Dr. Andy Skadberg of AdventGX and Jeff McCoy, executive director of the Van Horn Economic Development Corporation, meet in Marfa, Texas during a meeting hosted by the Texas Department of Agriculture.

Jeff McCoy invites AdventGX to submit a proposal to support the Van Horn Economic Development Initiative.

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, announces Blue Origin – a space portal to be established in Culberson County, Texas north of Van Horn.

Dr. Andy Skadberg, AdventGX chief knowledge officer, travels to Van Horn to present the AdventGX approach to tourism and economic development.

Van Horn Economic Development Corporation Contracts with AdventGX for Phase I: Economic Development Initiative Strategy Deployment.

AdventGX team takes scouting trip to Van Horn, Texas. Dr. Andy Skadberg, chief knowledge officer, Jose Quintana, president, and Joan Tatge, director of communications spend three days assessing the state of Van Horn in preparation for AdventGX Strategy Deployment Workshops.

AdventGX team returns to Van Horn, conducts a series of four Strategy Deployment workshops. Over the course of two days, more than 40 Van Horn residents shared their dreams, aspirations, fears and concerns regarding Van Horn’s future and discussed ways to improve the local economy and quality of life.

Jeff McCoy visits AdventGX team in College Station, TX for Phase I planning session and review of workshop outcomes.

Jose Quintana and Joan Tatge travel to Van Horn, visit local business owners.

AdventGX presents the final report for Phase I: Economic Development Initiative Strategy Deployment to Van Horn EDC. The EDC board immediately authorizes Phase II: Implementation.

Jeff McCoy travels to College Station for Phase II strategy planning sessions with AdventGX.

Jeff McCoy and Dr. Andy Skadberg travel to San Antonio to meet with Richard Martinez, the chief of staff for Representative Bonilla for 23th District of Texas.

Dr. Andy Skadberg travels to Washington D.C. to meet with representatives and program leaders for USDA and Forest Service to discuss rural economic development and Van Horn.

AdventGX hires Devin North, an ’05 graduate of Van Horn High School, to capture geo-referenced photographs of key buildings throughout Van Horn.

Dr. Andy Skadberg and Jeff McCoy travel to Temple to meet with USDA rural development state director, Brian Daniel. Resulted in a series of meetings between Jeff McCoy, Brian Daniels, and USDA that took place later in September.

Joan Tatge and Jose Quintana travel to Van Horn, participate in County Fair and Street Dance and host Heritage Hour. First formal meeting with project board members Larry Simpson and Rebecca Brewster. Later Jose Quintana makes presentation to Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors outlining initial Phase II project plans.

Joan Tatge submits the first formal monthly project report to Jeff McCoy.

Representatives from the USDA Rural Development meet Jeff McCoy in Van Horn, provide insight into the programs support for rural economic development programs.

Jose Quintana, Joan Tatge, and Jeff McCoy travel to New Mexico to participate in Texas Lyceum meeting and tours of Sandia National Labs.

Monthly project report submitted to Van Horn EDC for presentation to Board of Directors.

Van Horn Economic Development Corporation passes a series of resolutions aimed at providing support for various Project 7 fundraising activities

Project 7 website launched.

Jeff McCoy, Jose Quintana and Joan Tatge visited Mrs. Lynn Solis' Statistics Class at Van Horn High School. They provided an overview of the Van Horn Economic Development Initiative and introduced a project the students will perform to document the economic impact of power outages in the community.

Van Horn Host the Texas Mountain Art Seminar, Show, and Sale.

AdventGX awarded the Van Horn Promotional Strategy which includes the printed travel guide and web architecture.

Representatives from the Van Horn Convention Center and Visitors Bureau along with Van Horn Economic Development Corporation Director Jeff McCoy and Van Horn City Administrator Rebecca Brewster meet to devise a promotional strategy and brainstorm community branding. The workshop focused on the new Van Horn brochure and visitors guide as well as the extension of similar theme to the Town's web presence.

The Van Horn City Council assigns a Beautification Task Force, consisting of Jeff McCoy, Economic Development Corporation Executive Director, Rene Mendez, Van Horn code enforcement officer, Grace Marta, City Councilman, Paul Blankenburg, local business owner, and two Keep Van Horn Beautiful representatives that will be selected at another date. The task force will make recommendations to the City Council regarding beautification in Van Horn.

The old café in the Historical Clark Hotel and Museum has been selected by city council to house a Project 7 educational room. The room will be fully renovated and will display plans for Van Horn’s economic development initiative.

The Van Horn Economic Development Corporation has agreed to terms set forth by the Historical Clark Hotel for leasing the Project 7 room. The increased income for the museum will help the museum to become self sustaining as well as attract more tourist and residents of Van Horn to the museum.

City Council approves the recommendations presented by the newly appointed Beautification Task Force. Recommendations include code enforcement guidelines, citywide outreach, and monthly awards to residents and businesses that make a noticeable effort to clean up their lawn/ storefront.

A retail incubator concept was presented and approved by the Economic Development Corporation. The retail incubator will be established to serve as a model for best retail practices in the downtown Main Street district.

Van Horn City Council approves plans for a retail incubator in Van Horn. The incubator will serve as a model to area businesses on best practices in the retail industry. Potential items to be sold in the store include artwork from local artists’ Beth Braid and Michael Hildago, as well as newcomer artist Ricardo Solar, who specializes in painting Van Horn scenery. The store will also feature items from the Parral Woodcraft Consortium in Mexico.

Van Horn Beautification Month was a huge success this year. In April over 250 people volunteered to clean up and 200 bags of litter were collected from the streets of Van Horn.

Van Horn CVB secures prime promotional spot in the upcoming Big Bend Texas Mountain Travel Guide with a full page ad on the back cover of the new guide.

The AdventGX team began renovations on the Project.

Mr. Larry Simpson, Project 7 Board member, reviews Mr. Luna's manuscript "Growing Pains in the Barrio" and brings it to the attention of Jose Quintana. Mr. Luna and Jose Quintana meet at Papa's Pantry on April the 28th for lunch to discuss the possibility of publishing his book as part of the Texas A&M University Press Borderland series.

Congressman Henry Bonilla visits Van Horn to address community and business leaders and to offer an update on legistlative issues impacting the region.

The Federal Aviation Administration grants Blue Orgin necessary permits to launch reusable launch vehicles into space.

The new Van Horn logo and promotional brochure debuts at the Texas State Fair.

Van Horn EDC meets with AdventGX to discuss preliminary plans for the development of an apartment complex in Van Horn.

Blue Origin successfully conducts the first test flight of a vertical take off and landing rocket at its flight test facility in Culberson County just north of Van Horn.

City Council renews contract with Texas Historical Commission to keep Texas Mountain Trail headquaters in Van Horn.

Van Horn City Council approves deeding property to the Van Horn EDC for the proposed apartment complex.

City Council pledges $10,000 in improvements for the Willis building which will house a retail incubator concept in Van Horn.

Culberson County ISD approves the purchase of 150 new computers to improve technology for both the students and the teachers.

Proposed Van Horn Streetscape Design is approved by City Council.

AdventGX begins meeting with prospective investors for the Texas Mountain Apartment Complex.

Van Horn City Council adopts marketing and web strategy plans for the community and seeks proposals for project implementation.

Council approved 1% hotel/ motel tax increase to fund marketing efforts for Van Horn.

The Van Horn Foundation received 501c3 status from the IRS.

Rural Economic & Tourism Development Seminar a Success
The inaugural Rural Economic & Tourism Development Seminar in Van Horn was well attended by local and regional leaders as well as a strong contingent of small business and university representatives from Northern Mexico. The seminar featured sessions on the use of 4A and 4B tax dollars as part of an economic development program, community branding and marketing, tourism development and the arts, nature tourism and technology tools for economic development.
The seminar series was developed by TEEX and produced by AdventGX as a specialized education, training and networking opportunity for rural leaders to gain insights into the latest trends and best practices in rural economic development. The Van Horn event was supported by sponsorship from El Paso Electric, Capital Farm Credit, First Ag Credit, Luz de Estrella Winery, and the Texas Commission on the Arts. For more information about the seminars, visit www.ed-central.com/retds or email info@ed-central.com.

Jeff McCoy is asked to present at Sanderson’s Heritage and Nature Tourism Development Initiative. Leaders from Sanderson had recently visited Van Horn and were very impressed with how Van Horn has changed in a short period of time. Mr. McCoy talked to the local leaders about the challenges, risks and opportunities relevant to rural communities and the importance of regional collaboration.

Jeff McCoy is invited to present at the Sonora Economic Development Initiative. Leaders from Sonora’s SIDC attended the Rural Economic & Tourism Development Seminar in Van Horn and learned about the ongoing Project 7 efforts. Mr. McCoy talked to the local leaders about the significance of leadership in community development efforts and the importance of regional collaboration.

The third yearly Van Horn summer internship program brought young supporters from Central Texas to do community volunteer work in our community.

:. Project 7 Day (7/7/7) July was a very important month for us, the City of Van Horn designated (appropriately so) July the 7th of 2007 (7.7.7) as Project 7 Day. As you may know, Project 7 is the code name for the Van Horn Economic Development Initiative and on the 7th of July project accomplishments and future plans were showcased at the now official Project 7 Room. Van Horn EDC Director Jeff McCoy did a Herculean effort in order to have the Project 7 room ready for the all day event. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. McCoy and the citizens of Van Horn for allowing us to be part of their community and share in their success.

- Project 7 Room Located adjacent to the Clark Hotel Museum, the Project 7 Room serves as showcasing facility for the economic development initiative currently underway at Van Horn (a 7 year plan). The Project 7 room will also serve as a meeting facility for project related activities and will house a GIS and data visualization workstation and other supporting IT and connectivity infrastructure. We want to thank Judge Molinar for allowing us to borrow and restore a table form the original Van Horn Courthouse as the Project 7 center piece. We also want to thank our regional coordinator Andrea Ramirez and her kids for helping with the renovation process as well as our summer interns for helping with decoration and cleanup.

- Project 7 Newspaper Edition To mark the event Mr. Larry Simpson, owner and editor of the Van Horn Advocate, produced a Project 7 Edition of his newspaper that narrated many of the challenges, opportunities and future plans pertinent to this important initiative - a beautiful and first full color edition.

Texas Department of Transportation approved its project to put in curbs, gutters and drive ways along State Highway 54 in Van Horn.

Plans are approved to convert the El Capitan landmark building back into a hotel. This historic venue will prove to be one of the most important components of Van Horns EDI.