Reply #7: Caterpillar likely lured to Seguin by cheaper labor

[douglas9]

The business-friendly environment of Texas and a cheaper labor force were likely factors in Caterpillar Inc.’s decision to build a $170 million engine plant in Seguin that will employ 1,400 workers.

“We’ve been telling them (Caterpillar officials) for the last 10 years that they needed to come to Texas,” said Peter Holt, CEO of the San Antonio-based Caterpillar dealer Holt Cat.

Caterpillar and government officials announced a deal Thursday in which Caterpillar will build a 1-million-square-foot facility along Interstate 10 and Texas 46 that will build engines for the truck, marine, industrial and power industries.

Holt said he and the owners of the two other Caterpillar dealers in Texas told the heavy-equipment manufacturer “the business climate is good in Texas.” Caterpillar also has a casting plant in Monterrey, Mexico, which makes locating the assembly plant in South Texas an obvious choice, he contends.

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