To hear the Austin tech community talking on Thursday, it was a foregone conclusion that online retail giant Amazon will become Austin’s largest employer and have a major physical footprint here within the next decade. That prediction came about following the news that Amazon plans to build a second company headquarters somewhere in North America, […]
economic development
This is short for fiscal growth experienced by the City of Austin or businesses in and around the region.
Posted inAustin, City Council, Local Politics
Houston plans to be strong advocate for District 1
District 1 Council Member-elect Ora Houston says that while her new office will be downtown at City Hall, she does not plan to become a stranger back in her Northeast Austin district. “One of the things I have found is that while we’re in a district system, the city has not shifted much toward a […]
Posted inAustin, City Council, City Hall
Policy could ban incentive recipients’ tax protests
On Monday, City Council Member Kathie Tovo told the Austin Monitor that she has asked city staff to prepare language for a policy that would have the effect of making recipients of City of Austin economic development incentives agree not to protest their property tax valuations for a period of time. The move comes on the […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Economic Development Department changing perceptions, funding
Changes are coming to Austin’s Economic Development Department this year, with a new source of revenue and a plan to change the public’s perception of its mission. As the FY2015 budget cycle gets into full swing, the city is in the process of shifting funding for the department away from transfers from Austin Energy and […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Council members skeptical over incentive deal for AthenaHealth
Austin City Council members Thursday expressed no small amount of skepticism about an economic development incentives deal that would bring a new AthenaHealth Research and Development facility to the former Seaholm Power Plant. Concerns – mostly from Council Members Laura Morrison, Chris Riley and Kathie Tovo – included whether incentivizing the facility’s move to Seaholm […]
Posted inDevelopment, Local Government
Austin may be competing with Phoenix for new Apple facility
Phoenix and Austin could be in competition again, this time in a race to lure Apple to manufacture computers in a local facility with the possibility of hundreds of jobs and millions in economic development to either region. An article in the Phoenix Business Journal Monday quoted unnamed sources in the commercial real estate […]