Thursday, February 25, 2010
FACEBOOK is coming to Austin
Facebook opening 200-person Austin officeAustin Business Journal - by Jacob Dirr Staff WriterFacebook is creating 200 jobs in Austin, thanks to a $1.4 million incentive from the state of Texas.The move will be the first major U.S. expansion outside of Palo Alto, Calif., where the company is headquartered, according to officials. It is investing about $3.1 million to set up operations in Texas, according to Gov. Rick Perry's office.Facebook employs about 800 people. It reported about $50 million in revenue last year.'Facebook continues to grow and Austin, with its deep talent pool, would allow us to hire the high-caliber employees we need to properly serve the people, advertisers and developers that rely on our service,' Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said.Gov. Perry said the new jobs will enhance the Central Texas’ robust technology industry and strengthen the economy.All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.Link to Article: http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2010/02/22/daily44.html
Saturday, February 20, 2010
10 REASONS TO BUY A HOME IN AUSTIN
TEN GREAT REASONS TO BUY A HOME
1. Quality of life – a home provides stability and security for you and
your loved ones.
2. Pride of home ownership – it’s your personal haven and you’re
your own landlord.
3. Historically low interest rates – around 5.5 percent in the U.S.
4. Tax Credit – U.S. government provides a special $8,000 incentive
for qualifying first-time buyers.
5. Appreciation potential – your home investment can grow in value.
6. Equity buildup and debt pay down – homeowners enjoy an
average net worth of approximately $184,000 vs. $4,000 for renters.
7. Leverage – where else can you buy an investment of this magnitude
with 5-10 percent down?
8. Tax deduction advantages – property tax and mortgage interest
write-offs (in Canada, home owners gain a tax benefit upon selling).
9. Tax exemption – up to $500,000 per couple or $250,000 per person
on sale of a primary residence in the United States (no tax upon sale
in Canada).
10. The real cost of renting – at $800 per month, with the average
6 percent rental increase per year, you will pay $126,536 over a 10-
year period but have zero ownership of the property.
1. Quality of life – a home provides stability and security for you and
your loved ones.
2. Pride of home ownership – it’s your personal haven and you’re
your own landlord.
3. Historically low interest rates – around 5.5 percent in the U.S.
4. Tax Credit – U.S. government provides a special $8,000 incentive
for qualifying first-time buyers.
5. Appreciation potential – your home investment can grow in value.
6. Equity buildup and debt pay down – homeowners enjoy an
average net worth of approximately $184,000 vs. $4,000 for renters.
7. Leverage – where else can you buy an investment of this magnitude
with 5-10 percent down?
8. Tax deduction advantages – property tax and mortgage interest
write-offs (in Canada, home owners gain a tax benefit upon selling).
9. Tax exemption – up to $500,000 per couple or $250,000 per person
on sale of a primary residence in the United States (no tax upon sale
in Canada).
10. The real cost of renting – at $800 per month, with the average
6 percent rental increase per year, you will pay $126,536 over a 10-
year period but have zero ownership of the property.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Monday, August 31, 2009
Austin's Rules of Life
A few observations for those of you who live here...or used to live here....or plan to live here.1. First, it's pronounced AWS-TUN. It doesn't matter how they say it in other places.
2. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Austin has its own set of traffic rules. There's no book about them. All you can do is get in your car and hope you survive to learn them.
3. All directions start with "Go down Mopac... 'cause you don't want to get on I-35. Oh, yes, Mopac is Loop 1.
4. Burnet Road, Braker Lane, and Lamar Blvd. have no beginning and no end.5. It is impossible to go around a block and wind up on the same street that you started on. The Chamber of Commerce calls this a scenic drive.
6. The 8:00am rush hour is from 6:30am to 9:30am . The 5:00pm rush hour is from 3:30p to 7:15pm. Friday's rush hour starts on Thursday morning.
7. If you actually stop at a yellow light, then you cannot be from Austin . Green means "GO"; Yellow means "GO"; and Red means "three more of y'all can GO". You may only apply your brakes at the end of a yellow light and the beginning of the red light when they create a burnt-orange hue. This is Longhorn Country, after all.
8.. If you like being an individual, don't even think of working for Dell. You'll be branded like cattle and made to walk all over town with your Dell Tag around your neck or clipped on to your belt loop. Ninety-eight percent of the people within a 20 mile radius work for Dell. When someone says "Michael Dell", Dell employees are trained to face Round Rock, hit their knees, put their face to the ground, weep, and rock back and forth.9. Just remember that Mopac IS Loop 1; Capital of Texas Hwy IS 360; and Hwy. 183 IS Research Blvd., Anderson Lane, Ed Bluestein Blvd. is Old Bastrop Hwy; FM 2222 IS Northland Dr. or Allendale Rd. or Koenig Lane.. Don't try to figure it out. Just accept it. If you question the intelligence behind this naming convention, people will simply tilt their heads to the right and stare at you.
10. If moisture is determined to be rain, and not sweat, all traffic must immediately come to a screeching halt; ditto for daylight savings time, a female UT student applying eye-shadow crossing the street, or a flat tire three lanes over.
11.. DO NOT attempt to access any road after an apocalyptic event like snow or SXSW (South by Southwest Music Convention). Construction on I-35 AND Hwy. 183 is a way of life and a permanent form of entertainment. Get used to it!
12. Attn: All telephone solicitors...DO NOT correct my pronunciation when I say I live in Manchaca , TX . It's pronounced MAN-shack (just like a man living in shack). Also realize that the city of Manchaca (MANshack) is in Hays and Travis Counties , and there is also a very long street in Austin named Manchaca (MANshack)! The city of Manor andManor Rd. are pronounced 'MAY-ner'. We don't like corrections on that either. And, for God's sake, DON'T pronounce the 'E' at the end of Guadalupe. It's Gwada-LOOP and we like it that way!
13. Burnet Road is pronounced BURN-it, not Bur-NET. Koenig Lane is pronounced KAE-nig not KOE-nig. The old airport (Robert Mueller) is pronounced Robert Miller and is on Airport Boulevard . The new airport (Austin-Bergstrom) is no where near Airport Boulevard . It's in the city of Del Valle pronounced Dell Valley !14. Keep in mind that the sloppily dressed 'hippie' in worn-out sandals and earrings is probably the latest IPO millionaire around here.15. Stay away from the Congress Ave. bridge at sundown if you do not like the thought of being in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. (Largest Mexican Free Tail Bat Population in the US )16. Regardless of what you are told, the Capitol is CENTRAL AUSTIN, and yes, we do have a body of water splitting Austin into North Austin and South Austin and it is called "Town Lake" (by longtime Austinites, and Lady Bird Lake by newcomers) not the Colorado River (even though it is part of it).17. And, yes, we all know that there's a man in a teddy and a tiara on Congress Ave. It's Leslie and he probably makes more money than you do. (Surely, you have a homeless, celebrity drag queen that likes to run for Mayor where you live, too, right?)**And you wonder why there are so many bumper stickers that say 'Keep Austin Weird'!**
And why Pflugerville (which is between Austin and Round Rock) residents wear tee shirts that say, Pflugerville -- Between a Rock and a a Weird Place !!!!
2. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Austin has its own set of traffic rules. There's no book about them. All you can do is get in your car and hope you survive to learn them.
3. All directions start with "Go down Mopac... 'cause you don't want to get on I-35. Oh, yes, Mopac is Loop 1.
4. Burnet Road, Braker Lane, and Lamar Blvd. have no beginning and no end.5. It is impossible to go around a block and wind up on the same street that you started on. The Chamber of Commerce calls this a scenic drive.
6. The 8:00am rush hour is from 6:30am to 9:30am . The 5:00pm rush hour is from 3:30p to 7:15pm. Friday's rush hour starts on Thursday morning.
7. If you actually stop at a yellow light, then you cannot be from Austin . Green means "GO"; Yellow means "GO"; and Red means "three more of y'all can GO". You may only apply your brakes at the end of a yellow light and the beginning of the red light when they create a burnt-orange hue. This is Longhorn Country, after all.
8.. If you like being an individual, don't even think of working for Dell. You'll be branded like cattle and made to walk all over town with your Dell Tag around your neck or clipped on to your belt loop. Ninety-eight percent of the people within a 20 mile radius work for Dell. When someone says "Michael Dell", Dell employees are trained to face Round Rock, hit their knees, put their face to the ground, weep, and rock back and forth.9. Just remember that Mopac IS Loop 1; Capital of Texas Hwy IS 360; and Hwy. 183 IS Research Blvd., Anderson Lane, Ed Bluestein Blvd. is Old Bastrop Hwy; FM 2222 IS Northland Dr. or Allendale Rd. or Koenig Lane.. Don't try to figure it out. Just accept it. If you question the intelligence behind this naming convention, people will simply tilt their heads to the right and stare at you.
10. If moisture is determined to be rain, and not sweat, all traffic must immediately come to a screeching halt; ditto for daylight savings time, a female UT student applying eye-shadow crossing the street, or a flat tire three lanes over.
11.. DO NOT attempt to access any road after an apocalyptic event like snow or SXSW (South by Southwest Music Convention). Construction on I-35 AND Hwy. 183 is a way of life and a permanent form of entertainment. Get used to it!
12. Attn: All telephone solicitors...DO NOT correct my pronunciation when I say I live in Manchaca , TX . It's pronounced MAN-shack (just like a man living in shack). Also realize that the city of Manchaca (MANshack) is in Hays and Travis Counties , and there is also a very long street in Austin named Manchaca (MANshack)! The city of Manor andManor Rd. are pronounced 'MAY-ner'. We don't like corrections on that either. And, for God's sake, DON'T pronounce the 'E' at the end of Guadalupe. It's Gwada-LOOP and we like it that way!
13. Burnet Road is pronounced BURN-it, not Bur-NET. Koenig Lane is pronounced KAE-nig not KOE-nig. The old airport (Robert Mueller) is pronounced Robert Miller and is on Airport Boulevard . The new airport (Austin-Bergstrom) is no where near Airport Boulevard . It's in the city of Del Valle pronounced Dell Valley !14. Keep in mind that the sloppily dressed 'hippie' in worn-out sandals and earrings is probably the latest IPO millionaire around here.15. Stay away from the Congress Ave. bridge at sundown if you do not like the thought of being in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. (Largest Mexican Free Tail Bat Population in the US )16. Regardless of what you are told, the Capitol is CENTRAL AUSTIN, and yes, we do have a body of water splitting Austin into North Austin and South Austin and it is called "Town Lake" (by longtime Austinites, and Lady Bird Lake by newcomers) not the Colorado River (even though it is part of it).17. And, yes, we all know that there's a man in a teddy and a tiara on Congress Ave. It's Leslie and he probably makes more money than you do. (Surely, you have a homeless, celebrity drag queen that likes to run for Mayor where you live, too, right?)**And you wonder why there are so many bumper stickers that say 'Keep Austin Weird'!**
And why Pflugerville (which is between Austin and Round Rock) residents wear tee shirts that say, Pflugerville -- Between a Rock and a a Weird Place !!!!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Why People are moving to Austin
Silva Laukkanen, eight months into her pregnancy, made the trek from Ann Arbor, Mich., to Austin in pursuit of a better quality of life for her growing family. Artists Grant and Dena Reid left Scotland — with no jobs in hand —in search of a community with a creative vibe. Entrepreneur Ryan Koonce left his California home in search of a bustling high-tech community where he could start his next company.
These are just a handful of examples of how Austin's population continues to grow even in the face of the toughest economy in a generation. The reasons are as diverse as the new residents.
"We're both into live music, the outdoor lifestyle and eating good food," said Grant Reid.
"We're both artists, and there was a welcoming community here for artists," added Dena Reid, sitting on the floor of their new Southwest Austin home. "We had friends come before us, and I've never heard one bad thing."
From July 2007 to July 2008, Austin added 18,461 residents, a growth rate of 2.5 percent, and moved past Columbus, Ohio, to become the 15th-largest city in the country.
Round Rock's 8.2 percent gain made it the second-fastest growing city in the country behind New Orleans, according to U.S. census figures.
Ryan Robinson, Austin's city demographer, said the growth is continuing, despite the recession. He said he expects Travis County to add more than 30,000 people this year, including births.
New residents help keep the local economy humming. They rent apartments, buy homes and cars, and in some cases start new businesses, creating jobs. Some economists say they also could create pressure on the region's job market. The local unemployment rate spiked in June to 7.1 percent, and the region has begun to lose jobs.
Robinson said some of the new residents are seeking cover from a tougher economy elsewhere.
"They are moving from the economically devastated parts of the country," he said. "Because Texas is at the top of the nation in terms of economic health, we have attracted a lot of these economic migrants."
But the city also attracts people who can choose where they want to live, like Jim Flanary.
The new chief executive of Austin-based HelioVolt Inc. had been living in Greece, where he was a top executive for a solar firm. He and his wife also own a home in Houston and were familiar with Austin.
So when Flanary got a call from a headhunter about the HelioVolt opportunity, he jumped at it.
Austin "has a very rich culture, it has a very diverse mix of people and it has a lot of restaurants and entertainment," Flanary said. "Then there's the atmosphere of the university. We want to move to Austin permanently."
Robinson says Austin offers a triple threat: a robust higher education community led by the University of Texas and its synergy with local industry, a healthy private sector and high-tech business cluster and the state Capitol.
At the center of Austin's appeal, he said, is its high quality of life.
"It's the culmination of everything, from our weather, to access to recreation, to the creative class culture," he said. "There are so many different scenes: a music scene, an art scene, a book scene, a just-do-nothing and be scruffy scene. ... When you go around the world and talk about Austin, people know Austin."
Charles Lowell, 33, a software developer and Austin native, runs a consulting firm out of his home. Laukkanen, 29, is a professional modern dancer, and she wanted to move to a community where she could continue her training after their baby is born.
"I always thought Austin was an artistic, vibrant city where I wished to live one day," Laukkanen said.
The couple considered moving closer to Laukkanen's family in her native Finland, as well as other U.S. cities such as Boston or Chicago. In the end, they wanted a place where they could be closer to relatives and a place that was a high-tech community that could help Lowell's business thrive.
"You couldn't ask for a better place than Austin in terms of networking and building a work-related community and seeking out new prospects," said Lowell, whose 4-year-old firm, The Frontside Software, has three employees.
Koonce, 35, left San Francisco with his wife and their two children for Austin two years ago in search of a better business climate and quality of life.
Koonce decided to move after he sold his last business, an online advertising technology firm.
He wanted to launch his newest business venture, an online rewards firm, in a new city where the family could live for at least five years.
They considered Denver and San Diego. But "California is sort of adversarial to business – high taxes and lots of fees – it's a bad place to start a business," he said. "You want low income taxes, and open minds, and I think Austin fit the mold."
Additionally, Koonce's wife is from Dallas, and she wanted to come back to Texas.
Koonce said he has not regretted his decision.
"When I got here, everyone was willing to meet with me, talk to me, and it was really great," Koonce said. "People weren't snobby, people weren't like 'Who are you?' You would see that in other places, but you don't see that here, and that was refreshing."
His latest company, SuperPoints Network, is adding 10 to 15 workers in the next six months.
Local economy expert Brian Kelsey says that communities with a high quality of life also have high levels of entrepreneurs and self-employed residents.
Of the country's largest metropolitan regions, the Austin-Round Rock area has the fourth-highest rate of self-employment, behind San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami, said Kelsey, who is director of community and economic development for the Capital Area Council of Governments.
Twenty-two percent of the Austin-area work force meets that qualification, he said. That can be an asset or a liability, depending on the state of the economy.
"Self-employment cuts both ways during a recession. It can be tough finding customers when companies and people have less money to spend, but self-employment can also be a reliable insurance policy compared to others faced with layoffs at a large company," Kelsey said. "Austin has a reputation for nurturing entrepreneurs, and that in part drives our economic growth."
Kelsey says he isn't concerned about an inflow of new residents wreaking havoc with the job market, because Austin's economy is much more diversified than it was during the tech crash earlier in the decade. However, it's something to watch, he said.
The Central Texas unemployment rate last month was 7.1 percent, the highest in at least 20 years, and tech companies have cut thousands of manufacturing jobs.
"Rising unemployment here is a real concern if we continue to see stronger-than-expected population growth," he said.
Grant and Dena Reid, meanwhile, are trying to get to know their new home and find work. Both are painters, but Dena works with disabled adults while Grant takes photos to help pay the bills.
The couple, who married about a year ago, saw the move from Scotland as an adventure.
"We have no children yet, so this opportunity might not come again," Dena Reid said.
Two doors down from the Reids' home, Jill and Hayden Yates took a big gamble themselves. Last month, the couple and their two young children left California for Austin.
Jill Yates is looking for work as a teacher; her husband, a filmmaker, is cultivating contacts in the industry here. Jill Yates' parents retired to the Hill Country, and she had grown tired of seeing co-workers in California losing their jobs.
"We felt it was more affordable here, and the quality of life would be better," her husband said.
"Texas seems to be very receptive to filmmaking," Hayden Yates said. "There's a feeling of collaboration here I haven't seen in L.A. It's quite different, and that's very exciting."
These are just a handful of examples of how Austin's population continues to grow even in the face of the toughest economy in a generation. The reasons are as diverse as the new residents.
"We're both into live music, the outdoor lifestyle and eating good food," said Grant Reid.
"We're both artists, and there was a welcoming community here for artists," added Dena Reid, sitting on the floor of their new Southwest Austin home. "We had friends come before us, and I've never heard one bad thing."
From July 2007 to July 2008, Austin added 18,461 residents, a growth rate of 2.5 percent, and moved past Columbus, Ohio, to become the 15th-largest city in the country.
Round Rock's 8.2 percent gain made it the second-fastest growing city in the country behind New Orleans, according to U.S. census figures.
Ryan Robinson, Austin's city demographer, said the growth is continuing, despite the recession. He said he expects Travis County to add more than 30,000 people this year, including births.
New residents help keep the local economy humming. They rent apartments, buy homes and cars, and in some cases start new businesses, creating jobs. Some economists say they also could create pressure on the region's job market. The local unemployment rate spiked in June to 7.1 percent, and the region has begun to lose jobs.
Robinson said some of the new residents are seeking cover from a tougher economy elsewhere.
"They are moving from the economically devastated parts of the country," he said. "Because Texas is at the top of the nation in terms of economic health, we have attracted a lot of these economic migrants."
But the city also attracts people who can choose where they want to live, like Jim Flanary.
The new chief executive of Austin-based HelioVolt Inc. had been living in Greece, where he was a top executive for a solar firm. He and his wife also own a home in Houston and were familiar with Austin.
So when Flanary got a call from a headhunter about the HelioVolt opportunity, he jumped at it.
Austin "has a very rich culture, it has a very diverse mix of people and it has a lot of restaurants and entertainment," Flanary said. "Then there's the atmosphere of the university. We want to move to Austin permanently."
Robinson says Austin offers a triple threat: a robust higher education community led by the University of Texas and its synergy with local industry, a healthy private sector and high-tech business cluster and the state Capitol.
At the center of Austin's appeal, he said, is its high quality of life.
"It's the culmination of everything, from our weather, to access to recreation, to the creative class culture," he said. "There are so many different scenes: a music scene, an art scene, a book scene, a just-do-nothing and be scruffy scene. ... When you go around the world and talk about Austin, people know Austin."
Charles Lowell, 33, a software developer and Austin native, runs a consulting firm out of his home. Laukkanen, 29, is a professional modern dancer, and she wanted to move to a community where she could continue her training after their baby is born.
"I always thought Austin was an artistic, vibrant city where I wished to live one day," Laukkanen said.
The couple considered moving closer to Laukkanen's family in her native Finland, as well as other U.S. cities such as Boston or Chicago. In the end, they wanted a place where they could be closer to relatives and a place that was a high-tech community that could help Lowell's business thrive.
"You couldn't ask for a better place than Austin in terms of networking and building a work-related community and seeking out new prospects," said Lowell, whose 4-year-old firm, The Frontside Software, has three employees.
Koonce, 35, left San Francisco with his wife and their two children for Austin two years ago in search of a better business climate and quality of life.
Koonce decided to move after he sold his last business, an online advertising technology firm.
He wanted to launch his newest business venture, an online rewards firm, in a new city where the family could live for at least five years.
They considered Denver and San Diego. But "California is sort of adversarial to business – high taxes and lots of fees – it's a bad place to start a business," he said. "You want low income taxes, and open minds, and I think Austin fit the mold."
Additionally, Koonce's wife is from Dallas, and she wanted to come back to Texas.
Koonce said he has not regretted his decision.
"When I got here, everyone was willing to meet with me, talk to me, and it was really great," Koonce said. "People weren't snobby, people weren't like 'Who are you?' You would see that in other places, but you don't see that here, and that was refreshing."
His latest company, SuperPoints Network, is adding 10 to 15 workers in the next six months.
Local economy expert Brian Kelsey says that communities with a high quality of life also have high levels of entrepreneurs and self-employed residents.
Of the country's largest metropolitan regions, the Austin-Round Rock area has the fourth-highest rate of self-employment, behind San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami, said Kelsey, who is director of community and economic development for the Capital Area Council of Governments.
Twenty-two percent of the Austin-area work force meets that qualification, he said. That can be an asset or a liability, depending on the state of the economy.
"Self-employment cuts both ways during a recession. It can be tough finding customers when companies and people have less money to spend, but self-employment can also be a reliable insurance policy compared to others faced with layoffs at a large company," Kelsey said. "Austin has a reputation for nurturing entrepreneurs, and that in part drives our economic growth."
Kelsey says he isn't concerned about an inflow of new residents wreaking havoc with the job market, because Austin's economy is much more diversified than it was during the tech crash earlier in the decade. However, it's something to watch, he said.
The Central Texas unemployment rate last month was 7.1 percent, the highest in at least 20 years, and tech companies have cut thousands of manufacturing jobs.
"Rising unemployment here is a real concern if we continue to see stronger-than-expected population growth," he said.
Grant and Dena Reid, meanwhile, are trying to get to know their new home and find work. Both are painters, but Dena works with disabled adults while Grant takes photos to help pay the bills.
The couple, who married about a year ago, saw the move from Scotland as an adventure.
"We have no children yet, so this opportunity might not come again," Dena Reid said.
Two doors down from the Reids' home, Jill and Hayden Yates took a big gamble themselves. Last month, the couple and their two young children left California for Austin.
Jill Yates is looking for work as a teacher; her husband, a filmmaker, is cultivating contacts in the industry here. Jill Yates' parents retired to the Hill Country, and she had grown tired of seeing co-workers in California losing their jobs.
"We felt it was more affordable here, and the quality of life would be better," her husband said.
"Texas seems to be very receptive to filmmaking," Hayden Yates said. "There's a feeling of collaboration here I haven't seen in L.A. It's quite different, and that's very exciting."
Saturday, June 6, 2009
I come from a Cool Place
Ferris Buellers Home is on the market in my home town...Highland Park Illinois. I used to ride my bike down Beech Street all the time. Actually the RISKY Business house is also on that street. Here is the link for those who have a couple million in their pocket. I will gladly refer a top Keller Williams Agent in that area. http://www.trulia.com/property/1080097629-370-Beech-St-Highland-Park-IL-60035
Texas is Helping with the Recession!!!!
Five States That Will Lead U.S. Out of Recession
Posted By:Cindy Perman
If you’re not prepared to go to Australia to ride out the recovery, great news! A new report shows the five U.S. states poised to lead the nation out of recession.
Photo by: Geoff Parsons
A bridge to somewhere ...
You might want to get out your hiking boots and trail mix because most of the states are out in the northwest: Colorado, Idaho, Texas, Oregon,and Washington.
Those are the states where job growth is expected to sprout first — in the fourth quarter of this year — according to Moody’s Economy.com, which conducted the survey.
The criteria for the survey included the labor market, income, credit quality/banking, real estate and consumer spending. Moody's conducts a regional employment forecast as well as an "adversity index" to gauge the status of state economies.
In the case of the northwestern states, the reason they got picked is because of their high concentration of high-tech companies, Moody's economist Andrew Gledhill said. Analysts expect a pick-up in tech spending as the recession gets going.
"[W]e feel that pent-up demand for high-tech equipment that has been furthered in part by the financial crisis could benefit states with these kinds of links," Gledhill said.
As for Texas, it was the oil industry: The strength of the industry made the lone-star state one of the last states to join the recession, and therefore will make it among the first out.
Housing was another factor: All five states had better-than-average household credit, which left them in shallower holes than other states, like, say, California.
Don't worry, California. You'll be back.
Posted By:Cindy Perman
If you’re not prepared to go to Australia to ride out the recovery, great news! A new report shows the five U.S. states poised to lead the nation out of recession.
Photo by: Geoff Parsons
A bridge to somewhere ...
You might want to get out your hiking boots and trail mix because most of the states are out in the northwest: Colorado, Idaho, Texas, Oregon,and Washington.
Those are the states where job growth is expected to sprout first — in the fourth quarter of this year — according to Moody’s Economy.com, which conducted the survey.
The criteria for the survey included the labor market, income, credit quality/banking, real estate and consumer spending. Moody's conducts a regional employment forecast as well as an "adversity index" to gauge the status of state economies.
In the case of the northwestern states, the reason they got picked is because of their high concentration of high-tech companies, Moody's economist Andrew Gledhill said. Analysts expect a pick-up in tech spending as the recession gets going.
"[W]e feel that pent-up demand for high-tech equipment that has been furthered in part by the financial crisis could benefit states with these kinds of links," Gledhill said.
As for Texas, it was the oil industry: The strength of the industry made the lone-star state one of the last states to join the recession, and therefore will make it among the first out.
Housing was another factor: All five states had better-than-average household credit, which left them in shallower holes than other states, like, say, California.
Don't worry, California. You'll be back.
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