Archive for April, 2010

VRTX Introduces New Pricing For Chemical-Free Water Treatment

April 9, 2010 – 2:29 pm

April 9, 2010 VRTX Technologies, a water treatment company specializing in chemical-free treatment for cooling towers and evaporative condensers, is now offering its chemical free water treatment service at a price similar to traditional chemical programs. VRTX offers a monthly Full Service Agreement (FSA) that provides all necessary equipment and filtration, regular service and monitoring, and a continuing mechanical warranty. VRTX is the only non-chemical water treatment company that guarantees performance of the system without requiring up-front capital invested by the customer. With a 15-year history of successfully operating systems to build upon, VRTX engineering advances and product evolution, along with increasing sales volume, has positioned the company to supply its patented technology to the Commercial, Institutional, and Light Industrial markets at a monthly cost comparable to traditional chemical treatment methods. “Many customers looking to adopt environmentally-friendly technologies and products believe that the initial cost of those products will be more expensive than the older technology they are currently using,” said David Nicholas, VRTX Chief Executive Officer. “Our new pricing allows customers concerned with environmental stewardship to eliminate the hazards of their traditional chemical water treatment program and reduce potable water consumption by up to 40-percent at about the same monthly cost as a quality chemical program.” “We’re providing the environmental benefits of a non-chemical system, including potable water savings and a reduction in sewer discharge, without significantly increasing a customers’ monthly budget allowance for essential water treatment costs.” It is estimated there are over 400,000 cooling towers already installed in the United States alone. Cooling towers and evaporative condensers are a major source of water consumption in a building, with more than 50% of non-agricultural water use in the United States being attributed to evaporative cooling. With water supplies reaching crisis levels around the globe, customers and end-users are already experiencing increased water costs and effluent restrictions. These customers are driving the market to find a sustainable and economical treatment alternative that controls scale, corrosion and bacteria. VRTX Technologies, a Schertz, Texas-based fluid technology company, specializes in environmentally-friendly chemical free treatment of water used in cooling towers and evaporative condensers. The VRTX system relies on kinetic energy, hydrodynamic cavitation, and chemical equilibrium to control scale, corrosion, and bio-fouling without the hazards of chemical treatment. VRTX also minimizes corrosion and microbiological growth, reduces system operating costs, and conserves water and energy.

SOURCE: VRTX Technologies

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Sysco Corp. to open a major distribution facility in Schertz

April 2, 2010 – 1:56 pm

San Antonio Business Journal – by Tricia Lynn Silva

Houston-based Sysco Corp., a global leader in the sale, marketing and distribution of food products, has closed on the purchase of 50 acres of land in the city of Schertz for a new distribution facility.

Plans call for a complex of 635,000 square feet along Interstate Highway 35 and Schwab Road, in this city just northeast of San Antonio. Schertz is part of the San Antonio MSA.

The facility is slated to be up and running by mid-2010, confirms Mark Palmer, vice president of corporate communications for Sysco.

Once construction is completed, Sysco will close two existing distribution centers — one in San Antonio, one in Round Rock — and consolidate those functions into the new center in Schertz, Palmer says.

Kit Corbin, of the local Grubb & Ellis Co. office, represented the seller.

The existing centers employ some 300 people each. The San Antonio facility is located at 5711 Seguin St., on the city’s East Side. The Round Rock distribution center is at 101 Chisholm Trail Road. The city is located 15 miles north of Austin, and 85 miles northeast of San Antonio.

The current plan calls for the lion’s share of the employees at the to-be-shuttered distribution centers to make the move to the new Schertz facility — thus creating an immediate job hub of roughly 600 people in the city, notes George Antuna, executive director of the Schertz Economic Development Corp.

As part of an incentive plan to land the Sysco distribution center, Schertz has committed to invest $1.4 million in public infrastructure improvements. Antuna adds that these infrastructure upgrades will not only benefit Sysco, but future businesses that will make their way to the I-35/Schwab area as well.

Meanwhile, Comal County Commissioners approved a tax abatement program for the Sysco project. The deal calls for the abatement of a portion of the property taxes that would be paid by Sysco on the improved property for up to eight years, according to County Judge Danny Scheel. Annually, on average, over that eight-year period, about 53 percent of the money that Sysco would have paid in property taxes will be diverted toward additional capital investments.

The package that Schertz and Comal County was able to bring to the table made the move to Schertz “a fairly easy decision for us,” adds Palmer.

“This is a tremendous asset for Comal County,” he says. “We live in the hot spot of Texas right now.”

Customer focus

As of the end of Sysco’s 2009 fiscal year (June 27, 2009), the company had sales of more than $36 billion. Currently, Sysco has 186 distribution facilities serving roughly 400,000 customers, which include restaurants, health care facilities and school districts.

The new Schertz facility will enable the food-service firm to better serve its customers in Central and South Texas — all the way down to the Rio Grande Valley, says Palmer.

The existing San Antonio and Round Rock centers have the ability to hold anywhere from 8,000 to 9,000 of the products that Sysco delivers to its customers.

The Schertz facility, however, would allow Sysco to warehouse up to 14,000 items under one roof, he adds.

That diversity is crucial, given the palette of restaurants that make up the San Antonio/Austin/Round Rock corridor.

“Between San Antonio and Austin, you have some of the most innovative, highly respected culinary communities in the country,” observes Palmer.

This diversity, he adds, has been a key impetus in the growth of Sysco’s Central/South Texas operations — and thus the need to create a new distribution center that can meet the growing requirements of its customers.

Palmer also points out that as San Antonio and Austin continue to merge into one larger metroplex, having one large distribution center that can cover the region is certainly more cost effective.

“This is really a regional growth opportunity that we’re seeing,” he adds. “We can’t wait to build a highly efficient, totally high-tech facility to meet that growth.”

Regional windfall

The new Sysco distribution center will be located just in front of a Lacks Distribution Center that opened for business in Schertz about two years ago, Antuna says. The Lacks center currently boasts about 300 employees.

So between the Sysco and Lacks facilities, that adds up to more than 800 people who will not only be working, but shopping in Schertz and the surrounding towns in Comal County, Antuna and Scheel say.

“This whole area is really going to boom now,” says Antuna, adding that these employment hubs will pave the way for other developments — including retail projects that will cater to these employees.

But both Scheel and Antuna also stress that it is not only Schertz and Comal County that are the winners in the Sysco deal. Other cities in the San Antonio MSA — including San Antonio itself — are also in a position to benefit from Sysco’s investment.

The two liken the Sysco deal to other recent successes for the area — including attracting the Caterpillar plant in Seguin and the Toyota Tundra facility in San Antonio.

“This is true regional economic development coming to fruition,” Antuna says. “It’s a domino effect.”

It is a relationship that also requires cities in the region to work together to not only bring in new businesses, but retain the ones that are already here, says Antuna.

“What happens in one city affects all of us,” he adds.

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Food distribution company coming to Schertz By David DeKunder – Staff writer/Northeast Herald

April 2, 2010 – 11:57 am

A Fortune 100 food distribution company is relocating some of its local operations to Schertz, the city’s economic development director said this week.

Sysco Corporation, the Houston-based food service company, plans to build a 635,000 square-foot distribution center on Schwab Road off Interstate 35, consolidating its distribution operations in South and Central Texas. The new distribution center will be situated on 50 acres next to the Lack’s Furniture facility.

The company came one step closer to moving to Schertz after the Schertz Economic Development Corp. board and the Schertz City Council last week approved a development agreement with Sysco, in which the city agreed to spend $1.5 million in infrastructure improvements to assist the company in building its new distribution center. The infrastructure improvements include a water line, sewer line and two roads.

Since the new distribution center will be located in Comal County, within the Schertz city limits, Comal County Commissioners Court last week agreed to a tax abatement deal with the corporation, in which 54 percent of its county taxes on the property will be diverted during an eight-year period.

George Antuna, SEDC executive director, said the new distribution center, expected to be completed by the end of 2011, will employ 600 people, all full-time employees.

“This is a win-win-win situation for Schertz, Comal County and our region,” Antuna said.

Once the new distribution center is completed, Sysco will close its two distribution facilities in San Antonio and Round Rock, and relocate those operations to Schertz. The San Antonio and Round Rock distribution centers each employ 300 people.

Antuna said the 300 jobs currently at the San Antonio distribution center will stay in the area once they move to the new Schertz facility.

In a written statement, Mark Palmer, Sysco’s vice president of corporate communications, said the company had outgrown its San Antonio and Round Rock distribution locations and was looking for an expansion site. Palmer said it will take about 18 months to build the new Schertz distribution center and that the San Antonio and Round Rock sites would continue to operate until the new Schertz site is completed.

Antuna said the city will see a payback of $1.5 million in the infrastructure improvements in 14 months and benefits of nearly $13 million over 10 years. He said the new facility will provide a big tax base for Schertz.

“You will have a huge tax base,” he said. “This project is going to be equivalent to over 200 residences. It is almost like putting in a big subdivision. (Sysco) is going to be able to generate revenue basically the first year they are there.”

Antuna said he and SEDC staff had worked for the past 13 months to bring Sysco, which was dubbed as Project Mustang, to Schertz. An inquiry on a property site was made at the EDC office last year, but Sysco did not reveal its true identity until a couple of weeks ago.

Sysco looked at sites up and down the I-35 corridor before settling on Schertz because of the city’s location, which would allow the company to better serve its customers from Austin to the Rio Grande Valley, Antuna said.

“At the end of the day, it was (about) location, location and location,” he said.

Sysco is one of the largest food distribution companies in North America with 50,000 employees and sales of $37 billion in fiscal year 2008.

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