TEXpansion

Businesses and industries are expanding their facilities throughout Texas. Here is a sampling of recently announced expansions, tracked by the Office of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism Division.

City	Business Name	Type of Business	Type of Project	New Jobs
Lubbock	VXI Global Solutions	Provides customer interaction centers and customer relationship management software.	27,000-square-foot call center performs work for DirecTV and will provide an estimated $19 million in new salaries.	450 by the end of the year
Schertz	Lack’s Stores Inc.	One of the largest independently-owned retail furniture chains in the United States.	308,000-square-foot distribution center will become the hub of the chain’s distribution efforts.	Up to 300
Wichita Falls	N.E.W.	Privately held, third-party administrator of extended service plans.	Company is hiring work-at-home employees. Economic impact from payroll is estimated at more than $9 million annually.	Has hired 200, plans to hire 150-200 additional workers by end of the year
Midland	Dean Baldwin Painting LP	Aircraft strip and paint services company.	Midland Development Corp. lease and economic development agreement is worth nearly $23 million.	At least 200 full-time jobs by October 2011
Sherman	Capio Partners LLC	Provides collection services for companies.	New call center will handle collections operations for medical businesses.	168
Dallas	ZTE Corp.	Chinese telecommunications company.	Company will establish U.S. headquarters in a 21,000-square-foot building in North Dallas.	65
Irving	Savvis	Provides networking, Internet and application services to financial services companies.	A third of the company’s newly opened data center is already leased.	46

Sources: The Office of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism Division; Texas A&M University’s Real Estate Center.

For more information, visit the Office of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism Division or Texas A&M University’s Real Estate Center.

Texas Ahead Offers One-Stop Web Portal to Economic Resources

Comptroller Susan Combs has launched www.TexasAhead.org, a new, one-stop Web portal to economic resources for growing and governing Texas.

The new Web site at www.TexasAhead.org provides targeted resources for businesses, local governments and economic development professionals, giving them vital information they need when making decisions about doing business in Texas or planning for economic growth.

Texas Ahead offers a wide array of economic data and analysis including:

detailed explanations of tools available to assist local governments in their economic development and governing efforts; and
overviews of the local economies in Texas’ various regions and the challenges and opportunities they face.

Texas Ahead also features a link to Texas EDGE, the Comptroller’s popular online tool for creating or requesting customized, tightly focused reports to guide economic development decisions. Texas EDGE users can get up-to-date information on the population, demographics, education, taxes and other economic factors in various geographic areas of Texas.

For more information, visit www.TexasAhead.org.

Tell Us Your Story!

E-mail us at texas.rising@cpa.state.tx.us.

We want to hear about your town’s economic development accomplishments. Whether you’ve landed a new employer or you’ve partnered with a university to train tomorrow’s work force, please tell us the unique solutions you’re using to create success in your community every day.