TX: Gov. Perry Announces TEF Investment Bringing 434 Jobs to Richardson

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Gov. Rick Perry today gave the keynote address at the Richardson Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Meeting, and announced the state is investing $2.45 million through the Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) in the Virtual Computing Environment Company (VCE) for the creation of a corporate headquarters in Richardson. This investment is expected to create at least 434 local jobs and generate an estimated $35 million in capital investment.

“Communities like Richardson continue to attract jobs and fuel our state’s diverse economy thanks to investments from the Texas Enterprise Fund that help attract companies like VCE,” Gov. Perry said. “Texas’ low taxes, reasonable and predictable regulatory climate, fair legal system and skilled workforce have made the Lone Star State a beacon for job creation and economic growth, and strengthening these principles will help ensure our continued success.”

VCE, formed by Cisco and EMC with investments from VMware and Intel, provides information technology products and solutions that use cloud computing to allow organizations to dramatically reduce the IT costs while improving time. The company will create a new corporate headquarters in Richardson, and will work with the University of Texas at Dallas to recruit new employees for this facility.

“Texas is creating the right environment for a strong state economy with initiatives like the Texas Enterprise Fund that give companies such as VCE attractive incentives to invest here for growth,” VCE Chairman and CEO Michael D. Capellas said. “We are excited about establishing our headquarters in Richardson and look forward to being part of the business community.”

“With the addition of VCE, Richardson is once again re-asserting its leadership in technology innovation and demonstrating the powerful synergies available in our community,” Richardson Mayor Gary Slagel said. “Thanks to a tradition of high-tech leadership, a deep talent pool, a strong educational base and outstanding community support, Richardson is poised to build on its global reputation by being at the forefront of the emerging cloud computing sector. The future is truly bright for Richardson.”

Strengthening the principles that have helped Texas lead the national economic recovery and add more jobs than any other state in 2010, including keeping taxes low, and maintaining a predictable regulatory climate and fair legal system, remains a priority for the governor. The governor is committed to keeping taxes low in order to help small businesses continue to succeed and create jobs, and reiterated the need to make permanent the small business tax cut that was passed last session. This measure cut taxes for 40,000 small businesses, and allowed them to focus on job creation and growing their businesses.

Gov. Perry also emphasized his commitment to further strengthening Texas’ legal system by creating a “loser pays” system to provide stronger protections against frivolous lawsuits, establishing an early dismissal option for frivolous lawsuits, ensuring new laws cannot create causes of action unless expressly established by the Legislature, and setting up expedited trials and limited discovery for lawsuits with claims between $10,000 and $100,000.

Texas’ economy continues to receive national recognition. Site Selection Magazine awarded Texas the 2010 Governor’s Cup for most new and expanded corporate facilities announced over the year. Newsweek recently ranked four Texas cities in its list of 10 cities best situated for economic recovery, and described Texas as the top destination for job-seeking Americans. The Wall Street Journal recently credited the state's low taxes and employer-friendly environment with helping make Texas the job creation capital of the nation. Additionally, Texas was recently designated the top exporting state in the nation for the ninth year in a row, and no other state is home to more Fortune 1000 companies.

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 $430 million and closed the deal on projects generating 57,305 new jobs and more than $14.7 billion in capital investment in the state.

For more information about the TEF, please visit www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/financial-resources/texas-enterprise-fund.html or www.governor.state.tx.us.