Fort Worth is gathering momentum as a technology manufacturing hub.
Earlier this week, city staff presented plans at a city council work session to court Adom Industries, whose goal is to facilitate remote prototyping and testing of electronics in the cloud.
Later this month, the city will consider offering the company $15 million in incentives in the form of economic development grants.
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D-FW Real Estate News
In exchange, Adom will build a new headquarters at 4400 Alliance Gateway with an electronics prototyping lab and a remote-access semiconductor fabrication facility.
Over its lifespan, the project will also create 267 new jobs in Fort Worth with an average annual salary of $91,000.
These positions are expected to include engineering, research and advanced manufacturing roles.
The company’s total capital investment will be an estimated $229 million, most of which will go toward manufacturing equipment and technology for their new headquarters, lab and fabrication facility.
Terms of the agreement the city plans to propose also include clawbacks if certain job creation and investment goals aren’t met.
“Fort Worth hasn’t historically been a creator in this space — companies like Lockheed have typically been the purchasers of this kind of technology. We’re eager to change that. Rather than seeing opportunities like this always land on the eastern side of the Metroplex, we believe this project will become one of Fort Worth’s most significant semiconductor initiatives to date,” said Kelly Baggett, an economic development coordinator with the city.
Baggett referenced the city’s recent win courting Wistron, a Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer that will build two new manufacturing facilities in Fort Worth.
Besides the incentives offered by Fort Worth, city staff noted the project is also seeking $20 million from the Texas Semiconductor Investment Fund, a state incentive program to “encourage the continued leadership of Texas in semiconductor research,” according to the governor’s office.
Private businesses planning new or expanded semiconductor manufacturing projects are eligible for the funds.
The project is also looking for $10 million from the National Science Foundation.
Michael Henning, also with the city’s economic development department, explained that while Forth Worth doesn’t directly tax research and development, attracting R&D-intensive projects raises its per capita GDP, attracts high-quality talent and makes the city more economically competitive for future projects.