For City Manager Summary Integrate information about the economic development Division and how a city Manager can reorganize this department and consolidate efforts to provide more recognizable results. http://www.elpaso.org/infrafact/economicdev.html

Historical Overview:
El Paso del Norte-The Passage of the North
"Archeological sited that bear mute witness to early inhabitants that flourished and then vanished, the first Thanksgiving on the banks of the Rio Grande in 1598 by the Spanish Conquistadors, the subsequent colonization and introduction of Christianity, the rise of the Mestizo culture, the hard and fruitless struggle of the native Americans to hold onto a land that was sacred to the, followed by the flood gates opening to a wide array of characters and personalities that left a fascinating and indelible mark on this part of the Southwest.

The Apache who fought mightily against anything and anyone not Apache, the U.S. Army with the legendary Buffalo Soldiers who eventually subdued all forces opposed to their presence, the Chinese laborer who built a railroad that would forever change the economic fabric of the region, the gunfighter who fought and fell and was interred in a dusty grave, to todays proud and dominant Mexican-American population seasoned by those from many other cultures living together in a seamless community. This is El Paso."

El Paso Museum of Art Education Services
The El Paso Museum of Art exists to help diverse audiences gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the arts. Through services, publications, and programs, the Education Department works to foster a greater awareness of the arts while striving to address the varying interests and perspectives of the community.

Family events, film and video programs, lectures, gallery talks, concerts and performances, workshops, storytelling sessions, and more are offered throughout the year in conjunction with changing exhibitions and permanent collections. All are designed to help you increase your knowledge of the arts.

Note: El Paso Museum of Art Foundation
Founded in 1998, the EPMA is a Texas Non-Profit Corporation ?a 501(c)(3) organization under the Internal Revenue Code. It is organized exclusively for the benefit of the Museum to provide long-term funding for acquisitions, conservation/preservation, education and interpretation, and related areas of Museum functions not provided for by the City of El Paso operational funding. It is governed by a board of individual El Paso citizens with committees for development, Planned Giving, and Investment. When you make a gift to the EPMA Foundation, you are ensuring the Museums future as a diverse cultural treasure for all Border Region citizens, guest, and growing numbers of tourists.

Viva El Paso-In an open ampitheater, a stage extravaganza is performed during the summer. It depicts the culture and struggles of the people who have made the Pass of the North theoir home to music and dance. This annual event has ever changing interpretaions of the different cultures that have contributed to the diversification of El Paso. The ampitheater itself is like no other where a mountain peak is the backdrop and night stars help light the performance.A Glimpse Of El Paso

Archeological Sites surrounding the city- At the Wilderness Park Museum located at 4301 Transmountain Road near the foot of the Franklin Mountains. directly west of U.S.. Highway 54 is a 15 acre natural exihibit. Also on these properties is the Wildeness Museum itself/Among young children the dioramas presented here are the best presentation of early people in the El Paso area begining about 12,0000 years ago. Our knowledge of the archaeological record is incomplete because artifacts of perishable materials are rarely preserved. Artifdacts of stone and pictographs painted on stone, survive today.

Union Plaza-The Union Plaza project encompasses a fourteen block area ready for retail,commercial, tourist, and entertainment sectors. The City of El Paso has ordinances and special programs available to facilitate private investment int hr Union Plaza District. EL Paso is the largest city in the United States situated directly on an internantional border. Nearly two million people populate the sister cities of El Paso and Juarez, Mexico. The two citites are currently engaged in major redevelopment of their adjoing downtowns.Although both citites enjoy steady growth, thois metroplex is losing its commercial value as an international city because neither city has made the redevelopmwent efforts foremost in political view. Other citties of comparable size who obviously don't have the site advantages of being an international focal point have developed a marketing plan to promote their areas. These are places that have fewer resources similar or the same types of climates, and definately not more interesting people.

Summary :
The city of El Paso enjoys a multicultural heritage spanning over four hundred years. It has developed for itself a strong infrastructure of community involvement with the creation and enhancement of its cultural and artistic heritage. Yet these locally sponsored events are not "sponsored" by the state in the fashion that El Paso is still not recognized as the worthy contributor to the art and culture of the state of Texas. If a separate entity outside of the current Economic Development would make a special effort project to promote the historical and cultural resource of our city, trade and new commercial venues will identify the El Paso-Juarez metroplex as one of the most advantageous sites for development.

The education of local art and style can only enhance the political position out city hold in state legislature.