TexAmericas Center is one of the largest mixed-use industrial parks in the United States — roughly 12,000 acres of former military land west of Texarkana, in Bowie County, that has been turned into a hub for manufacturing, logistics and warehousing.

But it isn’t a private company, and it isn’t the city or the county. Legally it’s a political subdivision of the State of Texas — a special-purpose entity created specifically to redevelop a closed military base. That unusual status is the key to understanding both what it does and why its decisions can be hard for the public to weigh in on.

The land has a long military history. The Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant (LSAAP) opened in 1942 — a 15,000-plus-acre government plant that loaded artillery shells, bombs and fuses for the Army, about 12 miles west of Texarkana.

The 2005 round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) shut the plant down, leaving a surplus of more than 11,000 acres and millions of square feet of buildings. Under a 1997 Texas law, a county affected by a base closure can create a local redevelopment authority to take over that land and turn it into a private industrial park. The Red River Redevelopment Authority did exactly that, and in 2010 it rebranded its real-estate holdings as TexAmericas Center.

• East Campus — about 8,867 acres, the former ammunition-plant land. Because of its history, it is deed-restricted for commercial/industrial use.
• West Campus — about 2,850 acres, marketed for logistics, energy and large-scale industrial projects.

Parts of the old plant are still subject to long-running environmental cleanup dating to its munitions era.

Approximate footprint of TexAmericas Center according to Bowie County tax records.

TexAmericas Center is, at heart, a landlord and a recruiter. Its job is to attract employers to the region and put the old base back to productive use. Day to day, that means:

• Leasing land and buildings to manufacturers, distributors and logistics companies.
• Building “spec” facilities and improving infrastructure — roads, rail, water and power — to make sites move-in ready.
• Recruiting industry and marketing the park’s rail access, low utility rates and large contiguous tracts.

Today roughly 30 companies operate at TexAmericas Center, employing more than 1,000 people. The authority is largely self-supporting, running on lease and land revenue rather than ordinary property taxes, and it has used state and federal grants (such as Texas defense-adjustment grants and USDA rural-development funds) for infrastructure.

Roughly 30 companies operate at TexAmericas Center, from defense and aerospace manufacturers to local makers. A few of them:

TexAmericas Center is run by professional staff and overseen by a board of directors. Its senior leadership team includes:

Scott NortonExecutive Director & CEO Eric VoylesEVP, Economic Development Jeff WhittenEVP, Operations John SeslerEVP, Logistics & Rail

TexAmericas Center is governed by a 15-member board of directors drawn from across the region. Rather than being elected by the public, directors are appointed by the member governments — the cities throughout Bowie County plus the Bowie County Commissioners Court — which is why each director is tied to a specific city or to the county. The board then elects its own officers.

Officers

• Jim Roberts — Chairman (City of Wake Village)
• Ben King — Vice Chairman (City of Texarkana)
• Denis Washington — Treasurer (City of Texarkana)
• Justin Powell — Secretary (City of Leary)

Directors

Board membership current as of June 2026. Terms are staggered, so seats turn over on different schedules; the latest roster is posted on the TexAmericas Center board page.

Because TexAmericas Center is a political subdivision of the State of Texas, its board meetings are open to the public. The board of directors meets monthly — typically at midday at the TexAmericas Center offices, 11 Chapel Lane, Suite B, in New Boston — and the meetings are a chance for residents to hear directly what the authority is doing with the property.

Exact dates, agendas and minutes are posted on the official board calendar. If you’d like to attend or get involved, check the calendar for the next meeting or call the office at (903) 223-9841. View the board calendar

For ongoing coverage of TexAmericas Center — including the proposed Project Big Pine data-center development — see TXK Today’s latest reporting.