Bryan and Brazos County each received $2 million this month from a state agency devoted to helping Texas communities recover from military base closures. But some are questioning whether the grant is being used for its intended purpose since Bryan's Air Force base closed in 1961.
The money will go toward Project Greenvax, a Texas A&M University System project that aims to create vaccines out of tobacco plants. The program partnered A&M with fledgling biotech company G-Con and has been hailed by local leaders as the beginning of a potential biomedical industry boom in Aggieland.
The awards to Bryan and Brazos County, which were first reported by the Texas Tribune, come from the Texas Military Preparedness Commission. The commission, which is part of Gov. Rick Perry's office, is allocated $5 million each year for Defense Economic Adjustment Assistance Grants.
The Department of Defense contributed $39 million to get the project off the ground earlier this year and construction has begun on a 145,000-square-foot facility near Texas 47.
The federal funding requires a $21 million investment from its recipients, and officials said the $4 million from the state will cover the share required of Bryan and Brazos County. G-Con and the A&M System will pay for the rest, officials said.
Greenvax is one of the anchors of a proposed biotechnology corridor along the border of Bryan and College Station that has received millions of dollars of support from Perry's office.
Other buildings in the corridor include the Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine, which received a $50 million grant from the governor's Texas Enterprise Fund, and the National Center for Therapeutic Medicine, which Perry directed $50 million to from the Emerging Technology Fund.
The grant's application says its purpose is "to provide state funding for acquiring federal grant assistance or for sharing in the cost of redevelopment of communities that have been adversely or positively affected by the Base Realignment or Closure Act or Department of Defense reduction or loss of funding."
Bryan's application, which was ratified by the City Council on Aug. 10, indicates that it is eligible because the closure of a defense facility in the community. However, it didn't describe the closure and left blank a section on the form that asks for a description of the loss of defense worker jobs and the effect it has had on the community.
The Bryan Air Force Base was located in west Bryan. A&M took over the land after the closure and created its Riverside Campus.
Local officials said they have no qualms about receiving the award.
"Even though [the base closure] was 50 years ago, by the same token, it still qualifies," said Dennis Goehring, economic development director for Bryan.
He said the project will be good for Bryan-College Station, Texas and humanity in general.
"We could have a pharmaceutical base in this community much like the East Coast and West Coast," Goehring said.
Lucy Nashed, a spokeswoman for the governor's office, said Bryan and Brazos County underwent a competitive process to ensure the money went to its best possible use.
"This includes independent review and scoring by the governor's office staff and the commission members, which both resulted in the two highest scores of all the applicants," she said.
She added that the commission's annual report in 2007-08 called for grants to "leverage private sector technologies that are quickly applicable to our nation's current and future needs."
Members of the Texas Military Preparedness Commission also expressed support for the idea.
"The presentations were excellent and we awarded them on that basis," said Cmdr. Eugene Tulich, who is responsible for the Houston area on the commission.
But some skeptics question whether the grant was the result of favoritism from Perry toward a project at his alma mater.
"The base closure funds were designed to help communities that had some very significant economic disruption when peace broke out briefly and not for a slush fund," said Tom "Smitty" Smith, state director of the Texas office of the advocacy group Public Citizen. "It appears that Perry is turning around and awarding his alma mater in a way that we don't think is appropriate."
He said areas around San Antonio that have been hit hard by base closures and are still struggling might have been a better choice for the grants.
Nashed, the Perry spokeswoman, dismissed those complaints.
"The projects in Bryan and Brazos County were thoroughly vetted and reviewed by the commission, and show significant potential for innovation in medical technology and job creation for the state," she said.
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