The founder and owner of one of Seattle’s biggest tech startups, says his move to Texas isn’t over taxes or similar factors. But, he didn’t mince words about Washington state’s “unfriendly” business climate.
Major Supply Chain Tech Firm Moves to Texas
Geekwire reported this week, Auger, which was founded in 2024, is moving its headquarters to Dallas. Owner-Co-Founder Dave Clark, a former Operations Chief at Amazon, has raised a ton of development capital to build his firm, which now includes Meta, Kimberly Clark and Fanatics as customers.
Auger uses AI enhanced software to connect the systems that these companies use to run their supply chains. Clark said his move was family-related, he and his co-founder wife always wanted to return to their roots in the southwest or southeast. He didn’t voice loud opposition about taxes or other controversial WA policies, like several other tech giants have.
But, He Didn’t Mince Words About our Business Climate
He said he didn’t seek out, nor would he have likely qualified for, tax or other incentives in Texas, but told Geekwire “There’s a lot I like about the way the state of Texas manages and works with business.”
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Many experts and observers in the Puget Sound tech and business region point to this move as the latest in a growing series of defections by major companies from WA state, fleeing an increasingly unfriendly business climate. Clark told Geekwire:
“If you’re in that position, I think you’re right to be worried, in the sense that there’s a lot of discussion about things in the state of Washington and Seattle that are not particularly friendly to business.”…