ST. LOUIS -- Southwestern Bell, seeking to better position itself for increased growth and new busines opportunities, Monday said it will move its corporate headquarters to San Antonio from St. Louis.
Southwestern Bell Chairman Edward E. Whitacre, Jr. cited customer expectations in the highly-competitive telecommunications industry as a primary reason for the move.
'We're a service business,' he said. 'And service businesses succeed when they are close to their customers. This move will put us closer to more of our major growth markets and customers.'
Whitacre also said San Antonio's proximity to Mexico contributed to the decision to move because of the company's work with Telmex, the Mexican telephone company.
Gov. Ann Richards said at a San Antonio news conference that the company's decision gives Texas an 'economic development gold medal.'
'We are thrilled to have the headquarters of Southwestern Bell Corp. , a $9.3 billion company, become part of our business family,' Richards said.
The governor, noting that Southwestern Bell is the 29th largest company in the nation and the 63rd largest in the world, said the move will create jobs in Texas, many of them high-skilled positions.
Whitacre said he expects about 400 of the 500 people on the corporate staff to make the move, and that all corporate employees will have the opportunity to retain their jobs by moving to San Antonio.
San Antonio Mayor Nelson Wolff called the announcement 'historic.'
Southwestern Bell already has about 3,350 employees working in the San Antonio area.
Southwestern Bell is an international communications corporation with more than 11 million customers, more than 60,000 employees and 1 million shareowners.
