Inside Cameron County’s big economic pitch to snag 10,000 shipyard jobs

Cameron County leaders are expected to approve an economic incentive deal on Tuesday to land a $3.2 billion next-generation shipyard at the Port of Brownsville by Austin-based Saronic Technologies. 

Cameron County is offering a 95% property tax abatement on a $2.7 billion property tax value bill over four phases of development, with eligible incentives offered between 2029 and 2048. The property tax abatement period would stretch past the 10-year mark since there are four different contracts, which would enable the company to reap incentives until 2048, a 19-year period. That could mean a property tax break worth upwards of $100 million.  

Saronic Technologies’ Port Alpha shipyard would manufacture autonomous vessels for the U.S. Navy and commercial customers. 

In exchange, the company must begin construction on the 835-acre site at the Port of Brownsville no later than June 2027 and spend $100 million on infrastructure. 

Saronic Technologies has a lease with exclusive rights to expand up to 4,300 acres at the port. 

The company expects to hire 789 workers in 2027 during its initial phase, then several thousand more each year until it hits 10,000 in 2035, the earliest projection provided. The types of jobs needed are welders, pipefitters, electricians, machinists, assembly workers, crane operators, material handlers, facility maintenance, engineering and design, administration and support, and research and development. 

Saronic and its contractors would be required to hire 35% of their workforce from the region, meaning either those born in Cameron County or those who have resided within 50 miles of the site for at least 6 months before being hired. The minimum wage for employees would be $25 an hour, or $52,000 a year. The company previously projected an average annual salary of $75,000. 

Saronic would be required to host at least six job fairs, participate in three workforce solutions programs, and partner with two local educational institutions, such as high schools or technical colleges to help train local residents for such jobs. 

Saronic is also expected to utilize the tax benefits of the Foreign Trade Zone, which would enable the company to defer tariffs on imported materials used in building vessels before export or sale. 

Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. previously called the project a “win-win” for the community. 

Treviño Jr. recently lost the primary election and won’t be in office during the economic incentive period. 

Steve Guerra, the democratic challenger and former chairman of the Brownsville Navigation District, which oversees the Port of Brownsville, is expected to become the next Cameron County judge. 

Saronic has already secured $228 million in property tax relief from the Point Isabel Independent School District. 

The Shipbuilding and Harbor Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security for America Act earmarked significant federal funding for the revitalization of American shipbuilding, which fulfills President Donald Trump’s executive order to restore American maritime prowess. 

The U.S. Navy awarded the company a $394 million contract to produce autonomous surface vessels — or drone boats that can maneuver across the ocean on missions without human intervention — by 2031. 

The company has not yet landed on the final site for the project, and there’s active competition between Texas and California. 

“Saronic’s nationwide search for a location to build Port Alpha remains active and ongoing,” Saronic said in a statement on Monday. “Recent filings are a standard part of the vetting process for sites under consideration, reflecting the thorough and deliberate approach required by Port Alpha’s unique requirements.” 

For example, Solano County in California sits near a 1,300-acre undeveloped deepwater port that would require significant infrastructure, such as roadways, or the redevelopment of a historic shipbuilding island off the coast, as potential options for Saronic. 

Both the Port of Brownsville and the Collinsville Port site are deepwater ports. 

But Solano County leaders were lukewarm on an industrial development, with some in opposition, citing environmental mitigation challenges. 

Travis County Air Force Base is a major employer in the region, so there is already a military presence. 

The Solano County Economic Development Corporation has been courting Saronic since December 2024 and is collaborating with the state governor’s economic development office to land the deal. California Forever, a real estate developer keen on the Solano Shipyard and the adjacent city, is backed by Silicon Valley investors, including those with stakes in companies such as Saronic. 

The startup raised $1.75 billion in a Series D round at a $9.25 billion valuation in late March. 

“We are confronting this challenge with a fundamentally new model of American shipbuilding, one that integrates first-principles engineering, advanced manufacturing, and software-defined production to deliver autonomous vessels with unprecedented speed, precision, and scale,” Dino Mavrookas, CEO of Saronic, said in a news release. “The new capital will accelerate Saronic’s ability to bring that model to life, generate entirely new classes of autonomous ships and maritime capabilities, and scale U.S. shipbuilding capacity on a timeline not seen since World War II.”