In my April 2011 article I promised to let you know the outcome of our efforts to “land” a company seeking a location for a business expansion project. Well, the short line is that the company has eliminated Copperas Cove from their consideration.
First, I need to tell you that the company has facilities all over the globe and offers business related services to major corporations and the federal government. It is currently focused on increasing its presence in the United States and at the same time reducing its off-shore work. All of this is directly related to their goal of cutting costs while expanding their business and meeting the needs of their customers.
I tell you this because in order to accomplish this goal this company has designed a business model that calls for them to find rural areas that can provide them with certain critical needs. The model is called Developing Businesses in Tier II and Tier III communities. Some of the elements of the model are finding communities that have (1) direct labor costs 15% to 20% lower than the national average, (2) lower construction costs, (3) tax burdens that are less than those in metropolitan areas, (4) an overall lower cost of living, and (5) and a stable workforce. Lastly and most important, they need to have a skilled and trainable workforce in or near the community.
They found all of this and more in central Texas. Once they made the determination that central Texas fit their business model individual communities and incentives became their focus. The incentive package the company was looking for made it clear that they were looking to reduce their start-up costs and stabilize their long term operating costs. They were very interested in hearing about how they could move into temporary quarters at little or no cost to them, negotiating a long term lease in a build-to-site facility and potential tax abatements.
By this time the Copperas Cove EDC Board of Directors had in hand our Economic Impact Analysis. In addition, the City Manager and members of her City Council had been briefed about the project and were made aware of the incentive proposal the CCEDC Board intended to put on the table.
Last month we met with the company’s representatives and put our incentive package offering on the table. Of course, the CCEDC Board of Directors had already agreed that the incentives we were offering were generous and, in our mind, met the expressed needs of the company. The incentive package was also designed to ensure that the community’s investment in the company was reasonable and provided for a fair rate of return.
At this time I am not exactly sure what reasoning was used by the company to eliminate Copperas Cove from consideration. I do know that the company has yet to announce a decision on which community they will locate their business expansion project. Since we are no longer in the running, I’d like very much for the company to locate somewhere in the Fort Hood region. Should that happen, I am sure that every community from Belton to Lampasas will reap the economic benefits of having this major employer in our area.
That’s the story of our business attraction project. There will be other opportunities and we will use the lessons learned to improve our process and make better use of our limited resources.
As always, I welcome your comments.
Polo Enriquez
Executive Director
Copperas Cove Economic Development Corporation