After buying Fort Worth company, water tech firm plans expansion
Watts Water Technologies, a global manufacturer of plumbing and heating supplies, is expected to bring more than 100 high-skill jobs to south Fort Worth with the help of a city incentives package.
The Fort Worth City Council will consider an economic development agreement with Watts Water Dec. 17. It will provide Watts with a 60% reimbursement on new business property taxes.
The five-year agreement is focused on high-paying jobs, said Brenda Hicks-Sorensen, assistant director of economic development.
It stipulates that new jobs to Fort Worth must have an average pay of at least $60,000. In the fourth year of the agreement, Watts can earn additional grant-like reimbursements for each high-paying job created and retained up to nearly $218,000. Watts must maintain at least 340 positions in Fort Worth by 2023, up from about 230 now.
The jobs will be focused on engineering, research and technical development and high-skill manufacturing, Hicks-Sorensen said.
New Andover, Massachusetts-based Watts Water Technologies purchased Fort Worth-based PVI in 2016 and has since explored consolidating operations. PVI, a manufacturer of industrial and commercial water heaters, has been located in east Fort Worth since it’s founding in the early 1960s. The company plans to relocate from 3209 Galvez Avenue to 425 Everman Parkway, south of the Carter Industrial Park and off Interstate 35W.
Watts is expected to make a more than $13.2 million investment into Fort Worth, including $8.3 million improvements to the 283,000 square foot building on Everman Parkway. At least 15% of contracted work on the building improvements must be done by a minority or woman-owned business.
