Team Effort Expansion by Kendall Manufacturer
Published Mar 05, 2009
A substantial expansion is transforming Albany Engineered Composites’ facility in Boerne.
The plant is a subsidiary of Albany International Corp., the world’s largest producer of engineered fabric used in the paper industry, with 31 manufacturing facilities in 14 countries. AEC produces advanced-composite parts for a variety of industries.
The expansion, announced in early 2008 by the Kendall County Economic Development Corp., is the largest capital investment and job creation by one company in the county’s history.
Once completed, the $41.6 million project will double the size of the facility to 150,000 square feet and add 330 jobs over the next 10 years.
Six states were in competition for the project, says Susan Siegler, director of corporate communications for Albany International’s parent. “When Albany Engineered Composites realized how much it was going to have to expand,” Siegler says, “we did a comprehensive site-selection process, including other locations where we had facilities.”
The project is a true success story for an economic development group that is less than three years old.
Dan Rogers, president/CEO of the Kendall County Economic Development Corp., assembled a team that included city, county and state representatives from several offices, including the governor’s office, Alamo Community College and the Texas Workforce Commission, to create a package.
“They gave us their full support with a package that would spur economic development in the area and encouraged us to stay in the region,” Siegler says.
In the end, it was the commitment of the community and the way officials worked together that kept Albany Engineered Composites in Boerne.
“One thing that we were asked to do from the outset was to help bring quality business into the area and to work with existing and expanding business in the area,” Rogers says. “Our community is pretty fast growing on the residential side. Part of our goal is to change the dynamic so that the tax burden is not so heavily on the residential side, but for there to be a better mix of tax burden shared with business and industry.”
The team sweetened the deal with a personal touch, sending a dozen gourmet pies from Boerne’s own Tootie Pie Co. along with their proposal to Albany International’s board meeting.
“It was not a pie-in-the-sky offer and we were serious about them staying,” Rogers says. “I like to think it had something to do with their decision to stay in Boerne.”
Story by Claire Ratliff-Sears
Photo by Staff
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