Fort Worth has put up to $4.5 million on the table to land a defense technology manufacturer that could employ 1,000 people at AllianceTexas.
The City Council approved an economic development agreement with Mach Industries on Tuesday night, offering tax breaks and grants over a 10-year period, according to the Fort Worth Report. The company builds aerospace and defense hardware including unmanned aircraft, long-range munitions and alternative propulsion systems.
What the city is buying
The site under consideration is Alliance Gateway 34, a 310,036-square-foot industrial building at Westport Parkway and Independence Parkway in Hillwood's AllianceTexas development.
Jessica Rogers, who leads the city's Economic Development Department, told council members at a June 23 work session that the company would make a minimum capital investment of $74 million. About $6 million of that goes to real property construction, with the rest in office space and equipment. Mach Industries would aim to spend 30% of that equipment budget with small businesses.
The strings attached
The incentives are performance-based, and the thresholds are specific. To collect the full package, the company must hire at least 1,000 workers at a minimum average annual salary of $67,470. It must maintain at least 600 jobs to receive anything at all, on a prorated basis.
There is also a wage floor with teeth: if more than half the jobs at the plant pay less than $60,000 at any point during the agreement, the company receives no incentives at all.
