Austin Eyed by Apple for 3600 New Jobs

On Friday, Texas Governor Rick Perry announced that Apple Inc. is going to double its operations in Austin over the next decade and create close to 3,600 new jobs at its Americas Operations Center. The Governor announced that the deal has been made after the State of Texas offered Apple $21 million incentives over the next 10 years. The deal still requires approval from the City of Austin and Travis County.

City officials said that the city has proposed to bear incentives up to $8.6 million and that Apple is thinking of another center in Phoenix. However, things are hanging in balance waiting for final approvals.

The discussed project would require Apple to build a 38-acre campus in Austin close to its current campus on Riata Vista. The proposed site would require an estimated company cost close to $304 million.

Apple made a reserved statement on the issue stating, “We’re looking forward to building a new campus in Austin, which will more than double the size of our workforce there over the next decade … Our operations in Austin have grown dramatically over the past decade, from less than 1,000 employees in 2004 to more than 3,500 today.”

The governor’s office said that the new jobs would involve positions in customer support and accounting functions for Apple’s business in both North and South America. The city would offer Apple an economic development grant of $8.6 million based on a 10-year waiver of real and personal property taxes upon new development.

Governor Perry said “”The expansion of their Austin facility adds to the growing list of visionary high-tech companies that have found that Texas’ economic climate is a perfect fit for their future, thanks to our low taxes, reasonable and predictable regulations, fair legal system and skilled workforce.”

Economist Angelos Angelou, of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce recruiting team said, “Apple represents the most appropriate type of tech company that we should be attracting to Austin … The fact that they are expanding their presence here is validation that Austin has done quite well by Apple. This is an employer that we worked very hard to bring to Austin 20 years ago, and it is great to see them choose Austin for such a significant expansion.” Angelou’s team was the first to persuade Apple to establish in Austin in the 1990s.