Fort Worth is growing and the city council is doing its best to keep businesses like the Parker Hannifin Corporation growing with it. The council, in its most recent meeting on Oct. 25, approved an economic development agreement with the company.
The agreement gives Parker Hannifin a partial rebate of new taxes generated by investment in the facility at 4701 Mercantile St., currently a call center to be expanded into a 242,000-square foot office and manufacturing facility to house its Strafoflex divisional headquarters. Parker Hannifin is planning a consolidation of its operations and is considering sites in Fort Worth and Oklahoma City.
The Stratoflex Products Division of Parker Aerospace (a division of Parker Hannifin) is an industry leader in the design and manufacture of fluid conveyance systems and components for aerospace aircraft and their engines throughout the world. Stratoflex equipment is used by such aircraft manufacturers as Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, COMAC, Embraer, Gulfstream, and Lockheed Martin, and engine producers such as GE Aviation, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls-Royce.
The division currently operates facilities in Fort Worth; Camarillo, California; Jacksonville, Florida; and Monterrey, Mexico.
“Basically the Parker Hannifin deal will be good for Fort Worth because of the number of high paying-jobs that we will be able to retain in the city,” said Fort Worth Economic Development Director Robert Sturns. “It’s always good to keep local companies here as often as we can, especially if they are looking to expand operations.”
Per the agreement, Parker Hannifin will make a capital investment of at least $25.5 million in real and business personal property improvements (exclusive of land costs) by Dec. 31, 2017. They will also spend or cause to be expended the great of 20 percent or $4,340,000 of all hand construction costs with Fort Worth companies, along with the greater of 15 percent or $3,255,000 of all hard construction costs with companies that are Fort Worth certified minory/women-owned.
Of the 525 full-time equivalent jobs to be set by Dec. 1, 2018, Parker Hannifin must fill them with a minimum of 40 percent of Fort Worth residents, with a minimum of 20 percent with Fort Worth central city residents.
In addition, Parker Hannifin will spend the greater of 35 percent or $1,400,000 in annual discretionary service and supply expenses with Fort Worth companies and the greater of 20 percent or $800,000 doing the same for Fort Worth certified minority/women-owned businesses.
Sturns said the the estimated value of the EDP grants to Parker Hannifin is $1.1 million over 10 years. It would equate to a 60-percent rebate on the new taxes generated, he said.
“The Stratoflex Products Division of Parker Aerospace is a long-time member of the Fort Worth business community,” said Craig Gooding, division general manager of Parker Hannifin. “We are evaluating the possibility of modernizing our production operation by the consolidation of three locations currently occupied by Parker in the area.”
Gooding added that the company is still in the primary stages of the review and no official decision has been made. And while they could bypass the council’s agreement and leave Fort Worth, Sturns said that typically does not happen in such scenarios.
“I think they are pretty committed to try and make this work in Fort Worth,” he said.
Parker Hannifin posted annual sales of $11 billion in fiscal year 2016 and is considered the world’s leading diversified manufacturer of motion and control technologies and systems. The company employs approximately 49,000 people in 49 countries around the world.