Is Austin in Sematech's rear-view mirror?

[sonias]

Rick Perry 2004:

"We simply couldn't let it (Sematech) slip through our hands," he said.

This is a very long read but incredibly important to understand Perry's failure of leadership. Sematech is moving its primary operation to New York. Perry failed to keep his promise to them to raise money for them, and he has let slip one of the greatest technological magnets Texas had. Now we're even failing in business retention - big time

AAS 5/22/10
Is Austin in Sematech's rear-view mirror?

Sematech officials are negotiating to move their largest Austin research operation to New York, all but ending a 22-year era in which the research consortium was the crown jewel that helped Austin attract technology companies.

(snip)
Sematech has long been considered an important catalyst in Austin's high-tech boom of the 1990s. The consortium was founded to push semiconductor manufacturing technology forward. It still does that job, but it's also seen as a potential enabler in other areas, including clean energy.

This would be the third time in eight years that Sematech has announced an expansion in New York, ultimately at the expense of Austin and despite a seven-year contract with Gov. Rick Perry signed in 2004 that required Sematech to keep its "core managerial or operational functions" in Texas, not to negotiate a move of its Texas operations with anyone else and not to create a new "significant" facility outside of Texas.

In return, Texas gave Sematech a $40 million grant, a $40 million loan and the promise to make a "good faith effort" to raise an additional $120 million.

That money never materialized.

Austin and Texas won the bidding for Sematech in 1987 when Texas had a powerful Congressional delegation (Democrats) and Jim Wright of Fort Worth was Speaker of the House.
The chamber spokesman estimated that Sematech helped attract at least an additional $12 billion in high-tech investment to the state over the years.

And Slick Rick pissed it away because he's too busy raising money for himself to think about planning for Texas' future economy. While Sematech itself is not a huge employer like BAE Systems was in Sealy, it's also the related industry jobs that may decide their next expansion should be in another state like New York that is willing to invest in the future.

Perry is impeding Texas progress on so many levels. He really, really has got to go! :mad:

[sonias]

1. TPJ Calls on Perry, Dewhurst & Straus To Investigate State Grant to Sematech

Texans for Public Justice Press Release 5/24/10
TPJ Calls on Perry, Dewhurst & Straus To Investigate State Grant to Sematech
Did Sematech Cheat on Texas By Loving New York in the Middle of its $40 Million Subsidy Deal?

Austin—Texans for Public Justice today urged Texas’ top three officials who oversee the Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) to investigate if Sematech, Inc. violated the 2004 contract it signed to obtain $40 million in state funds. Governor Rick Perry’s highly-touted Enterprise Fund awarded the high-tech consortium $40 million in 2004 to establish the Advanced Material Research Center (AMRC) in Austin. Sematech’s subsequent dealings with the State of New York strain the terms of its TEF contract—arguably to the breaking point. In a letter today to Governor Perry, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst and Speaker Joe Straus, TPJ called for a probe into Sematech’s contract compliance, urging the officials to either "enforce compliance or recover the scarce funds that failed to deliver the promised benefits."

Sematech’s January 1, 2004 development agreement with Texas (approved by Perry, Dewhurst and then-Speaker Tom Craddick) awarded the company a $40 million grant in return for its contractual commitments: To maintain an average of 400 Texas employees; To not establish any significant facility outside the state; and To not transfer any core managerial or operational functions based in Texas outside of the state. The agreement also forbids Sematech from negotiating with any governmental entities to transfer operations or establish new facilities outside of Texas.

Nevertheless, Sematech has negotiated with New York to establish new facilities in Albany and move most, if not all, of its Texas operations and employees there. Company documents indicate Sematech’s Austin-based employees dropped from 640 in 2004 to 124 or fewer in 2009. In 2007, Sematech entered into an agreement with the Research Foundation of the State University of New York (SUNY) to "establish the headquarters and administrative, programmatic and technical operations of International Sematech at the facilities in Albany." Sematech has pledged to invest upwards of $300 million in the Albany project.

"The Enterprise Fund is crying out for greater accountability, transparency and oversight. The Sematech fiasco highlights Governor Perry's conflicts in both awarding and enforcing Enterprise Fund grants," said Craig McDonald, director of Texans for Public Justice. "The governor is quick to tout the promised jobs but slow to make corporate welfare recipients live up to the terms of their handouts."

:popcorn: