CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas-- Susser Holdings Corp., the parent company of Stripes convenience stores, has received $640,000 in tax incentives from the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corp. and the city's Business & Job Development Corp., also known as the 4A board, said The Corpus Christi Caller Times.
With the company's recent acquisition of Town & Country Food Stores, Susser plans to relocate 11 Town & Country Food Stores employees from San Angelo and create 36 new local jobs during the next five years. These 47 additional employees, at an average salary of $60,106, [image-nocss] will be based at the company's corporate offices in Corpus Christi, the report said.
"As we continue to expand our store base, we will have to support our stores by increasing employment in our support services, which include marketing, operational and financial accounting, human resources, information technology, operations, and construction, maintenance and environmental services," Chip Bonner, Susser attorney, told the newspaper.
Bonner said he estimates the annual payroll of the 47 jobs that will be created or relocated to Corpus Christi will exceed $2.8 million per year. "These 47 jobs will allow us to continue to support and grow our company," he said.
The incentives will be paid in five annual installments of $128,000 starting next year.
Butch Escobedo, 4A board member, said the incentives were granted to Susser because it was a locally owned company that wanted to bring additional high-paying jobs to the area. "It's a growing locally owned business and the goal of these incentives is to bring and keep jobs in the community," he told the paper. "It is our hope that as the company grows, they can maybe invest some of those dollars back into the community or help smaller businesses in the community."
Escobedo said incentives for companies often are used to stimulate a bigger return on the initial investment in the community.
By 2009, Susser also will invest $3 million in new furniture, fixtures and equipment to relocate the company's current headquarters to the former APAC building, said the report.
With more than 500 stores, Susser is one of the largest c-store operators in Texas. The company also has Stripes stores in southern Oklahoma and eastern New Mexico. The company employs about 1,100 people in the Corpus Christi area.
Susser director David P. Engel serves on the board of the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corp.
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