The McKesson Corporation, the San Francisco-based pharmaceutical company that ranks 11th on the Fortune 500 list, announced Thursday that it will be opening a regional office in Irving amid a bevy of state and local financial incentives.
The state’s Texas Enterprise Fund will provide $9.75 million while the city of Irving is pitching in another $2.1 million over the next decade. The move is expected to create “at least” 975 jobs and includes an immediate $157 million capital investment in the location. It’s the largest incentive that Gov. Greg Abbott has provided through the fund.
In an interview, Beth Bowman, the president and CEO of the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce, said the move should generate $4.7 billion in economic activity throughout the region over the next decade.
“They have experienced tremendous growth in recent years,” she said. “Their company’s stock has more than doubled in the last five years alone with their sales topping at $179 billion in 2015. With that exponential growth, the company really started looking to expand their operations in the southwestern United States.”
What began as a five-city search quickly narrowed to Irving and Phoenix. The former NEC Corp. of America office complex at State Highways 114 and 161 grabbed the company’s attention. McKesson will buy the existing 525,000 square foot pair of office buildings as well as an adjacent plot of land. Bowman said the company will retain about 900 existing positions—the company has smaller outposts in Carrollton, Westlake, and North Fort Worth.
“I am proud that McKesson has chosen to expand their operations in the Lone Star State and create nearly a thousand new jobs,” read a statement from Gov. Greg Abbott. “This expansion is yet another testament to the power of Texas’ low-tax, low-regulation economic climate that continues to attract industry leaders, innovators, and job creators from around the globe. I am confident McKesson’s leadership in the pharmaceutical and healthcare technology sectors will serve as an invaluable contribution to the Texas economy.”
The new jobs will be in IT, finance, accounting, and marketing, and will pay an average of $80,000 to $85,000 a year, Bowman said.
“After a thoughtful and thorough selection process, we’re excited to consolidate our Dallas-area offices into a new, state-of-the-art facility in Irving, Texas,” read a statement from David Evangelista, Senior Vice President and General Manager of McKesson Financial Center. “Investing in this new, modern workspace will enable our associates to more effectively serve McKesson customers in the evolving healthcare industry.”
McKesson has not revealed a timeline for when it plans to begin operating out of the new facility.
