[image id=”9265″ title=”TCPO America” class=”size-medium wp-image-19940″ width=”300″ height=”187″ ] The Chinese company TPCO America built a steel manufacturing plant in San Patricio County that could employ up to 800 people when in full production.

SKILLED WORKERS NEEDED OVER NEXT 5 YEARS TO FILL NEW JOBS — The last of a series of free job town hall meetings is set for 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5 at the Regional Fairgrounds in Robstown. The town hall is a joint effort of Nueces County Judge S. Loyd Neal, Jr. and Corpus Christi Mayor Nelda Martinez. The goal is to prepare job seekers for the nearly 65,000 jobs coming to the Coastal Bend region over the next five years.

The South Texas pipeline is bringing some 2,000 new jobs a month to the region says the Workforce Texas Commission. Workforce Texas is a state agency charged with providing job development services to both employers and job seekers.

One of the companies participating in the town hall, TPCO America, is actively working with local colleges and universities to train potential new employees. TPCO is a China-based company using recycled metal to build pipeline for the oil and gas industry and others. At full capacity, TPCO hopes its new facilities in San Patricio County will employ between 600 to 800 people on a permanent basis. The company says Corpus Christi is the place to be.

“We needed the right time, right place and the right people — and certainly the right people are most important,” said Zhang Wenfeng, company vice president about  bringing the new industry to South Texas. “So we think that with the choice of Corpus Christi and this project [Texas Seamless Pipeline Project] we have all three right. “

Other participating employers include Army Depot, Bay Ltd, Cheniere, Flint Hills Resources, LyondellBasell, Valero and Voestalpine. The Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds is located at 1213 Terry Shamsie Blvd., Robstown.