During its Oct. 9 meeting, the Travis County Commissioners Court approved an economic incentive deal with HID Global Corp. to bring 276 jobs to the county.
The court approved the deal by a 4-1 vote. Commissioner Sarah Eckhardt opposed.
HID Global plans to hire 276 people and build a $30 million, 200,000-square-foot facility behind the Shops at Tech Ridge at 601 Center Ridge Drive.
The Irvine, Calif.-based company, perhaps best known for its keycards and card readers, asked for financial incentives to build a new manufacturing and distribution center in Travis County, according to background documents.
On Sept. 27, Austin City Council approved a deal with HID Global worth $920,576 in tax rebates over 10 years.
On Oct. 2, the court had approved key terms of the agreement and had authorized staff to negotiate the details of the final contract.
County Executive Leslie Browder said the final contract had few revisions.
She noted that HID Global may build a facility larger than 200,000 square feet and the company wanted the contract language to allow them to do that.
Browder said the company plans to buy the property but requested language where it could be allowed to sell the property and lease it instead.
Prior to the vote, Commissioner Ron Davis said he applauded the company for choosing Austin and saw the move as creating many employment opportunities, especially for those he said "have been locked out of the process."
Under the key terms approved Oct. 2, HID Global would invest $30 million in new construction and build a new facility before June 30, 2014. It will invest $6 million in business personal property value such as equipment.
The company would create and maintain jobs at an average salary of $44,336–$53,163 over the 10-year period. It would also work with nonprofits and make "commercially reasonable efforts" to recruit Austin-area and Travis County residents.
In exchange, the county would offer a base rebate of 40 percent of property taxes. The company could earn another 5 percent if it could certify that county residents made up more than half of the new hires.
HID Global could gain an additional 5 percent rebate if the new facility earned platinum LEED certification. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and refers to green building standards.
