ENTERPRISE ZONE PROJECTS APPROVED
At Tuesday’s meeting, the Fort Worth City Council authorized a trio of interlocal agreements approving Enterprise Zone Project designations for Alcon Research, LLC; Bank of America; and MillerCoors, LLC.
If awarded an Enterprise Project designation, a company is eligible to apply for state sales and use tax refunds on qualified expenditures. A single project designation allows for a state sales and use tax refund on qualified expenditures of $2,500 per job, for up to 500 jobs, with a maximum benefit of $1,250,000 over a five-year period.
Under the Texas Enterprise Zone Act, at least 25 percent of the business’ new or retained employees will be residents of an enterprise zone, economically disadvantaged individuals or veterans. In addition, the jobs will be provided through the end of the designation period or at least three years after the date on which a state benefit is received, whichever is later.
Fort Worth Director of Economic Development Robert Sturns said the three designations will result over $200 million of new investments at the sites.
“The designation has no impact on local city taxes and we will receive the full property tax benefit,” Sturns said. “The exemption is based on a per job calculation, so the EZ program is a good tool to use in expansion projects that will retain and/or grow the local workforce.”
Alcon’s expansion, located at 6201 South Freeway, qualifies with a projected capital investment well in excess of $175 million – $125 million of which is dedicated to a multi-phase project aimed at expanding themanufacturing capability and capacity of surgical devices at the  eye-care innovator’s Fort Worth facility.
Bank of America owns an approximately 294,000 square foot office building at 4200 Amon Carter Blvd., where they employ approximately 1,550 global tech and operations, and customer support representatives. Bank of America plans to invest approximately $6.1 million over the next five years for building improvements, furniture, fixtures, and equipment at this location.
MillerCoors qualifies with a planned capital investment in excess of $28 million in various facility and equipment upgrades between October of 2019 and March of 2025 at its Fort Worth facility. Additional capital investments totaling approximately $15 million are anticipated but are not yet confirmed.