break.
The Development Corporation under his leadership "facilitated data center site development tied to renewable energy access." And none of that has come before City Council to date.
It's unclear which Texas data centers will have the required power to operate. CNBC reported:
Cheap land and cheap energy are combining to attract a flood of data center developers to the state. The potential demand is so vast that it will be impossible to meet by the end of the decade, energy experts say.
Quote worth noting from the story:
“We know it’s not all real. The question is how much is real.”
Hopefully, City Council and Executive Director Gaddy won't give away the store to Skybox or its major customers, AI or otherwise. One might expect Council to come up with some parameters for such development.
Surely Skybox needs access to city water, fire and police services. Providing those for an entity outside city limits is doable. Pricing that at the margin is asking Skybox to pay the incremental costs for adding that new level of service. Add massive tax breaks, like Project Zeppelin's, and the city may not achieve that shift from residential dominated tax collections to majority corporate contributed.
It remains to be seen what subsidies the city plans to provide Skybox. Michael Dane's retirement letter to the City did not mention future plans and it may just be fishing area streams and lakes. Or he could be fishing for city subsidies on behalf of an economic development target company or two.
Dane can lever his public service experience on behalf of current or future private sector efforts. Former Assistant City Manager Elizabeth Grindstaff did just that with her work for Texas Pacifico Railroad and then Texas Central Partners, a developer of a high speed rail project between Houston and Dallas. Grindstaff is currently a client services leader with engineering firm Freese & Nichols.
The hiring finally gave the Development Corporation news it can post to its website. I took the liberty of mocking up such a piece and it's the lead image for this article.
Another new player is in place. Stay tuned for future developments on the economic front.
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