Trax – a tech firm in the logistics and transportation industry – put its headquarters in Austin in 2019 after a merger between a couple of companies located in other states.
While the home of South by Southwest is the destination of many corporate hubs, this relocation didn’t stick. Challenges for Trax included the costs, especially with housing, according to Josh Bouk, chief revenue officer at the firm.
With some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley employing thousands in Austin, competing for key hires wasn’t exactly cheap.
“We started seeing the mass exodus from California of technology companies coming into Austin — and with that, the cost of living for our employees going up dramatically,” he said. “Candidly, Austin was becoming the new west coast, and so we started looking at our options.”
Trax ended up staying in Texas and put its roots in Irving for a new corporate home, making the move earlier this year. Dallas-Fort Worth was a good fit beyond costs, including better access to industry talent as a key region for transportation and logistics with multiple companies in the sector having a presence nearby.
“DFW is one of the biggest hubs in the country,” he said, noting its central locale and airport make it a good spot in the country.
The company is gaining momentum with what’s called transportation spend management. It’s playing a crucial role in assisting big companies to navigate and manage costs as supply chains are squeezed and stretched amid the pandemic. It’s also providing financial tools to help clients as they juggle bills.
“We’re in an environment where enterprises who are trying to ship goods in and out are going to be challenged with the availability,” he said. “And carriers who are trying to expand their capacity as quickly as they can are going to be challenged with the capital required to do so.”
Read the full story at Dallas Business Journal.
