Job One Texas is one of just two states in the top 20 to add jobs during the three-year period from December 2008 to December 2011:
New york: +4,600 michigan: -88,700 Pennsylvania: -28,300 ohio: -158,600 illinois: -175,600
california: -473,400
North carolina: -129,100
georgia: -112,900
Texas: +64,500 Florida: -174,000
and renewables and life sciences, manufacturing and logistics. A Who’s Who of companies – 52 Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state – is keeping the new investment and expansion pipeline flowing. Apple, with an already impressive presence in Texas, recently committed to investing $304 million in a new Austin campus and creating 3,600 jobs over the next decade, more than doubling the size of the company’s Texas workforce. Other companies, including Direct Energy (Houston), Waste Connections Inc. (The Woodlands) and Copart
(Farmers Branch), are setting up corporate headquarters in the Lone Star State. Houston, Austin, McAllenEdinburg, El Paso and San Antonio took five of the top 10 slots for metro areas creating the most private sector jobs between February 2008 and February 2012, according to bizjournals.com. Skilled Workers, No Income Tax The state’s highly favorable economic climate, Gov. Perry says, is supported by a business friendly environment that includes a deep pool of highly skilled workers, a favorable tax structure (no
corporate or personal income taxes), a fair legal system and a roster of incentive programs, such as TEF and TETF, designed to encourage expansion, investment and job growth. The Lone Star State is an export juggernaut, sending goods valued at $250.01 billion in 2011, making Texas the top exporting state in the nation for the 10th consecutive year. “For a full decade now, Texas has been the nation’s epicenter for international trade, thanks to the continued strength of our state economy and the opportunities created by our business climate,” Perry says. B u s i n e ss C l i ma t e . c o m / T e x as
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