Tige Boats - Movin' On Up
January 22, 2006
After almost a year of construction, nearly all of Tige Boats' operations have moved to the new facility at the intersection of State Highway 36 and Farm Road 18. The company, which moved its headquarters from California to Abilene in 1995, received in November 2003 one of the Development Corporation of Abilene's largest assistance packages to help pay for construction of the new manufacturing site. The grant is tied to job creation. Tige has pledged to retain 110 employees and create 130 new jobs. Currently about 200 employees work at Tige, and in the next few years, as many as 300 could work there. Richard Burdine, Chief Executive Officer of the DCOA, said the investment in Tige Boats will be returned to the community in the form of a payroll of $4 million to $6 million every year. Additionally, Tige spends about $500,000 a year on goods and services purchased in Abilene.
