Two new businesses are calling Round Rock home, or soon will be, following action by the Round Rock City Council.
Airco Mechanical has moved its 400 employees into what had been a vacant building at 1000 S. IH 35. ProPortion Foods will be expanding from Los Angeles after if finishes refurbishing the former Sysco building on South Chisholm Trail Drive.
The Round Rock Chamber and City partnered in the recruiting of both businesses. The City Council approved separate incentive agreements for the companies in December.
Airco, a commercial and residential heating, ventilation, and air conditioning service provider, will bring 400 new jobs to Round Rock and is investing millions of dollars in the rehabilitation of the existing facility.
The seven-year agreement includes an initial payment of $190,000, and then program payments that equal 50 percent of the 1-cent sales tax the company generates for seven years, not to exceed $201,000. The Round Rock Chamber is also providing a $30,000 up front payment. The company must employ at least 365 at is facility with an annual payroll of at least $14.6 million.
Said Round Rock Mayor Alan McGraw: “We know we aren’t the only option for a business location but we work very hard to be a welcoming community for great businesses like Airco Mechanical and are thrilled that they chose to move their headquarters to Round Rock.”
Founded in Austin in 1984, Airco Mechanical is owned by Direct Energy, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of UK-based Centrica, PLC. The new headquarters is an approximately 47,000 square foot building located on the Interstate 35 frontage road.
ProPortion Foods operates food kitchens for testing, food safety services, food products and product development consulting. It was created in 2009 and supplies customers throughout North America. It is in the process of refurbishing the 200,000 square foot building that has been vacant since 2010, when Sysco – another food service business – consolidated its Round Rock and San Antonio operations into a new facility in New Braunfels.
The City Council agreed on Dec. 3, In return for bringing up to 400 employees and investing a minimum of $13 million into the facility, the company will receive a seven-year, 50 percent property tax abatement, and economic incentive payments of $200,000 in 2017, $100,000 in 2018 and $100,000 in 2019.
“These are significant wins for Round Rock’s economy,” said Ben White, Vice President of Economic Development for the Chamber. “Combined, it could mean up to 1,000 jobs as these two vibrant, healthy companies continue to grow.”
