CROSSROADSREPORT

							                              CROSSROADS REPORT
                                  By Kent Brunette

                            From The Pages Of The April 18, 2007
                               Hearne Democrat Newspaper

        FracTech’s expected opening just outside of Hearne is creating quite a stir. The
influx of 100 new local jobs by year’s end is one of Hearne’s biggest economic
developments in recent years.

        The all-weather take-one box outside the Hearne chamber office is dispensing a
steady stream of blank FracTech applications for drivers & on-site service supervisors.
So are the city halls in Hearne, Bremond, Calvert, and Franklin. Anyone interested in a
new FracTech job should pick-up an application & submit it ASAP. Interviews will soon be
scheduled in the Hearne chamber conference room.

         FracTech’s arrival follows a trend that’s happening in Rockdale, Bremond,
Franklin, & other places. Alcoa & TXU’s Sandow #5 power plant are outside the Rockdale
city limits. The Twin Oaks power plant & Walnut Creek coal mine are outside the
Bremond city limits. TXU’s proposed Oak Grove #1 & #2 power plants are outside the
Franklin city limits. Virtually all oil & gas exploration, production, & pipeline activities are
occurring in rural areas outside the city limits of local towns.

        Local residents & businesses are starting to see more evidence of FracTech’s
presence on local roads & around town. Some of the managers being re-located to Hearne
are eating at local restaurants, staying in local hotels, & looking for housing in & around
Hearne.

       I spent two days last week introducing Ed Pimm (FracTech’s maintenance
supervisor) to local merchants & service providers.

        Ed hopes to acquire as many of the following services & products in Hearne as
possible: on-call welders & bull-dozer operators, welding supplies, dump trucks, a body
shop, a place to purchase new tires/change & repair tires, a place to get vehicles washed,
towing for trucks & trailers, oil change & lube provider, pick-up truck factory warranty
work, places to purchase cement, sand, gravel, parts & supplies for pick-up trucks,
eighteen-wheelers, & a wide variety of equipment used in oil & gas well fracturing (pumps,
pipes, hoses, etc.).

       Ed plans to work out of the chamber office for the next couple of weeks while
construction crews complete the company’s office & other facilities.

       FracTech rig crews normally spend their lunch hours on job sites. When the
company is up & running, it will start ordering catered meals from Hearne restaurants
which will be delivered to crews on-site all over the county & beyond.

       FracTech is generating significant new sales tax & hotel/motel tax revenues in
Hearne. The company’s new $1 million facility with its $8 - $10 million in equipment will be
welcome additions to Robertson County’s & Hearne ISD’s property tax bases.

       All of these economic developments are good news to local job seekers, local
restaurants & hotels, local merchants & service providers, local realtors & people with
homes to sell or lease, the City of Hearne, Hearne I.S.D., & Robertson County.
        In other news, Hearne’s 4B Sales Tax Board recently funded $20,000 in
improvements to Greater Riverside Cemetery. A new entrance arch, three new metal pole
gates, a major tree-trimming & clean-up, an historic marker, lawn mowing & weed-eating
equipment to maintain the cemetery were all funded by the city’s 4B board.

        The City of Hearne spent much of last week resurfacing Old Mumford Road which
leads from Hackberry Street to Riverside Cemetery. This new asphalt job was made
possible through an ORCA grant received by the city.

       On a lighter note, they’re bbaacckk!! My dad’s feathery friends across the street
returned last week from their annual winter visit to Peru. Hundreds & hundreds of black
chimney swifts are frantically flapping their wings, swarming, & chattering away in the sky
above the chimney at the northwestern end of the Hearne Junior High School. These
noisy neighbors make their daily pilgrimages out of & into the school’s tall cream-colored
chimney at dawn & dusk.

       Crossroads Reports are archived at www.hearnetexas.info. Click on the
“Crossroads Report” link to view past reports. The views expressed in this report are
those of the author & do not necessarily reflect the views of the City of Hearne, Hearne’s
4A & 4B Sales Tax Boards, Hearne Chamber of Commerce, or Robertson County
Democratic Party.