JUDGE: Economic development is vital to success of county

By Steve Young, Milam County Judge

Economic development is critical to all of Milam County.  More business equals more jobs and more tax revenues. This week we had some very positive developments regarding economic development.  

BITMAIN

Bitmain came to Milam County last fall and the company leased buildings and other facilities to put in a bitcoin mining operation. Bitmain spent tons of money to renovate the old potrooms to raise ceilings and put in concrete floors.  However, the price of the bitcoin went down with the stock market and the company decided to halt its operations.  

Last Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, I met with three senior officials from Bitmain to discuss the company’s plans for the future. The bottom line is that the project is going forward!  Bitmain plans to have its mining operation up and running this summer with over 180,000 “ant miners” in operation. The ant miners are the computers that actually mine the authentication for the bitcoins.  

Bitcoins are being used more and more as currency. One can buy bitcoin at some ATM machines and Amazon is considering using bitcoins in its business.  This would certainly help the price of bitcoins, help Bitmain and thus Milam County.  Bitmain is currently hiring to help with general installation work and anyone that is interested should contact Workforce Solutions of Central Texas, (512) 446-6440.

BUTLER WELDMENTS

Sometimes in our haste for getting a “new” business in the county we overlook what we already have.  We have some great assets in the county and one of those is Butler Weldments.  Butler is located in Cameron and is a large manufacturer of fabricated metal products.  Butler is doing very well, and it has a substantial contract with the United States Navy. Many of its products are designed and produced especially for the Navy.  Butler pays a good wage and it is currently hiring welders, technicians and others.  Anyone interested should contact Butler at (254) 697-6416. 

TREADSTONE ENERGY

Treadstone is drilling oil wells in the Gause area. As I previously reported, Treadstone has drilled over 50 new wells in the Austin Chalk since 2016 and it recently successfully completed its first well into the Eagle Ford Shell formation. Treadstone has plans to drill many additional wells in the area.  This too is great for the county in terms of ad valorem taxes from the new-found oil reserves and for increased sales tax from the many new workers in the area.  Finally, Treadstone has agreed to pay a road maintenance fee of $10,000 per new well to help with the upkeep of the county roads in the area.  

This is all good economic news for Milam County and there is much more to come in the near future.  We have a lot here now and we will get more in the future.  So please be a part of this great progress.