Are any of you going to be caught up in this move? It is going to suck for downtown FW to lose XTO, but time for some other companies to step into their place and run this town.

edit: I know this happened at the end of last week but thought it'd be interesting discussion for this board.

I'm not involved wtih either company but from the standpoint of FW, XTO leaving literally leaves a big hole. They had people in something like 6 buildings in downtown FW.

This popped up on my newsfeed:
Nonprofits brace for drop in donations with XTO's exodus from Fort Worth
http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article157433789.html

There are going to be some major ripple effects here...

I'm already seeing an uptick in certain family law issues due to this.

Who in FW pissed off XTO and how?!

Betsy Price?

SuzyQ06 said:

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I'm already seeing an uptick in certain family law issues due to this.

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Already hit one of my buddies apparently.... hopefully you aren't handling their issue.

I think a big part of the decision is to consolidate, but at the end of the day, FW didn't do enough to keep them here. Should they have offered bigger tax breaks, etc.? Who knows. But this is going to hurt.

Maybe office space in downtown gets a little cheaper now?

I don't know anything on the inside but I always assumed once XOM finished the new campus it was a matter of time before XTO moved to Houston.

Ironically I have some friends that moved from XOM Houston to XTO FW a couple of years ago so I'll be interested to hear if they're happy to be coming back to Houston or sad to leave Fort Worth.

I was with XTO for 9 years before being transferred to Houston last year. Talking with a lot of my friends, they don't know if they will make the move or not. From the sound of it, it had nothing to do with FW, and everything to do with consolidating all XOM business units to the campus. XOM was just waiting until there was enough space on campus.

In the past XOM has shied away from incentives from local governments because of public perception. I think the move had everything to do with consolidating operations and there wasn't anything Fort Worth could have done to keep them

I agree about consolidation, but didn't they get something like a 10-year property tax break from Montgomery County when they built the Woodlands Campus ?

Don't think Montgomery County has any tax authority over the land. The land is in Harris County and technically outside of The Woodlands, which uses Montgomery County to levy their tax.

Many of the non-profits in the area had already seen their donations from XTO drop considerably over the last year -- I think most in the know assumed this move was coming, was just a matter of when.

my sister-in-law and her family will be impacted, but not sure when.

she's been with XTO for 11 years, and from what's been discussed XOM wants her to stay on and be relocated to Houston

she wants to stay with them but everyone in the family is telling her not take the first deal on the table: XOM needs to more than generously relocate them and then provide her a significant increase in pay that more than compensates for cost of living in Houston

Cost of living in Houston is probably higher than FW, but I doubt it is really that significant considering the XOM office location for these people. I'm sure Exxon is planning on plenty of people jumping ship.

I recently (2016) moved from FW to The Woodlands, which is basically where the XOM campus is, and will say the cost of living in FW was actually a little higher. So far we love The Woodlands, it's very much like Soutlake. And it's a bonus that I never have to go to downtown Houston

powerbelly51 said:

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Quote:

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XOM needs to more than generously relocate them and then provide her a significant increase in pay that more than compensates for cost of living in Houston

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I wish her the best. I am not sure if XOM will sweeten the pot. There are many people in houston that will be willing to take the job.

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Yep. My old company just went through this same thing a year and a half ago. If she works in some sort of Finance, IT, Payables/Receivables function they won't sweeten. Those types of functions are all roles that will be shared among all the XOM companies on the campus. I'm sure they would like her go, but they will have no problem replacing her if she doesn't. If her role is more specific to XTO, and she's deemed vital in some way, then maybe. Of course XOM is an energy company too so I can't imagine too many roles that XOM can't already cover for XTO with or without her

ChiveOn said:

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my sister-in-law and her family will be impacted, but not sure when.

she's been with XTO for 11 years, and from what's been discussed XOM wants her to stay on and be relocated to Houston

she wants to stay with them but everyone in the family is telling her not take the first deal on the table: XOM needs to more than generously relocate them and then provide her a significant increase in pay that more than compensates for cost of living in Houston

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I've known several people affected by relocation with XOM from both Fairfax and Irving HQ (some of the positions were moved a couple years ago).

According to them, sounds like the relocation program is more than fair. None of the people I know received sweeter deals and one was in a specialized position (he opted to "retire" at 58 instead of uprooting family from Virginia). Several in Fairfax held out hoping for "a package" that was never offered. Basically they were all told "you have jobs but they are now in Houston".

Not only can XOM find people in Houston to fill shoes, but probably someone willing to do it for less $$$. Do more with less is what I've heard.

The relocation package is pretty good. As mentioned earlier there will most likely not be any sweeter package. I worked for XTO for 9 years and moved with XOM last year. From my perspective cost of living is higher in Houston compared to Arlington. Especially the taxes on the house, more than 125% higher and the house is only worth 50% more than our old house.

she loves it at XTO and they've been nothing but great to her. From what y'all have said it sounds like they'll make a pretty solid offer

With RadioShack down and out and the Barnett's better days in the past, XTO was probably the last good corporate citizen FW had left. It still has the support of the Basses and a few other prominent families, but XTO's charity and community involvement will be missed.

A lot of high-paying jobs are leaving downtown as well, that has to have some trickle-down effect.

Agreed. Downtown FW is essentially private equity at this point.

Gotta hurt the Froggies too. Luther Capital is also downtown. Sort of like the PEGs mentioned above.

Houston is full go to El Paso

Fort Worth better start opening their doors to businesses because their eliteness may keep them 30 years behind Dallas with all of the growth.

Did some of you miss the FW data center that some billion dollar company just built and the FW fulfillment center that some other billion dollar company just built?

RadioShack hadn't been truly significant to the Fort Worth economy in a decade. XTO will be greatly missed, but Fort Worth certainly isn't worried about growing too slowly.

free_mhayden said:

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Did some of you miss the FW data center that some billion dollar company just built and the FW fulfillment center that some other billion dollar company just built?

RadioShack hadn't been truly significant to the Fort Worth economy in a decade. XTO will be greatly missed, but Fort Worth certainly isn't worried about growing too slowly.

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That stuff is built around Alliance; the concern is keeping downtown viable. Having lived in Ridglea for a decade I'd say that most of FW's business leaders and society DGAF about anything that happens outside of 820, it's not the "real" FW and doesn't count.

So with DR Horton moving to Arlington, XTO leaving, and RadioShack closed, what big business is still left in downtown? Is it all just lawyers and private equity at this point?

Range Resources.