Community

CPS Energy Makes Move to New Headquarters on McCullough

Published

2 years ago

December 1, 2020

avista

The boxes are packed, the moving trucks are here, and the first CPS Energy employees are officially moving to the utility’s new headquarters at 500 McCullough Avenue. While we will dearly miss our old home on Navarro Street, our big move signals a new era for us and the community we’ve loyally served for 160 years.

The old CPS Energy headquarters on Navarro Street are comprised of buildings that are 92 and 52 years old, respectively. The age of these buildings continually required escalating operating and maintenance costs to keep them safe and secure. Their sale will offset the cost of our new home and help us save money each year going forward. Once sold, the older buildings can be redeveloped by the next owner.

“The building is…attractive, but it’s affordable,” said Frank Almaraz, Chief Administrative and Business Development Officer, in an interview that took place on Sept. 11, 2020 with News 4 San Antonio’s Jaie Avila. “We focused very, very much on making sure that we were spending these dollars in the most prudent way possible. We think it’s going to be a fantastic place for us to base our operations out of. We are a 24/7/365 business that supports our community. In this time of COVID, everything’s just gotten a little more complicated, but we know one day we will welcome our customers to our facility and they will see that we have done the right thing for the community.”

Our new home will be more energy efficient and cost-effective. It is 60% more efficient that our older headquarters and we paid special attention to things like using recycled wood to create tables and fixtures, as well as having fewer offices that would block natural sunlight.

“Our customers are going to be better served with this new building with the lower cost that it takes to maintain it,” said Frank. “It’s 60 percent less energy intensive. With an [older building], everything is more expensive from an efficiency standpoint, but even just maintaining the exterior, it’s gotten so cost-burdensome that really the only responsible thing to do is to consolidate our employees into something that’s going to last us for many more decades [to come] and be more cost-effective.”

Once it is safe to return to the office, nearly 1,200 of CPS Energy’s 3,100 total employees will work at the new McCullough building, which will serve as a modest yet attractive addition to the Broadway corridor downtown and the downtown skyline. The total cost of the building will come in at $212 million, which is less than the company’s original budget allocation of $215 million. Significant care was taken to ensure that every monetary decision, even down to each piece of furniture in the building, was made with discretion and with the community in mind.

“The cost of furnishings is a small fraction of the total amount of the project itself,” said Frank. “We are taking over as much of the furniture that has an existing useful life in our current facilities…[but] it really is time for a refresh.”

Expenditures to our competitively selected furniture vendor represent only 3.4% of the total project costs. ($7.3 million for furniture / $212.0 million for the total spend = 3.4%).

From the very beginning when the project formally began in 2017, CPS Energy obtained public input to come up with three key principles in making our decision for our future headquarters selection:

Stay in the downtown area,
Ensure the cost of the new headquarters would not drive an increase in customer rates, and
Take the opportunity to spur economic development in the selected area of downtown.

“We watched every penny as though it was our own,” said Frank. “We know that, in the end, these are the dollars of our community and we were careful to only spend money that was cost-effective and prudent. I’m very comfortable with what the big team of people, who analyzed this to every penny, have produced and I think that we’ve been very, very reasonable.”

We are confident that, in the years to come, the new McCullough building will serve as a beacon to our community.

For additional information about CPS Energy’s new headquarters on McCullough, read this informational fact sheet.

Business

Bexar County Couple Offers Counseling & Mentorship Program

Published

1 week ago

March 17, 2023

Editor

Community-based counseling is happening at Ken-Lyn Consultants and Associates, a vision Dr. Kenneth Brown and Dr. Lynda Brown had years ago. The couple is now considered a family counselor and life coach duo.

Ken-Lyn has been serving Bexar County since 2017 and has grown almost immediately from serving 3-5 clients weekly to serving 50-70 globally. One of their greatest accomplishments is their continuous “5-Star” ratings. Amazingly, of the thousands of clients that have chosen to write a review, they all have shared the same sentiment.

Dr. Lynda Brown is a product of the East Side, where her father, Dr. Walter Duncan, served as one of the leading dentists to Black clients. Her mom, Dr. Joan Duncan, spent 40 years as an educator and professor. Dr. Kenneth Brown’s mom was an office manager, church leader, and pianist in Southern Maryland.

The Brown’s services have taken them to faraway places such as Australia, Dubai, Italy, Hawaii, and Alaska. They travel to perform workshops and officiate weddings all over the country. The Brown’s business partner, Tiana Hill, is an Air Force veteran like Dr. Kenneth Brown. A University of Texas at San Antonio graduate, Hill develops all website and software programming, mentors the youth, and is also a parent in the program. Ken-Lyn’s associates and partners are specialists in their fields, such as nurse practitioners, military human resources, special education professionals, attorneys, doctors, pharmacists, information technology specialists, movers, mechanics, realtors, credit recovery, insurance brokers, and many more.

Ken-Lyn’s vast array of services is “everything family.” Their youngest client is four years old, and their oldest is 86. They have assisted over 110 students to get into four-year universities, helping them earn over $5.2 million in scholarships. Their clientele is diverse, from local families simply trying to keep their child in school to West Coast entertainers, East Coast politicians, doctors, lawyers, police officers, active military and veterans. They also serve as educational advocates during 504/IEP meetings from the school conference room to the Texas Education Agency and the Office of Civil Rights as needed.

Ken-Lyn Consultants and Associates has been where undergraduate psychology students come to “cut their teeth” and learn how to run a practice and market their services. As of spring 2023, 80% of their undergraduate interns have come from UTSA. Interns serve in the tradition of “camp counselors” as they aid students within the Ken-Lyn mentorship program.

They say, “We monitor grades. We aid them with everything from hygiene, makeup application, grooming, and college prep to cleaning and organizing backpacks. We help our mentees to discover themselves, despite the possible odds and misunderstandings they may face daily.”

This spring, Ken-Lyn has a busy community schedule while serving clients daily:

Their office has recently expanded, and on March 23 at 6:30 pm, they will host a brief “Business Blessing Ceremony.” Dr. Otis Mitchell, pastor of Mt. Zion First Baptist Church, will officiate.
On Thursday, March 30, the six-week “12 Steps Toward Communicating Better” workshop will conclude at the Windmill Ice House at 2769 Nacogdoches Rd, featuring artist Elizabeth Holmes and the Ken-Lyn Communicators Band.
Their mentorship program will host female and minority pilots at the Boerne Stage Field, 100 Boerne Stage Airfield, on Sunday, March 26at 5 pm.
Other mentorship guest speakers this semester will include professionals in tech fields, professors, and adults who have turned their lives around for themselves and their families.
Every semester, students in their program will tour at least two colleges. This semester, they will visit Our Lady of the Lake University and Texas A&M University at College Station.

To learn more about Ken-Lyn’s services, visit (KenLynConsultants.com) or call 210-761-4345.

Community

Celebrating 100 Years – Saleta Rodgers

Published

3 weeks ago

March 5, 2023

Editor

On 26 February 1923, Saleta Wilson was born to Rev. Rufus and Odessa Wilson of San Antonio, TX. She was the second child of six siblings.

She attended pre-integration San Antonio Independent School District (schools: Cuney Elementary; Frederick Douglas Jr High and graduated from Phyllis Wheatly High School). Later she went to cosmetology school. Many San Antonians were grateful for her coiffeur skills.

A lot of her early years were spent at church, where the Wilson children learned Biblical teaching and developed a love of singing. Saleta was a member of Mt. Zion First Baptist, Friendship Baptist, and Mt. Pleasant Baptist churches. Her father organized Antioch Baptist Church in 1935; she was a charter member. He later organized Mt. Sinai Baptist Church in 1952, where she is a charter member and still attends today.

While serving in the military at Lackland AFB, Prince Rogers visited Antioch, where he met Saleta. In 1946 they united in matrimony. The union lasted until his death in 1989, almost 43 years. Upon completing his military service, the couple moved to Prince’s home, Mobile, Alabama, where two children were born, Kenneth and Jacqueline.

Saleta was an active part of the church community in Mobile. Along with her duties as wife/mother/sewing for herself and others, she united with Mt Sinai of Whistler, Alabama, and was active in their Sunday school, choir, and Mission Circle. The family returned to San Antonio after four years.

Following her parents teaching, “Don’t send them, Bring Them,” she made sure her children had a spiritual base for their lives. While working in the beauty shop, she accompanied her children at church and their various activities. Wednesday night Bible Study was a routine family engagement. At any baseball/football/basketball game, she could be found in the bleachers or somewhere in the area. This chaperoning continued with her grandchildren. She was an active PTA member. She was involved in home, neighborhood, church, and community and even worked the polls on election days.

Saleta is an excellent cook, but everyone’s favorite is her home-made dinner rolls. There are many fond memories of fabulous dinners with family and friends.

After retirement, Saleta worked as a substitute teacher for 14 years with SAISD.

She has opened her home for some who needed a place to live. Through sickness, pain, agony, headache, heartache, nursing, caring, and losses, Saleta has remained a devoted disciple of Christ. Through it, all of God’s business never suffered and was never cut short. As it gets late in her evening, her steps may be a little slower/shorter now, but she’s still about the Father’s business. She continues to believe “when praises go up, blessings come down.”

Black Life Texas

A Crowded Mayor’s Race

Published

4 weeks ago

February 24, 2023

Editor

By Chris Dawkins

Feb. 17 was the deadline for candidates to file their intentions to run for an elected office. Election Day in San Antonio is Saturday, May 6, 2023.

Below are the City of San Antonio Mayor and City Council candidates. In a later magazine issue, we will include other candidates for school boards and other municipalities.

If you are a candidate in Bexar County and would like to be included in future issues of Black Life Texas, please submit a (75 word) description of your candidacy to; (CandiCandidate@BlackLifeTexas.com).

Here are the San Antonio municipal candidates:

Mayor (10) Candidates

Christopher Longoria, Ray Adam Basaldua, Diana Flores Uriegas, Ron Nirenberg*, Michael Idrogo, Armando Dominguez, Gary Allen, Christopher T. Schuchardt, Michael Samaiego

District 1 (10) Candidates

Sukh Kaur, Ernest Salinas, Jeremy Roberts, Lauro Bustamante, Mario Bravo*, Kaitlyn Folk, Roberto Rios Ortega, James Matthew Duerr, William T. Lamar-Boone

District 2 (10) Candidates

Carla Walker, Edward Earl Giles, Jalen McKee-Rodriguez*, James M. Guild, Denise Gutierez, Denise McVea, Wendell Carson, Patrick Jones, Rose Requeneq Hill, Michael John Good

District 3 (4) Candidates

Larry La Rose, Phyllis Viagran*, Jayden Munoz, Erin Gallegos Reid

District 4 (3) Candidates

Adrian Rocha Garcia*, Gregorio De La Paz

District 5 (3) Candidates

Teri Castillo*, Arturo Espinosa, Rudy Lopez

District 6 (2) Candidates

Irina Rudolph, Melissa Cabello Havrda*

District 7 (5) Candidates

Dan Rossiter, Marina Alderele Gavito, Jacob Chapa, Sandragrace Martinez, Andrew “AJ” Luck

District 8 (2) Candidates

Cessario Garcia, Manny Pelaez*