Urban Mining Company Selects San Marcos for Rare Earth Magnet Manufacturing Facility and Headquarters
San Marcos, Tex. – The Greater San Marcos Partnership (GSMP) today announced that Urban Mining Company has selected San Marcos, Texas as the location of its new, state-of-the-art rare earth magnet manufacturing facility and headquarters.
The 100,000 square foot facility will be constructed on 10 acres and adds more than 100 advanced manufacturing and technology jobs to San Marcos and Hays County over the terms of the performance-based incentive agreements.
Rare earth magnets are critical components used in high-tech industrial, automotive, clean energy, and military-defense applications. Urban Mining Company is the only producer of its kind in the U.S.
“The general availability of rare earth magnets is a huge concern. The United States is 100% dependent on other countries for both materials like neodymium (Nd) and dysprosium (Dy), as well as the finished products manufactured using them. Resource independence is critical for our country’s future,” said Urban Mining Company cofounder and CEO Scott Dunn.
Urban Mining Company’s headquarters and manufacturing facility will be fully operational in 2018.
“We welcome Urban Mining Company as San Marcos’ newest corporate citizen and employer,” said City of San Marcos Mayor John Thomaides. “These are the quality jobs that lead to career advancement for our residents, allowing them to work for a great company with an important mission in this fine city that we all love. I look forward to growing our relationship with Urban Mining Company.”
The project came directly to GSMP Staff from the company’s site selection consultant in late August 2016. GSMP assisted the company’s selection process through site tours, research, and the incentive process. Key factors to the success of the project were the central location, workforce availability, the presence of Texas State University’s Material Science, Engineering, and Commercialization program, and available land to construct the facility.
Greater San Marcos Partnership President Adriana Cruz noted that Urban Mining Company’s annual wages are above the area’s averages, which are $38,000 and $29,000 for Hays County and the City of San Marcos respectively.
“We greatly appreciate Urban Mining Company considering and ultimately selecting San Marcos for its one of a kind, world-class facility,” said Precinct 1 Hays County Commissioner Debbie Gonzales Ingalsbe. “Continued announcements like Urban Mining Company, Best Buy, and Amazon will raise our profile for the jobs and investment that we’ve all known would fit well in the region.”
The City of San Marcos and Hays County voted in favor of entering into performance-based Chapter 380/381 Agreements with Urban Mining Company that include a ten-year personal property tax rebate at 75 percent and a ten-year real property tax rebate at 25 percent. The positive economic impact of the deal is an expected $900,411 to the City of San Marcos, $619,770 to Hays County, and $1.3 million to the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District by the expiration of the 10-year agreement.
“It’s clear that San Marcos is at the heart of the emerging Innovation Corridor,” said Cruz. “Urban Mining Company’s location in San Marcos provides further evidence that this area is a center of 21st Century innovation. Texas State University’s programs, coupled with the region’s affordability, proximity to Austin and San Antonio, and extraordinary quality of life have poised us for a boom in next generation advanced manufacturing and clean technology development.”
Urban Mining Company is the latest employer to expand their footprint in the Greater San Marcos region. Since its formation in October 2010, The Greater San Marcos Partnership has announced 33 corporate relocations or expansions, which include over 2,800 jobs and nearly $350 million in capital investment.
“San Marcos and Hays County offered the skilled workforce and infrastructure we need to support a fast-growing operation like ours,” said Dunn. “We are bringing advanced manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. We are looking forward to a productive relationship with the city, county, and Texas State University as we ramp up.”
About the Greater San Marcos Partnership
The Greater San Marcos Partnership (GSMP) is the 501c6 regional economic development organization serving the city of San Marcos, and Hays and Caldwell Counties focused on positioning the region for a wider diversity of quality jobs for all with higher wages. The GSMP mission is to promote sustainable, responsible and comprehensive economic development in the greater San Marcos region by implementing a five-year economic development strategic plan. Visit greatersanmarcostx.com for more information.
About Urban Mining Company
Urban Mining Company’s Magnet-to-Magnet (M2M™) process makes use of domestic source materials harvested from end-of-life products and devices, like hard disk drives or motors, for manufacturing high-performance NdFeB magnets. The company’s Grain Boundary Engineering (GBE™) and Grain Boundary Modification (GBM™) processes to increase performance while reducing the use of rare earth materials. Urban Mining is the only NdFeB rare earth permanent magnet producer in the U.S.To learn more; please visit http://urbanminingco.com.
