Within the past two years, three manufacturing and infrastructure companies have relocated facilities to Hutto, each citing the city’s pro-business mindset and its geographic proximity to Austin.
AEND Industries Inc., a polyurethane wheel manufacturing company, announced July 2018 plans to relocate its headquarters and operations from Huntington Beach, California, to Hutto. The 19,200-square-foot facility, located at Limmer Loop and North FM 1660, will operate in Hutto’s North Town Commons Business Park.
Western Industries Corp., an Oklahoma-based company, announced in April a decision to relocate the Austin branch of the company to Hutto, making it the first tenant to join the Innovation Business Park.
Dom Peterson, general manager of the Hutto branch, said the decision to move its facility to Hutto extended out of the city’s pro-industrial mindset.
“[The city of Austin] just didn’t seem to be too friendly to our type of manufacturing, [which is] a little more industrial,” Peterson said. “The city of Hutto has been great to work with.”
Peterson said the company began the physical relocation of its Austin facility to Hutto on July 26 and was operational by the first week of August. He said the city helped expedite the process by allowing Western Industries to relocate materials and equipment into the building as contractors finalized the site. Western Industries has around 70 employees, Peterson said, and added he hopes to expand that number to 145 in 10 years’ time.
“I think it’s definitely a great goal to strive for,” Peterson said. “Just expanding our customer base and hopefully our customers as well. Growing their business and allowing us to grow with them.”
BryComm, a technology and security infrastructure provider, is in the process of relocating to Hutto following a company announcement in January. The 30,000-square-foot building at Innovation Business Park is expected to be operational by December, BryComm President and CEO Cory Brymer said.
Brymer, originally from Pflugerville, said he toured several cities when considering where to relocate and found Hutto to be the most “inviting” of his business.
“Hutto, by far, was the most cooperative, as far as inviting and saying, ‘Hey, yeah, we want your business, and we’re willing to make some accommodations for you to come here,’” Brymer said.
BryComm primarily does site work in the Austin metro, and Brymer said Hutto’s proximity to Austin, paired with its pro-business mindset and reduced real estate costs, was the perfect match.
“I think the timing was right for the price we were getting for the spot of land with the incentives and the type of building we could build in this park,” Brymer said.
Brymer added that as the Greater Austin metro continually expands, the ability to avoid I-35 traffic and utilize Hutto’s proximity to Hwy. 79 and SH 130 will help increase productivity and his company’s success.
“I see our growth happening even more with our ability to be more productive as a company. [...] It all boils down to productivity for us,” Brymer said. “It really was just a perfect culmination of different things that helped us settle on Hutto.”
