HOUSTON HITS 600,000 NEW JOBS GOAL

The Greater Houston Partnership works to make Houston one of the world’s best places to live, work and build a business. Opportunity Houston is a program designed to support aggressive economic development marketing and lead generation.

In 2005, the Greater Houston Partnership, led by the Partnership’s Board of Directors and Campaign Chair Drayton McLane, developed an aggressive, strategic plan to help the Houston region.

By the end of 2015, Opportunity Houston pledged to hit key benchmarks such as creating 600,000 jobs and increasing foreign trade by $120 billion.

On October 17, 2014, the Houston region surpassed the 600,000 job goal. This is one year ahead of schedule and despite the Great Recession.

Source: GHP (http://www.houston.org/opportunity/)

“Houston is the Chicago of this era.”…

BY: Joel Kotkin and Michael Shires, Forbes

David Peebles works in a glass tower across from Houston’s Galleria mall, a cathedral of consumption, but his attention is focused on the city’s highly industrialized ship channel 30 miles away. “Houston is the Chicago of this era,” says Peebles, who runs the Texas office of Odebrecht, a $45 billion engineering firm based in Brazil. “In the sixties you had to go to Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit. Now Houston is the place for new industry.”

With upward of $35 billion of new refineries, chemical plants and factories planned through 2015 for Houston and the surrounding Gulf Coast, companies like Odebrecht, which runs chemical plants and is working on a new freeway in the area, have converged on the nation’s oil and gas capital. They are part of the reason why the Texas metropolis ranks first on our list of the best large cities for manufacturing.

Houston, with 255,000 manufacturing jobs, is not yet the country’s largest industrial center; it still lags behind the longtime leaders Los Angeles, with 360,000 manufacturing jobs, and Chicago, home to 314,000. But it is clearly on a stronger trajectory. Since 2008, Houston’s manufacturing workforce has expanded 5% while Los Angeles has lost 13% of its industrial jobs and Chicago’s factory workforce has shrunk 11%.

Why Manufacturing Matters

Whether America is on the path to a sustainable industrial expansion or is just seeing a weak bounce back has been widely debated, but the recent numbers are impressive. Since 2010 the U.S. has added 647,000 manufacturing jobs. New energy finds have led to the construction and expansion of pipelines and refineries, and has sparked foreign industrial investment reflecting electricity costs that are now well below those in Europe or East Asia. Besides Houston, also ranking high on our big cities list are two other energy towns, No. 5 Oklahoma City and No. 10 Ft. Worth, Texas. Our mid-sized cities list is led by Lafayette, La., with nearby Baton Rouge in 11th place.

The Big Cities Leading A U.S. Manufacturing Revival

Methodology

 

We ranked 357 metropolitan statistical areas based on manufacturing employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics from 2002 through January 2014. Rankings are based on recent growth trends (the last year and the last two years), mid-term growth (2008-13), long-term growth (2002-13) and long-term momentum (2008-2013 relative to 2002-2007). The latter metric factors in whether the area is slowing or accelerating. We also broke down rankings by size since regional economies differ markedly due to their scale. For our big cities list, we ranked the 66 MSAs that each have more than 450,000 jobs overall.

Evangelists of the “information economy” may think that industrial jobs are passé, as epitomized by a recent Slate article that recommended that working-class people from places like Detroit should move to areas like Silicon Valley or Boston where they can make money cutting the hair and walking the dogs of high-tech magnates. But the notion that U.S. manufacturing is doomed, and that the jobs are of lower quality than those in high-tech centers, is largely bogus; even in Silicon Valley the majority of new projected jobs are expected topay under $50,000 annually. In contrast manufacturers pay above-average wages, in some cases due to unionization, but in many others because of the increasing sophisticated skills required by today’s factories.

Although we will likely never see a boom in factory employment on the scale experienced in the last century, the demand for blue-collar skills is projected to increase in future years. Among all professions for non-college graduates, manufacturing skills are most in demand, according to a study by Express Employment Professionals. By 2020, according toBCG and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nation could face a shortfall of around 875,000 machinists, welders, industrial-machinery operators, and other highly skilled manufacturing professionals.

Southern Comfort

Our research suggests that much of this growth will be in metro areas in the South and the Great Plains that are known for friendly business climates. New industrial investment is tending to go to places that are largely non-union, and feature lower taxes and light regulation. Epitomizing this trend is the No. 2 city on our large metro area list, Nashville-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tenn., where manufacturing employment is up 6% since 2008. Nashville has become a hotbed for foreign investment in manufacturing, with the expansion of the Nissan facilities in nearby Smyrna, as well as a host of suppliers.

This is occurring, in part, because some large companies are shifting production to America from China in response to rising Chinese wages as well as sometimes unpredictable business conditions there.

Investment inflows, both from overseas and domestic companies, have boosted other standout southern industrial hubs, as well as the smaller metro areas on our mid-sized city list, notably Mobile, Ala. (third place), with its expanding industrially oriented port, and No. 14 Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, S.C., which has been a beneficiary of major new foreign investment as well as the expanded presence of U.S. aerospace giant Boeing. The South also is home to our No. 1 small manufacturing city, Florence-Muscle Shoals, Ala.

 The Resurgence of the Rust Belt

The progress is not confined to the Sun Belt. The resurgence of the U.S. auto industry has revived the economy of Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., also known as “automation alley.” The home to many parts suppliers, engineering and tech support for the car industry, this area has enjoyed an impressive 12.7 percent growth in manufacturing jobs since 2008, placing it third on our big cities list.

Detroit, the center of the auto industry, ranks a respectable 16th on our big city list, but the big improvements in the Rust Belt are occurring in mid-sized cities such as Lansing-East Lansing, Mich. (eighth), Grand Rapids (ninth) and Ft. Wayne, Ind. (10th).

But arguably the strongest Rust Belt recovery has occurred in Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., third on our small cities list. Since 2008 Elkhart’s industrial employment — much of it in the recreational vehicle industry — has expanded 30%, one of the most dramatic employment turnarounds of any place in America. Unemployment has fallen to 5% from a recession high of 20.2%.

Western Exposure

The South and the Great Lakes may be America’s industrial heartland, but there are several strong pockets in the West. One region that is doing particularly well is the Pacific Northwest, led by Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, which has experienced 11% manufacturing employment growth since 2010.

Boeing is key here, but the Pacific Northwest’s industrial expansion has also been fueled by low electricity rates, largely due to the area’s strength in hydroelectricity. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro OR-WA (11th) is usually associated more with hipsters, but manufacturing growth has taken off, particularly with the expansion of Intel’s large semiconductor facility in suburban Hillsboro.

Another Western industrial hotspot is Utah, a state with low energy costs and business friendly regulation. Salt Lake City, 12th on our large metro area list, has enjoyed a 5.7% increase in industrial jobs since 2010. Growth has been even stronger in two other Utah cities, Provo -Orem and Ogden-Clearfield, which rank fifth and seventh, respectively, on our mid-sized cities list.

One surprising place where manufacturing is making a mild comeback is in the Bay Area, which for years has exported high-tech manufacturing jobs to places like Utah as well as the rest of the world. Despite ultra-expensive electricity, high labor costs and some of the world’s most demanding environmental laws, San Jose (13th on our big metros list) San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood (15th) have posted solid industrial growth after years of decline. Yet both remain below their 2008 levels, and may find new growth difficult once the current tech bubble collapses.

Laggards

Two of the worst performers on this list are the big metro areas that have for decades been the country’s largest industrial hubs, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale (55th) and Chicago-Joliet-Naperville (56th). It appears they lack the cost competitiveness and specialized focus of America’s ascendant industrial regions.

Another clear loser is the Northeast, which accounts for seven of the eight lowest ranked big metro areas. Since 2008, Philadelphia (62nd) has lost 21% of its once-large industrial job base, while New York City, which has been losing industrial jobs for decades, ranks 45th. Here, too, high costs and regulation are a factor, as well as the loss of industrial know-how resulting from long-term erosion of their manufacturing bases.

Of course, some information age enthusiasts may argue that losing such jobs is something of a badge of honor, since “smart” regions do not focus on the gritty business of making things. Yet if you look across the country, you can see that many of the strongest local economies, from Houston and Nashville to Seattle, have taken part in the U.S. industrial resurgence. It seems this is one party more worth joining than avoiding.

Full List: The Big Cities Leading A U.S. Manufacturing Revival

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/joelkotkin/2014/06/19/americas-new-industrial-boomtowns/

Katy zip code listed as hottest in the country

BY: Mark Boyle, Click2Houston.com

KATY, Texas –

The Houston area housing market is still booming and shows no signs of slowing down.

According to a study done by a group called Welcomemat Services, a zip code in Katy was the hottest zip code in the United States during the month of May. Nearly 600 families are reported to have either moved into a home or an apartment in Katy during May.

The Houston Association of Realtors says don’t expect a slow down any time soon.

“The 99 corridor, the I-10 corridor heading out towards the Energy Corridor really is where we are seeing a lot of growth, new construction. Katy has always been a strong market, it’s really our base for our energy corridor in the Houston area,” said Chaille Ralph, chair of the HAR board.

Second to Katy was a zip code in Charlotte and third was one in Chicago.

Here are the top 20 fastest growing zip codes in the nation by household move-ins from May 4-31, according to marketing strategy and technology company Welcomemat Services.

City      State    ZIP  Household Move-ins
Katy        TX    77494    596
Charlotte    NC    28277    594
Chicago    IL    60657    576
Virginia Beach    VA    23462    560
Mckinney    TX    75070    530
Charlotte    NC    28269    511.2
Clarksville    TN    37042    485
Chicago        IL    60614    484
Beaverton    OR    97006    484
Smyrna        GA    30080    479
Katy        TX    77449    476
Chicago        IL    60618    475
San Diego    CA    92109    473
Chicago        IL    60647    469
Bend        OR    97701    468
Temecula    CA    92592    464
Antioch        TN    37013    458
Orlando        FL    32828    456
North Las Vegas    NV    89031    448
Huntersville    NC    28078    445

Houston’s future: more sprawl or density?

BY: Nancy Sarnoff, Houston Chron

Greater Houston is continually cited as one of the country’s most sprawling large metro areas. But as more Houstonians express an interest in living in walkable urban neighborhoods and developers build more compact sections of shops, housing and offices, will our future be as spread out as it is today?

Houston ranked no. 15 on a list of the country’s top 30 metro areas based on the amount of commercial development in so-called “Walkable Urban Places,” or “WalkUPs,” according to a new study on walkability and urbanism.

The report also examined development patterns to predict how walkable — or how sprawling — future development in these metros is likely to be.

New developments like CityCentre and the coming River Oaks District are helping to reshape our future. Houston ranked no. 13 among the 30 metros based on a potential for future walkable urbanism.

The report was released this week by the Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis at George Washington University School of Business in conjunction with LOCUS: Responsible Real Estate Developers and Investors, a program of Smart Growth America.

It found high-ranking cities to have higher education levels and higher GDP per capita.

The study, “reveals just how important Walkable Urban Places are,” Chris Leinberger, president of LOCUS and author of the report said in a statement. “As economic engines, as talent attractors, and as highly productive real estate, these WalkUPs are a crucial component in building and sustaining a thriving urban economy. Cities with more WalkUPs are positioned for success, now and in the future.”

The walkable urbanism of each metro was determined to be the share of office and retail space located in its urban areas through the first quarter of 2014. In Houston, 17 percent of office and retail development were in WalkUPs.

source: http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2014/06/houstons-future-more-sprawl-or-density/#24453101=0

Texas is Named One of The Most Tax-Friendly States For Retirees

By Robert Powell, MarketWatch

BOSTON (MarketWatch) — There’s plenty to consider when you contemplate where to live in retirement. Will family and friends be nearby? Does the weather suit you? What sort of activities are there? And especially high on the list of factors to consider are taxes — one of life’s two certainties and one of the largest expenses people face in retirement.

Is the state that you have designs on retiring to tax friendly or not? And the basic questions to answer are these: How does the state tax your income? How does it tax your property and your consumption? And what’s the overall tax burden?


SLIDESHOW
Tax-friendly
states for retirees
See which states have the tax laws most beneficial for retirees.

DATA
Compare your state
Want to compare tax rates for different states? See these tables and charts for detailed comparisons.
State rates: Sales and use tax
State personal income taxes
How states tax retirement income, Social Security and pension income

As some know, older Americans tend to generate income from several sources in retirement, including income from wages or self-employment; Social Security; pensions; and personal assets, including taxable and tax-deferred accounts. Taxes on those sources of income, in essence, mean less money in your pocket for your golden years. So before moving to this or that state, you’ll need to figure out whether and how the state taxes your various sources of income.

You will also need to consider taxes on the other side of the ledger, including state and local property taxes, state and local sales and use taxes. If you live large, you might pay plenty in property taxes and sales taxes.

And, then you’ll need to calculate what your overall personal tax burden will be. It’s a taxing exercise to be sure.

Thankfully, CCH, a Wolters Kluwer company, has created several charts and tables that look at how states tax income, sales and other transactions, including retirement income. We’ve culled from that list — with the help of Kathleen Thies, a state tax analyst for CCH — the top income-tax friendly states for retirees, states that don’t tax income, including Social Security and pension income. And then we added some commentary from the Tax Foundation about other taxes, such as property and sales, and the overall tax burden, in those income-tax friendly states.

Of course, before moving to one of these income-tax friendly states, be sure to calculate your personal overall tax burden given all your actual and likely sources of income, given your spending patterns, and given your actual or desired standard of living.

Remember, what you save on income taxes in one state you might pay in property taxes or sales taxes. And vice versa. What you save on property and sales taxes in one state you might pay in income taxes. “There are no free lunches so you need to be savvy about what your particular needs are in retirement,” said Thies.

One more note, for those who itemize deductions, there are five types of deductible non-business taxes, including state, local and foreign income taxes; state, local and foreign real estate taxes; state, and local personal property taxes; state and local sales taxes, and qualified motor vehicle taxes.

In other words, to calculate your overall personal tax burden, you’ll have to figure out whether you can take advantage of these deductions.

That said, here’s a closer look at the states that are — if nothing else — the friendliest for income tax purposes, and, in some cases, fairly friendly from an overall tax burden, based on CCH and the Tax Foundation research. The states are listed in order of tax friendliness from an overall tax burden point of view, as measured by the Tax Foundation.

For detailed information on the states, see our slide show, The most tax-friendly states for retirees.

  1. Alaska: Alaska might not seem like a retirement haven based on the usual factors considered such as, say, weather. But it might be the perfect place for one’s golden years if taxes are a big concern. Alaska doesn’t tax personal income, including Social Security benefits and pension income. And, there’s no state-imposed sales tax. This is not to say that you won’t pay any taxes in Alaska. Instead, it means that you’ll pay other types of taxes, such as property taxes.
  2. Nevada: Many retirees rely on income from several sources to make ends meet these days. If you fall into that camp, Nevada might be the place for you. This state doesn’t tax income, Social Security benefits or pension income. And its property taxes are reasonable, too. Its sales tax, however, is higher than the national average.
  3. South Dakota: It might not be the first or even the second state that you think of when contemplating where to live in retirement. But South Dakota is nothing if not a tax friendly state. The state doesn’t tax individual income, Social Security benefits or pension income. And the overall tax burden is among the lowest in the nation.
  4. Wyoming: There’s no individual income tax on Social Security benefits or pension income in Wyoming, according to CCH. But that’s not to say you won’t have to pay any taxes in Wyoming. Property taxes and sales taxes tend to be higher than the national average.
  5. Texas: In Texas, there’s no individual income tax. But property and sales taxes tend to be higher than the rest of the nation.
  6. Florida: There are plenty of reasons why people choose to retire to the Sunshine state, the low tax burden being among those reasons. There’s no individual income tax on Social Security benefits or pension income. There are pipers to pay, however, in the forms of property and sales taxes.
  7. Washington: Another state not generally viewed as a traditional retirement haven is, however, income tax friendly for retirees. There’s no individual income tax on Social Security benefits or pension income. But if you plan on spending lots money while in retirement, Washington might not be your first choice. It has a relatively high sales tax.

See the slide show for complete information on all the states.

State-by-state data

Robert Powell is editor of Retirement Weekly, published by MarketWatch. Learn more about Retirement Weekly here. Follow his tweets here.

Robert Powell has been a journalist covering personal finance issues for more than 20 years, writing and editing for publications such as The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and Mutual Fund Market News.

 

Srouce: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/most-tax-friendly-states-for-retirees-2012-03-29?siteid=nwhpf

30 Year Mortgage Rate Falls Bellow 4% Again

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) —

Following various reports of weaker housing data, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average fell to 3.99% in the week ending March 29 from 4.08% in the prior week, Freddie Mac said Thursday in its weekly report. The rate was 4.86% a year earlier. To obtain the latest rate, payment of an average 0.7 point was required, according to Freddie, a buyer of residential mortgages. A point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged in prepaid interest. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 3.23% in the latest week from 3.30% in the prior week. Meanwhile, the average rate on the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage decreased to 2.90% from 2.96%. The 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM fell to 2.78% from 2.84%

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/30-year-mortgage-rate-falls-to-399-2012-03-29-100140?siteid=bnbh

Houston No. 1 Relocation Center, Report Says

Houston Business Journal
Date: Monday, March 26, 2012, 6:32am CDT

Relocating to HoustonHouston is the No. 1 U.S. destination city to relocate to for the third year in a row, a report from U-Haul International Inc. shows.

The report, titled “The 2011 Top 50 U.S. Destination Cities,” ranks destinations for movers traveling more than 50 miles, U-Haul said in a statement. Data was compiled from more than 1.6 million U-Haul truck transactions in 2011.

Every U.S. city is considered for the report, regardless of size, though data is not stated as a percentage of population nor is it reflective of overall growth, U-Haul said.

Dallas and Austin also made the top 25 cities, and Plano and Fort Worth made the top 50.

The top 25 cities are:

  1. Houston
  2. Orlando, Fla.
  3. Las Vegas
  4. Chicago
  5. San Antonio
  6. Austin
  7. Atlanta
  8. Sacramento, Calif.
  9. Kansas City, Mo.
  10. Denver
  11. Philadelphia
  12. San Diego
  13. Brooklyn, N.Y.
  14. Phoenix
  15. Dallas
  16. Columbus, Ohio
  17. Tampa, Fla.
  18. Los Angeles
  19. Van Nuys, Calif.
  20. Costa Mesa, Calif.
  21. New York City
  22. Jacksonville, Fla.
  23. Indianapolis
  24. San Francisco
  25. St. Louis

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2012/03/houston-no-1-relocation-center.html?ana=e_hstn_rdup

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