CIBOLO, Texas – A supplier for Toyota and other automakers is expected to break ground in September on a new manufacturing plant in Cibolo that officials say will provide 900 full-time jobs.
In a special, joint meeting Tuesday, the Cibolo City Council and Guadalupe County Commissioners Court approved tax abatements and an economic incentive for AW Texas, a division Japanese of manufacturer Aisin AW, which city officials said makes transmissions for Toyota and other automakers.
The company is looking to buy a 159-acre site at I-10 and South Santa Clara Road for a new "development manufacturing auto facility" and invest $400 million.
City Manager Robert Herrera called it "probably the largest development project that has occurred in the last 10, 15 years."
Herrera estimated the 900 jobs that would be part of the first phase of development would mean $36 million in payroll that would come back to the community each year.
The city also expects the project will spur further growth along I-10, Herrera said.
Meanwhile, Mayor Stosh Boyle said AW's arrival is "going to obviously set a mark for what types of businesses we want here."
Though the land still hasn't been bought, Boyle views the plant as close to a done deal.
"The project's happening," Boyle said.
The city of San Antonio and Bexar County recently approved incentives of their own in an attempt to help lure an upgrade project to the Toyota plant on the South Side.
That upgrade isn't a certainty yet, but Judge Nelson Wolff thinks the county's actions may have helped the Cibolo deal along.
"I think the supplier, when they saw us step up, felt more confident about the long term viability of the Toyota plant here. So I think they went together," Wolff said.
He also believes Bexar County will reap some of the reward.
"Those 900 people, many of them are going to live here in Bexar County," Wolff said. "Many of them are going to shop here. So it's a very positive thing for us."