Long Beach’s Medway Plastics Corp. is expanding its manufacturing and relocating its research and development operations to the Lone Star State, according to Texas economic development agencies and Medway.

The plastic injection molding company has invested in a 51,000-square-foot facility in Pflugerville, Texas, that it’s leasing with the option to buy, the Pflugerville Community Development Corp. said in a statement. Medway plans to open a new plastic injection molding operation there and include research and development.

The 41-year-old, family-run business employs about 200 at its Long Beach headquarters. No jobs are expected to be lost or transferred to the Texas location.

Texas officials offered Medway a $50,000 grant toward the expansion and $100,000 – or $1,000 for each of the expected 100 jobs it is to create over the next five years – in incentives. Medway also agreed to host a job fair to hire at least 20 full-time staff with an average salary of $40,000 within the next year. The development agency is working on getting it additional grants from the state for training and recruitment.

Gerald Hutchinson, Medway’s vice president and head of research and development, will be moving to Texas to oversee the operation and expansion, he said. The decision to open a location there is primarily strategic, he added, so Medway can better serve customers in the region.

“Customers these days are extremely price sensitive,” Hutchinson said. “Either they have to pay the freight costs or I do.”

While freight is a part of the reason behind the decision, electricity costs are also a significant factor, Hutchinson said, because injection molding uses a lot of it.

“The cost of doing business in California is more costly,” he said. “We stay open-minded.”