I ran across an article in the Star Telegram written by Sandra Baker published March 31st.
Fort Worth appears to be in the lead to land a manufacturing plant and distribution center, an expansion by Taiwan's largest contract maker of electronics worldwide, that could mean up to 500 jobs for the city.
City staff members and representatives of Q-Edge Corp. (www.manta.com) have reached a tax abatement agreement, and the City Council is scheduled to hear about it Tuesday.
Q-Edge is a subsidiary of Foxconn Electronics, a Taiwan electronics conglomerate and the region's top exporter. Q-Edge wants to lease most of the former Nokia manufacturing and distribution center at Alliance in north Fort Worth.
Q-Edge, a leading maker of components for computers, cellphones and other consumer electronics shipped worldwide, has looked at several area sites since the first of the year and has narrowed its choice to two, said David Berzina, executive vice president of economic development with the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. The other site isn't publicly known. www.fortworthchamber.com
If the tax abatement is approved, Q-Edge would begin hiring 350 workers in May, but that number will eventually grow to 500. Berzina called the final number "conservative."
Given today's sour economy, Berzina said he expects few job creation announcements in the U.S. this year. He said he's glad "Fort Worth has one of the first. We were in competition with other communities in the Metroplex. It's safe to say we're choice A, but there is a backup."
Executives at a Q-Edge facility in Indiana declined to comment.
Jason Lamers, a city spokesman, said he could not talk about the details of the tax abatement proposal before the council is briefed on it, but he called the deal "potentially good news."
"During these times, any company willing to invest in our city is an endorsement of the strength of our local economy and the work force," Lamers said.
The company will have to meet requirements regarding hiring minority- and women-owned businesses, the number of employees it hires and a percentage of its workers living in the central city or at least within Loop 820, Berzina said.
The council will vote on the agreement in two weeks.
Berzina said Q-Edge was attracted to Alliance because of its worldwide brand recognition and because the building it wants to lease is in a Foreign Trade Zone, which allows a company to bring in goods from outside the U.S. that are not taxed unless shipped within the U.S.
Moreover, there's a large labor pool in Fort Worth; the company will have quick access to railroad, air and freeways for shipping to and from Alliance; and a building the size that the company needs is ready for move-in, Berzina said.
The company wants to lease 365,000 square feet of the former 445,000-square-foot facility that Finnish cellphone maker Nokia vacated in 2007. Nokia sold the building back to Hillwood, Alliance's developer. www.alliancetexas.com/developments
Because Q-Edge is on a fast track, Alliance has already given it limited access to the building, at the southwest corner of Alliance Gateway Freeway and Denton Highway, said Tony Creme, vice president of Hillwood Properties.
"Having that building available was one of the key things that made this deal," Creme said.
Telecom companies alone occupy more than 2.6 million square feet and employ more than 6,500 workers at Alliance, according to Hillwood, including global leaders LG Electronics, AT&T, ATC Logistics and Electronics and Motorola.
Including those created by Q-Edge, more than 3,500 jobs will have been added at Alliance since 2007.
Foxconn is the trade name for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., founded more than 30 years ago by Terry Gou. Its contracts are reported to be with such companies as Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Nokia, Cisco and Sony. (www.manta.com)
Q-Edge leases 292,260 square feet in the Plainfield Business Center for a computer assembly plant in Plainfield, Ind., where it reportedly employs more than 1,400 workers. In 2007, the company received $6 million in incentives from Indiana as well as property tax cuts from Plainfield.
The company also has locations in California in Fullerton, Santa Cruz, San Jose, and Ontario, according to its Web site.
