Job and Population Growth Bode Well for Small Business in Houston as its Economy Expands

A revised report issued on March 8, 2007 by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), says Houston’s job growth rate was a full percentage point higher than the initial estimate released seven weeks ago. Houston’s 4.2 percent job growth during 2006 is well above the 2.6 percent growth statewide. The biggest revisions from the initial report were increased growth rates at the professional, higher-paying job levels in manufacturing, architecture and engineering, and computer systems jobs.

This TWC report redoubles the U.S. Census Bureau December 2006 report indicating that Texas saw its population grow by 579,275 – the biggest increase in the nation.

The higher-than-national-average growth rates are the result of favorable business conditions in Texas. The state ranks second on Forbes’ list of best states for doing business and is ranked the 9th Friendliest Entrepreneurial Environment in the U.S. by the Small Business Entrepreneurial Council (SBE Council Oct. 2006).

As reported in North Texas E-News, the Lone Star State was on every commercial real estate investor’s short list in 2006 because of its continued economic strength. Texas has become increasingly successful at luring businesses from other parts of the country. Many of the firms that are relocating or expanding to the Houston area include, real estate development companies, the energy and biotech industries, banking institutions, international logistics and global trade firms , and service-related businesses to support these growing sectors.

Job growth and population growth are indicators that bode well for Texas’ economic future and small business marketplace. Investors and developers will continue to add Texas real estate assets to their portfolios. In addition, Houston is already experiencing a high level of business transfer activity of privately-held small businesses as reported by Houston area business brokers. Small businesses will continue to be valuable commodities for the foreseeable future as individuals, private equity groups, corporations, and Business Owners from other countries look to Houston, and Texas in general, to buy existing businesses in order to take part in its expanding economy.