AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is giving the Charles Schwab Corp. $6 million in taxpayer funds for a new office near Fort Worth.
Abbott said Tuesday the grant money from his Texas Enterprise Fund will help create 1,200 jobs over the next decade in the town of Westlake. The Republican says that makes this the biggest job-creating grant of his administration.
Schwab’s new campus will include more than 500,000 square feet of commercial office space on 70 acres and $100 million in planned capital investment.
“Texas remains the brightest beacon of free enterprise in the nation, and Charles Schwab’s decision to expand its operations in North Texas is yet another testament to the Lone Star State’s promising economic climate,” said Gov. Abbott. “By expanding their facilities, pouring millions into the Texas economy and creating more than a thousand new jobs, Charles Schwab is investing in the North Texas community and bringing more opportunities for our world-class workforce. I am proud this leader in the financial industry has chosen to expand in the Lone Star State.”
Abbott’s predecessor, former Gov. Rick Perry, launched the Texas Enterprise Fund in 2004 as his “deal-closer” to woo businesses to Texas. State auditors have raised skepticism over claims that more than a half-billion dollars given to companies such as Facebook and Toyota have delivered on promised jobs.
Perry had already given Charles Schwab $6 million from the fund in 2014 for planned expansion in El Paso and Austin.