City council approves AEDC measures to increase and train workforce

On Tuesday, the Amarillo City Council approved three measures with the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) to create more jobs and expand business in the region.

Kevin Carter, president of the AEDC, spoke about the agreements with the council and their impact on the community's economy.

“Haven has a charter service that adds a new fixed base operation at the airport. There is currently one, and this adds a second one,” he said. “Competition is always good, and we are excited about the 20 new positions that will be created with jobs paying a little over $57,000 to employees. Their economic impact is going to be about somewhere in the $2.5 to $3 million range because of the taxes they are going to pay, the ground lease, and the fuel that they sell, with the airport getting a percentage of those funds. This will make a significant impact.”

The AEDC also agreed to sell approximately 19.97 acres of land located at Axiom Drive to Endries Enterprizes LLC for $550,000 plus closing costs and related expenses. Endries will use this land for a cold storage facility. Once $10 million is expended on this project, the AEDC will award the company a rebate of $114,250 on the land purchase. According to the AEDC, this project will place $10 to $13 million on the tax rolls on day one.

Also agreed to by the council was an agreement with the AEDC which includes the Amarillo Area Foundation, Amarillo Independent School District, and Amarillo College to fund the THRIVE program. The program pays tuition, fees and books for 60 credit hours at Amarillo College or three years of study to those selected.

“With all the milk and cheese that we have in the area, it's always good to ancillary projects to go along with that,” he said. “We are also really excited about extending the THRIVE program for those incoming freshmen to get them through and to get some of those students a skill to help with our workforce needs in the future.”

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: City council approves AEDC measures to increase and train workforce