Editing Stafford, Texas (section)

==Economy==
Stafford has not had a municipal property tax since 1995. Though it is known as a [[bedroom community]] of the greater Houston area, an estimated four times as many people work in Stafford on a weekday, which is evidence of the large amount of commercial activity that helps the city financially. Many corporations large and small, including [[FedEx]], [[United Parcel Service|UPS]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Find Locations {{!}} UPS - United States|url=https://www.ups.com/dropoff/|access-date=2020-12-01|website=www.ups.com}}</ref> and [[Tyco International|Tyco]],{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} maintain significant operations in Stafford.

[[Image:TI CIMG0394.JPG|thumb|right|[[Texas Instruments]] facility in Stafford: Texas Instruments was Stafford's largest employer.]]
Originally, Stafford was an agricultural community. As of 2009, it has operations from commercial, manufacturing, retail, service, and wholesale industries that pay sales and franchise taxes to the city. Stafford is known internationally for attracting valve manufacturing companies; it has 11. Stafford has 15 business parks, a shopping center, and 19 hotels and motels.<ref name="Leezerotaxes"/>

[[Texas Instruments]] (TI) operates a production facility in Stafford, where it manufactures {{convert|6|in|mm|adj=on}} wafers used in cell phones, high-definition televisions, and solar devices. The plant first opened in 1967.<ref name="TIPlantclosing">Sixel, L.M. "[http://www.chron.com/business/article/TI-to-close-Stafford-plant-move-500-jobs-to-N-2680853.php TI to close Stafford plant, move 500 jobs to N. Texas]." ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. Monday January 23, 2012. Retrieved on January 24, 2012.</ref> In 2009, TI, which had around 1,500 employees in its Stafford office that year, was the city's largest employer.<ref name="Leezerotaxes"/> In 2012, the company announced it was closing its Stafford plant because industry demand for larger, more efficient wafers increased and the company, in lieu of upgrading the Stafford plant to accommodate production of larger wafers, opted to shift production to newer plants.<ref name="TIPlantclosing"/> Of the 1,000 employees at the plant during that year, TI laid off 500 and sent 500 to another facility. Mayor Leonard Scarcella said the closure would adversely affect Stafford.<ref>"[http://www.click2houston.com/news/Texas-Instruments-to-close-plants-in-Houston-Japan/-/1735978/8488618/-/lmtues/-/index.html Texas Instruments to close plants in Houston, Japan]." ''[[KPRC-TV]]''. January 23, 2012. Retrieved on January 24, 2012</ref>

About 15 years ago,{{when|date=February 2020}} TI comprised about 25% of the city's economy and by 2012, it stood at about one-tenth of that, or 2.5%.<ref>"[http://www.fortbendstar.com/2012/01/25texas-instruments-in-stafford-to-shut-down-by-end-of-year]." ''[[Fort Bend Star]]''. Retrieved on May 3, 2012.</ref> Some jobs at the plant were scheduled to end in July 2012. Other jobs were scheduled to remain until the factory's closure in late 2012. TI said it planned to open another facility in [[greater Houston]] for the 500 remaining employees.<ref name="TIPlantclosing"/> In 2012, TI announced that it was relocating its Fort Bend County operations to the [[Telfair, Sugar Land|Telfair]] area in Sugar Land.<ref>Pulsinelli, Olivia. "[http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2012/11/07/texas-instruments-to-build-35m.html Texas Instruments to build Sugar Land facility, employ 375]." ''[[Houston Business Journal]]''. Wednesday November 7, 2012. Updated Friday November 9, 2012. Retrieved on November 13, 2012.</ref>