SpaceX founder Elon Musk pledged to donate $30 Million (M) to help improve the city of Brownsville in South Texas, where his company is developing Starship. –“Am donating $20M to Cameron County schools & $10M to City of Brownsville for downtown revitalization,” he said in March. Since his statement, the Musk Foundation has donated millions to local school districts and organizations. Brownsville is around thirty minutes away from SpaceX’s Starbase facility at Boca Chica Beach, from where Musk envisions a fleet of Starships embarking on voyages to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
The Musk Foundation partnered with the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC) to accelerate Brownsville’s downtown revitalization efforts through the Business Improvement & Growth (BIG) Program. Last month, the Musk Foundation donated $1 million to BCIC. Today, July 8, the Executive Director of BCIC Josh Mejia announced that the Musk Foundation donated an additional $1 million – bringing the total amount donated to $2 million. “As a result of our growing partnership with the Musk Foundation, the BCIC is happy to confirm that another $1 million has been donated to support our Business Improvement & Growth (BIG) Program which is designed to help business owners, developers, and property owners in revitalizing downtown,” Mejia said in a statement to Tesmanian.com.
This week, BCIC announced the BIG 2.0 Program started to accept applications from qualifying Brownsville businesses, property owners, and developers who need financial assistance for construction and related expenses. “The original BIG Program’s economic development success has fostered over $3,000,000 in private investment towards businesses and properties downtown with only an initial fund by the BCIC of $450,000. This latest round of assistance hopes to draw even more private investment into the area and spur economic activity thanks to the contributions made by the Musk Foundation,” BCIC said in a press release.
“The effectiveness of our program comes from the constant feedback and comments we continue to receive by those who are invested in the revitalization of our historic downtown,” said Mejia. “The BCIC is proud to continue working with all who have expressed an interest in being a part of this inclusive program which addresses relevant challenges faced by small businesses, property owners and developers in downtown Brownsville.” For more information about Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation visit: Brownsvilleedc.org
🎉🎉🎉@BrownsvilleCIC https://t.co/n3MJYNV87u
— Josh Mejia (@JoshMejiaTX) July 8, 2021
“There’s too much talent here (in Brownsville) not to want to do something about it,” said BCIC executive director Josh Mejía, at an RGV Partnership event. “We have potential Fortune 500 companies here, if only they had the support.” pic.twitter.com/afp9Fyhn01
— Rio Grande Guardian (@RioGGuardian) July 8, 2021
Featured Image Source: Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation
About the Author
Evelyn Arevalo
Evelyn J. Arevalo joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover news as a Space Journalist and SpaceX Starbase Texas Correspondent. Evelyn is specialized in rocketry and space exploration. The main topics she covers are SpaceX and NASA.
