The council adopted a resolution nominating Smith & Nephew Inc, 4900 W. Vickery Blvd, as an Enterprise Project.
The Texas Enterprise Zone Program is an economic development tool for local communities to partner with the State of Texas to promote job creation and capital investment in economically distressed areas of the state. An enterprise project is defined as a business that is nominated by a municipality or county and then approved for state benefits. Designated projects are eligible to apply for state sales and use tax refunds on qualified expenditures. The level and amount of refund is related to the capital investment and jobs created at the qualified business site.
Smith & Nephew qualifies for a single Enterprise Project Designation with a projected capital investment of $25.7 million for the expansion of its operations at the existing medical manufacturing facility. The investment includes $4.7 million to be spent on real property improvements and $21 million to be spent on machinery and equipment for increased manufacturing capacity.
For its part, Smith & Nephew will retain 83 employees and create an additional 100 full-time jobs, with an average annual salary of $64,000.
The 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 $1.25 million over a five year period. 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.
On June 20, the council approved a five-year tax abatement with Smith & Nephew.