This was a deal struck in 2017, with the City of Austin anticipating a roughly $2 million return. Merck had agreed to invest $29-million into an innovation center, complete with 600 new employees with salaries starting at $84,000, which in an of itself caused some debate at City Hall where some council members balked at the idea because the jobs weren’t tailored for low-and-middle-income workers.
$7-million in economic incentives were approved for Merck, but the company now says it was informed the city manager it has pulled out of the deal, with the only reason given being the company has “internal priorities” it has to attend to.
(Photo: Shutterstock)
