Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, was in Fort Worth Thursday to see how AllianceTexas is supporting the nation’s supply chain during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sprawling development in Tarrant County is the vision of Ross Perot, Jr. Perot and Wolf toured Alliance by helicopter.
Wolf described AllianceTexas as “very critical” to the functioning of the U.S. economy right now. “We saw airplanes. We saw rail lines, and how they continue to make sure they get goods coming in and out of North Texas to all over the world,” Wolf said.
Many companies have operations at Alliance. Among them, BNSF, which has a massive intermodal transportation hub. Facebook runs a large data center. And Amazon has established a regional air operation there. “This is the foundation of the supply chain in this part of the United States,” Perot said.
Perot said safety is the key to keeping AllianceTexas running through the pandemic. His company, Hillwood, now regularly tests all of its more than 700 employees for COVID-19. “So when you come to Hillwood operations, the odds are very high who you’re working with is virus-free,” Perot explained.
Photos: Acting DHS Secretary Visits Fort Worth Alliance; Key to Pandemic Supply Chain
Wolf liked what he heard about Perot’s approach on coronavirus testing. “This is actually a model of how folks should do that,” he said. “Don’t rely on the federal government to come in. Commercial environment. We’re incentivizing and energizing that supply chain and those commercial labs. Go out, find those tests. They are out there in the open environment,” Wolf said.
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Alliance is one of several stops on Wolf’s two-day trip to North Texas. He told NBC 5 he was planning to meet with executives of American Airlines to discuss how the Department of Homeland Security can help travelers feel safe flying during the pandemic. Wolf was also set to visit with first responders in Fort Worth and front line DHS workers at DFW Airport.
*Map locations are approximate, central locations for the city and are not meant to indicate where actual infected people live.
