It was a tweet that got Texas state leaders talking.
After Alameda County said Tesla’s California plant can’t re-open until June, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter that they are moving the company’s headquarters and future programs to “Texas/Nevada immediately."
On his personal Twitter account, Governor Greg Abbott quote-tweeted Musk's claim using the eyeball emoji. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson also responded to the news, using his personal Twitter account to quote-tweet a Dallas Morning News tweet about Musk, saying: “Dallas bound, I hope. Southern Dallas, preferably."
Dallas City Council Member Casey Thomas agrees with the mayor.
“Come on down,” Thomas said. “We’ve got land for the corporate relocation. We’ve got land for the houses to be built. Southern Dallas is overlooked, one of the best-overlooked secrets that shouldn’t be a secret.”
Thomas did say that given the newness of Musk’s declaration, city officials have not had conversations with Tesla, but he expects those will happen as they did with Uber, who recently relocated a regional hub to Dallas.
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“We came together for the city, the county, and the state to provide some economic incentives [for Uber] and I would be shocked if we didn’t come to the table collectively and make it very attractive for Tesla,” Thomas said.
Bud Weinstein is an economist at Southern Methodist University. He said he expects Tesla and other companies that are based on the east and west coasts to look at Texas once the coronavirus is over.
“If past is prologue we will see a pick up in business expansions and re-locations into this state as the national economy recovers,” Weinstein said.
“Texas has, or more importantly is perceived to have, a favorable business climate. The mere fact that we’re allowing businesses to re-open sends out a message that we are a business-friendly state.
“The combination of high costs, high regulations, high utility costs on the two coasts with a pro-business climate in Texas, a comparatively low cost of living, a cost of doing business, favorable labor legislation, relatively low taxes, that’s all going to be a plus as the national economy recovers,” Weinstein added. “If you look at New York, California and some other coastal states and cities, it’s very expensive to live and work.”
As for Thomas, he’s looking forward to seeing what may be possible with Musk’s company.
“We’re excited about the opportunity and we’ll be taking advantage of it,” Thomas said.