Toyota’s move to Texas is a high-profile relocation, but Texas has been used to adding new jobs at a superlative pace. The state added more than 1.9 million new jobs from December 1999 to April 2014, more than 35 percent of the entire nation’s total for that 15-year period, noted Michael Cox, an economics professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. And Texas had an unemployment rate of just 5.1 percent in May, the 16th-lowest in the United States.
Meanwhile, Cox noted, Texas’s median wages are 28th-highest in the nation; and they rank 8th-highest after adjusting for taxes and prices. Texas schools rank 3rd, he said, after adjusting for variations in student demographics. “We’re able to accomplish all this and more because the business environment in our state is largely competitive, and free markets solve problems,” Cox told CEO Briefing. “Texas is a meritocracy, where incentives still work to produce good results.”
Toyota executives perceived all this and more before deciding to relocate. Among other things, they had the experience of how San Antonio accommodated the new Toyota assembly plant a decade ago, which added 5,000 truck-making jobs.
“The Dallas metro area has hundreds of thousands of people employed in management, engineering, professional and administrative and office support occupations—the population and skill sets needed to staff headquarters operations,” said Dennis Cuneo, former senior vice president of Toyota North America. He played a key role in the launch of manufacturing operations and site selection throughout the continent, such as the San Antonio plant.
Cuneo told CEO Briefing that Texas will face challenges in accommodating the new growth, “but those problems are easier to deal with than the problems caused by no growth or negative growth. Growth,” he says, “creates new public revenues that can be used to pay for the needed infrastructure.”
Besides, he said, Texas already “gets it right” when it comes to keeping its infrastructure ahead of the economic-growth curve. The American Society of Civil Engineers’ latest state-by-state ranking on infrastructure gives Texas a “C” grade, which is better than the nation as a whole (D+) and better than high-tax states including Illinois (D+), Ohio (C-) and Maryland (C-). And a C ranking was about the highest for any state. Still, it’s not an “A.”
Cox acknowledged that inland parts of Texas, especially, face a huge hit from the continuing severe drought, a crisis that could be deeply exacerbated by the move of another 1 million people to Dallas-Ft. Worth every seven or eight years.
Additional reading:
Kohl’s starts hiring 500 people for its new customer service center in North Dallas
Texas Wins Site Selection Magazine’s 2013 Governor’s Cup
Toyota Texas Move Seen to Help Economy by $7.2 Billion
It’s Not About Incentives: Toyota’s Texas Move Is A Corporate-Culture Gambit
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
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2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.
