Costep Council for South Texas Economic Progress

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
372027841
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
Mission, TX, USA
Phone
9566826371
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Urban, Community Economic Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$575,773
Expenses
$1,060,158
Assets
$12,566,007
Liabilities
$128,687

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ADAM GONZALEZ (CEO)
  • MARI MANN-SILVA (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ADAM GONZALEZ (CEO): $199,680 total reported compensation
  • MARI MANN-SILVA (VICE PRESIDENT): $129,334 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To ensure residents acquire skills and knowledge and have access to economic opportunities to enable them to pursue meaningful careers and live prosperous lives in rio south Texas.

What it reported doing in 2023

Costep will provide a regional economic development approach that will accelerate growth by driving business recruitment and industry-focused workforce pipeline development to shape forward-thinking strategic initiatives. Costep will perform international and domestic recruitment activities targeting industries with an existing footprint in the region. The purpose of costep is to bring together business and education communities to promote, sponsor, and advance business prosperity and the economic success of the region and its citizens. Costep's program of work encompasses the following four strategic initiatives: 1. Expanding business development activities, specifically domestic/international recruiting, includes activities such as: site selector outreach, targeted business recruitment, lead generation, fam tours and quick tours. 2. Leverage the symbiotic business relationship between the united states and mexico attracting companies to the region by promoting the high-value manufacturing opportunity in mexico delivers an incredible value proposition that will be leveraged, promoted, and furthered the twin-plant international concept. This concept consists of manufacturing in northern mexico cities with management and logistics in the southern us cities. 3. Aggregate all existing business intelligence and resources and conduct new data projects. Activities and services may include: data acquisition, regional demographics, regional properties, industry data, regional economic impact report and regional gap analysis.4. Target national and international marketing with a campaign that includes many assets, such as infrastructure, that are available to all jurisdictions for local and regional advantage. Activities and services may include: targeted marketing campaign, social media campaign, regional videos, website and international/national placement.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 78% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 86% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 66.5%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -84.1%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.85; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 31%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 33.1% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -137.5% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 66.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $705K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $200K · 11 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2021 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.