TEXAS EDCONNECTION INTELLIGENCE REPORT

Talent & Skills Prove Must-Have Ingredients for Texas Success

When the Best of Texas Bus Tour hosted more than two dozen investors and business owners from Japan and Taiwan last fall, lifestyle was front and center in the 15 cities and four regions they visited — a chuck wagon breakfast along the Red River, local barbecue, bull riding at Billy Bob’s.

Workforce partners were front and center too. Among the stops along the tour hosted by Day One Experts in collaboration with the Texas Economic Development Connection and TAC Brokerage & Consultant was UT Dallas, an institution playing a direct role in preparing students for roles in a number of growing Texas industries, including semiconductors.

“When you’re a business owner, ultimately you want to fall in love with a town before you move to the next stage to relocate. You want to know what your Friday night looks like, where your kids are going to school … what life is like.”

— Day One Experts & TexasEDConnection Founder “Super” Dave Quinn

The new manufacturing facilities in 2023 were projected to create over 16,000 semiconductor manufacturing, technology development and management jobs through 2027.

Chips represent only one of the many growing industries driving Texas to the top of economic development rankings. Responding to those industries’ workforce needs requires everyone rowing together, from the community colleges forming part of the North Texas Semiconductor Workforce Development Consortium to the towns, cities and counties comprising the TexasEDConnection, an initiative designed to spark interest in new development, job creation and expansion into Texas by telling the “real” Texas story for more than 30 partner communities statewide, from Texarkana to Denison, Big Spring to Marble Falls.

According to Site Selection’s Conway Projects Database, those communities have attracted some 75 major corporate facility investment projects since July 2023 (see table for selected projects). Among the leaders:

The ability to staff those projects with the right talent has been a key factor for those investing companies. Here’s a rundown of the ramp-up:

TerraVolta Resources, Texarkana Region
In September 2024, Houston-based critical minerals company TerraVolta Resources was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains for a $225 million award negotiation to support the creation of a more than $1 billion lithium production facility called Liberty Owl in the Texarkana region that spans Arkansas and Texas, where the Smackover formation has been shown to be rich in lithium deposits. Bowie County is one of three counties comprising the Texarkana region.

The company’s commercial-scale lithium production and conversion facility will produce battery-grade lithium from domestic brine resources using direct lithium extraction technology, and is expected to have an initial production capacity of at least 25,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate annually — enough to power approximately 500,000 electric vehicles per year.

“With the DOE’s support, we will employ American workers to harness domestic lithium resources and supply the U.S. economy’s need for EVs, grid-scale batteries and consumer products,” said TerraVolta President and CEO Jamie Liang. Rob Sitterley, president and CEO of AR-TX Regional Economic Development Inc., said, “We are a region home to companies which are shaping the future. TerraVolta’s investment will not only create new jobs and significant local revenue but positions our community at the crossroads of technological innovation and environmental sustainability.”

The May 2024 grand opening of H-E-B’s new e-commerce center in Cibolo, which will employ 200 people, included a $5,000 donation to the Schertz Cibolo Universal City ISD Education Foundation to support training, certification and equipment costs for engineering and robotics students.

Photos courtesy of H-E-B

Eric Voyles, chief economic development officer and executive vice president of industrial park TexAmericas Center in Texarkana, says the region, with a population of more than 1.2 million people, is the only community in the nation to have two state all-inclusive public university system campuses, alongside 36 other universities and colleges within a 75-mile radius. That larger region is home to over 86,000 enrolled students with 18,000 graduating per year, while a subset of eight more locally based institutions boasts more than 10,000 students pursuing certificates and degrees.

Among projects recently landing at TexAmericas Center is a $1.5 million expansion by all-natural supplements company Rowe Casa Organics, which will add 20 jobs to its payroll of 55. The company purchased its existing five-building complex at TexAmericas Center in December 2022. TexAmericas overall has 12,000 development-ready acres of land and approximately 3.5 million sq. ft. of commercial and industrial product.

H-E-B, Cibolo
In May 2024, universally loved San Antonio retailer and grocer H-E-B (named for founder Howard E. Butt) announced it had opened a new 55,000-sq.-ft. e-commerce fulfillment center in Cibolo to support delivery orders throughout Cibolo, New Braunfels and surrounding cities in the San Antonio area. Connected to one of the company’s stores, the facility is expected to employ around 200 people. The Cibolo facility is the eighth e-commerce fulfillment center the company has opened since 2018, with plans to open more as growth continues.

Electrolit and VanTran Projects Light Up Waco
One sports drink manufacturer whose products may be on H-E-B shelves is Mexico-based Electrolit, which has announced a $400 million investment in its first U.S. site in Waco, where more than 200 new jobs will be created. The company will construct a 600,000-sq.-ft. plant at Waco’s Texas Central Park, catering to growing North American demand for the sports drink brand made with pharmaceutical-grade ingredients to boost hydration.

In November 2024, VanTran Transformers, a manufacturer of oil-filled transformers celebrating 50 years in Waco that was just acquired by fellow 50-year-old company MGM Transformers of California, announced it will expand manufacturing with a new $20 million, 430,000-sq.-ft. facility and up to 700 new jobs added to the existing payroll of just under 200. “As the demand for electricity increases, so does the need for updating and expanding delivery infrastructure,” said McLennan County Judge Scott Felton. “The work being performed by VanTran and MGM Transformers is critical to Texas and the U.S. electrical grid systems, and we are pleased to celebrate their growth in Waco. Their decision to expand in Waco and McLennan County continues to reinforce the investments we have made in economic development and throughout the community to attract high-quality jobs, grow a skilled workforce and expand the tax base in order to enhance the quality of life for our citizens.”

Entrepreneurs Finding Opportunities
VanTran also happens to be one of 481 Texas companies that made the 2024 Inc. 5000, at No. 2,110. It’s one of two Waco companies on the list, along with consumer home services company Neighborly (formerly known as Dwyer Group) at No. 3,690. That company, now the world’s largest franchisor of home services brands (more than 30 brands and 5,500 franchises collectively serving 12 million+ customers in six countries), surpassed $4 billion in systemwide sales in 2023. And the company’s leadership sees business-friendliness as a crucial factor to its growth.

“Because the markets we’re strategically targeting boast a business-friendly environment, low cost of living and a skilled workforce,” said Brad Stevenson in an April 2024 release, “prospective small business owners are set up with unparalleled opportunities for success with Neighborly across a wide range of established brands in a recession-resilient industry.”

A few other TexasEDConnection communities are home to fast-growing firms on the list too. No. 1,165 Caden Lane is a baby and toddler boutique company that says it makes the “softest newborn essentials in the world.” The firm, founded by Katy Mimari with a new, more stylish diaper bag in 2004, is based in the San Antonio-New Braunfels area community of Boerne, in Kendall County, and as recently as 2022 was among the top 10 fastest-growing e-commerce firms in the nation.

In Laredo you’ll find logistics company Gator International, ranked 3,360 on the Inc. 5000 list. The company, which has branch offices just across the Mexican border in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2024.

Growth in Buda
First of all, it’s pronounced “Byoo-dah” as in “It looks like a Buda-ful day.” And there’s no denying the beautiful economic outlook for this Hays County community southwest of Austin.

US Foods, Inc., a food service distributor whose slogan is “We Help You Make It,” is helping the local economy make it with a 165-job, $120 million expansion in Buda, helped in part by a Texas Enterprise Fund grant of more than $1 million that Buda Economic Development Corporation CEO Jennifer Storm said was the city’s first such grant.

“Central Texas is a critical part of our distribution footprint, and we’ve been proud to do business here since we opened our Buda warehouse in 2011,” said US Foods Area President Taylor McIntyre at the November 2024 announcement.

In September, helped by incentives from the city and county, South Korea-based transmission and power train parts manufacturer Futronic (Futronic USA) announced Buda would be home to its first U.S. location, a 350-job, $28 million manufacturing operation that will supply Tesla.

VanTran, now part of MGM Transformers and ranked No. 2,110 in the 2024 Inc. 5000, will create up to 700 new jobs at a new $20 million facility in Waco.

Photo courtesy of VanTran

SAF-Holland, Rowlett
Commercial vehicle component maker SAF-Holland, a major employer for nearly 50 years in Wylie, announced in April 2024 that it will move eight miles away to a new manufacturing facility for fifth wheels in Rowlett. The company said the new operation, expected to start up at the end of August 2025, is the second phase of a manufacturing optimization and vertical integration strategy to increase capacity output that began with the opening of its Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, plant in 2023.

“We are excited about this important strategic step toward our future,” said Kent Jones, president – Americas for SAF-Holland. “Investing in new facilities like the Rowlett plant enables us to not only meet additional customer demand but provide a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility designed with our employees in mind.”

Deacero Group, Laredo
Another major Mexican connection has made a major border community investment in Laredo, where Mid-Continent Steel and Wire, a division of Mexico’s Deacero Group, in August 2023 cut the ribbon on a new $22 million “Macro Hub” that will generate 100 new jobs. Mid-Continent is the nation’s largest maker of nails as well as a significant producer of agriculture fencing.

“This Macro Hub will extend the North American value chain so manufacturers in Texas and throughout the U.S. will have the steel and wire products they need, quickly and securely,” Raul Gutierrez, chairman and CEO of Deacero Group, said at the ribbon-cutting. “This will bring good jobs to Laredo; but the impact will be much greater for Texas and the whole United States.”

The company said the hub serves as a strategic logistics point where steel from plants in several regions is consolidated. It will deliver to 45 U.S. states, with 40% of all shipments within Texas — a statistic quantifying the state’s tremendous growth.

“This is spurred by the growth we have in Texas, and steel plays an important role in the building of the future of our state,” said Gov. Greg Abbott at the ceremony. “Laredo plays a pivotal role for Texas ranking No. 1 for exports in the United States for 21 years in a row. This facility will help add to that trade.”

“Governor Abbott’s robust, pro-growth economic agenda has helped our company grow and prosper and we appreciate it greatly,” said Fernando Villanueva, CEO of Mid-Continent. “As a result, we’re able to expand both investments and jobs in Texas in a way that contributes to the strengthening of value chains, as well as to the generation of a resilient, inclusive and competitive economic region.”

KILGORE A WORKFORCE LEADER

Last year, Kilgore Economic Development Corporation received the 2024 Texas Economic Development Council Workforce Excellence Award thanks to such assets as Kilgore College’s Advanced Manufacturing & Industrial Technologies Program; partnerships with organizations such as Amazon Web Services; and the organization’s donation of land for The Transportation Institute (a CDL training center).

Katherine Kirkpatrick, marketing and development director for Kilgore EDC, says new projects are aligning well with new workforce programs, thanks in part to “a key milestone for Texas” with the passage of HB8, which ties state funding for higher education to industry-aligned credentials and pathways.

“Dr. Brenda S. Kays, president of Kilgore College, played a pivotal role in advancing this legislation,” Kirkpatrick says. “Her leadership continues to align community college curricula with workforce demands, creating career-ready students and driving economic growth.”

The electric power technician’s program at Kilgore College in Kilgore, Texas (where 2024 fall enrollment set a new record with a strong dual enrollment component) graduated a new class of linemen in October not long after the group’s traditional linemen’s rodeo (pictured).

Photo by Bella Huetson courtesy of Kilgore College

Among that school’s programs are the Kilgore College Health Sciences Center and the Transatlantic Business & Investment Council Certification Program, which Kirkpatrick says strengthens the college’s technical training capabilities to meet international industry standards and attract foreign direct investment.

Kilgore EDC over the past five years has closed 24 projects that created over 2,900 jobs and nearly $370 million in new and retained capital investment.