(The Center Square) – Another multi-billion-dollar company is getting millions of dollars of taxpayer money to expand operations in Texas.
Collins Aerospace, an RTX Business, is expanding its aerospace manufacturing and research development operations in Richardson.
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It received a Texas Enterprise Fund grant of $3.7 million to expand operations after RTX reported $80.7 billion in sales and returned $3.7 billion of capital to shareholders in 2024.
RTX, the world’s largest aerospace and defense company, is based in Arlington, Virginia. Collins Aerospace is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Collins claims it’s making a $57 million capital investment in the expansion it says will create more than 570 new jobs.
“Texas is ranked as the No. 1 state for attracting aerospace manufacturing,” Gov. Greg Abbott said. Collins Aerospace’s $57 million investment will “deliver innovative solutions right here in Texas. Partnering with industry leaders, we will ensure Texas remains the hub for aerospace, aviation, and defense for generations to come.”
“The support from the State of Texas and the City of Richardson made the decision to expand our footprint an easy one,” Collins Aerospace Vice President and General Manager for Strategic Solutions Philippe Limondin said. “The state’s commitment to aerospace and defense is key to our continued success.”
“Collins Aerospace’s decision to expand operations in Richardson is a powerful testament to the strength of our business environment and the talent pipeline that supports it,” Richardson City Manager Don Magner said. “As a leader in technologically advanced and intelligent solutions for the global aerospace and defense industry, its continued investment reinforces Richardson’s position as a hub for research, development, and technology.”
Richardson is not far from Fort Worth, where Abbott signed several pro-business bills into law last month and designated Fort Worth as the aviation and defense capital of Texas.
Fort Worth has led in aviation manufacturing, where the first factory in the world was built specifically designed to manufacture helicopters in 1951, to becoming a manufacturing hub for the F-16 in the 1970s. Fort Worth-based Lockheed Martin Aeronautics is currently assembling the F-35 Lightning AII, the most advanced fifth-generation fighter jet in the world, The Center Square reported.
Collins Aerospace is dedicated “to delivering future-focused technologies to advance sustainable and connected aviation, passenger safety and comfort, mission success, space exploration,” and projects for U.S. military defense, according to its website.
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Of the many military projects it’s involved in, one recent one includes working with the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Lab on a multi-year plan to develop and test advanced capabilities in exercises with active military units. The goal is to provide “a clearer and more complete view of the battlefield” by integrating data to deliver real-time situational awareness, it explained after a recent exercise at Camp Pendleton.
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.