GSMP executive council members. Top, left to right: Sam Huenergardt (GSMP executive director and president and CEO of Central Texas Medical Center), Denise Trauth (GSMP executive director and president of Texas State University), Will Conley (GSMP chairman and Pct. 3 Hays County commissioner), and Jim Nuse (GSMP secretary and San Marcos city manager). Bottom, left to right: Don Nash (GSMP executive director and chairman of Economic Development San Marcos), John Cyrier (GSMP executive director and Pct. 1 Caldwell County commissioner), Patrick Rose (GSMP vice-chairman and president of Corridor Title Company), John Schott (GSMP treasurer and Frost Bank market president).

The San Marcos City Council recently appointed council member Wayne Becak to the board of the Greater San Marcos Partnership, which reportedly helped create 404 jobs in 2011.

Becak joins San Marcos City Manager Jim Nuse, San Marcos Mayor Daniel Guerrero, and Economic Development San Marcos Chair Don Nash as the city’s representatives on GSMP’s board. Becak replaces his opponent in the last election, defeated former incumbent Chris Jones.

GSMP, a 501(c)(6) nonprofit economic development corporation, was established in 2010 to implement a five-year, $4 million plan to increase wages, provide a wider diversity of quality jobs, and reduce unemployment in Hays and Caldwell Counties. Industries to which GSMP targets its business recruitment, retention, and expansion efforts include health care, materials science and advanced manufacturing, supply chain management, corporate and professional operations, green technologies, and aviation.

“We are pleased to welcome Council member Wayne Becak to our board,” said Amy Madison, GSMP president & CEO. “While serving on the Economic Development San Marcos Board, Mr. Becak helped steer the economic development strategic plan that resulted in forming the GSMP. His economic development experience is exemplary and demonstrates a holistic approach to the creation of wealth and prosperity for our area.”

Becak retired in 2010 after 18 years with Broadway Bank and Balcones Bank in San Marcos, and remains active in the local community. He serves as chair of the San Marcos Advisory Board for Pioneer Bank and Chair of the Central Texas Medical Center Foundation. He also serves on the Advisory Council for the Finance & Economics Department at Texas State University, McCoy College Student Managed Investment Fund, Hays County Investment Committee, and Hays County United Way.

Becak has also served previously as vice-chair and a chair of the Economic Development San Marcos Board, as vice-chair of the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce, and as chair of the chamber’s Government Affairs Committee. He has also served on the San Marcos CISD Finance Committee, the State Bar of Texas Grievance Committee, and is a past president of the San Marcos Rotary Club.

Becak retired from the United States Army and Texas Army National Guard at the rank of major.

Madison presented GSMP’s 2011 annual report to the San Marcos City Council on Feb. 7. The reports states that in 2011 — GSMP’s first year of operation — GSMP helped create 404 jobs in the region that includes San Marcos, Hays and Caldwell Counties. Madison said most of the jobs were created in San Marcos, which is located in four counties. Of the 404 jobs, GSMP’s business recruitment program reportedly helped create 75 and the organization’s business retention and expansion program reportedly helped create 329. In the same year, BlueScope Buildings North America laid-off 64 workers in San Marcos, though Madison said the company has begun hiring more workers.

Among the jobs GSMP said it helped create were 20 at Clearwater Research in San Marcos, 50 at Xtreme Power in Kyle, 50 at CFAN in San Marcos, 50 at CenturyLink in San Marcos, and 24 at Redbird Skyport in San Marcos, among others.

GSMP reported it reviewed 25 economic development incentive applications, performed 10 economic impact analyses, and approved eight incentives in 2011.

According to GSMP’s annual report, its 2011 budget called for revenues of $835,185 and expenses of $545,704. GSMP proposes $859,300 in revenue and $809,638 in expenses for 2012, according to the report.

GSMP receives most of its funding from investors. Eight of GSMP’s investors are public entities (e.g., cities, counties, university) or publicly-created entities (EDCs) and about 67 are private entities. For its second year of operations, GSMP has received or obtained commitments to receive $593,500 from public or publicly-created entities, and about $191,000 (not counting in-kind contributions) from private entities, according to an investors accounts receivable report dated Jan. 10.

“As you know, I believe long-term our goal is to actually put this whole situation and turn this organization more into a private institution than a publicly-funded institution, and we’re well on our way to doing that because of the hard work y’all put into it,” said GSMP Chairman Will Conley to his colleagues on the GSMP board during a Jan. 25 board meeting.

Madison said GSMP raised $1.48 for every dollar contributed by the city during the most recent quarter.

The City of San Marcos, GSMP’s largest single contributor, allocated $360,000 to GSMP in its two most recent annual budgets, and Hays County allocated $150,000 in each of its most recent two annual budgets. Before GSMP existed, the city funded EDC Economic Development San Marcos at about $340,000 annually, Madison said. Economic Development San Marcos no longer receives direct funding, though its board reviews economic development incentive applications submitted to the City of San Marcos and gives advice to the city council.

GSMP’s public or publicly-created investors include the City of San Marcos ($360,000), City of Kyle ($1,000) Texas State University ($50,000), Hays County ($150,000), Gary Job Corps ($2,500) Caldwell County ($10,000), Lockhart Economic Development Corporation ($10,000), Buda EDC ($5,000), and Luling EDC ($5,000). San Marcos CISD has a seat on the GSMP board; the school district committed in-kind services, such as meeting space, Madison said.

GSMP board members include Will Conley (GSMP chairman and Pct. 3 Hays County commissioner) Patrick Rose (GSMP vice-chairman and president of Corridor Title Company), Jim Nuse (GSMP secretary and San Marcos city manager), John Schott (GSMP treasurer and Frost Bank market president), Amy Madison (GSMP president and CEO), John Cyrier (GSMP executive director and Pct. 1 Caldwell County commissioner), Sam Huenergardt (GSMP executive director and president and CEO of Central Texas Medical Center), Don Nash (GSMP executive director and chairman of Economic Development San Marcos), Denise Trauth (GSMP executive director and president of Texas State University), Wayne Becak (San Marcos City Council Place 4 member), Ed Bolton (president of Nexus Medical Consulting), John Doucet (president and CEO of Doucet & Associates), Mark Eads (San Marcos CISD superintendent), Lee Graham (president of the San Marcos Manufacturers Association), Scott Gregson (owner of Gregson Investments and minority owner of San Marcos Mercury), Daniel Guerrero (San Marcos mayor), Lonnie Hall (director of the Gary Job Corps Center), Ron Hart (broker at Hart Properties), Brenda Jenkins (vice-president and Austin-Central Texas area manager of Broaddus & Associates), Warren Ketteman (executive director of the Buda Economic Development Corporation), Robert W. McDonald III (president of San Marcos Vista Partners), and Dan Stauffer (vice president of Marketing & Real Estate at McCoy’s Building Supply).

GSMP’s list of investors as of Feb. 11 (the most recent list, Madison said) includes Brown McCarroll, Central Texas Medical Center, City of San Marcos, Hays County, San Marcos Vista Partners, Texas State University, Caldwell County, Crockett National Bank, Frost Bank, Hunter Industries, Lockhart EDC, Philips Wide-Lite, Sac-N-Pac, San Marcos Area Board of Realtors, SH 130 Concession Company, Walton Development, Wells Fargo, Bearden Development, Broaddus & Associates, Buda EDC, Bury + Partners, C-FAN, CenturyLink, Corridor Title Company, Doucet & Associates, ETR Development Consulting, Gary Job Corps Center, Great Locations Realty, Heldenfels Enterprises, Inc., International Power, Jacobs Construction, KGA Architecture, Luling EDC, McCoy’s Building Supply, Oxford Commercial, Schertz Bank & Trust, US Foodservice, Weston Solutions, American Constructors, Benchmark Insurance, Bigelow Homes, Broadway Bank, Brookfield Residential, Butler Manufacturing, Carson Properties, Casey Development, Chuck Nash Auto Group, City of Kyle, Dalcan, Embassy Suites, First Lockhart National Bank, Flintco, LLC, Goodrich Aerostructures, Gregson Investments, Grifols, Lockhart Chamber of Commerce, Mensor Corporation, Nexus Medical Consulting, Ozona National Bank, Pape-Dawson Engineers, Pioneer Bank of Texas, Raba-Kistner, Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union, Sabre Commercial, Inc., Sage Capital Bank, Sam’s Club, San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce, San Marcos CISD, San Marcos Manufacturers Association, Seton Hays Foundation, Sign Arts, Stokes Construction, Tarantino Properties, Texas Disposal Systems, The John Lewis Company, The Preserve at Windemere, Tuttle Lumber Co., Vickrey & Associates, and Yarrington Road Materials.