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Regional economic group updates court on SpaceX project, says benefits likely to spill into Brazos County
Summary
Tom Johnson of the Greater Brazos Partnership told Brazos County commissioners that a SpaceX-related project in nearby Grimes County is under negotiation and could produce thousands of construction and operations jobs, while local residents have raised concerns about water and power impacts.
Tom Johnson, president and CEO of the Greater Brazos Partnership, briefed Brazos County commissioners on May 20 about regional economic development activity, including an in-progress project involving SpaceX in neighboring Grimes County.
Johnson said the site was originally considered for a data center but is instead being negotiated as a large manufacturing/operations facility. He told the court the project could support roughly 2,000 operations jobs and about $1 billion in regional payroll over operations, with several thousand more construction jobs over a multi-year build-out. Johnson said many of the jobs and economic benefits would flow to the broader Brazos Valley, including Brazos County.
He acknowledged resident concerns about aquifer protection and electricity demand. "We believe this to be true... there will be no additional water usage as a result because they've got that water," Johnson said, and added that the company plans on-site natural gas infrastructure to avoid raising residential rates, while noting certain details remain confidential as incentives are negotiated.
Commissioners asked about spillover effects and ancillary business growth; Johnson and others described cautious optimism but said incentive negotiations and site-specific environmental and infrastructure reviews remain underway. The briefing supplied context for commissioners as regional partners seek county-level input and plan for potential workforce and infrastructure impacts.
