Lots of new jobs will be created in San Antonio — more than 4,000 within a few years — now that Washington Mutual has selected a former MCI campus there as the location for a regional operations center. The 405,000-sq.-ft. (37,625-sq.-m.) site can accommodate 2,250 workers as is, but expansion plans already in the works will nearly double the number of people the location can accommodate. The project confirms Texas' prowess as a service-sector player, but there's more to the state's economy than that.
   The governor cites "industrial diversity" as a factor in Texas' strong 2005 performance, noting an uptick in manufacturing activity in a bigger range of sectors.
   "Historically, Texas was not a manufacturing state, and now we have Toyota in San Antonio and Texas Instruments with their $3 billion chip plant up next to the University of Texas at Dallas," he points out. "Just this last year, Hilmar Cheese made it clear they wanted to expand in Texas because of the business climate, because California was getting to be too tough for them. Their new facility up in Dalhart will change the entire economy of the Texas panhandle — it will be that big." Hilmar is investing $190 million to build the plant in the rural community northwest of Amarillo. The state is kicking in $7.5 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund and additional funding for transportation improvements and work force training.
   In northeast Texas, packaging manufacturer Alcoa Closure Systems International is investing $8 million in its Kilgore facility as it closes a plastic injection facility in Shreveport, La., and consolidates operations in Texas. And Athens, Texas, southeast of the Dallas Metroplex, is the site of a new facility for Schneider Electric, which is adding 125 jobs to a 396,000-sq.-ft. (36,800-sq.-m.) distribution center.
   Though less significant in investment or number of new jobs created, to Gov. Perry, these latter projects are no less important. "These projects are breathing some new life into some rural part of the state, which is one of my goals, having grown up in a rural area of the state. Our economic development focus is not just for the major metropolitan areas. Quality of life and cost of doing business are assets that rural Texas has that are very appealing to some of these companies."
   Texas "Micropolitans" Paris, Dumas and Levelland all made Site Selection's list of Top Micropolitans for 2005, which are communities of 50,000 people or fewer (see page 184). But the metros did well, too, with both

Bell Helicopter Textron in Amarillo is under contract to build a new fleet of presidential helicopters.

Dallas-Ft. Worth-Richardson and Houston earning Top 10 slots in the Top Metros contest (see page 178). Mid-sized metros did well, too. Bell Helicopter Textron's Amarillo plant will add 300 jobs to help build a new fleet of Marine One presidential helicopters. And Motorola spinoff Freescale Semiconductor chose to stay in Austin despite competition from other metros to lure the company out of the Texas capital. The company plans to add about 500 new jobs to the 600 already in place at the headquarters and manufacturing facility.
   "The key to getting high-tech investment is to have a skilled work force," says Perry. "One of the best indicators there is that you're getting your public schools right is high-tech companies moving into the state. I don't care how good a tax base there is, if they don't have the work force to fill those slots, they won't come. It's why Texas Instruments is building a $3 billion-plant in north Dallas. Also, the Emerging Technology Fund has allowed us to go after some high-tech opportunities, several of which will be pretty stunning in 2006. We will be a major place where high-tech companies come, because they know this state is committed to being a high-tech center."
   Gov. Perry is seeking re-election to the governor's mansion this November, but he seems just as or more focused on the young Texans he visited with in the Middle East recently and on maintaining the state's economic performance. "I'm a big believer that if do a good job of being a chief executive officer of the state, the election will take care of itself. People know the economy in this state is good and that one reason for that is the jobs that have been created. Economic development will be a central part of my administration, because getting a Texan a good job is absolutely the best thing we can give him."
   The governor would naturally like to claim a "three-peat" in next year's competition, but he's also cognizant that plenty of other states would like not to see that happen. "That's fine. We like the competition," he says. "But we hope what we are doing in Texas will make a California, a Florida, a New York more competitive for their business owners in that state. I feel we're contributing to the national economy by making Texas a more competitive place, because other states will look at us and want to be more like Texas, or Texas will get their businesses. That's what makes the country stronger."