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Local engineering firm SoCo Group briefs council on work, grants won and projects in Port Arthur
Summary
SoCo Group principal Joseph Soko updated council on the firm's growth, local projects including transit street reconstructions, an HO Mills maintenance driveway and a solar-lit library canopy, and thanked the city and Port Arthur Transit for early contracts that helped the firm expand.
Joseph Soko, principal of the Port Arthur-based SoCo Group, presented the city council on March 25 with an update on the firm’s local projects, staffing and grant activity.
Soko said SoCo Group began as a one-person firm after Hurricane Harvey and has since grown into a small team that works primarily in Port Arthur while pursuing work regionally. "If transit had not given us opportunities starting in 2019, 2020, we would not be in business," Soko told the council, attributing early contracts from Port Arthur Transit and the Economic Development Corporation with enabling the firm’s local office and professional presence.
Soko described recent projects completed for the city: reconstruction and overlay of blocks on Dallas Avenue and Fort Worth Avenue; a reconstructed main entry drive at the H.O. Mills maintenance facility; and a canopy with solar-powered lights installed at the Port Arthur Public Library. He said the firm has helped the city secure roughly four grants and that SoCo is certified as a disadvantaged business enterprise and a Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) in Texas, with additional certifications in several other states.
Council members thanked Soko for locating the firm in Port Arthur and for the work visible around the city. Councilman John Lewis said he had observed SoCo’s crews during work and welcomed the firm’s interest in participating in larger corridor projects such as Thomas Boulevard. Councilman Jimmy Frank said he appreciated firms that return to their hometowns to help revitalize downtown and neighborhoods.
Soko said the firm employs both local and virtual staff and works to identify grant funding to offset local budgeting needs when possible. "We also go a step further with what we call planning which means we go out and we look for the grant funding for the money that we're gonna ask you to pay us with," he said.
The presentation was made under the agenda item for petitions and communications; the council did not take action related to the presentation but thanked SoCo Group for the briefing and encouraged continued local contracting opportunities.
