Dallas is making it more enticing for Frontier Communications to move the telecommunications firm’s corporate headquarters from the East Coast.
City Council on Wednesday designated Frontier’s Dallas office on McKinney Avenue as an enterprise zone, giving the company the ability to seek rebates on state sales and use taxes in exchange for a potential $7 million investment in a new corporate hub.
Frontier hasn’t publicly confirmed a move away from its longtime home in Norwalk, Conn., since a memo disclosing the potential relocation became public last week. The memo from Dallas assistant city manager Majed A. Al-Ghafry to council members said the company is considering Dallas and Tampa as sites.
Company representatives did not respond to requests from The Dallas Morning News for comment.
However, Mark Nielsen, Frontier’s chief legal and regulatory officer, told CT Insider that he’ll continue to lead the company’s legal team from Connecticut.
“In a world of remote work — something that Frontier Fiber helps enable — a corporate headquarters is not what it used to be,” Nielsen said. “Connecticut will always be important to Frontier and, of course, to me personally.”
Dallas’ enterprise zone designation was a condition of Frontier’s potential relocation. It would require Frontier to maintain 500 jobs in Dallas and invest $7 million in renovations and expansion of the McKinney Avenue office to accommodate the company’s current 638 Dallas-based employees.
Frontier employs 14,100 people in 25 states. It provides cable TV and internet services to 2.9 million subscribers in 25 states. It announced a goal in 2021 of wanting to surpass 10 million locations with fiber.
The company recently borrowed $2.1 billion to expand its network, using its Dallas-area fiberoptic system and customers to back the financing. Its CEO, Nick Jeffery, also already lives in Dallas.
“I don’t think Frontier would have let much come out if they weren’t fairly certain that they were moving to Dallas,” said Sam Sorensen, managing director of Embark, a Dallas business advisory firm. “I think it has to be pretty close to a done deal, in my mind.”
Like many companies, talent is likely why Frontier is considering a move to Dallas, Sorensen said.
“We’re seeing a lot of companies not being able to attract top talent, even if they’re looking nationwide. They’re just not getting it unless they’re in a top market,” Sorensen said. “So I think the talent here in Texas is a big motivator.”
