Texas' Spaceport & Money
Texas provided about $20 million in direct incentives plus another $10 milion dollars indirectly to SpaceX in their decision to locate their private spaceport at Boca Chica near Brownsville. Work has already started at that site. SpaceX has its primary factory in Hawthorne, California where it is headquartered. Additionally, SpaceX has a rocket engine test facility at McGregor, a small satellite town near Waco. And Spacex is building its own private spaceport at Boca Chica near Brownsville.
XCOR received a $10 Million incentive deal from Midland Development Corp to relocate it's headquarters from California. An associated company also received a $7 million deal. XCOR plans to eventually launch a space tourism business from the Midland.
SpaceX Chooses $20 Million TX Incentives
The company will receive a combined $20 million in state and local incentives, including $2.3 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund, $13 million from the state's Spaceport Trust Fund, and an additional $5 million from the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corp. SpaceX getting the state incentives money is contingent on approval of local incentives deal, the governor's office said. Florida and Georgia also competed for the launch facility.
SpaceX Engine Testing, McGregor, TX
SpaceX will add 300 new jobs by Dec. 31, 2018 in McGregor, with employees receiving benefits and an average hourly wage of $28.85, or about $60,000 a year. To receive incentive money, the company must fill 240 positions with people living in McLennan County, and 120 must reside in Waco. Metropolitan Waco including McLennan County has a population of 234,906 (2010). Camden County has 51,476 (2013).
XCOR Gets $10 Million from Midland, TX
XCOR is a small company building a 2 person space coupe planned for space tourism. The company is moving from its hanger at Mojave Air & Spaceport in California to its new headquarters in Midland Tx. They have actively pursued Space Tourism and promoted spaceports at Mojave, Midland, TX., Curacao, Netherland Antilles and even looked at Spaceport Camden in 2010. XCOR announced in 2011 it is aiming to begin operational Lynx flights from California's Mojave Spaceport in 2013, and flights from the tiny Caribbean island of Curacao in 2014 but they have not yet carried a tourist. Their expansion at Midland and efforts to operate at Kennedy Space Center are instructive.
Is Camden working with companies that are amply financed and have proven capabilities?
Can we see a list of the competitive incentives that Camden County offers?
What is the percentage of jobs that will be required to be filled by Camden residents for companies that receive County and State incentives?
Would SpaceX spent a hundred million dollars in Georgia to build Spaceport Camden after gaining its own spaceport in Texas and expanding at Cape Kennedy?