Q-Edge, a burgeoning electronics assembly and distribution company in North America could take 365,000 square feet of space in Alliance Global Logistics Hub in Fort Worth and bring some 500 jobs to the region in exchange for a tax abatement agreement worth a maximum of $158,850 from the city.
Fort Worth City Council members were briefed on the proposed tax abatement agreement between the city and Q-Edge Corp. today.
“We are extremely pleased that Q-Edge has selected Fort Worth and, in particular, the Alliance area, for its new facility,” said District 2 City Councilman Sal Espino, in whose district Q-Edge will be located. “Our world-class logistics hub and pro-business environment continue to attract successful multinational companies and further position us as the premier business address in the region.”
A Fortune Global 500 company, Q-Edge is a corporate affiliate of Foxconn Electronics, with headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan, and has 200,000 employees worldwide.
The company wants to lease 365,440 square feet for a computer assembly center from Hillwood, Alliance’s developer, in the 445,000-square-foot building once home to cell phone maker Nokia at 5650 Alliance Gateway Freeway, subject to city council’s approval of the proposed incentive package.
The agreement calls for Q-Edge to bring 350 employees to Fort Worth by June 30, 2011 and 500 by June 30, 2014. Of those employees, 50 percent must be Fort Worth residents and 20 percent are Fort Worth central city residents.
Per the proposed tax abatement, Q-Edge would also be required to provide contracting commitments including the greater of 30 percent or $60,000 of discretionary service and supply expenditures to be done by Fort Worth firms and the greater of 25 percent or $30,000 of discretionary service and supply expenditures to be done by Fort Worth minority or women-owned firms. The incentive terms also include grant provisions and business investment terms.
Council members are set to vote on the economic development agreement on April 14.
If approved, Q-Edge will join such companies as Motorola, General Motors, Lockheed Martin, AT&T and Bell Helicopter in the 17,000-acre AllianceTexas development, which is home to more than 200 companies, 28,000 employees and 7,000 single-family homes.
Tarrant County College and Workforce Solutions is working to secure federal funding to provide skills development training for Q-Edge. In addition, Workforce Solutions will host a job fair to help recruit highly skilled computer assembly and distribution professionals for the company.
In a prepared statement, Q-Edge Spokesperson Wen Ren indicated Fort Worth’s business climate and geographic location were primary factors in its investment decision.
“We appreciate all that Fort Worth has to offer and look forward to being in this community a long time,” Ren said. “We believe that many competitive traits of Fort Worth, namely its central location within the United States, advanced transportation infrastructure, low cost of living and doing business, and ready access to a highly educated and skilled workforce, will help us achieve significant competitive advantages and lead to long-term success for our company.”