More than 500 CEOs considered a wide range of criteria, from taxation and regulation to workforce quality and living environment, in our annual ranking of the best states for business. The charts and articles in this special report show how each state fares on the factors most essential for a business-friendly environment—as well as what states are doing to attract and retain companies in the increasingly competitive battle to win site selection.

While the Lone Star State may not be perfect—many leaders would like to see improvements in its education system—it is Periclean Athens compared to California in the eyes of the 550 CEOs surveyed forChief Executive‘s seventh annual report on the best and worst states in which to do business. It’s the seventh time in seven years running that Texas has led the states, and the seventh year California—to no one’s great surprise—ranked as worst state.

Texas has consistently held the No. 1 position since 2005. It gets strong marks in all areas important for business creation, and has the second-lowest taxes in the nation. The state has created more jobs than any other—about 250,000 last year. Not surprisingly, it also enjoys the highest inward net migration rate of any state. As a result, Texas gained four Congressional seats, Florida picked up two and Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington each gained one. All have low taxes. Brian Domitrovic, assistant professor of history at Sam Houston State University, identifies a key factor that often goes unnoticed. “Texas offers high labor market flexibility, which is a key element in business creation,” he notes.

On the downside, Texas has also attracted more job seekers over the years, threatening to overwhelm its rate of job creation. The state attracted 4.3 million people over the last decade, the most of any state.

Link to the Article

SAN ANTONIO — Eagle Ford Shale activity generated an economic impact of more than $25 billion in South Texas in 2011, according to a University of Texas at San Antonio study.

The 50-mile-wide, 400-mile-long formation has been a hotbed of oil and natural gas drilling since the first well was drilled in 2008.

The study examined a 20-county region including 14 counties involved in production and six surrounding counties.

The study, which is the first to measure impacts outside the drilling area, concluded that drilling and related activity paid $3.1 billion in salaries and benefits, provided more than $12.6 billion in gross regional product and supported 47,000 full-time jobs.

The results were released at a luncheon attended by industry and local and state leaders at the Grand Hyatt. The study was produced by the university’s Institute for Economic Development’s Center for Community and Business Research and was supported with funding from America’s Natural Gas Alliance.

Oil production increased sixfold from 2010 to 2011 to more than 28.3 million barrels, while natural gas production doubled to 271.8 billion cubic feet, according to the study.

Production of condensate, or other liquids which can be extracted and sold, tripled to more than 21 million barrels.

Assuming a favorable pricing environment for oil, including global demand by users such as China, production could reach about 169 million barrels in 2021.

“If the price of oil drops below, say $60 per barrel, then I think we would start to see a decline in activity in the Eagle Ford Shale,” said Thomas Tunstall, director of UTSA’s business research center and principal investigator in the study.

Natural gas production could top 864 billion cubic feet by then, the study projects, though Tunstall said strong interest in gas likely won’t ramp up until prices pass the $3 mark per thousand cubic feet.

Still, the projections — which Tunstall said are moderate to conservative — would lift Eagle Ford’s impact to $62 billion in the 14-county drilling area, though it could range from $26 billion to $96 billion by the study’s estimates.

Tunstall said the ideal future for oil patch communities is that the boom should leave them with improved infrastructure such as better roads, medical facilities and schools, more housing and adequate water and power supplies to attract new residents, visitors and industry.

Eagle Ford’s direct impacts on Nueces and San Patricio counties include the presence of refineries and oil and gas support industries.

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Texas’ development accounted for $7.9 billion in spending and 150,101 jobs supported in 2011, according to the report “How Office, Industrial and Retail Development and Construction to the U.S. Economy in 2011.”

After Texas, New York ranked second with $6.5 billion in spending and 83,762 jobs supported; West Virginia ranked third with $5.9 billion in spending and 100,889 jobs supported; California ranked fourth with $4.5 billion in spending and 70,817 jobs supported; and Arizona ranked fifth with $4.2 billion in spending and 74,117 jobs supported.

This was the first year the commercial real estate industry posted gains nationwide since the recession began in 2007. The total economic impact of commercial real estate during 2011 added $261.6 billion to the Gross Domestic Product, compared to $231.7 billion in 2010. This is a 13 percent increase year-over-year.

U.S. construction spending on commercial real estate totaled $92.3 billion, a 12 percent increase over 2010. This spending supported nearly 2 million jobs nationally. These increases in construction spending and activity resulted in the building of 238.3 million square feet of new space, an increase of 2.5 percent from 2010. This new space has the capacity to house 610,000 jobs with an annual payroll of $26.8 billion.

SABJ Article Link

Texas leads in commercial real estate

Posted on 05/08/2012 by Jennifer Hiller

We’re number 1!

Texas had more commercial real estate spending in 2011 than any other state, and helped make 2011 the first year since the recession that office, industrial and retail buildings have posted gains since the recession started.

Texas development accounted for $7.9 billion in spending and 150,102 jobs supported, according to a new report from NAIOP, the commercial real estate development association.

The study found U.S. construction spending grew more than 12 percent between 2010 and 2011, to $92.3 billion. More than 238 million square feet were built in 2011.

“2011 was a transition year for the U.S. economy and the construction sector,” said report author and economist Stephen Fuller, director of the Center for Regional Analysis at the George Mason University, in a press release. “The U.S. economy shifted from a federal stimulus to private-sector driven growth pattern and construction spending grew accordingly.”

Forecasts call for project construction spending to increase through 2014.

Top states for commercial real estate, after Texas:

2. New York, $6.5 billion in spending, 83,762 jobs supported.

3. West Virginia, $5.9 billion in spending, 100,889 jobs supported.

4. California, $4.5 billion in spending, 70,817 jobs supported

5. Arizona, $4.2 billion in spending, 74,117 jobs supported

Texas cities, both large and small, once again lead the pack in a new ranking of the best places for jobs.

Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos topped the chart for the fourth straight year among the nation’s 65 biggest metro areas. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown was ranked second, followed by No. 3 Salt Lake City, according to NewGeography.com, a site which analyzes economic, demographic and urban issues.

Fort Worth-Arlington jumped to No. 4 among big cities, climbing 11 spots from 2011. Dallas-Plano-Irving dipped from fifth to sixth on the 2012 list released this week.

Texas cities, both large and small, once again lead the pack in a new ranking of the best places for jobs.

“Even the dullest minds on the East Coast are beginning to realize that Texas is doing something right, as much as they hate to say it,” he said.

“But it’s not just the big cities; Texas has five of the top 10 smallest cities. What’s interesting to me is that Texas been able to maintain its lead consistently,” said Kotkin, who produces the survey with Michael Shires, a professor at Pepperdine University School of Public Policy.

We celebrate Texas Independence Day on April 21^st which was the day of the victory over the army of Santa Ana at San Jacinto and the reason for Fiesta San Antonio.  We should pause to remember our great Texan heritage as an independent nation for the ten years from 1836 to 1846.  Our beloved Governor, Rick Perry, made the interesting comment among others during his presidential campaign, that we might secede from the Union.   Hyperbole aside, in a speech recently, Stephen Clark, Chairman of Cypress Real Estate Advisors, said that most analysts see a long period of slow growth ahead for the U.S. maybe even for the next ten years.  Consequently, many large real estate investors are looking to invest internationally in emerging markets to take advantage of faster growing economies.  OK. Then, he went on to make the point of how investors could validly look at Texas as an “Emerging Market;” one that would present a market for investors without the currency and political risks found in foreign lands.

Here are some interesting facts to support that thesis of Texas as an Emerging Market.

The Gross Domestic Product of Texas as a state is $1.3-trillion which, if compared to other nations, would make Texas the 11^th largest economy in the world.  Texas is larger economically than Mexico and we are gaining on Italy, France and the U.K.  Texas’ GDP when compared to the BRIC countries is about 60% of Brazil’s and Russia’s, 35% of India’s and 13% of China’s.  See www.texaplex.com for an interesting video.

Texas is the largest exporter of goods in the U.S. grossing more than $100 billion a year in trade with other nations.

In-migration, that is folks moving from other states to Texas, is huge and the Great Recession has only accelerated this long term trend. Austin is the top city in the U.S. for in-migration, more than double the second place city, Tampa.  San Antonio and Dallas are also in the top ten.  Of course, this is because more jobs are available in Texas than in other areas of the country like the Northeast and Rust Belt where there is stagnation or shrinkage.   Texas has created more than half the jobs in the U.S. since 2009.  Texas is projected to grow from the current population of 24 million to 40 million by 2030.  San Antonio is projected to have good employment growth this year with an increase of 20,000 new jobs, and increasing to 40,000 jobs per year in 3 years. This would mean a boom time for the Alamo City with substantial housing growth and commercial development.

Fidelity Investments believes that emerging market countries will be responsible for the bulk of global GDP growth over the next couple of years. “We estimate that emerging markets accounted for about 80% of global real GDP growth in 2011, up from 73% in 2010,” says Mr Stevenson. “We expect this share to stay at around 80% in 2012.”

The world of Emerging Markets is projected to grow at about 6% this year. Texas’ growth rate is projected to be around 3 to 5%, but remember that our economy has a larger base from which to grow than most emerging nations.

Now, I don’t want to be ridiculous; we are not going to secede from the Union.  Been there, done that.   Besides, we can just “offshore” national security to D.C.  And why go through all the trouble of negotiating free trade agreements with California and New York when we already have them?  The Republic of Texas is a strong and growing “Emerging Market” on its own. We have already surpassed Mexico in Gross Domestic Product and we are gaining on Italy and California.  In five or ten years perhaps we should be applying to the G-7 Countries for membership.

Stand proud, Texan!  We are an Emerging Market for the future!

Jodi Jacobson/ istockphoto

San Antonio continues to thrive.

Industries that anchor the San Antonio MSA include: health care/biomedical research, tourism, and the military.

The Alamo City is making strides …

Above all positive statements about the crown jewel of  South Texas.

Below is a recap on some of the strides the Alamo City is making in a number of areas:

• Green Initiatives
  (Texas ranked #10 in Nation for Clean Energy projects)
• Economic Development
• Public Safety

SA2020 -

In 2020, Downtown is the heart of San Antonio…
What is happening to move this vision along?

• Increase downtown housing units
• Increase the number of people working downtown
• Increase transportation mode options
• Decrease downtown crime rates
• Increase activities downtown

Another key area is Education.  In a recent article published by the San Antonio Business Journal’s page 12 in the Corporate Relocation Guide, Misty Mayo says:   “I would say things I continually hear that top of mind for employees involved in site selection process are: quality of schools, transportation…”  Misty is Vice President for the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation.

San Antonio has orchestrated one of the greatest turnarounds in education in the United States.
How is this happening?

• Kindergarten Readiness
• College Readiness
• 3rd Grade Reading
• Increase High School Graduation Rates
• Increase College Enrollment
• Increase Adult Education Attainment

Take a deep breath and then read the name of this organization: The Federation of Freight Forwarders, Logistics Operators and Cargo Agents of Latin America and the Caribbean.  The federation goes by the acronym ALACAT.

San Antonio hosts ALACAT 2012 Conference…. ALACAT rarely holds a conference in the United States. Recent conferences were held in Cartagena, Colombia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Mérida, Mexico.

How did San Antonio land the 2012 conference?

An extraordinary amount of business investment is placed along supply chain routes.  Freight coming through the city opens doors and creates  an advantage in attracting manufacturing and suppliers.

“Freight forwarders are the backbone of global trade,” ALACAT President Guillermo González said. “The upcoming event is a very timely forum to explore ways in which an array of industries can better access new opportunities around the world.”

The conference certainly is a chance for South Texas to work its way into those new opportunities.

Video link:  San Antonio Feature: by Port San Antonio

Read more:

Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf said the housing market is close to a “tipping point” at which it can take off.

“When you have the dynamics of higher rental rates and lower home values at great financing rates, there’s a point in time where the market’s going to clear and you’re going to see improvement,” Stumpf said.

Some markets, he said, such as Texas, Northern California and Washington, D.C., already have reached that point.

Job growth in January and February was some of the strongest since the Great Recession, and the unemployment rate has fallen to 8.2 percent, the lowest since January 2009.
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/Bank-reports-point-to-a-healing-housing-market-3481351.php#ixzz1sP4aQjz0

Home prices, sales rising…

Home sales has risen 6.1 percent, according to the San Antonio Board of Realtors,
which released its March home sales data last week.

“This is the first time since 2007 that real estate feels like it did back in 2007,” said Deborah Myers of Keller Williams

“If a good property comes on the market, you’ve got to rush to get your clients over there to take a look. Right now, it’s a buyer’s market, but it’s slowly turning to a seller’s market.”