Kristi Borden, Economic Development Coordinator, Texas Centers for Border Economic Development, University of Texas El Paso
Perla Magallon, Computer Science Undergraduate Student, University of Texas El Paso
Pablo Ramirez, Economics and Finance Undergraduate Student, University of Texas El Paso
Qian Wen, Computer Science Graduate Student, University of Texas El Paso

Overview

The link between economic development and geography is indisputable. Fundamental to any development effort is access to the information that characterizes an area.  Location attributes, demographic data and thorough information on a community are all critical components in the industrial relocation process.

The lack of a comprehensive listing of available commercial / industrial real estate properties in the El Paso, Texas area, was identified as an obstacle promoting the community to site selection consultants, brokers and others involved in the business expansion and relocation process.  Aware of this need, Texas Centers for Border Economic Development, housed at the University of Texas, El Paso, undertook the creation of a database that would allow access to information on industrial parks and manufacturing facilities in the region.

In December 1998, a group of  students, working with little more than a strong concept and a deadline, began devising the Real Estate Database Project.  In order to reach the broadest audience possible, the project was envisioned as an interactive web site providing information on industrial facilities in the area.   As the project developed, the site evolved into an industrial recruitment and promotional tool featuring a much broader range of information for both El Paso, Texas and it’s sister city, Juarez, Mexico.  Created using Arcview and the Internet Map Server, the site eventually permitted the overlay of street grids, industrial parks, ports of entry and selected employers.  Linked to maps and aerial photos, the site features a searchable database of digital photos and building specs for all of the properties in the industrial parks profiled.  Additional socioeconomic and demographic information, such as population, employment, tax structure and cost of living is also incorporated into the site.

By making this information available to an international audience via the Internet, companies considering relocation to the region would have immediate access to comprehensive data.  Company’s not yet familiar with the advantages of the area might be exposed to El Paso, for possibly the first time, thanks to the broad reach of the worldwide web.

The project unfolded in three distinct phases; creation of a prototype, publishing the maps on the Internet, and the construction of a comprehensible web site.  Today, I would like to introduce the web development team that took the project from conception through completion.  The first member, Pablo Ramirez, is an undergraduate student in Economics and Finance, and was responsible for the creation of the project prototype.