In this episode of The Crude Truth, host Rey Trevino welcomes Bryan Stubbs, a candidate for Midland City Council, to discuss his vision for a stronger, more community-focused Midland. Bryan shares his commitment to improving infrastructure, especially in schools, water, and roads, to support the city’s rapid growth. He contrasts his approach with that of large oil companies, emphasizing the importance of reinvesting in the local economy and partnering with neighboring counties to address regional needs.
Bryan also highlights the social inequalities in Midland and stresses the need for opportunities that will benefit local youth and create a foundation for long-term prosperity. His passion for retaining families in the area is evident as he talks about developing amenities that enrich the community’s quality of life. Tune in to hear how Bryan plans to bring positive change to Midland’s future.
Highlights of the Podcast
00:01 – Introduction
01:33 – Guest Background
03:04 – Community-Centric Business Approach
10:49 – Midland’s Growth and Infrastructure Challenges
11:12 – Social Inequality and Youth Opportunities
14:10 – Retention Challenges & Local Attractions
20:14 – Changing Midland’s Image
22:40 – Exciting Developments in Midland
27:17 – Planning for Stability in Business
29:33 – Supporting City Growth as a Council Candidate
34:37 – Why Midland Feels Like Home
37:05 – Campaign Details
Please reach out to Brian Stubbs on LinkedIn
The Crude Truth Ep. 105 Brian Stubbs, President of Air Compressor Solutions, Inc.
Video Transcription edited for grammar. We disavow any errors unless they make us look better or smarter.
Rey Treviño [00:00:00] West Texas politics there. West Texas politics. In fact, there’s a West Texas. I had to come to West Texas to talk to somebody running for Midland City Council. We talked to them on this episode of The Crude Truth.
Narrator [00:00:15] In 1901 at Spindle Top Hill near Beaumont. The future of Texas changed dramatically as like a fountain of fortune. Thousands of barrels of oil burst from the earth towards the sky. Soon Detroit would be cranking out Model TS by the millions. And America was on the move thanks to the black gold being produced in Texas. Now, more than a century later, the vehicles are different, but nothing else has truly changed. Sure, there may be many other alternative energy sources like wind and solar and electric, but let’s be honest, America depends on oil and entrepreneurs. And if the USA is truly going to be independent, it has to know the crude truth.
Narrator [00:00:58] This episode is brought to you by LFS Chemistry. We are committed to being good stewards of the environment. We are providing the tools so you can be to. Nape Expo, Where deals happen. Air compressor solutions. When everything is on the line, Air Compressor Solutions is the dependable choice to keep commercial business powered up. Sandstone Group. Exec Crue. Elevate your network. Elevate Your Knowledge. Texas Star Alliance. Pecos Country Operating Fueling Our Future.
Rey Treviño [00:01:33] Well. Good afternoon. Good morning. Hello as always. And thank you for tuning in to another episode of The Crude Truth. We kind of just opened in this episode of but how exciting it is. I’m you know what? For those of you that always watch and think too many of your thousands and hundreds of millions that watch this show, this is actually my second episode within probably three weeks of recording that I’m actually doing another Friday episode. And the vibe is different on a Friday. And I love it. I love it. But not only is Survivor different this time, but the location is different today. Things are getting so tense and so amazing in West Texas that I had to travel to West Texas. And I’m here at Forty Wolves Production studios Head up by Ryan Shewchuk, Ryan, thank you so much for allowing us to be here today. But of course, my my production team, as always, is Real News and Sandstone. But Ryan, thank you very, very much for the opportunity.
Brian Stubbs [00:02:31] It’s like that awesome studio.
Rey Treviño [00:02:33] Right? This is your 6 or 8 time here.
Brian Stubbs [00:02:35] Yeah, something like that.
Rey Treviño [00:02:39] My guest today is yes this is of no surprise is an amazing sponsor this show my guest today but today is not coming to me as a sponsor. He’s coming today as a candidate for Midland Place one. Bryan Stubbs, Brian how are you?
Brian Stubbs [00:02:55] Doing Fantastic.
Rey Treviño [00:02:57] My gosh.
Brian Stubbs [00:02:57] Living the West Texas dream. This is it.
Rey Treviño [00:02:59] You are the of somebody that can come out here and create the West Texas.
Brian Stubbs [00:03:04] Just as I said, I’ve been telling everybody on the campaign trail like it is not me. Like just the amount of support you get in this town if you’re willing to get involved and work hard. It’s amazing. This town in this industry just supports all these small companies that grow and do amazing things. You know, like I said, I’m just benefit of very grateful to be a beneficiary of that.
Rey Treviño [00:03:22] But but you talk about the beneficiary and you and I think since the day we met, one of the things I said that I enjoyed about air compressor solutions sponsor of the characteristic. But one thing that the day we met was how you are giving back to the community.
Brian Stubbs [00:03:36] You know, I’ve been in the business for a little bit and you know, just the competition is so tough. You’ve got to differentiate yourself and taking care of your employees is the best way to do it. And again, we’ve got some really dedicated employees just because we’re there for them. And, you know, I you know, growing up, I always heard I work for a family orientated company and I thought I did for once. And then it turned out, yeah, they’re just a business. But being family orientated in the oil business, because we the expectations are hard or high, the, you know, the you got to react fast. You got to do a lot of things. Hey, we’re going to take care of your family while your work is just actually amazing way to run a business and it’s been incredibly rewarding to run a business that way. And that’s where they all should be ran, in my opinion.
Rey Treviño [00:04:19] Well, no, that is that’s exactly right. They all should be ran that way because we’ve talked about it. And I’ll look at the cameras like the majors have come out here for almost 100 years now, and they have sucked this city dry. And you never see them actually reinvest in this community. And I think that’s what’s hurt Midland in West Texas.
Brian Stubbs [00:04:38] I would say there’s a there’s a core group that reinvest a lot. And you’ll you’ll see them have just a different level of employee. You know, we want to work for those companies that invest that are involved and have their name on sponsorships at the ball field or the Little League field or whatever it is. And, you know, that’s really kind of what separates some of these companies. And Midland is how they give back to the community. And it is a differentiator when you’re going out looking for an employee or, you know, my son, within a couple of years, he’s gonna be looking for a job, right? Like, I’m going to tell him, go look, go look at these 4 or 5 that are that. You see their name at the ball field and you see their name at charity events or whatever it is, because they understand what it means to take care of employees, because you have to take care of the employee and take care of the community to really grow. And then you even look back at the ones that are grown really rapidly. They’re usually the ones that give back in a very special way. So it’s crazy.
Rey Treviño [00:05:29] There’s no doubt about it. You have grown rapidly, I think, in just the five, six years that we’ve known each other Now. Which is it been that long? Yeah, it’s I think it’s been five years, right? Yeah. That. I can’t thank you enough. I always do like us, so thank you. Y’all have grown exponentially. And it’s all been in the West Texas, like panhandle, which a lot of people consider with sex is New Mexico. Which who were kidding? Yeah. And that’s a different thing. That’s west Texas. So you have done nothing but give back to this community as well. So, I mean, the success that you’ve had, I think would translate to the city of Midland because God knows they need great people like you right now.
Brian Stubbs [00:06:09] Yeah, that’s really why I want to run for city council. Is is. And I tell everybody, talk to me, you know, growing a business, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It’s just it’s you got to make 20 decisions a day and you kind of have to get okay, be okay with 18 of them are going to be wrong because you just don’t have the information you need. You got to make progress. You got to move forward and you’re going to change that decision in a couple of days. That’s just how you grow. And we didn’t talk before, but as of. Monday. We’re 102 employees. Whoa. Like it’s been. I think we were 18 when I bought it, you know? So it’s just been an amazing growth spurt of how do you get people and how do you and how do they we get them kind of acclimated to our culture, which is really about, you know, selflessness and giving back to the company and then the environment or the community and still trying to grow and do some amazing things. And so it is been just an amazing ride to see, you know, going in and getting your hands dirty and figuring problems out and solving problems the way you go and to get to this point. So, yeah, we’ve gone from one location to five and from about 18 employees to 102 as of Monday.
Rey Treviño [00:07:13] Well, I’m glad you said the one location because I was like that was the one location that was in Odessa. You know, I know you’re running from Midland, but you look at West Texas as a whole. And I think that is important because the Midland Odessa thing is just like Dallas-Fort Worth, right? Yeah. But yet when it comes time to band together, DFW Band together. And I think that’s something that you are fighting a lot for is let’s get those two together and win because a lot of things haven’t been a win for both. And, you know, I could maybe even talk about the range of their Bass Pro shop. Yeah, that was it. A win for both city.
Brian Stubbs [00:07:47] It wasn’t And and again, I don’t expect us to kind of, you know, be best friends during a process like that where we’re trying to get a name brand commercial name in the city. But on other things, we need to be And there’s again, one of the reasons I want to run is there’s some really neat growth problems that are coming to Midland, right? You know, one of them is, is that the Midland City limits goes well into Martin County. And we need to make sure we have a great relationship with Martin County because we need to talk about water and roads and and even schools like where are those kids going to go to school? And we need to figure that out. Right now, those kids are allowed to come to MSD, but we need to make sure we understand how what, you know, at what point does that not make sense anymore? At what point do we need to change or make a formal agreement or whatever that is? So one of the big things I’ve learned in my nonprofit world is when you, you know, in I’m done a lot of education work in the nonprofit world. You know, as soon as Midland Estee raises salaries for teachers, they get an influx until two days, a year or two years later, Ector County raises theirs. And they get they get all those teachers back. And we have this constant back and forth. We need to figure out how we work together and stuff like that. And, you know, even, you know, Miller City Limits goes all the way up to Midland County line. But Ector County has a lot of residents that I’m sorry, they live in Odessa, but they’re in Midland County. Yeah. And that’s really strange. And they actually go to Midland schools. So, you know, there’s a lot of reasons that the Midland City needs to reach out to the Midland Hospital District, the county, Martin County, Odessa, Ector County. We need to build those relationships. And I think that’s really critical to our growth because as soon as one does something better, we need to make sure that that we’re playing, playing together so we can bring all up at the same time. And I have this back and forth and kind of competition because that doesn’t really help the taxpayers at the end of the day.
Rey Treviño [00:09:39] Right. And because, again, you know, you guys are all just so close together. I mean, when people think of West Texas, they think of it as a whole. Now, District one, which is what you’re running for, What what all does that entail? What all that?
Brian Stubbs [00:09:51] It’s pretty much again, I don’t I don’t know if you drew these lines cause they’re hard to explain, but it’s pretty much north of the loop and east of Midland Drive all the way out to the county. But we do kind of dip down between Midland Drive all the way over to Midkiff, down to Wadley, and then a little bit north of Haines between Midkiff and Garfield. So it’s a weird little section, but it’s got Deford’s old seat.
Rey Treviño [00:10:15] That’s the way I believe. He How about that? Let’s go look it up.
Brian Stubbs [00:10:20] There’s a map online that type in Midland City Council map and then they’ll show up. But it’s confusing.
Rey Treviño [00:10:26] You know, I remember that a couple of years ago, you were like, you know, this city needs we need to do a few things. And at first, full disclosure, I thought you were talking about Odessa because we were sitting at your office in Odessa and you’re like, you know, our Tia, hell, just we need some things. And but again, for somebody that because you’re not a lifelong Odessa or Midland person, I wish. Yeah, yeah, right.
Brian Stubbs [00:10:49] I got here as soon as I can. Yeah, it wasn’t my fault.
Rey Treviño [00:10:53] But it’s like. But you have. Embrace it. Your kids are here, not y’all are. Your kids are growing up ever again. You employ so many people here in town. You understand that? And I think in this day and age, you need people that understand the community. And that is definitely something that you continue to do here.
Brian Stubbs [00:11:12] Yes. Like I said to my nonprofit work, I’ve done schools that, you know, bunch of elementary school, which is kind of on the south side of town and just being in that school like you, you can just learn a lot walking into that school and seeing what families are going through and how they’re surviving and the troubles and the, you know, hurdles and kind of roadblocks they have. And so really just see that, you know. There is a lot of wealth in opportunity in Midland, but you have to see it to be a part of it too, right? So we need to get that to everybody in Midland and really explain, you know, if you’re willing to work hard, if you’re willing to kind of do what’s right, you know, we can find you success in Midland, but you’ve got to be willing to put in the time, get involved and really grow this town. And, you know, it’s amazing to me that they’ll put me on the number I think is 47% of students at Mr. Young are on free and reduced lunches. That is an amazing statistic. And that’s something that we as a community need to own and understand that that is something that goes on in Midland.
Rey Treviño [00:12:08] So now let me ask you this, and I apologize to everybody out there if I sound stupid, but if 50% are on reduced lunches, does that mean also that 50% are in a lower bracket?
Brian Stubbs [00:12:22] Yeah, and the state’s going to move those around as I really looked at the data. But it’s not impoverished by any means is the reduced lunch kind of starts at the median? I think so. You know, it’s not like they’re impoverished or anything like that, but it is definitely they’re not they’re not living what people from outside of Midland think they are. Yeah. And again, it’s hard because the cost of living is high. We don’t have a lot of you know, we don’t have certain services like good medical and stuff where you have to go to Dallas or Lubbock or something to get specialized, some specialized health care. And so that’s what makes it hard, is if not everybody is participating in that, then then we’re not doing what’s right by the city.
Rey Treviño [00:12:58] You know, you mentioned that that Midland doesn’t have the the hospital, the that type of care. And I can just go back and again, I want to I want to talk about when we opened up and I said, hey, there’s companies out here. I’m talking about the majors, I’m talking about Exxon, Chevron, the old Gulf. They came out here. They sucked this town literally dry, didn’t put anything back into it. And, you know, I’ve talked about it. City of Bentonville, Arkansas, Wal-Mart headquarters, those are now granted, it is Arkansas. Those are the that’s the best school district in the state. And and Wal-Mart believes that if they want to have the best employees, they need to have the best of everything else. And you’re talking about that. We can’t even get in. We like why I’m here. But you made me come out here and I don’t you. Yeah. I go, hey, I want to get. You want to go? Well, you got to come me because I’m going from here. But anyway, you it’s like, what can you guys do to convince to get better, better, a better medical out here, better things, better school districts so that all these companies can get top tier talent to go along with it.
Brian Stubbs [00:14:10] Yeah, that’s what again I think is really a big part of the growth of Midland. You know, and if you look at kind of the, probably, well, I’ve been here ten years, so definitely the last ten years. Again, those companies that are kind of based here and grew up here and have deep roots here, they’re amazing companies and they give back more than anything any company I’ve ever heard of. And actually, I think some of them when they went public, got dinged for how much they give back to the community by Wall Street. And, you know, if you’re from Midland, if you’re connected to Midland, if you have roots in Midland, you give back. And it’s just kind of an A, you feel so connected. And again, the community gives so much that those companies that are based here really do give back. And, you know, we’ve got foundations and a handful of large companies. And again, I as a person involved in nonprofits, you start seeing kind of new names on your donor list, you know, like me, I go figure who that is. They’re a two year old company that’s given a large portion of their profits to back to the community already. You know, they’re getting they’re getting their feet underneath them. There’s 3 or 4 of those right now. And so if you’re connected to this community, I think, again, like like I am, you have to give back. Yeah, I wish I could give millions of millions of dollars back and we’re not there yet. So I give my time and my effort and skills back. But that’s Midland in a heartbeat. And, you know, we hear it all the time. People move to Midland and they’re kind of unhappy or uncomfortable for about a year, and then all of a sudden they get involved in something that they love. Their kids start playing sports. They get involved in a school, they get involved in extracurricular activities through their jobs, and then they never, ever want to leave. Yeah. And you know, that just speaks to Midland. Yeah, we’re not the prettiest place, but, you know, if you get involved in this town, you’re here. And one of the things that’s really big on my campaign is we don’t have a job creation problem. You know, Midland had a below 3% unemployment, I think, for 18 months from the date I looked at the other day. We have a retention problem. We have a lot of families that move here. It takes them a while to get acclimated and then, yeah, they love it, but they also still leave leave on the weekends and they also still leave out during the summer. We’ve got to find a way to get midlanders to want to stay here all the time. Okay. Maybe not all the time, but close to it. Yeah. You know, you know, I’ve got lots of friends that kids go to Dallas to play soccer and actually El Paso now to play soccer. I’ve got a love to play volleyball. We’ve got to find a way to get those dollars. Here in what people want to stay here during the weekends and for the pleasure and for the the fun activities also. So that’s a big part of what I want to do for Midland is bring in let’s bring in some attractions to have people stay here on the weekends. So, yeah, you make a lot of money in Midland, but then you go to Lubbock or Dallas or Denver or something like that every weekend. And that doesn’t really benefit Midland as a whole. And it doesn’t feel good that you have to go somewhere to do something, which is what we hear a lot here in Midland. So, so.
Rey Treviño [00:17:01] So we mentioned are we I mentioned Bass Pro Shop a little while ago and that got over to Odessa. How much did that type of a decision by main corporation decide for you to run? Because everything you’re talking about right now, like being from the DFW area, right, looking on the outside in and God knows I’ve spent my time out in Midland in West Texas, and so I’m one of those guys that comes in, does what I need to and got out.
Brian Stubbs [00:17:29] Right, Right.
Rey Treviño [00:17:31] However, when you look at something like Bass Pro Shop going in Odessa and that Marriott that’s in Odessa, that’s probably now the nicest hotel.
Brian Stubbs [00:17:41] For the short term, Miller’s got one coming.
Rey Treviño [00:17:43] Okay. All right. But what was it about those decisions that were made that made you want to run?
Brian Stubbs [00:17:50] Well, and I think Midland is a very unique town and we really should be kind of the star of West Texas. There’s really no reason we’ve got resources. We got people that care. We’ve got companies that invest, and we got a lot of people that want to invest in Midland. And so we need to figure out how the city can be a major player and kind of be proactive on that. One of the big things on my platform is, again, kind of thinking about were District one, is that the big spring Highway or 349 going north? I think about 40% of the city’s permits have been in our district on most of them on that side of the town. But there’s not a lot of commercial out there. There’s the closest supermarkets 3 or 4 miles away, the Market Street. We’ve got to get some growth, some some sustainable growth commercial stuff out there to make that a livable, pleasant place to live. Like I said, no one wants to spend 15 minutes go to the grocery store and back in Midland, Texas. It just doesn’t make sense for that’s where we are. So we’ve got to bring some development and some dollars into those other areas. I love that we’re developing downtown. Like I said, there is a hotel, actually two hotels coming into downtown in the next couple of years that are really changed downtown and have an attraction for people coming in out of town to be downtown. And I think we need to continue that momentum. You know, restaurants, family attractions and things like that really need to be the focus, the downtown to get people to feel like they can stay here and have fun and raise a family in Midland on the weekends.
Rey Treviño [00:19:16] Yeah, let me ask you this with those things. But the question I really want to ask but I want to step back before I ask. But the question is, how do you do that? How do you incentivize people? What would be your plan? But before I ask you that, it’s like, what are you seeing that is holding it back right now? Let’s go with that. What’s what’s holding back this city from doing that? Because yes, outside looking in Midland’s obviously the city that people want to go to, nobody says, I’m headed to Odessa. They say I’m either headed west Texas. I’m headed to.
Brian Stubbs [00:19:50] Midland. Yep.
Rey Treviño [00:19:51] So what is it that’s holding Midland back from getting these Market Street, let’s say a more h-e-b’s in the town? Because I think there may be, what, one? There’s two here. Here in Midland, there’s.
Brian Stubbs [00:20:03] Some of the highest grossing in the state, like H-e-b’s, like I said. But we got to get a third one and that’s really.
Rey Treviño [00:20:09] Where we’re at. How do you get all these companies come and invest more in the town?
Brian Stubbs [00:20:14] Well, and I think Midland needs to kind of get to be a better marketer. And I feel the same way about the oil and gas industry. And we’ve we talked about that on your show actually a few times. I’ve we’ve got to market ourselves differently. I think outside of West Texas, people still see Midland as a boom and bust town. And we’ve got to change that. I think the especially the oil companies that are based here in Midland have gotten a lot better and more efficient at operating that those boom and bust shouldn’t be as bad. Again, they say that cross your fingers are knocking on wood. What are you going to do? Yeah, it’s quietly. But, you know, those businesses have gotten a lot smarter because those booms and busts hurt, you know, their business and their growth and their long term plans. So I think if we can start convincing people outside of West Texas that we’re not a boom and bust town, that we’re a lot more stable than we’ve ever been. And also there’s other industries in Midland now. So there’s a gigantic push for aerospace. And, you know, those are, you know, long term projects, big projects that once they start, they’re going to finish them and they might be six, eight, ten years to finish one of those projects. And that brings a lot of stability to the Midland economy. And so I think if we start marketing ourselves a little bit differently and saying, hey, these booms and busts, we hope our thing of the past, we’re managing through them, we’re managing them differently. And then look at the dollars. Look at. You know, the wealth in the average pay and that kind of thing. And then those companies will be really, really excited. Costco just announced that they’re coming. And you know, the guy that’s representing Costco in Midland, he said, I think there’s 1600 Costco memberships in Midland. And I was like, That doesn’t make any sense. So what I’ve learned talked to half of my friends. I’ve got memberships every time they go to Dallas, Fort Worth or Lubbock, they stop by a Costco and they’re spending hundreds of dollars at a Costco once a month. Then that money is just made in Midland and spent somewhere else. Yeah. And just Costco by itself. If they can change that, that’s a that’s a big tax revenue and tax base for for Midland. Yeah. And that’s kind of what we’re talking about. We need to have those here so you can ask what’s what’s stopping it. The other thing that I think is awesome about Midland, there are a lot of really neat, like energized focus groups that want to invest in Midland. You know, Midland building a zoo that’s private. And I think it’s the first zoo built in America in, like 20 something years.
Rey Treviño [00:22:40] Wow.
Brian Stubbs [00:22:40] But Miller’s getting a zoo, like though no one else is building new zoos. And we’re getting state of the art amazing zoo in Midland, Texas, because people want to invest in Midland. And it’s not you know, they’re they could have built that zoo anywhere. But they’re midlanders. They’re from Midland and they want to build a zoo in Midland. And it’s just an amazing attraction. Yeah, that’s that’s just going to be here in Midland forever, we hope. And and, you know, it’s going to set us apart and builds because people love Midland and that’s that’s why they’re investing in Midland.
Rey Treviño [00:23:13] You know, you mentioned just now setting us apart. And then I want to combine boom or bust. So I take those two things, setting us apart. Boom or bust. And air compressor solutions. Okay. You and your company with your mind and your team.
Brian Stubbs [00:23:31] And my team and all the work.
Rey Treviño [00:23:33] But the boom or bust, you guys have been able to. Really? Thrive in a city that is based off of boom or bust. So I want to highlight that because it’s very important, as you’re talking about, this is a city more for just boom or bust. What are the saying some of the things that you’ve learned over your ten years here in town because people think you’re a long time person here. Okay. Whenever I do get a chance to come to town, people like, well, you’re like, how many people like, you’ve only been here that long because you are so involved. But getting back to the question, boom or bust, what is it that you think you’ve been able to do to sustain during the bust and really thrive during the booms?
Brian Stubbs [00:24:21] Good question, by the way. So I think there’s kind of two two things that we’ve that I believe heavily in and that we do. It occurs. One, it’s all about relationships. One of the things that just still to this day amazes me, no matter how big you get or how small you are, if you got good relationships in the oil and gas business, you can go figure it out. And that’s just the business. My father was a petroleum engineer, and that’s how it was when I was a kid too. Like that’s one of the things that really excites me about our industry is of if you build good relationships and you, you know your customer and you know your employees and you know your vendors, you can make it and be you can help each other out during those cycles too. Right? And really build on those relationships and help each other out and kind of come through it as a team. And so I think that’s very, very interesting. The second thing I’m a big believer in is I started off in the automotive industry and because I graduated from college in the time that everybody said the oil business is going to be gone in ten years, don’t go to business. They were all liars. I’m really upset I didn’t come the oil business sooner. But, you know, they said, don’t do it. And so I went, I believe in history. They have the same cycle, but every seven years. Engine sales drop. Big, heavy, heavy equipment sales drop, and they have the same cycle. And actually, amazingly enough, it’s usually offset offset of the oil cycle. So when oil is high, people aren’t buying big trucks, people aren’t buying cars, people are buying engines because they’re expensive and the fuel is high. Yeah, it is the same cycle. And kind of what I learned is as soon as you look and learn the economics, you just have to prepare. You have to have a good plan. And one of my big beliefs is, is my leadership team, They need to be thinking half a cycle ahead all the time. So if you’re at the peak and we know we think this is good as it’s going to get, my teams really challenged to get me a plan for what the bottom looks like. Yeah. Here’s critical. How do we cut expenses? How do we keep employees? How do we keep customers? How do we keep operation? How we keep lights on? And then we get towards that bottom. They they need they only have plan for the top. You know what people do We need? What resources do we need? How do we need to grow? What markets are we going to focus on? And so that’s that’s how I think a normal business needs to run. They need to be half a cycle. So about four years is a good working thing. You know, as soon as you see the crest, it starts going down. You’re like, okay, here’s here’s the deck of cards we’re already going to play. And then at the bottom, you’re like, okay, here’s here’s our five things we’ve got to do right now to get in front of it. And that’s that’s really been a really amazing conversation that we’ve had inside. Asks of of man, if you’re always half a cycle ahead. Yeah, kind of trust your employees take care of the day to day, take care of the customers. We need to go focus on what that half a cycle looks like.
Rey Treviño [00:27:01] Well, with half a cycle. You’re running for District one? Yep. What are some things that you want to. Well, you know, let’s not. What are some things that you want to shake up or work at getting ahead of when I’m on City Council for Midland.
Brian Stubbs [00:27:17] So again, I think growth is hard and it always will be because again, as we talked about, it’s always a 100 decisions. You got to realize you’re gonna be wrong at most of them, but you got to make a step forward and see if it’s right. You know, and adjust as needed. So again, the growth of Midland again, I’m a big believer our unemployment rate is going to stay about where it is. You know, oil, we’ve got better operators, we’ve gotten better management of our money. So if all that plays out, we’re going to continue to grow and we’ve got to do things like make sure our infrastructure is right. You know, the city’s working through the additional water deal right now, which is critical. You know, I laugh that that this is what Midland is, right? We had a 100 year water plan ten years ago and we need another hundred year water plan because we’re going to run out of water that we thought we were going to that was going to last us for 100 years. But that’s a problem with growth. We’ve got the fireman pension fund is is a big deal. We need to make sure that’s funding and those guys are taking care of and really make sure we’re managing that group because that’s critical to growth. Also, we have to be able to recruit and retain good firefighters and staff and fire stations where we need them and do that kind of work. And again, growing that big spring 349 corridor again, that’s where all the growth is. City Council just passed an annexation for I remember the number now 1200 homes or something like that out there. But, you know, there’s so many homes out there and they’re driving 15 minutes, the grocery store and there’s a couple of gas stations and a couple, you know, strip mall kind of things out there. But we really need good commercial space out there for those homes and for those people to really feel feel like they’re part of Midland and not having to drive to downtown to do anything. And then downtown rate of growth. You know, I think the last couple of years we’ve done a lot. But I think we need to make sure that two hotels that we have on the books are built and then start growing around those. So people are starting to talk about a third hotel. And I’m just I don’t think it’s quite time yet. Let’s get these built. Let’s make sure they’re full. Make sure we’re bringing in the people that we need to bring in and make sure the attractions and the reasons to come downtown are built around them.
Rey Treviño [00:29:25] So, you know, are you are you afraid to tell the mayor? No.
Brian Stubbs [00:29:30] So I wouldn’t say that.
Rey Treviño [00:29:33] I don’t like him.
Brian Stubbs [00:29:33] Yes. Like I said, unfortunately or fortunately, I think she’s the reason a lot of this stuff has come to light. I’m I’m very amazed at how she’s taken on some really hard subjects like the fireman pension fund that has kind of been not addressed like it should have been the last few years. But she said, no, we’re going to address it. We’re going to fix it because this is good for Midland. And I said, I don’t agree with her on everything, but I definitely agree with her approach that she dives in and she says, I’m going to own this. It does fix because it’s right for Midland. And I think if if more politicians had that attitude, things would be a lot different everywhere. And I think with my skills as a problem solver and a business owner and just the passion I have for Midland, that’s what I want to do. Hey, if there’s a problem with go diving in, let’s go figure it out. Let’s go see if we can fix that. Make it better for everybody.
Rey Treviño [00:30:22] Community. You know, that’s it’s like it starts at the community level and then it goes out. So I cannot disagree with that at all. You know, it’s easy for me because, you know, one, I don’t live in this town two years past the show and through your mentor and friend. So obviously, you know, if I lived here, you got my but for everybody out there that doesn’t one normally vote or two doesn’t know who to go with just because he may not know who you are. The other other other person might think, why do they want to vote for you and what do they expect from you? Because somehow people like expectations. If they.
Brian Stubbs [00:31:04] Say, do I a big fan of expectations.
Rey Treviño [00:31:06] For.
Brian Stubbs [00:31:07] Myself? I think we’ve talked about this before. Do I please hold me accountable? I like it’s the crazy party. That’s how I get better and how I grow and how I help people around me grow. Yeah, we vote for me. Those I think I bring a very unique mindset of Midland. Again, a business owner in this town is just amazing. Again, you the support that you get, but also there’s the challenges. You know, the oil and gas business has very high expectations of their vendors. And as always, it’s trying to grow and meet those expectations. At the same time, I just bring a lot of experience, I think, through that. Again, I’m an engineer by schooling and I did engineering for a while, so I actually really enjoy diving into hard problems and solving them. Like I said, we talked about farm impinges on the stuff that’s going on with our engine, the Hills Golf course. It’s complicated. It’s where you need some legal advice. But at the end of the day, we still need to sit down across the table from each other and talk about what we need to do as a city. And then again, the growth. Where do you spend your money? Where do you spend where you focus? You know, it can’t all be downtown, but it can’t all be this area can’t be that area. We’ve got to figure out a way to kind of do what’s right for the city. And again, those are hard decisions. And that’s really where what I think I bring to Midland. And then again, I think my nonprofit look, my nonprofit work. I’ve gotten to see some other sides of Midland that not everybody gets to see. And we’ve got to figure out a way to focus on everybody in Midland. Like I said, it is a hard place to live just because, you know, work is hard. Like I said, we don’t have all the resources we should and we’ve got to make sure we’re making that an easier life for everybody in Midland. So, yeah.
Rey Treviño [00:32:45] I can’t believe in running now being the wheel. And the reason why is because you’re the right person to do it. Thank you. If that makes any sense. It’s like because usually the right people that that you want to run are never going to run. Yeah. And I think you’re that right guy, too, to really do more because we’ve joked about it. And it’s like, so what’s next? You know? Because you’re not afraid to talk to the crowd because of the sparks, Right? And you sit there and mince it out and have a good conversation, because I think all three of you all want to see nothing but success for West Texas as a whole.
Brian Stubbs [00:33:19] Yeah, like I said, and especially those people, I mean, it’s just amazing to talk and see what they’re trying to do kind of from the next level or two levels up. And again, they there’s they get to see a lot a bigger picture of kind of some of the challenges and roadblocks that Midland and West Texas have to grow in getting in. And I said, I, I, I guess I don’t have any aspirations for city council because a city council, you know, where you kind of get to roll up your sleeves and really start to get your hands dirty and fix some real problems. And even even things like growth, how do you get people to grow and move to Midland? And, you know, that’s super excited me. And I think the tides are kind of changing both in Austin Railroad Commission definitely, and even in Washington, D.C., somewhat of what West Texas means. Why it’s unique, why our kind of hurdles unique, and then how we how do we get over those? So again, I think Pfluger is doing an amazing job.
Rey Treviño [00:34:15] Of we’re two I’ve.
Brian Stubbs [00:34:16] Represented.
Rey Treviño [00:34:17] Yeah, Yeah.
Brian Stubbs [00:34:18] You just talked to him a few times. You know, the the representation that he does for West Texas is really amazing. And I think he’s gotten us on the map in a lot of people’s minds. I would have never thought about us.
Rey Treviño [00:34:29] Well, let me ask you this. For people out there that are thinking about moving to Midland, why don’t you, instead of doing anything else, give them a pitch on why they should move to Midland?
Brian Stubbs [00:34:37] Yeah, well, I said it. It was really an amazing town. And I tell everybody I lived a few places before this. You know, I’ve been married for 20, 21 years. But when we moved to Midland, it took about two months for us to look at each other and go, This is home. Yeah. And I tell this story for me. Other day, my oldest youngest son was sitting there. My youngest son is a little extroverted and he’s very passionate about a few things you want. He knows what he wants to do when he grows up. He’s 13 years old. He’s he’s an amazing young man. And through our church, through some of my activities, through my wife’s job and some of her activities and just getting involved in this town, if I had to sit down and count, I think my older my youngest son has 30 people. He calls Grandpa and he has that type of relationship with that number of people. We go to church and we don’t see him. He’s 13 and I was always thinking he’d go sit with people his age, but now he’s sitting with somebody. He’s 60, whatever, because they’re interested in his life and they’ve connected with him and he’s connected and he has that same connection. My son is part of a club. He’s the youngest member. I’m almost the second youngest member. But every one of those the people in that club have almost adopted my son. And the interactions, the things he learns. Because again, it takes a community to raise a kid. But just having him be active has just he’s seen different things and he’s experienced things that most 13 year olds would never dream of just because he’s made connections inside of Midland and the amount of things that my sons and my family and my wife have gotten just because we’re involved in this town is just unreal. And that’s that’s why we live in Midland. Again, if you get connected to the community, the the giving and the attitude of Midland is just amazing. And they said it’s in my mind, it’s just the awesome place to raise a family. You can’t you can’t beat it. So, wow. November 5th. November 5th. Yeah, we’ll be out. Walk in blocks on Saturdays. Maybe a couple other days. We’ve got a couple of events on our website. Go check those out. Websites Brian Stubbs dot vote, which again, I didn’t know you could do dot vote and it’s super easy to remember we’re on Facebook and Instagram. Stubbs for City Council on Facebook. So easy one to find. You follow my personal LinkedIn account. We do our stuff on that one this.
Rey Treviño [00:37:05] Year.
Brian Stubbs [00:37:06] So we’ve got some events coming up. We actually just did one. We did another podcast on Wednesday. That was a lot of fun. There’s a forum this Monday for the Board of Realtors. I’ll be on the I kicks out film on Tuesday morning. So.
Rey Treviño [00:37:19] All right. So make sure you’re getting out there.
Brian Stubbs [00:37:22] Yeah. Again, that’s that’s how you win an event. It’s all about relationships, all about meet people. And it’s been a lot of fun the last couple weeks.
Rey Treviño [00:37:29] I think it’s been really calm. Yeah, I think it’s been awesome. Yeah. And I can’t do nothing. But, you know, like, if I notice you, me, your name is before the company, so I support. I wish you good luck and I think you’re going to do more of it.
Brian Stubbs [00:37:43] And one last thing. When I was walking over here, I thought about this. So when you’re on Saturday Night Live the fifth time, you get a nice jacket. I think this is my fourth time. I’m just like, you know, for time. I’m just letting you know, I think this is my fourth time. So something. Saturday Night Live, they get a really nice jacket and there’s a club. If you ever seen skits.
Rey Treviño [00:38:00] are you been through? Because I just I’m just like.
Brian Stubbs [00:38:01] You know, it’s just information.
Rey Treviño [00:38:03] So I’m going to I’ll probably get this one out because obviously I know people busy before JP Warren. So shout out to JP Warren. Yes he’s asking for Brian but he probably would be if he knew.
Brian Stubbs [00:38:13] But JP is awesome. Talk to you. He does a great job on social media too, for our industry.
Rey Treviño [00:38:17] And just kind of doing a podcast with him. And I think it’s between you, JP Warren, Jim Holmes Yep. And Brianna Johnson, who’s also from from here in town. So yes, when the fifth person though we talked about that, that I will have a five something or something I was joking with the number five right there. That is a live. Yes.
Brian Stubbs [00:38:42] I thought about that. I was walking up here. I was like, yeah.
Rey Treviño [00:38:44] I think it’s my first. Yes. No, no, no. Whoever it is next to us first, first item. And we’re going to make it a big deal.
Brian Stubbs [00:38:49] I know I’ve I’m available next week.
Rey Treviño [00:38:52] Most things you don’t win first, but I’m okay with.
Brian Stubbs [00:38:56] That, too. I’m okay with that, too.
Rey Treviño [00:38:59] Well, Brian, what We’re time for everybody out there. How can they get a hold of you guys?
Brian Stubbs [00:39:03] Brian Stubbs I’m running for City Council, District one, Midland North Midland. Our website is Brian Stubbs Dot Vote me, Follow us on Facebook. Stubbs For City Council, we’re on Instagram, my personal account on LinkedIn. Like I said, we’ve got a lot of events coming up. Like simply, volunteers are great and we just love getting that many people.
Rey Treviño [00:39:23] Oh man Well, I cannot thank you enough. You got me to Midland.
Brian Stubbs [00:39:26] I have. Thanks for coming. Thanks for having me on again.
Rey Treviño [00:39:30] Record this. Thank you for always and thank you for your support. And this is obviously something that I know that you’re passionate about. You are doing so many great things already. I don’t here in the community. I don’t try to do anything less. So for those of you out there that don’t know Brian, you know, if you got to reach out to me, reach out to me, reach out to his team and Air Compressor Solutions. And again, I do want to say thank you to Ryan Shewchuk. Yeah, if I said that right. That’s. Thank you, Ryan Shewchuk again for allowing us to use your amazing studios here in West Texas in Midland, which is a proud supporter of Brian Stubbs. So thank you all so much. And thank you to all the listeners out there. And we’ll see you again on another episode of The Crude Truth.
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