Mike Copeland: New building permits, Kelly Services moves downtown, Tesla ...

Kelly Services has relocated its local headquarters from the Wells Fargo building on Wooded Acres Drive to the Roosevelt Tower at 400 Austin Ave.

The company has about 3,000 registered staffers who perform temporary jobs in Waco, Temple, Killeen and Belton.

To mark the move and its 30 years of membership in the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce Kelly will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 4 p.m. Thursday in Suite 201 of the tower, said Jeannie Towns, Kellys business development representative.

We will have three people in our office, but we are rebuilding Kelly, so that could expand to five or six, Towns said.

She said Kelly downsized in the area beginning in 2009, as the national and local economy felt the effects of the Great Recession. Its Temple and Waco operations were combined, and they will remain so for the foreseeable future.

But were trying to rebuild Kelly and grow accounts and bring in new business, Towns said.

Building permits

Three permits recently issued by the city of Waco inspection services department stood out:

A permit valued at $155,708 was issued for the remodeling of 2512 W. Loop 340 at Central Texas Marketplace, where Dollar Tree reportedly will open a store. Bed Bath & Beyond previously occupied that space before relocating within the complex.

A permit for $7 million was issued for construction of 96 apartments at 600 Franklin Ave., Waco Franklin Place Apartments.

An $81,000 permit was issued for exterior and interior remodeling of PJs Bar and Grill, 7000 Sanger Ave.

Taking a charge

Billionaire Elon Musk continues to take steps to make it easier to drive his Tesla electric cars in Texas.

He recently opened a service center in North Houston, where Tesla owners can charge their vehicles in as little as 20 minutes, free of charge.

Tesla now has 43 such chargers at seven stations in the state, including one next to Collin Street Bakery at 701 Interstate 35 North, near Sams Club in Bellmead.

Since the first supercharger opened in San Marcos in August 2013, such devices in Texas have provided the power for Tesla Model S owners to drive 2 million miles, according to a report by the automaker.

The report said the chargers have enabled Model S drivers to save more than 90,000 gallons of gas and more than 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide.

The Model S has a range of 265 miles and the company is trying to locate charging stations on major routes to accommodate that distance. It also places them next to hotels, business parks and restaurants for the convenience of drivers who can stop for a quick meal or coffee break while charging their Tesla, the company said.

Musk has another tie to the Greater Waco area. He founded SpaceX, the private rocket-making venture that sends supplies to the International Space Station and tests its product in McGregor.

Kudos for credit union

Genco Federal Credit Union, which has three locations in Waco, was named one of the top 200 healthiest credit unions in America for 2015 by DepositAccounts, which ranks the quality of financial institutions.

Genco stood out in all of the primary evaluation categories, including Texas Ratio, Deposit Growth and Capitalization, said Patrick Russo, a spokesman for DepositAccounts.com, who released a statement.

Texas Ratio is an indicator of how much capital a bank or credit union has available compared to the value of loans at risk.

Founded in 1953, Genco has locations in Waco, Lorena and Lufkin and employs 87. Its assets total $261 million; $164 million in loans; $230 million in deposits; and $30 million in equity capital.

Source: http://www.wacotrib.com/news/business/mike_copeland/mike-copeland-new-building-permits-kelly-services-moves-downtown-tesla/article_df682810-bb6f-5d69-814e-5f5704224ce0.html