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Section 1 <br />Special Honors <br />Two Remarkable People Honored at 2012 Quasar Award Banquet <br />Only twice in the 35-year history of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership <br />have two prestigious awards been given on the night of the organization’s highly <br />anticipated annual banquet. This year marked the third such occasion, and it made <br />the evening a very memorable one for the 650 attendees. <br />BAHEP presented its 2012 Quasar Award for exceptional leadership in economic <br />U.S. Sen. John Cornyn <br />development to . The Quasar Award is presented each <br />year to an outstanding individual who has contributed greatly to the economic <br />wealth and diversity of the Bay Area Houston region.BAHEP President Bob <br />Mitchell said, “Sen. Cornyn has always worked hard for the people of Texas. <br />Most importantly, he understands what drives our economy and fights for our best <br />interests. That is often a hard road to travel on Capitol Hill, and we in Bay Area <br />Houston are fortunate to have him in our corner.” <br />The second award of the evening, BAHEP’s Presidential Award, was presented to <br />Mary Alys Cherry, editor emeritus of TheBay Area Citizen.In his surprise <br />introduction of Cherry, Mitchell said, “After a lengthy career with newspapers all <br />over the country, including the Houston Post, this individual arrived at The Bay <br />Area Citizen in the early ‘80s and decided to stay. Although the name of The <br />Citizen has changed several times over the years, this person’s passion for the <br />communities that make up the Bay Area and compassion for the people who live <br />here have never wavered.”He concluded by saying, “The Presidential Award <br />recognizes those individuals who may not be well-known outside of the region, <br />but whose contributions make a big difference in our lives.” Previous recipients <br />of the Presidential Award were BAHEP board members Frans Gillebaard, <br />president, Amstel Holdings Inc., and the late Dr. Ned Dudney. <br />Business Assistance Programs <br />Prospect Review Meeting <br />BAHEP staff members reviewed their projects with city, county and member <br />representatives to discuss upcoming marketing opportunities and trends during <br />two meetings in this reporting period.Reports on economic development <br />activities, including infrastructure projects, commercial and residential <br />construction, transportation projects, and community services were provided by <br />each city and county representative. Veronica Reyes of the AerospaceTransition <br />Center gave an update onjob placement for the NASA contractor employees <br />impacted by the retirement of the space shuttle. Approximately 1,000 ofthe <br />3,500 displaced employees have been placed in new jobs; some out of state and <br />some globally. The main focus of the Aerospace Transition Center is to retain the <br />skilled employees, but these valuable employees are being snapped up as far away <br />as Singapore and Canada for the oil and gas industries. Reyes said there are still <br />manychemical, electricaland mechanical engineers,information technology <br />5 <br /> <br />