Business Tools

Texas: The Business Advantage

Texas has established a worldwide reputation for its open, positive attitude toward the business community. With a low tax burden, low living costs, a Texas-friendly lifestyle and government programs designed to help rather than hinder business, the Lone Star State is the perfect location to build your company.

  • If Texas were its own country, its economy would rank 12th in the world, just below Brazil and Russia and higher than India, South Korea and Australia.
  • The Tax Foundation ranks Texas 43rd among states for its combined 2007 state and local tax burden. That’s a contest in which first place is no prize!
  • According to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, Texas had the third-lowest cost of living among all U.S. states in the fourth quarter of 2007, and by far the lowest cost of living among the 10 largest states.
  • The Texas Enterprise Fund, created in 2003, gives Texas leaders unique leverage in using incentives to attract jobs and business to the state. The Texas Governor’s Office reports that the fund has brought 51,800 new jobs to the state and generated $15.6 billion in capital investments.
  • Since 2005, Texas’ Emerging Technology Fund has been helping early-stage technology companies bring innovative products and services to market.
  • Texas has made a substantial and ongoing commitment to upgrading the skills of its workers. The Texas Skills Development Fund, which provides state funding for employee training, awarded $25 million in grants in 2007 that generated nearly 7,100 new jobs and provided training to 13,758 workers in existing jobs.
  • Texas emerged as the clear winner in Fortune magazine’s 2007 ranking of the nation’s 100 fastest-growing companies, with 32. California was a distant second, with 11 companies.
  • In Chief Executive magazine’s annual nationwide poll of chief executive officers, Texas has been chosen as the best state in which to do business for four consecutive years (2005-2008).
  • The CNBC financial news network ranked Texas as America’s Top State for Business in 2008 and best all-around economy in the United States.