Lubbock Leads High Plains Growth

Location-looking firms have taken a liking to Lubbock of late. Ranked 27th among 200 U.S. metropolitan areas for "Best Places for Business & Careers" by Forbes/Milken Institute, this West Texas city is experiencing some major expansions.
        Allstate Insurance Co. is creating a regional market claims center in Lubbock that will employ more than 100, though resulting in the closing of similar operations in Amarillo, El Paso and Midland. Allstate chose Lubbock based on its central location and the presence of Texas Tech University.
        Tyco Fire Products, a division of Tyco International, is building a new 250,000-sq.-ft. (23,225-sq.-m.) fire sprinkler system manufacturing and assembly plant on a 39-acre (15.6 hectare) site at the Lubbock International Airport Trade Center Development. The $22-million expansion project will add 350 employees to the current roster of 325. The new plant consolidates production from a plant closed last year near Philadelphia.

Texas Making Larger Bioscience Commitment While Texas is not ranked among the leaders in the popular life sciences movement, the state is growing in stature in this ever-important sector. In a report released last spring, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas described the Texas life sciences industry as being in a "fledgling stage" with Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio being the strongholds. But while the industry is growing and attracting attention, it remains relatively small compared to the nation's major life sciences centers, the report says.         State government is committing huge resources to the Texas biotechnology effort. The 2001 Legislature appropriated $800 million for science, engineering, research and commercialization activities. Research parks that include facilities for life sciences companies that will benefit include BioHouston, the Texas Research Park in San Antonio, the Woodlands Research Forest and the Harrington Regional Medical Center in Amarillo.         In San Antonio, the Texas Research Park, created in 1990, has attracted a considerable concentration of researchers and facilities. It has also become the research campus for the University of Texas Institute of Biotechnology, which specializes in biochemistry, molecular medicine, cellular and structural biology, medicine, microbiology, pathology and physiology.         Also in San Antonio, the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR) conducts innovative biomedical research in areas including genetics, physiology, immunology and organic chemistry. SFBR is one of the top facilities for studies on HIV, hepatitis C and emerging tropical pathogens.