UTSA Small Business Development Center Opens Office in Texas’ Eagle Ford Shale Area.

Education Letter November 30, 2011 To reinforce business development efforts through The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Institute for Economic Development’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and to help communities become sustainable during the oil and gas play, UTSA will open today a SBDC Information Center in Carrizo Springs. The center is located within the Middle Rio Grande Development Workforce Solutions offices at 307 W. Nopal St., Carrizo Springs, Texas 78834. in our site eagle ford shale

The center is a partnership among the SBDC Rural Business Program, South-West Texas Border SBDC Network and Sul Ross State University-Rio Grande College SBDC.

The Eagle Ford Shale, believed to be one of the most significant oil and gas discoveries in the country, now provides more than 12,000 workers with full-time jobs. Communities are welcoming the growth that the activity brings but are having challenges associated with such a dramatic economic upturn.

“The Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas play will bring economic prosperity to the region and for the state,” said Gil Gonzalez, director of the UTSA SBDC Rural Business Program.

Resources available at the SBDC Information Center will include consulting for small businesses, workshops for communities and a Bid2Biz Pipeline to connect oil and gas companies to local small businesses from the area.

“All of us working in the Rural Business Program are looking forward to the opening of our office in Carrizo Springs and the opportunity to enhance local business development within the Eagle Ford Shale area,” said Marc Roy, project manager for the Rural Business Program.

The Rural Business Program in collaboration with the Center for Community and Business Research (CCBR) at the UTSA Institute for Economic Development released a Workforce Analysis in the Eagle Ford Shale in May 2011 which provided an analysis of the impact that the oil and gas activity potentially has in the region. website eagle ford shale

In addition, the Rural Business Program is currently conducting a Strategic Analysis of the Middle Rio Grande Region with the UTSA College of Architecture that will focus on sustainable choices for the growing demand of housing in the Eagle Ford Shale region. The housing study is expected in February 2012.

By 2020, the estimated economic impact from activity in the Eagle Ford Shale is expected to reach more than $10.1 billion with a projected 31,705 new jobs in the six-county area in which the shale is concentrated.

“Our goal is to integrate business, community and workforce development services under one roof to create the synergy for sustainable development for the region,” Gonzalez said.

For more information, contact the UTSA Rural Business Program at 210-458-2046 or marc.roy@utsa.edu. About UTSA The University of Texas at San Antonio is one of the fastest growing higher education institutions in Texas and one of nine academic universities and six health institutions in the UT System. As a multicultural institution, UTSA aims to be a national research university providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.

UTSA serves more than 30,000 students in 135 degree programs in the colleges of Architecture, Business, Education and Human Development, Engineering, Honors, Liberal and Fine Arts, Public Policy, Sciences and Graduate School. Founded in 1969, UTSA is an intellectual and creative resource center and a socioeconomic development catalyst for Texas and beyond. More information online at www.utsa.edu/today.