PRESS RELEASE: Texas Comptroller Visits Metroplex on Tour of Texas Manufacturing Plants

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October 18, 2017 

Texas Comptroller Visits Metroplex on Tour of Texas Manufacturing Plants

(FORT WORTH) — On the North Texas stop of his Good for Texas Tour: Manufacturing Edition, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar visited two plants in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Gerdau Ameristeel in Midlothian and Alcon in Fort Worth. 

“These companies both contribute to a dynamic manufacturing economy in the Metroplex region,” Hegar said. “They create jobs indirectly and produce other benefits that ripple throughout the Texas economy.” 

During his Good for Texas Tour: Manufacturing Edition, Hegar is touring facilities, meeting with local officials and sharing the results of a study the Comptroller’s office recently completed examining the economic impact of the manufacturing industry. 

Texas’ primary metals manufacturing subsector, which includes Gerdau Ameristeel, is responsible for $4.6 billion in annual exports, nearly 70,000 direct and indirect jobs and $3.1 billion in contributions to the state’s gross domestic product (GDP). 

“While the state’s primary metals manufacturing GDP rose significantly over the last two decades, it faces economic challenges, including reduced use of steel in lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles and a shift toward increased recycling and reuse of steel,” Hegar said. 

The medical equipment and supplies and miscellaneous products subsector, which includes Alcon, accounts for $4.9 billion in annual exports and about 59,000 Texas direct and indirect jobs, as well as $3 billion of the state’s GDP. 

“This subsector’s exports from Texas rose from $2.3 billion in 2006 to $4.9 billion in 2016,” Hegar said. “But it’s not highly concentrated in Texas as a whole, although there is a high regional employment concentration in upper East Texas.” 

In all, Texas manufacturers were responsible for 3 million direct and indirect jobs in 2016, as well as $210.3 billion in exports and $225.8 billion in GDP. Average annual salary for direct jobs is nearly $74,000.

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