Gov. Rick Perry announced the state will invest $750,000 through the Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) in Kohl’s Department Stores Inc. for the creation of a customer operations center in San Antonio. Kohl’s is committed to creating 150 jobs through the TEF investment, but anticipates generating more than 1,000 jobs and $18 million in capital investment.
“Companies across the nation are looking to Texas as the place to grow their business thanks to our low taxes, reasonable and predictable regulatory climate, skilled workforce, and incentives such as the Texas Enterprise Fund,” Gov. Perry said. “This TEF investment in Kohl’s will bring more than 1,000 jobs to San Antonio and further strengthen and diversify this vibrant community’s economic environment.”
This new facility will provide e-commerce, credit analysis and collections functions for the growing retail chain.
“Our goal is to create thousands of new jobs for San Antonians in 2010, and this announcement goes a long way toward fulfilling that mission,” San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro said. “We also aim to bring sustainable, eco-friendly business and opportunity to San Antonio. In 2009, Kohl’s was named, by Newsweek magazine, the country’s leading green retailer and ranked in the top 20 greenest companies nationwide. Kohl’s is a great addition to our growing ‘green’ enterprises.”
“We are extremely pleased with Kohl’s decision to expand in San Antonio,” Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said. “San Antonio has been able to maintain great momentum through an economically challenging time, and Kohl’s choice of San Antonio is a testament to their confidence in our workforce and our community. We look forward to seeing the new center operating very soon.”
“Kohl’s is a recognized leader in the retail industry and a booming Fortune 500 company,” said Kenny Wilson, Chair of the Board of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation and Central and South Texas president for Bank of America. “Kohl’s choice to place their financing and e-commerce center here, adding more than 1,000 jobs, only strengthens our growing economy. We are excited they have chosen San Antonio as the site of their first major expansion outside of their headquarters office.”
At Gov. Perry’s request, the legislature created the TEF in 2003 and re-appropriated funding in 2005, 2007 and 2009 to help ensure the growth of Texas businesses and create more jobs throughout the state. TEF projects must be approved by the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the House. The fund has since become one of the state’s most competitive tools to recruit and bolster business. To date, the TEF has invested more than $391.8 million and closed the deal on projects generating more than 52,600 new jobs and more than $14.3 billion in capital investment in the state.