ANGELINA COUNTY, Texas (KETK) – Angelina County is now one step closer to bringing 75 more jobs to the Lufkin area.

The Commissioner’s Court approved a tax abatement agreement on Tuesday between the county and Texas Star Industrial Manufacturing, LLC for the construction of a “manufacturing facility/site” with an estimated cost of $4,000,000.

Angelina County Judge Keith Wright explained a few facts about the abatement during the most recent Commissioner’s Court meeting.

“Basically the tax abatement includes the $4 million investment, what is there currently, which is the old Gears shop off of Industrial that belonged to Lufkin Industries,” Wright said. “That will remain on the tax roles as it is. What we’re abating is the new investment of the $4 million. They’re also proposing to create 75 jobs, and I understand a lot of this is related to the welding industry.”

The motion passed unanimously.

Texas Star Industrial Manufacturing’s headquarters are in Bridge City, Texas and they do business in different industries like oil and gas, petrochemical, aerospace and more. STI employs about 1,000 people total.

“Our customer base is expanding with the rebound of the United States economy and while we have many options where we could locate these new employees at the end of the day we want to expand our company in Lufkin, Texas,” said Paul Spence, Chief Executive Officer of STI Group. “Lufkin has a talented and diverse workforce and STI wants to be an economic contributor to the city’s success by locating our newest facility in this growing area of Texas.”