Texas Tempts Business with New Tax Legislation -- Site Selection magazine, November 2001

Big Deals with
Big Jobs Land in Big "T"

    The Lone Star State's reputation for rounding-up large investments has not diminished in the wake of the economic slow down. In fact Texas continues to corral large high-tech investments with large job opportunities for local communities.
    "When you look at Southlake, a suburb of Dallas, it is a good location from a standpoint of doing business," says Sheryl Sellaway, a spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless. Verizon announced in May of 2001, they will build a $20 million network operations center in the Dallas suburb, and company officials anticipate employing 400 workers in the first phase of development. "In fact, Southlake is a growing community and right now it is not overcrowded or overrun. There's a good opportunity to get into that community and help grow the area," adds Sellaway.
    City officials in Southlake offered Verizon an incentive package of tax abatements and fee reductions. The site is a real plum for Southlake and city officials are watching growth in Dallas and hoping to capitalize on it. "The Verizon investment continues to add momentum to the State Highway 141 corporate corridor," says Greg Last, director of economic development with the city of Southlake.
    Worldcom announced in March of this year, they will convert a 95,000-sq. ft. (8,825-sq. m.) former Wal-Mart store in Houston to a call center facility. Officials at the Greater Houston Partnership are delighted that the unused facility will now be converted and they estimate the economic impact of the call center will generate $136.2 million annually to the local economy. Worldcom officials estimate they will employ nearly 1,000 at the new facility. Even with the local-layoffs, Worldcom officials are moving ahead with plans for the site. "The center is still moving forward, and we're fine-tuning its exact focus," says Lauren Kallens, a Woldcom spokeswoman.
    Sonnel International is opening a manufacturing facility in Houston. The firm will produce computers and company officials anticipate hiring 600 workers. Houston is also the site of Metro One Telecommunications' newest call center. The firm announced plans for the facility late in 2000 and expects to hire nearly 300 workers.

Employment growth in the Lone Star State continues to increase at approximately 2.8 percent, despite the nationwide economic slowdown. The figures are down from last year's rate of 3.5 percent growth. Texas officials are hoping to address work force development in the next legislative session. The previous Smart Jobs program was dismantled during this legislative session. Officials hope that next year the program can be revised and updated. "We definitely need to re-establish the smart jobs programs," says Hernandez. "That's our goal for our next session -- to get the same manufacturers more monies for employer-driven workforce training."
Education and training say Texas officials, are the key to recruiting and retaining quality employers. Gov. Perry had proposed in his budget an additional $200 million in education funding. Part of his proposed program was $10.2 million for a range of strategies to increase the number of engineering and computer-science graduates.
The economic impact of a quality labor force can be felt in areas of the state that have landed large investments. Houston's new Worldcom call center facility expects to employ nearly 1,000, and the firm is converting a former Wal-Mart store for the site. The Greater Houston partnership expects the annual economic impact of the site to be $136.2 million.Cingular Wireless announced a recent call center in El Paso. The firm anticipates hiring more than 400 workers. The NASA-Johnson Space Center, site of some of the most highly skilled labor in the state, has an annual economic impact of $885 million, according to a study conducted by the University of Houston-Clear Lake.
Texas officials agree that the next step in economic development is work-force development, however, there may be much discussion at the statehouse as to where those dollars should go first. "Texas must ensure that its work-force training dollars are strategically used in the areas with the most need," says Lucio.