(The Center Square) – More companies are expanding in Texas on the taxpayer’s dime, including Ariat International and Southwest Airlines.
Ariat, a California-based company that designs and sells high quality performance equestrian footwear and apparel, is expanding its regional headquarters in Fort Worth, with the help of a taxpayer-funded $1.5 million Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) grant. The expansion is expected to create 150 new jobs and make more than $8.9 million in capital investment in the region.
“Texas is the land of economic freedom and opportunity,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement. “That’s why Texas is the No. 1 state in the nation for attracting new business investment and creating good-paying jobs.” Ariat’s $8.9 million expansion “showcases the strength of our state’s economy.”
“Fort Worth and the State of Texas have been an incredible partner in Ariat’s growth, and we’re proud to expand our presence here with this investment,” Co-founder and CEO of Ariat International Beth Cross said in a statement. “Creating 150 new jobs in the community is especially meaningful to us, and we’re committed to building opportunities that strengthen both Ariat and Fort Worth for the long term.”
The company is named after Secretariat, the race horse who won the Triple Crown in 1973.
“Secretariat’s big heart and competitive spirit were the motivations behind naming our company Ariat,” Cross explains. “Ariat was founded as ‘The New Breed of Boot.’ We were the first to integrate athletic footwear technology into boots for equestrian athletes. Today, our world-class product team builds innovative and award-winning performance products for all types of outdoor and work environments.”
Southwest Airlines is also expanding operations in Austin with the help of a taxpayer-funded, $14 million TEF grant and a $375,000 Veteran Created Job Bonus. The expansion is expected to create 2,000 jobs in Austin by mid-2027.
The Fortune 500 company is one of the largest employers in Texas and has been headquartered in in the state since it was first incorporated in 1967.
It’s the largest carrier at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, operating more than 4,000 flights a day during peak travel periods. In 2024, it carried more than 140 million customers.
With TEF support, Southwest is establishing a new pilot and flight attendant crew base in Austin. The base will include pilots and flight attendants, in addition to managerial and support staff to support flight operations across the southwest. The expansion also includes a buildout of the station’s Command Center and a training facility for flight attendants.
“Southwest Airlines was born and raised in Texas and has been a core element of the economic growth we have seen in our state,” Abbott said. “We are the home of economic opportunity for our fellow Texans more than any other state in the United States, and we know a key reason for that is because of everything Southwest Airlines provides. We are proud to partner with everybody connected with Southwest as well as the City of Austin on such a huge announcement for our state.”
“This investment demonstrates our commitment to Austin and to our customers” and Texas’ support “clears the way for Austin to become an even bigger part of our future,” Southwest Airlines President, Chief Executive Officer, and Vice Chairman of the Board Bob Jordan said in a statement.
Awarded through the Texas Economic Development & Tourism office, the Texas Enterprise Fund grant “may be awarded to a business relocation or expansion project for which one Texas site is in competition with out-of-state locations to create new, good-paying jobs in the community and attract significant new capital investment to the state,” the office says.
Critics argue the TEF is corporate welfare and companies would expand operations in Texas anyway because of Texas’ business friendly policies. The grants impose additional costs on cities “in the form of reduced revenues and increased liabilities,” and there’s no meaningful measurement to quantify incentives to economic well-being, the Better Cities Project has argued, The Center Square reported.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation argues the TEF should be eliminated and has proposed an alternative solution, noting that “The interstate subsidy race represents an ever-spiraling stairway to more government intervention in the market.”
