Main image of article Apple Reveals Big Expansion Plans in Texas
Welcome to TexasApple plans to more than double employment in Austin, Texas, with the investment of $304 million for a new campus that will house its Americas Operations Center. The plan calls for Apple to add more than 3,600 employees over the next decade, including customer support, sales and accounting staff. The company has 3,500 employees in its operations there now. In return, the state has offered the world's most valuable company $21 million in incentives, along with local incentive agreements still to be approved by the city of Austin and Travis County. Austin, home of the SXSW conference and a vibrant tech scene, has been working hard to become a hub for mobile app development and a key player in the automotive industry. The incentive money comes from the state's controversial Texas Enterprise Fund. The Apple deal will be the largest payout from that fund. Other cities and states have lamented Texas' ability to outbid them. That's certainly a valid question when applied to Apple, which has more cash than it knows what to do with – $100 billion at last count.  The company is valued higher than the GDPs of Poland, Belgium, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan.