One rancher in central Texas is pleading with Elon Musk to relocate his newest venture to the area, and he’s offering his own land as a bribe.
Schwertner Farms Inc., which operates Capitol Land & Livestock east of Jarrell, Texas, is led by Jim Schwertner, president and CEO.
Schwertner claims his company is one of the largest livestock brokers in the country, and he hopes to use some of the land for Twitter’s new headquarters.
“Elon, We will give you 100 acres for free if you move Twitter to Schwertner, TX, 38 miles north of Austin,” Schwertner tweeted on Tuesday.
With over 20,000 acres in Bell and Williamson counties, Schwertner believes Musk could choose which 100 acres to plant Twitter on. “We think this is a place to have new technology,” Schwertner said. “This has always been a rural area for agriculture, but it’s changing fast. And so we thought why not let Elon Musk be the catalyst to make it happen?”
Schwertner thinks the move would be a mutual win.
“We have a lot of land. This area is really growing. We have affordable housing, and I thought it’d be an excellent opportunity for him and for us,” Schwertner said.
He’s also a big fan of Musk’s.
“Elon Musk is the greatest thing that ever happened to Texas and central Texas,” Schwertner said. “When he came here from California and brought SpaceX and Tesla, and then The Boring Company, it’s a big boom for Texas and central Texas.”
Precinct 4 is one of the four precincts in the Schwertner is “more than just a rancher,” according to Williamson County Commissioner Russ Boles.
He said, “Jim is a successful businessman who can deliver on his 100-acre offer.”
Boles claimed that the county “can provide them with a good business environment,” citing a recent agreement with Samsung as an example.
The current headquarters of Twitter are in San Francisco, California, but Musk’s purchase of the social media platform on Monday has sparked a groundswell of support for a move to Texas.
On Monday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott tweeted from his campaign account, “Bring Twitter to Texas to join Tesla, SpaceX, and the Boring Company.”
Some of Musk’s other businesses, including Tesla in Travis County and The Boring Company in Pflugerville, have recently relocated to Texas.
“It’s no surprise that there is speculation about Elon Musk relocating Twitter’s headquarters to one of, if not the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the country,” Laura Huffman, president and CEO of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, told KXAN earlier this week. “Especially after having already announced relocating Tesla here.”
Companies have been looking to expand or relocate offices to the Austin area, according to Huffman, because of the area’s talent pipeline and education system, as well as a “dynamic live/work culture.”
Matt Patton, an economist, agrees.
“We’ve obviously demonstrated over the last few years that this is a good place to be in the tech world,” Patton, executive vice president of Angelou Economics, said. While most Twitter employees continue to work from home or in a hybrid model and may not relocate to central Texas if the company’s headquarters relocates, he believes the move will attract other businesses to the Austin metro area.
“Some of those downstream suppliers,” he explained, “might want to come with Twitter.” “It’s just another big name out there saying, ‘Yes, this is where we call home,’ from Apple to Oracle — Dell, obviously, in Round Rock.”
Although Patton and Boles acknowledge that some changes, such as more infrastructure, will be required, Boles claims that there will be “no more challenges than normal.”
“Infrastructure is something we’re always working on.” “That’s one of the major issues in Central Texas, if not the entire state,” he stated.
“We’re ready for some diversity in our community, and I think the time is right,” Schwertner said.
Still, Schwertner has received no word yet on whether his 76-year-old farm will be shepherded toward tech.
“No phone call yet, but I’m standing by,” he said.
