Plastics manufacturing company Sanko is looking to build a $40 million plant near the Toyota facility in San Antonio.
In documents submitted to the county, the company said it could hire 50 full-time employees with an average annual salary of $60,000 or more. The plant would be located on vacant land at 16472 Watson Rd. on the South Side.
Bexar County Commissioners on Tuesday approved an economic development incentive package for Sanko Texas Corp. valued at almost $850,000.
The agreement calls for a 10-year, 75% tax abatement on real and personal property investments.
Sanko is considering San Antonio for its next U.S. facility, said a GreaterSATX spokeswoman, and a decision is contingent upon incentive approvals.
“I am excited about bringing new jobs to the precinct and continuing to work and support the companies we already have, like Toyota,” said Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores (Pct. 1). “That was a promise to my constituents — to make sure I focus on economic development.”
County Commissioner for Precinct 1 Rebeca Clay-Flores at a Commissioners Court meeting at the Bexar County Courthouse in January after announcing she is recovering from colon cancer. Credit: Brenda Bazán / San Antonio Report
Sanko would partner with San Antonio-based Operational Technologies Corp. (OpTech), a third-party logistics provider, to build the facility.
Sanko’s parent company was founded in 1936 in Tokyo and manufactures plastic pallets and lids, plastic crates, plastic pails, bulk containers and special packaging for battery transportation.
Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai said he met with Sanko executives when he traveled to Japan a year ago.
He asked commissioners for unanimous agreement on the proposed incentive package because of what Sanko’s investment would mean for a growing county.
“I want the community to understand that although some people may feel, why do we have to do this, this is all part and parcel of a thriving and growing community so that we can then support all the infrastructure needs,” Sakai said.
Some parts of the county are “booming,” he said, which will require costly future infrastructure and public safety services.
The county’s executive director of economic development, David Marquez, also credited Hiroyuki Watanabe, director of the Texas Japan Office for the City of San Antonio, for helping to bring Sanko to the region.
When asked if Sanko would apply for economic development incentives available through the city, a spokeswoman for the City of San Antonio said the economic development department does not comment on specific applications.