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.

  • The Tax Foundation ranks Texas 43rd among states for its combined 2008 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 fifth-lowest cost of living among all U.S. states in the third quarter of 2009, and 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 more than 54,000 new jobs to the state and generated $14 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 $23.6 million in grants in fiscal 2009 that supported the creation of 3,567 new jobs and provided training to 15,949 workers in existing jobs.
  • In Fortune magazine’s 2009 ranking of the nation’s 100 fastest-growing companies, Texas was home to 13, second only to California’s 15.
  • 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 five consecutive years (2005-2009).
  • In November 2009, Site Selection magazine reported that its annual survey of corporate executives ranked Texas’ business climate first among states – for the third year in a row.
  • In the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council’s 2009 Small Business Survival Index, Texas ranked third among states in the friendliness of its policies toward entrepreneurship, and first among the 10 largest states.