Tractor manufacturer Kubota is moving its headquarters from Torrance, California, to Grapevine, Texas. The move is expected to create almost 350 new jobs and bring the state $51 million in capital investment. Construction of the Texas facility will begin this year, with completion slated for the first quarter of 2017.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, whose office worked with the city of Grapevine and the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce to facilitate the company’s relocation, announced the move.
Kubota has been offered a Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) grant of $3.8 million, which is contingent upon final execution of a contract between TEF and Kubota, the company’s attainment of the employment and capital investment projections, as well as the receipt of offered local incentives. Kubota currently has a facility in Fort Worth that employs approximately 100.
“Our decision to relocate our corporate headquarters to a more central part of the United States was a major part of our future business strategy, but which state we would ultimately choose was not,” Masato Yoshikawa, president and CEO of Kubota Tractor, said in a news release. “Texas ultimately helped make that decision easier. Their business friendly climate, state incentives and geographical location were important factors in our final decision.”