Special guests 2009

Texas

Texas profile

Texas is without a doubt the best state in the U.S. to do business. Under Gov. Rick Perry’s leadership, the Texas business climate continues to garner national and international attention. Texas offers a favorable tax climate, business-driven tort reform, and low cost of doing business. With a superior infrastructure and wealth of highly skilled workers, Texas is leading the U.S. in job growth, adding more than 1.2 million jobs in the last five years – twice the U.S. national rate.

Companies continue to flock to Texas because of several business advantages including having one of the lowest tax burdens in the country including no personal income tax. The many global companies that call Texas home greatly enrich its multi-faceted, wide-open-for-business landscape.

Texas is a top-ranked global destination for foreign direct investment. If Texas were its own nation, it would represent the world’s 12th largest economy based on the 2007 Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The Lone Star state has also been named the top exporting state in the U.S. for six consecutive years. According to consulting firm OCO Global, in 2007 Texas ranked #1 nationally by FDI investment with over $14.9 billion invested into the state that year.

Texas: America’s Top State for Business

In July 2008, Texas was named America’s Top State for Business according to the results of CNBC’s second annual study that scored each state on 40 different measures of competitiveness. The study ranked Texas high in categories such as transportation, economy, low cost of living and technology and innovation. Texas also surpassed New York as home to the most FORTUNE 500 and 1000 companies. _
The pro-business environment in Texas continues to bring quality high paying jobs to the state and people are taking notice. Texas dominated Forbes’ “Best Cities for Jobs in 2008” list, with five cities in the top 20. Austin, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and Dallas ranked high among the places economists forecast are the best to work in the U.S. in 2008.

Texas Economic Development Incentives

Texas’ innovative, deal-closing fund, the Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF), provides incentives to businesses looking to expand or relocated to Texas, creating jobs and strengthening the economy. Capital investment, job creation, wages generated, financial strength of the applicant, applicant’s business history, analysis of relevant business sectors and a project’s federal and local government and private sector financial support are all factors that must meet specific requirements to be awarded a TEF grant. To date TEF has brought more than 51,000 new jobs, generating more than $13.7 billion in capital investments to the state.
Another incentive tool is the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (ETF), designed to expedite the development and commercialization of new technologies and attracting and creating jobs in technology fields. The ETF focuses on three main investment areas: increasing research collaboration through Regional Centers of Innovation and Commercialization located throughout the state; matching research grants funds; and attracting top-notch research talent. More than $185 million in ETF grants will be available for the 2008-09 biennium and more than $114 million has been awarded to date.

Texas’ Economy & Workforce

Overall, the Texas economy continues to grow at nearly three times the national average. Last year, more than half of all new jobs created in the United States were created in Texas. The state also continues to grow in population with five of the top 10 U.S. counties experiencing growth between 2006 and 2007 located in Texas. This growth, in addition to Texas’s reduced exposure to sub-prime lending, low interest rates and taxes, job growth, a growing population, and the continued affordability of Texas housing have allowed the state’s housing market to remain stable at a time of nationwide downturn.
Texas employment also led the U.S. with 218,600 total seasonally adjusted nonagricultural jobs in 2007. The Federal Reserve estimates that Texas employment grew 3.1 percent while the nation’s employment grew only 1 percent in 2007. Texans continue to be one of the state’s biggest assets, with the state’s rapid population growth providing the labor necessary for strong job growth. Texas Workforce Commission data indicates that the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rates were lower than the national average throughout most of 2007, falling to just over 4 percent in January 2008.

Diverse Economic Base

Texas follows a comprehensive job creation strategy focused on six key industry clusters: Advanced Technology and Manufacturing; Energy; Aerospace and Defense; Biotechnology and Life Sciences; Information and Computer Technology; and Petroleum Refining and Chemical Products
Among U.S. states, Texas ranks second in the number of patents issued annually and third in investments into venture-backed companies. High tech companies such as Texas Instruments, EDS, Samsung and Dell call Texas their home.
Texas continues to provide fertile ground for biotechnology and life sciences. According to Business Facilities magazine’s 2008 Rankings Report, Texas ranks as one of the five top states for overall biotechnology strength and in the top ten for bioscience research funding. Texas has nearly 10 percent of national employment and an employment specialization in the bio fields of agricultural feedstock and chemicals, according to the 2008 Bio report released by Battelle

Reliable Transportation Routes

Texas’s transportation ranked number one according to CNBC’s “America’s Top State for Business” report. Texas supports a state-of-the-art transportation and telecommunications network that facilitates the movement of people, goods and information. The proposed Trans Texas Corridor will further enhance mobility around the state.

A few Texas transportation assets include: • More than 20 airports with Customs Service (Ports of Entry) • Fort Worth Alliance Airport is the first purely industrial airport in the Western Hemisphere. • 45 railroads operate on 10,246 miles of track to carry more than 360 million tons of freight each year. • More than 300,000 miles of public roads – more than any other state. • Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport set an all-time international cargo record in 2006 with 281,486 metric tons. • Thirteen deep-water ports with channels at least 30 feet deep and 29 seaports line the Gulf Coast. • The Port of Houston is ranked first in the U.S. in foreign waterborne commerce, and ranks second in the U.S. and sixth in the world in total tonnage. • Development of the Trans-Texas Corridor – a statewide network of transportation routes in Texas that will incorporate existing and new highways, railways and utility rights-of-way, as needed.

Abundant Resources

Spanning more than 267,000 square miles of land, Texas is a state with abundant natural resources and energy. Texas is the No. 1 producer of oil and gas, and refined chemicals products in the United States, and its marketed production of natural gas represents one-third of total U.S. supply. As an oil and gas producer, the state of Texas also is a global leader, contributing approximately 5.3 percent of worldwide refinery capacity. Texas shares more than 1,250 miles of border with Mexico, making the state a major gateway to trade with Central and South America. An estimated 70 percent of the United States’ commerce with Mexico travels through Texas.

Quality of Life

Texas has been labeled one of the most affordable places to live in the US. The state’s cost of living composite index for most metro areas in Texas in lower than the national composite index of 100. Texas dominated the Forbes 2008 “Best Cities To Buy A Home” list with four cities in the top ten ranking including Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio.

Texas’ beautiful landscapes, warm weather, excellent schools and southern hospitality make the Lone Star state’s quality of life unmatched. With endless miles of rivers, coastline, mountain ranges and national forests, it’s no wonder Texas has something for everyone. That same diversity extends to the people who call this great state home, creating a rich cultural heritage that makes Texas extraordinary.

No matter what the industry, the Lone Star State is committed to doing what it takes to make Texas Wide Open for Business.