Big Red Car here. When you live in Austin, Texas it is pretty damn hard to be humble. Folks just love it here. I know I do.
Blue bird day today. Going out for a ride and to get some coffee as soon as I finish this little blog post.
Folks like living in Texas and why not? The living is good and the secret is out.
Deep Eddy Swimming Hole
Here is the famous Deep Eddy spring fed swimming pool where the 68F water cools you down on a hot Austin day. Click on it and see it in its full glory.
Why Texas?
So what is it that makes Texas so attractive for business?
Well, the results are out there and they are quite impressive.
Texas is a huge job creator and jobs mean economic expansion and economic expansion means prosperity. Prosperity begets a bit of revenue for the State. Revenue for the State means the government — even in the limited government presence that is Texas — can afford to invest.
Did I mention there is no personal income tax in Texas?
Rinse and repeat.
The Secret is Out
Chief Executive magazine has ranked Texas as the most favorable climate for business for the last 8 years. You may not like CEOs, but these are the guys making the hiring decisions.
By the way, who was at the bottom? California for 8 straight years.
The regulatory climate was cited as the biggest driver in that glaring comparison. Political and governing philosophy is important and it can either be a boon to or it can strangle the life out of an economy.
Get this. Understand this. This is real.
Texas Loves Business, Ya’ll
Texas does have a very favorable business climate that welcomes business. That intellectual basis — Texas likes business, well, really in Texas it is BIDNESS, ya’ll — is the foundation of Texas’ success. From top to bottom, Texas respects and applauds and celebrates and welcomes business.
You can’t fake it. It has to be genuine and it has to start with the top political leadership. Governor Rick Perry likes Texas business.
Compare this to the perception of the current administration in Washington which is widely perceived — rightly in the view of the Big Red Car — as being anti-business. In tone, in sentiment and in policy.
The Feds are perceived as throwing sand into the gears of business and Texas is perceived as greasing the skids. You know a Big Red Car is going to be concerned about lubrication, right?
Texas Has a Love Affair with SMALL Business — the economic engine of job creation
Texas, in particular, likes small businesses. In looking at statistics available from reliable sources — like the National Establishment Time-Series (NETS) Database — small businesses of fewer than 10 employees drove the Texas job creation engine — 2002 to 2009 numbers — adding nearly 800,000 jobs with 75% of those jobs coming from companies with 2-9 employees.
For all the rhetoric coming out of Washington about small business and taxation know this — Texas job creation numbers prove that small business IS the driver of job creation and when population is growing and prosperity is not a bad word, small business will create lots of jobs.
How important is small business? During the applicable time periods, big and medium sized Texas businesses were not immune from the national recession and dropped their employment rolls proving that small business was the savior of the statewide numbers.
This is the dividend for having a favorable perception as it relates to a marketplace’s attitude toward small business.
By the Numbers
The numbers don’t lie. Keep eating cheeseburgers for breakfast, lunch and dinner and, well, you will see the numbers change. The Boss loves a damn good cheeseburger.
National comparisons since 1995 show the Lone Star State increasing jobs by 31.5% while the whole country grew 12%. Take out the Texas numbers from the national numbers and national growth was not very impressive.
During the lean years of 2009 – 11, Texas added 2.4% while the national picture was an anemic 0.4%. Take out the Texas jobs and the national picture was negative growth. Texas lead the nation and absent Texas, the nation foundered.
Now I could go on forever on this comparison but you should look at this article in Investors.com to get the detailed and extensive implications of this subject. Read it and mull it over.
There is a reason why Texas is the leading the job creator in the country and until the folks in Washington wake up and change their ways our national picture on jobs is not going to improve.
Job creation is the way out of the malaise. Hate that word ever since Jimmy Carter first used it. Hate it. I think it may be banned here in Texas.
Maybe it’s the BBQ?
And the other thang, Texas has some damn good BBQ.
On Earth as it is in Texas, ya’ll!
But, hey, what the Hell do I know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car.
