Want to know why business is booming in Pflugerville, Texas? Just ask Todd Winnerman, president of MW Builders. He and his colleagues at the rapidly growing construction company have a front-row seat to this Austin suburb’s dramatic transformation.
“When we were looking for a metro area to relocate to in order to help us grow and attract talent, Austin was an obvious choice for us,” says Winnerman, whose company relocated its corporate headquarters from up the road in Temple to the northern Austin suburb of Pflugerville last year. “As we began looking for a home, we began looking at a few suburbs of Austin. We already had a great relationship with the City of Pflugerville and the Pflugerville Community Development Corp. and being right along the Highway 130 corridor, it made the commute a lot easier on our current employees.”
The move made sense for many reasons, says Jason Oldham, vice president of operations for MW Builders. “We have found over the last five to six years that the City of Pflugerville is very knowledgeable when it comes to our business,” he says. “They are accommodating and accessible. It is a trusted relationship, and they are business-friendly, and very helpful. We can go meet with their decision-makers at any time. The City works to make the process as efficient as possible when we are working on a project.”
That relationship has paid dividends for both parties. MW Builders has worked with the city not only on the firm’s own 20,000-sq.-ft., 40-person headquarters, but also to build projects for FedEx Ground (200,000 sq. ft.), Cortec Precision Sheetmetal (121,000 sq. ft.), Springbrook Buildings 8 and 9 (258,00 sq. ft. total), a confidential client and — soon to get underway — a dual-brand hotel. These projects are part of a construction wave of more than 2 million sq. ft. of industrial and commercial space developed in the city since 2017.
How did a city of 65,000 people become such a development boomtown? The executive team at MW Builders credits the Pflugerville CDC and its Executive Director Amy Madison with creating a climate for business success.
“The workforce is well-rounded, and they share similar values as ours. It is pretty easy for us to find the talented people we need in this community.”
“Amy has been our biggest supporter since we made the decision to move here,” says Oldham. “She truly cares about us. She consistently promotes the company and the community. And she always recommends that people who are doing a project at least visit with us on the construction end. We consider the PCDC to be a true business partner.”
Madison feels the same. “We did not have a nationally recognized contractor in the community before MW Builders came to town,” she says. “It was a real plus to have someone with their expertise in the city. The fact that they are nationally known and have a broad ability to do all kinds of projects — retail, industrial, public buildings, offices, apartments, etc. — is a plus.”
The PCDC was so impressed with MW Builders’ work, in fact, that the organization chose to relocate its own offices to a facility built by MW Builders in the 130 Commerce Park. “We were so pleased with what they were able to do with our space,” says Madison. “We could not be any more confident in a company.”
Progress like that, and on other fronts, enabled the PCDC recently to be named an Accredited Economic Development Organization by the International Economic Development Council — recognition that will open even more doors for the city, notes Madison.
Bret Necessary, business development lead at MW Builders, adds that Pflugerville has all the assets it needs to grow even more in the years to come. “The area has a strong workforce, and it is part of a busy economy,” he says. “There is a lot of technical expertise here. The workforce is well-rounded, and they share similar values as ours. It is pretty easy for us to find the talented people we need in this community.”
Ease of transportation access is a strong selling point too, Winnerman notes. Located less than 15 minutes from Austin-Bergstrom International and Austin Executive Airports, with two additional municipal airports in the region — Pflugerville maximizes business connectivity; it doesn’t hurt that I-35, U.S. 290, and State Highways 130 and 45 serve the city.
“I definitely think the region is poised for growth,” says Winnerman. “When you look at the big companies that are growing in this market — Samsung, Google, Apple, Facebook, etc. — Pflugerville is positioned extremely well, from both a regional standpoint and with their strong community leadership, to capitalize and share in the region’s success.”
This Investment Profile was prepared under the auspices of the Pflugerville Community Development Corp. For more information, contact Amy Madison at 512-990-3725 or amym@pfdevelopment.com. On the web, go to www.pfdevelopment.com
