WACO, TX — The year 2020 has not been a great for economic growth around the country, but in Waco, its been a different story.
The steady rise in economic growth and the central location has snagged the attention of many large corporations.
“We’ve had good strong steady incremental growth every year. Now what we are seeing is that the increments of growth are going at a much faster pace. Where you might have seen 1-1.5 % growth on an annual basis, now you’re starting to see that move to 3-5% growth,”said Waco Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President of Economic Development, Kris Collins.
In late October, Amazon announced they would be building a new 700,000 square foot fulfillment center, and a little over a month later, Envases announced they would also be building a 450,000 square foot production facility in Texas Central Park.
“They’re a family owned and operated business. They are headquartered in Mexico. Really a global leader in packaging solutions. This particular facility will focus on aluminum can production. We have some great beverage producers in the state of Texas and their primary customer base will be in the state,”said Collins.
Mayor Dillon Meek released a statement saying “the addition of 120 full-time quality jobs and more than $100 million in capital investment will be beneficial for our community for years to come.”
“Amazon is going to phase over a couple of years ramping up to that 1,000 employee marker. Envases will also do that. They will hit probably 60 employees the first year and then they’ll ramp up to 120 the second year,”said Collins.
In addition, Envases will also indirectly create 300 other jobs involving maintenance activities, supplies and distribution of products as well as 250 jobs for construction of the facility.
Both Amazon and Envases are expected to be open in late 2021.
