Austin / Round Rock Economy
The Austin / Round Rock economy area has been determined to be the 5th strongest in the United States. This fact is not surprising to local business owners as the Austin / Round Rock economy has been conducive to both small and larges businesses. As such it has attracted several nationally recognized companies to settle their headquarters and offices here or install major branches of their business. A few of these include Dell, 3M, Apple, HP, Google, Facebook, and Whole Foods Market, to name a few.
As Sarah Drake reveals, the study used several factors over a two-decade period of time and was designed to demonstrate the economies with consistency and sustainability rather than the latest “flash in the pan”. The findings revealed that:
Austin has the fifth-strongest economy in the United States, according to a study released Thursday.
Palm City, Fla.-based Policom Corp. annually analyzes local and state economies.
The study considers 23 different economic factors over a 20-year period to determine the rankings. It used data from 1991 to 2010 for the current study.
“The top-rated areas have had rapid, consistent growth in both size and quality for an extended period of time,” said William H. Fruth, president of Policom. “The rankings do not reflect the latest ‘hotspot’ or boom town, but the areas which have the best economic foundation.”
The 10 strongest metropolitan areas are ranked below:
1. Washington, D.C.
2. Des Moines, Iowa
3. Seattle
4. Nashville
5. Austin
6. Salt Lake City
7. Madison, Wis.
8. Kansas City
9. Sioux Falls, S.D.
10. San Antonio
A point to notice is that San Antonio, another Texas city, also made the Top 10 list. Also interesting to point out is that missing from these rankings are any cities representing the state of California, a state long thought of as a business incubator and often labeled as the “5th economy in the World”. There has been a clear ongoing trend during the past few years, which has shifted the sphere of business influence away from California and into the Great State of Texas. With the 2012 Presidential election, and Fiscal Cliff behind us, it is time to reinvest in our economy and make our part to raise the Austin/Round Rock economy to the top of the list.
