Above famed bluebonnets dancing along the road sides, highway signs criss-cross the Lone Star state warning “Don’t Mess With Texas.” But when it comes to business, messing with Texas can be a very good thing.

From the sandy southern shores of Corpus Christi to the cosmopolitan flair of Dallas to the crop-filled flatlands of West Texas, successful companies are proof that there’s a lot more to Texas than cowtowns and country music.

Lubbock lands regional call center

Take Cox Communications, for instance. This past April, the Atlanta, Ga.,-based company announced that it would expand its existing Lubbock operations and build a regional call center there.

Because of Lubbock’s location, Cox Communications West Texas was designated the regional operation center for several cities the company serves throughout Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico.

“We needed an operation center that could operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Randy Wink, former vice president and general manager of Cox Communications West Texas, told the Lubbock Avalanche Journal. “We decided on Lubbock because of the locale and what was available here … the Hub City really is the hub of West Texas.”

Several other reasons made the West Texas city the ideal growing ground for Cox.

“Cox was already in Lubbock — we’d been there for 30 years — so if we had to pick a place to expand, it was certainly our choice to stay where our home is,” said Vickie Bennett, community relations manager for Cox. “Also construction costs are reasonable and labor costs are reasonable. We felt like it was a very good place for our business to grow.”

Construction is currently underway on the company’snew 300-seat customer service center, which is slated for completion in mid-2002.

Coxwill begin handling service calls from Amarillo and Abilene this summer, according to Wink. Service for the remainder of the cities will begin by Oct. 1, 2000.

In addition to the jobs created by the call center, 115 people are expected to be hired over the next four years in management, supervisory, customer service and telephone positions.

The telecommunications company, which recently purchased TCA Cable systems across the country, is setting its future sights on launching products and services in telecommunications, high-speed Internet access, and digital cable.

Lubbock has been the location of choice for a host of telecommunications companies, one of which is a household name.

In December 1999, Southwestern Bell Wireless revealed plans to renovate 135,000 square feet of space in a former 725,000 square foot Texas Instruments building that is now owned by semiconductor manufacturer X-Fab Texas Inc.

Southwestern Bell will be opening a customer care center, which will be home to approximately 800 employees.

The new center will grow the company’s current call center operation in Lubbock, where 50 people are employed.

“Our growth rate of wireless users has been tremendous, and we are expanding our capacity to continue providing the quality of service our customers are accustomed to receiving,” said Robert W. Shaner, regional president for Southwestern Bell Wireless. “We chose to locate this new center in Lubbock and expand our current operations because of our reliable track record in Lubbock, the healthy labor market, strong work force and quality of life.”

Incentives give rise to growth

For some expanding and relocating Texas businesses, incentives have played a major role in the state’s appeal.

An $800,000 grant was icing on the cake for Blue Cross/Blue Shield when it decided to expand its Abilene operations in March. The project marked the company’s second expansion in as many years.

The resulting 165 new employees will bring the company’s Abilene work force to 835.

Blue Cross originally received $565,000 in financial incentives when it moved into a former Texas Instruments plant in 1997. The city provided another $1.7 million to the package when Blue Cross expanded in 1998.

Much of the money has gone toward the company’s renovation and upgrading of its existing site.

Local Blue Cross/Blue Shield employees handle health care benefit claims and customer service for 350,000 federal employees in Texas and Illinois.

Further south in San Antonio, a property tax abatement signaled a green light for Clarke American Checks’ growth.

The company considered several other sites in 20 other cities, but decided to undertake its expansion at home in San Antonio.

“We felt it was a good business climate,” said Kevin Elms, vice president of accounting for Clarke.

Additionally, the tax abatement garnered many cheers.

“The abatement was an issue we considered early on,” said Elms.

The check-printing business received a six-year abatement worth $193,000 and consequently moved ahead with expansion plans for its existing operation.

The company plans to build a new 100,000 square foot customer service center, where it will employ up to 468 workers. The printer of checks and financial forms for banks and other financial institutions currently employs 570 people in San Antonio.

Headquarters drawn to quality of life

Texas has shown that it holds much allure for all types of companies, including headquarters.

For California polymer manufacturer Manner Plastic Materials Inc., the allure was so promising that the company relocated its headquarters operation to McKinney, Texas, just north of Dallas.

While the company will maintain its California manufacturing plant to serve the West Coast, it will move its headquarters and research and development labs to McKinney, as well as build a new manufacturing plant to serve its Midwest and Southern U.S. customers.

The company manufactures polymer compounds used in a variety of applications including telecommunications, electronics, electrical transmission, footwear, building products and automotive.

Manner will employ up to 30 people initially, and possibly 50 by the third year of operation.

Occupancy in the new 50,000 square foot building is anticipated to take place in August.

“In addition to building our new manufacturing plant, McKinney will also become our headquarters and R&D site, which made the community’s high quality of life a critical site selection factor for employee recruitment and retention,” said Raj Bhargava, president of Manner.

Another company, Rush Enterprises, announced at the tail end of 1999 that it would relocate its headquarters to New Braunfels, just north of San Antonio.

Rush,the nation’s largest Peterbilt truck distributor, will occupy about 25,000 square feet where it will employ 65 people.