Posted 11:33 pm Wednesday, February 13, 2013
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Tyler ranks 2nd in national employment study
The Tyler area has ranked No. 2 in a national employment study.
"Tyler continues to be recognized nationally for having a strong and diverse economy," Tyler Economic Development Council Chairman Tom Ellis said. "This is as a result of the public/private partnership between the business sector and local units of government working together to make Tyler a great place to start and grow a business."
The report was conducted by RCLCO (Robert Charles Lesser & Co.), an independent real estate advisory firm based in Washington, D.C., that has offices in Austin, Los Angeles and Orlando.
Tyler ranked second only to Bismarck, N.D. for the Top 15 small metro areas that have employment bases of less than 100,000. Longview ranked No. 3 in the list, which also included Midland at No. 5.
The ranking was based on economic strength as measured by current and forecast job growth, population growth, income levels and ratios of the working population to the total population.
"Diversified employment bases, including energy and technology sectors, are benefiting the Texas economy as are low cost of doing business, warm climate and proximity to trading routes," Paige Mueller, managing director of RCLCO, said in the report. She said many areas of Texas are at peak employment levels -- particularly those that have high levels of health care and energy jobs.
"This recognition will help us market Tyler as a great choice for businesses looking to relocate or expand their operations," said Tom Mullins, president and chief executive officer of the Tyler Economic Development Council and Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce.
The Tyler area recently has been ranked in several national studies.
The website, greatplacestoretire.com, recently ranked Tyler as the nation's No. 2 community in which to retire. Last month, Tyler and Longview ranked in the Top 10 "Best Performing Small Cities" by the Milken Institute. And in September, Tyler and Longview ranked in the Top 50 cities for economic and job growth in a "100 Leading Locations" report gathered by Area Development magazine.
"Tyler's Industry Growth Initiative was adopted in 2010," Tyler Mayor Barbara Bass said. "The plan builds upon our unique assets that give Tyler a competitive advantage. Focusing on industries such as oil and gas, health care, and tourism is paying off and we are seeing the effects in national rankings such as this."
Along with Tyler, Longview has been placed in several nationwide rankings.
"There are many reasons Longview continues to rank so high -- diversity in our economic base is at the top of that list," said Susan Mazarakes-Gill, executive director of the Longview Economic Development Corp. "We have a healthy mix of industries -- manufacturing, oil and gas, mining, health care, education and the service sector. We have this excellent mixture because of our low cost of doing business, healthy business climate, very affordable housing and great quality of life!"
Three large metro areas in Texas, with employment bases of 800,000 or more, came out on top of the RCLCO Top 15 list. They include Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos in the No. 1 spot; Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ranked third and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown came in ninth.
No Texas cities came in the Top 15 list of midsize metro areas, with employment bases in the 100,000 to 800,000 range.
"As economic growth is a precursor for real estate demand and new home sales, we set out to find which metro areas are expected to have the strongest economies in the next year," Ms. Mueller said of the study. "We ranked more than 300 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas based on economic strength as measured by current and forecast job growth, income levels and ratios of the working population to the total population."
Top-ranking metro areas are expected to have strong economic growth prospects in the upcoming year, driven by positive job growth, a growing working population and high incomes.
"As is typical during economic recoveries, growth is returning in a disparate pattern across the country," Ms. Mueller said in her report. "While job losses occurred in a broad swath of industries during the 2008-09 downturn, including both goods-producing industries and service-oriented industries, the service sector has dominated the recovery."
