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Dear Texas Economic Development Stakeholders,
The Lone Star State is starting off the year strong with continued record-breaking success and new economic development celebrations! Texas hit a new all-time high for jobs, surpassing all previous employment highs with 13,059,6000 jobs, as of December. Texas is only one of four states in the nation to have recovered all jobs lost due to the pandemic, and ranks #1 for number of jobs recovered, now at 1.5 million!
On January 26, we celebrated the signing of a Statement of Mutual Cooperation between the State of Texas and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Working together with 18 Texas communities, this partnership will assist to promote additional Tokyo business investment in the state. More details on this below!
Last month, I also got the chance to help celebrate Optimus Steel's new steel rod and coiling facility in Vidor, Texas (see photo included in later section). It was an honor to celebrate this critically important investment for Orange County and the entire region. Congratulations to Optimus Steel and the Orange County Economic Development Corporation!
Adding to these significant events, Texas won three 2021 Deal of the Year Awards from Business Facilities Magazine. Congratulations to the Taylor Economic Development Corporation, Lubbock Economic Development Alliance and Sherman Economic Development Corporation for this important recognition! Not to mention, the many other wins in communities across the state, for which we are proud to celebrate alongside our local and regional economic development partners.
As always, we welcome you to visit our website, follow us on social media, or reach out to a member of our team if we can be of any assistance.
 -Adriana Cruz, Executive Director, Texas Economic Development & Tourism
 Unemployment Rate: 5%
Nonagricultural Jobs Added in December: 50,000
Private Jobs Added in December: 48,700
Job Recovery Rate: 106%
Texas and Tokyo Sign Statement of Mutual Cooperation
Last week, EDT held a virtual signing ceremony for the Statement of Mutual Cooperation (SMC) with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's (TMG) Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs, which outlines a program framework to assist Tokyo's small and medium-sized enterprises as they seek to expand their business to Texas. Adriana Cruz, Executive Director of EDT, signed the SMC on behalf of the State of Texas and Director General Sakamoto, TMG Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs, signed on behalf of Tokyo.
As part of the SMC, eighteen local economic development partners from across the state expressed interest in participating and executing the program goals—such as information accessing and sharing, access to "soft landing" programs, referrals to services, and the facilitation of introductions to local contacts, companies, start-ups, investors, and universities to foster integration in the local ecosystems.
The Texas communities involved in the program include: Allen Economic Development Corporation, Amarillo Economic Development Corporation, City of Austin, Brazos Valley Economic Development Corporation, City of Dallas, Dallas Regional Chamber, The Borderplex Alliance, Frisco Economic Development Corporation, Development Corporation of Harlingen, Inc., Waller County Economic Development Partnership, City of Hillsboro, Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce, Kerr Economic Development Corporation, TexAmericas Center, Plano Economic Development, City of Richardson, Greater:SATX Regional Economic Partnership, and City of Webster. Read more online.
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Video Resources: Starting a Business in Texas FAQs
The Governor's Office of Small Business Assistance has published new resources for those looking to start a business in Texas. To assist the rapidly increasing number of individuals deciding to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams in the Lone Star State, our office has curated a list of frequently asked questions and answers, addressed through a series of short video clips. These are the most popular questions asked by aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners looking to get started in Texas. You may watch and share these helpful videos, in both English and Spanish, by visiting our YouTube channel or our website. Enjoy!
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Staff Spotlight: Community Relations Specialists
The Community Relations Specialists serve as the direct extension of EDT and the Governor's Office in local communities, representing the agency across all regions of Texas. The team assists communities in building economic development capacity by organizing workshops, hosting business retention and expansion programs, conducting community engagement visits, and presenting updates on state programs and resources. The Community Relations Specialists also help celebrate new corporate investment and job creation in local communities by attending groundbreakings, ribbon cuttings, and other similar events and sometimes presenting celebratory certificates from the Governor.
Is your community celebrating an upcoming groundbreaking or ribbon cutting? A Community Relations Specialist may be available to help celebrate your community's success! For more information, please contact the Specialist in your region.
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(Above Photo: Top Row (L-R): Betty Russo, Kate Stanford; Bottom Row (L-R): Janie Havel, Chandra Eggemeyer; Inset: Priscilla Duran)
 
(Photo: EDT's Executive Director, Adriana Cruz, and East Texas Community Relations Specialist, Betty Russo, attended the site tour and dedication of Optimus Steel's new facility in Vidor, Texas.)
The appeal of Texas' robust economy continues to cultivate a strong pipeline of active projects in a wide array of industries. Large, medium, and small companies alike are choosing Texas for their next business investment. It is abundantly clear that Texas remains one of the top places for new corporate investment and job creation. Here are some of Texas' recently announced projects in regions across the state:
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Niagra Bottling in Lancaster: Niagra Bottling announced plans to invest $70 million in a new 1.2 million-square-foot plant in Lancaster. The company plans to create 70 new jobs.
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Expansion Industries in Texarkana: Expansion Industries, an ammunition manufacturing company, is preparing to open a manufacturing facility in Texarkana. The company plans to hire more than 400 people and already invested $100 million into the site so far.
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VXI Global Solutions in Lubbock: VXI Global Solutions announced an expansion to their established Contact Center location in Lubbock to meet client demand, adding more than 350 new full-time positions.
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Review Wave in McKinney: California-based Review Wave announced their relocation to McKinney where the company plans to create 73 high-tech and executive jobs over the next three years.
 “It ain’t bragging if it's true!” Here are some of the recent accolades Texas has received:
- Texas was awarded three 2021 Deal of the Year Awards from Business Facilities Magazine, more than any other state:
- Taylor Economic Development Corporation received the Silver Award for Samsung Electronics' semiconductor facility in Taylor.
- Lubbock Economic Development Alliance received the Impact Award for Food Processing for Leprino Foods' facility in Lubbock.
- Sherman Economic Development Corporation received the Impact Award for Technology for Texas Instrument's semiconductor facility in Sherman.
- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers once again ranked Houston Ship Channel #1 in the U.S. for total waterborne tonnage, handling more than 275 million short tons of cargo in 2020.
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Five Texas-based universities ranked among the top 50 in the U.S. for total research and development expenditures, according to the National Science Foundation: Texas A&M University (#14), University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (#18), University of Texas at Austin (#34), Baylor College of Medicine (#42) and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (#47).
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The University of Texas at Austin is ranked #1 among U.S. universities in research financed by the National Science Foundation in fiscal year 2020, according to the annual Higher Education Research and Development Survey.
 Interested in working with the best state economic development team in the country? The Governor's Office is hiring! There are multiple positions for experienced professionals in Business & Community Development, Economic Development Finance, and Tourism, among other divisions. Here's a sampling of open positions:
For more information on available positions, visit gov.texas.gov/employment.
International Business & Trade Opportunities in Latin America
Learn more about trade and business opportunities between Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama and Texas! If you're a Texas business interested in exploring any of these markets, we invite you to watch the following webinar playbacks of each market overview to learn more about expanding your business abroad:
To stay updated on the latest export assistance opportunities offered by the Office of the Governor, we invite you to sign up for Texas Export Assistance Updates. For direct questions about international investment and exporting, you may contact our International Business & Trade Team.
Weslaco Becomes Triple Freeport Community
Weslaco has become a triple freeport community, a distinction that will bring new jobs and industries to the local economy. This designation adds a major boost in continuing to bring additional manufacturing, warehousing and distribution companies to the city and Weslaco Economic Development Corporation plans to move quickly move to bring new corporate investment.
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Greater Waco Chamber Launches New Talent Program
The Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce has launched a new talent recruitment initiative called "inWACO" to attract and retain workers in the city and strengthen the workforce pipeline in the community. The program website lays out job openings for companies, and offers other companies to list positions that are available.
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Texas Talent Connection Awards $1 Million in Grants
The Texas Workforce Investment Council and the Child Sex Trafficking Team, within the Office of the Governor, identified a need to provide workforce services to foster youth and young adult victims of sex trafficking. Texas Talent Connection grants of $1 million will support a two-year pilot program connecting foster youth and victims of sex trafficking to workforce education programs and services to help them find and maintain employment leading to independence and self-sufficiency.
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Upcoming Events
Women in Tech & Innovation Forum I February 8-9, 2022
The Texas Film Commission is once again partnering with AT&T and the Governor's Commission for Women to present the 2022 Women in Tech and Innovation Forum. This year's event will explore topics related to media and technology over the course of two days of virtual programming, with agenda tracks covering Tech + Innovation and Tech + Community Development, plus keynote presentations featuring some truly innovative voices. It's free to attend and open to all!
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