At its Feb. 26 meeting, Travis County leaders asked staff to draft an economic development agreement with technology company National Instruments Corp.
The court voted unanimously to put together the draft. The commissioners are scheduled to take action on that draft March 5.
An economic development agreement would have a $3.9 million net benefit to Travis County over 10 years, said Leslie Browder, Planning and Budget Office county executive.
National Instruments plans to create 1,000 jobs—35 percent of which would be filled locally—and build a 300,000-square-foot facility for office space and research and development.
The company plans to invest $46.9 million in the research and development facility and $33.4 million in business personal property.
National Instruments intends to meet the county's incentives criteria without exemptions; the company plans to offer a comprehensive benefits package and an $11 wage floor for construction workers, among other considerations.
In exchange for meeting the county's criteria, the county would allow economic grants for up to 43 percent—a 40 percent base rebate plus 3 percent for meeting an eco-friendly construction standard— of the property taxes generated from the project, Browder said.
Browder told the court that the average worker's salary would be $63,000; workers being paid the lowest 10 percent of all new salaries would earn $40,000.
Most of the new workers are going to be research and development engineers and marketing employees who are trained as engineers, company representatives said. Support staffers would be in the $40,000 salary range, they added.
Commissioner Ron Davis said he was concerned about the percentage of local hires and what could be done about the area's unemployment rate.
Commissioner Sarah Eckhardt said she appreciated that National Instruments planned to meet the criteria without exceptions.
Commissioner Margaret Gomez said that Texas does not do a terrific job of funding education and she supported the company's mentoring and student outreach programs in math and science.
"Whatever we can do to plant the seed [of interest in learning], it's crucial," she said. "We have to do something about the graduation rate."
The county's $3.9 million net benefit comes from subtracting the $5.1 million in the deal's costs, including the performance-based grant, from the $9 million in gross benefits.
National Instruments designs tools, hardware and software for engineers and scientists. The company has been headquartered in Austin since 1976, and 2,440 of its 6,800 employees work in Austin.
