Satellite communications startup E-Space is moving ahead with its North American expansion, a project that could bring a minimum of 400 high-tech jobs with an average annual salary of $95,000 within its first five years of operation in Arlington.
The Arlington City Council will vote on a resolution at the April 23 meeting to authorize Marty Wieder, executive director of the Arlington Economic Develop Corp., to enter a public-private partnership with E-Space and the city of Arlington. That partnership will allow the company to build a headquarters and manufacturing plant at the Arlington Municipal Airport.
E-Space is a startup global telecommunications and satellite manufacturer founded in 2022 by satellite communications technology veteran Greg Wyler.
“We have been working closely and collaboratively with the Arlington EDC and city officials on a space to accommodate a future North American manufacturing site of advanced aerospace structures and systems,” an E-Space spokesperson said in an email statement to the Arlington Report. “We appreciate the thoughtful approach and collaborative efforts the EDC and city have taken to date.”
At full capacity, the project will create 3,355 jobs and provide over $8 billion in salaries and wages over the 30-year term lease, according to the city’s staff report. It would be one of the county’s largest private sector employers.
By comparison, the Arlington General Motors plant employed over 5,000, paying $471.7 million in taxable wages last year.
Soon after the deal, the first phase of construction on the west side of the airport will begin, which will include a manufacturing and office facility of about 250,000 square feet, a 40,000-square-foot hangar, an airport access road and an aircraft parking apron.
“In essence, we’re going to council with this and then, as things progress, it’ll set the stage for additional action in the weeks and months to come,” Wieder said. “It’s very early, but it’s got tremendous potential.”
The startup plans to establish a headquarters and develop a total of 750,000 square feet of manufacturing and office space, with about 2,000 jobs, over a 10-year period.
The economic development corporation will contribute up to $50 million from cash and/or proceeds from sales tax revenue bonds toward the project’s development and construction. E-Space will have to meet some requirements before the economic development corporation moves forward with construction of the facility, according to Wieder.
After construction is completed, the economic development corporation will lease the project back to the company for a term of 30 years with two renewal options with a base rent of $2 million per year of occupancy and a 3% increase every five years thereafter.
The fact that this project could bring manufacturing jobs is key to its economic impact on the area, said David Quigley, a clinical assistant professor in economics at the University of Texas at Arlington.
“Manufacturing jobs do tend to pay better than jobs in the services industry,” Quigley said.
Aerospace manufacturing also requires a higher degree of skill than many other manufacturing jobs. “High-tech manufacturing requires people that can operate some complex equipment, so those skills can be quite technical, even if you don’t need an undergraduate bachelor’s degree,” he said.
While executing the public-private partnership, E-Space will lease initial existing industrial space in Arlington within 90 days to begin building an employment base for research and manufacturing.
The company will occupy the industrial space as soon as design and construction begin for its manufacturing and office facility, the first phase of which is estimated to be completed by late 2026.
E-Space has about 170 employees globally, with around 95 in offices in Beverly, Massachusetts, and Saratoga, California, and is backed by Prime Movers Lab, a company that invests in scientific startups.
The city recently acquired the operations at Arlington Municipal Airport, a move expected to boost the airport’s economic impact. The city said it split costs with the Arlington Economic Development Corp., which contributed $9.5 million to the acquisition.
Texas has a high concentration of aviation, aerospace and defense-related manufacturers. According to the Texas Economic Development Corp., the state has 266 aerospace-related manufacturers that employ more than 48,000 workers, with an average salary of $108,420.
Editor’s Note: The story was updated April 23, 2024, to add the total number of E-Space employees globally.
Dang Le is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at dang.le@fortworthreport.org or via Twitter.
Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org.
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