170 high-skilled news jobs slated for KTH Texas

(Seguin) — Beyond the $100 million investment coming to Seguin, local leaders say one of the biggest impacts of H One Co., Lt-d.’s new manufacturing facility will be the creation of high-quality careers for area residents.

The new KTH Texas manufacturing plant is expected to employ 173 people by 2031 after operations begin in April 2028.

Seguin Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Alora Wachholz says the project represents another milestone in the city’s efforts to grow its workforce and local economy.

Wachholz says attracting companies like KTH also involves making sure the jobs being created offer competitive wages that benefit both employees and the community.

“KTH is a company that cares a lot about their employees. This will be their 4th location in North America, and they are sticklers for making sure that their employees are full-time, benefit eligible, that they’re paid living wages. Now, I can say for this facility specifically, and these 173 new jobs, there is, as part of what was approved by city council, a performance agreement with the SEDC. That is specifically a jobs grant. And what this means is that for those first 173 employees that are employed, that the SEDC has committed to paying the company an incentive for hiring these jobs (employees) after they’ve been hired,” said Wachholz.

She says this specific investment also comes with regulations to position “Seguin as the premier destination to do business in the Central Texas region.”

“Some of the regulations on those jobs require that they be full-time, meaning they have to have at least a standard 36 hour work week per week on average — as well as they have to be eligible for company benefits and they have to be employed directly by the company KTH. So that negates sort of part-time or temp workers or anything through a staffing agency. Not that those aren’t great jobs, but again, we want to make sure that these are employees that are going to be employed by KTH and have the same high standard of care that KTH provides to its other employees across North America,” said Wachholz.

The facility will manufacture advanced automotive structural components using automated production equipment, including three press lines anchored by a 3,500-ton press.

The company says employees will receive training in advanced manufacturing technologies while producing ultra-high-strength steel and aluminum parts for major automotive manufacturers.

Wachholz says the positions being created will require specialized skills and offer long-term career opportunities rather than short-term employment. She says the project, again, reflects the growing demand for advanced manufacturing in the region and further strengthens Seguin’s reputation as an automotive manufacturing hub.

“These kinds of projects happen based on collaboration. They happen based on a lot of different factors. Like we know Seguin is a phenomenal place from a location perspective for manufacturing, from a cluster perspective, from a workforce perspective. But we also have to be a community that’s welcoming to growth. We have to be a community that has character and has history and has all of those good things that make a company want to invest their future in. And so, I’m really proud to say, Seguin has all of the right ingredients to have made this project happen. And so, it’s really a much bigger picture than just one project, one site. It really is a testament to just how much we have to look forward to and how much we have already here in Seguin,” said Wachholz.

Wachholz says the SEDC looks forward to building a long-term partnership with the company as it establishes operations and continues to grow in Seguin.