From Staff, Wire Reports
Smith County saw a population increase from 190,501 to 194,635 from July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2006, a one-year increase of 2.2 percent, accodring to a U.S. Census Bureau report released Thursday."Our growing population is a positive result of the planning and vision of caring members of our community, both past and present," County Judge Joel Baker said. "Smith County provides many opportunities for its citizens, and it is a great place for people to live, work and raise their families."But growth brings challenges, he added."With these positive changes come an increased demand for services and infrastructure and challenges to find the necessary funding," Baker said. "I am confident that we will all work together to find solutions to meet the needs of a thriving community."Tyler Mayor Joey Seeber said the news comes as no surprise."This confirms what we've known for some time, that we're seeing an increased demand for city services," he said. "It's also an indication the city and county are growing at a rate greater than we did in the last decade."That's why the city is currently engaged in the Tyler 21 long-range planning process."We recognize our city is growing and growing faster, and we need to be prepared for the growth we expect to continue in the next 20 and 30 years," Seeber said.Some Texas counties were among the fastest-growing in the report, which showed that the pace of rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina has slowed, leaving New Orleans and some other Gulf Coast areas with less than half the people they had before the storm. And some of the hardest hit might never regain their population, experts say.The latest Census Bureau estimates say that 10 months after the hurricane, Orleans Parish in Louisiana had slightly less than half the people it did before the storm. Nearby St. Bernard Parish had less than a fourth of its pre-storm population.The estimates were for July 1, 2006, but experts said few people have moved back since then."We're still doing cleanup but not bringing many housing units on line," said Greg Rigamer, a demographer in New Orleans. "We are in the process of rehabbing a lot of properties. It takes time to do that."Other Gulf Coast communities, meanwhile, have grown as hurricane victims fled to nearby cities and Americans continued a decades-long migration to coastal areas, according the new Census Bureau estimates.Harris County, home to Houston, added more than 123,000 people from 2005 to 2006. Houston attracted many Katrina refugees.The Census Bureau estimates annual county population totals as of July 1, using local records of births and deaths, IRS records of people moving within the United States and census statistics on immigrants.Smith County's growth has been steady, adding 3,000 to 4,000 or so each year since 2000, the bureau's tables show. In 2000, Smith County had a population of 175,453. Over the next six years, the population growth totaled 19,182 new residents, or an increase of 10.9 percent.Rigamer said the Census estimates for the New Orleans area were consistent with his research.Among the bureau's findings:
Of the five U.S. counties that lost the most people from 2005 to 2006, four were hit by Hurricane Katrina. The biggest decrease was in Orleans Parish, where the population dropped by nearly 229,000, to about 223,400. The others were St. Bernard Parish, La.; Harrison County, Miss., and Jefferson Parish, La.Wayne County, Mich., rounded out the top five in population loss. The county, which includes Detroit, has been hit by layoffs in the automotive industry.
Maricopa County, Ariz., home to Phoenix, added the most people from 2005 to 2006. The county added nearly 130,000, to about 3.8 million. It was followed by Harris County, Texas; Riverside County, Calif.; Clark County, Nev., and Tarrant County, Texas.
Chattahoochee County, Ga., had the highest percentage growth from 2005 to 2006, at 13.2 percent, to just over 14,000 people.
St. Bernard Parish had the biggest percentage decline from 2005 to 2006, losing 76.2 percent of its population, to about 15,500.University of New Orleans political scientist Susan Howell said a lot of people are moving in and out of New Orleans even as the overall population number has stabilized.Howell surveyed city residents last fall and found that about a third were considering leaving the city in the next two years. She said the biggest reasons were crime, the slow pace of recovery and concerns about flooding."The full population will not come back," Howell said. "But it will certainly, at some point, stabilize. The question is, will it stabilize at a point where people will have a good quality of life?"Al Palumbo, branch manager for a New Orleans real estate agency, said it is a buyer's market in many of the neighborhoods that were hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina.He said there are many opportunities for young people to move into areas where they could not afford to live before the storm."I think this is going to be a younger town," Palumbo said.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
TYLER'S LOOP ATTRACTS ARIZONA BUYER
TYLER'S LOOP ATTRACTS ARIZONA BUYER
TYLER (Tyler Morning Telegraph)
– An Arizona private investment firm has purchased 543 contiguous acres for developing a mixed-use community between Loop 323 and Lake Bellwood.
"Middle-sized markets like Tyler often get overlooked by large institutional investors, but I know Tyler is a great town and I asked them to come look. Once they visited, they were sold," said Eric Davis, president of TierraStar Real Estate in McKinney, which helped facilitate the sale for the owners, Westchase Land Development and Martin Heines. Davis is also a former vice president of the Tyler Economic Development Council.
TYLER (Tyler Morning Telegraph)
– An Arizona private investment firm has purchased 543 contiguous acres for developing a mixed-use community between Loop 323 and Lake Bellwood.
"Middle-sized markets like Tyler often get overlooked by large institutional investors, but I know Tyler is a great town and I asked them to come look. Once they visited, they were sold," said Eric Davis, president of TierraStar Real Estate in McKinney, which helped facilitate the sale for the owners, Westchase Land Development and Martin Heines. Davis is also a former vice president of the Tyler Economic Development Council.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Real Estate Slowdown, Subprime Meltdown--Now What?
Morningstar.com
Real Estate Slowdown, Subprime Meltdown--Now What?
Friday March 16, 4:30 pm ET By Ganesh Rathnam
We at Morningstar had long believed that the runup in real estate prices from 2001 to the end of 2005 was unsustainable and had to end at some point. We've also been bearish on property REITs during that time, as most of their returns came from price appreciation--driven by ever-higher estimates of underlying property valuations--rather than dividends and dividend growth. My colleague Craig Woker went as far as comparing the real estate bubble to the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s and 2000. He detected the same emotional approach toward purchasing real estate that people adopted toward purchasing stock in Webvan.com and Pets.com--the "so many people can't be wrong" rationalization. Arguably, buyers were more confident in their real estate purchases because real estate is more tangible, with real intrinsic value.
Signs of WeaknessSince 2005, we've seen several signs of weakness. Growth in real estate prices has slowed significantly, and reported prices have dropped precipitously in a few of the most speculative areas such as Miami and San Diego. However, we think the decline is far more severe than headline numbers would suggest. Sale prices can be propped up by having a buyer purchase at the list price, while the seller throws in incentives such as free upgrades, parking spots, and help with closing costs, assessments, and even mortgages. A more telling metric is the drop in sales volume and the buildup of inventory. It stands to reason that if sales volume remained at normal levels, price declines would be more severe. But perhaps the canary in the coal mine was the retirement of www.condoflip.com--a Web site catering to speculators who flipped condos sight unseen.
Subprime MeltdownThe riskiest companies took the first hit. With the prices of real estate seemingly heading in only one direction, subprime mortgage originators resorted to bad underwriting and exotic products to create an illusion of affordability. We had identified a possible liquidity crunch as a key risk for these companies, but the speed of the meltdown was surprising. Seemingly overnight, these companies were hit with two crushing blows. An expected uptick in delinquencies forced the lenders to repurchase delinquent loans, and at the same time, creditors closed off the financing spigots, causing a liquidity crunch and leaving firms vulnerable to liquidation. Indeed, several of them have filed for bankruptcy or shut down operations, and more bankruptcies could be on the way. We would suggest that only the most aggressive investors speculate on these firms.
However, we believe more conservative investors can profit from this meltdown as well. All this real estate doom and gloom has served up opportunities to invest in several high-quality businesses at bargain prices. At Morningstar, we pride ourselves on being contrarian investors. We heartily agree with Buffett's maxim of buying to the sound of cannons and selling to the sound of trumpets. We've identified companies whose businesses are temporarily suffering due to real estate exposure but are fundamentally sound and should prosper when things return to normal. Moreover, these companies are not at the mercy of fickle and skittish short-term financiers, whose sudden cold feet could drive an otherwise viable company out of business. We would put these firms on our watch list and pounce at 5-star prices.
HomebuildersHomebuilders, as one might expect, have been the most prominent casualty of the slowdown in residential real estate. The industry has experienced severe compression in gross margins, the markup charged to homebuyers over land and building costs. Record cancellations have eroded the pricing power of these companies, forcing them to batten the hatches to wait out this downturn. Worse, most of these companies extrapolated 2005 trends into the future and got caught with too much land on their balance sheets, using costly debt to carry this (for now) dead asset. However, we've identified some builders that have avoided this problem and are positioned to weather this storm.
Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - News)Meritage Homes is one of the largest builders in the nation, and importantly, has a large presence in Texas to balance out exposure to boom-bust states such as California, Nevada, and Florida. It was at the top of the class in maintaining a lean inventory throughout the boom due to its deft use of options. Today, it sits with less than one year's worth of owned land based on current order rates, and less than six years' worth including option commitments. It's easy to see why Meritage will likely fare better in the current downturn than competitors. To add icing to the cake, its shares trade at less than book value. Though the market is currently fixated on the company's exposure to formerly hot markets, we see opportunity.
MDC Holdings (NYSE:MDC - News)MDC Holdings, like Meritage, stresses holding less land on its balance sheet, allowing it to earn impressive returns on capital. Its total land position, at less than three years of lots based upon current production rates, is among the lowest in the industry. This is important, as it means less possibility of impairments and also gives the company a leg up on competitors once the eventual upturn arrives. Without a bloated balance sheet, MDC will be in a position to reload its land pipeline at significantly cheaper prices. Though industrywide returns will be depressed for several years, MDC should be among the leaders going forward.
Title InsurersWe believe that the title insurance industry is healthy and has demonstrated the ability to weather troughs in real estate cycles. The industry serves multiple segments that usually perform independently. For example, despite a double hit of weak seasonal and cyclical factors in the residential market in the fourth quarter of 2006, all three companies we cover ( First American (NYSE:FAF - News), Fidelity National (NYSE:FNF - News), and LandAmerica (NYSE:LFG - News)) showed decent profits, propped up by commercial real estate. We expect the companies will grow along the lines of population and household increases. Solidifying the moat around these companies is the fact that, despite the bad press and regulatory concerns, there is no substitute to the role the title companies play in real estate transactions.
First American This company has rapidly gained share profitably, and the ancillary products that augment title revenue are way ahead of the competition. Even better, the company recently bought CoreLogic, a data management company that customizes and markets information derived from First American's enormous real estate database. The company is leveraging this data to become a leader in providing real estate information, which adds to economic returns.
Mortgage InsurersMortgage insurers provide protection to lenders making real estate loans to lower-income home buyers, who want to enjoy the benefits of home ownership but are unable to afford a 20% downpayment that the secondary market requires. Barring a recession that leads to outsized job losses among the lower-income demographic, the mortgage insurers should weather the current storm in fine shape, in our opinion. Over an economic cycle, mortgage insurers have shown the ability to withstand recessions, competitive threats, and regulatory scrutiny. We believe the fundamentals are good for this industry, particularly due to the increased housing demand from minorities and immigrants. Long-term forecasts predict a growing percentage of the population pursuing the American dream of home ownership, and mortgage insurers assist many first-time buyers in taking this step.
MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG - News)We believe that MGIC's decision to acquire Radian Group (NYSE:RDN - News) is timely because it strengthens MGIC's moat. The acquisition increases MGIC's size, giving it a better chance of navigating the choppy, cyclical nature of the mortgage-interest-sensitive real estate markets. The combined entity will also possess the added benefit of multiple executions of credit enhancement through financial guaranty capabilities, an area in which Radian has traditionally excelled.
PMI Group (NYSE:PMI - News)Captive insurers with large lenders such as Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC - News) have been steadily eroding PMI's market share in the U.S. The company has combated this by expanding internationally, carving the second-largest presence in Australia. A growing portion of market participants now opt for customized mortgage pool protection outside of the government-sponsored secondary market. Via its lead investment in financial guarantor FGIC, PMI hopes to use cutting-edge marketing to meld mortgage insurance with credit-enhancement services.
BanksWe've identified a high-quality bank that has been unfairly punished because of its perceived vulnerability due to exposure to subprime mortgage originations and real estate loans held on the balance sheet. Large banks have a diversified revenue stream and are less dependent on real estate loans and mortgage originations than they once were. What's more, banks tend to hold the best-quality loans on their books and typically experience charge-off rates of less than 25 basis points on mortgages.
Wells Fargo Wells Fargo is one of the best-run banks in the country. The firm, in all fairness, has a larger exposure to real estate than the average large bank and, according to Inside Mortgage Finance, is the largest subprime mortgage originator. However, the firm's underwriting is exceptional, resulting in the mortgage portfolio sporting minuscule charge-offs. Wells Fargo's ace in the hole is its large mortgage servicing portfolio, which acts as a natural hedge to its mortgage loan origination business.
Jim Ryan and Eric Landry contributed to this article. Ganesh Rathnam owns shares in First American and call options on New Century Financial.
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Real Estate Slowdown, Subprime Meltdown--Now What?
Friday March 16, 4:30 pm ET By Ganesh Rathnam
We at Morningstar had long believed that the runup in real estate prices from 2001 to the end of 2005 was unsustainable and had to end at some point. We've also been bearish on property REITs during that time, as most of their returns came from price appreciation--driven by ever-higher estimates of underlying property valuations--rather than dividends and dividend growth. My colleague Craig Woker went as far as comparing the real estate bubble to the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s and 2000. He detected the same emotional approach toward purchasing real estate that people adopted toward purchasing stock in Webvan.com and Pets.com--the "so many people can't be wrong" rationalization. Arguably, buyers were more confident in their real estate purchases because real estate is more tangible, with real intrinsic value.
Signs of WeaknessSince 2005, we've seen several signs of weakness. Growth in real estate prices has slowed significantly, and reported prices have dropped precipitously in a few of the most speculative areas such as Miami and San Diego. However, we think the decline is far more severe than headline numbers would suggest. Sale prices can be propped up by having a buyer purchase at the list price, while the seller throws in incentives such as free upgrades, parking spots, and help with closing costs, assessments, and even mortgages. A more telling metric is the drop in sales volume and the buildup of inventory. It stands to reason that if sales volume remained at normal levels, price declines would be more severe. But perhaps the canary in the coal mine was the retirement of www.condoflip.com--a Web site catering to speculators who flipped condos sight unseen.
Subprime MeltdownThe riskiest companies took the first hit. With the prices of real estate seemingly heading in only one direction, subprime mortgage originators resorted to bad underwriting and exotic products to create an illusion of affordability. We had identified a possible liquidity crunch as a key risk for these companies, but the speed of the meltdown was surprising. Seemingly overnight, these companies were hit with two crushing blows. An expected uptick in delinquencies forced the lenders to repurchase delinquent loans, and at the same time, creditors closed off the financing spigots, causing a liquidity crunch and leaving firms vulnerable to liquidation. Indeed, several of them have filed for bankruptcy or shut down operations, and more bankruptcies could be on the way. We would suggest that only the most aggressive investors speculate on these firms.
However, we believe more conservative investors can profit from this meltdown as well. All this real estate doom and gloom has served up opportunities to invest in several high-quality businesses at bargain prices. At Morningstar, we pride ourselves on being contrarian investors. We heartily agree with Buffett's maxim of buying to the sound of cannons and selling to the sound of trumpets. We've identified companies whose businesses are temporarily suffering due to real estate exposure but are fundamentally sound and should prosper when things return to normal. Moreover, these companies are not at the mercy of fickle and skittish short-term financiers, whose sudden cold feet could drive an otherwise viable company out of business. We would put these firms on our watch list and pounce at 5-star prices.
HomebuildersHomebuilders, as one might expect, have been the most prominent casualty of the slowdown in residential real estate. The industry has experienced severe compression in gross margins, the markup charged to homebuyers over land and building costs. Record cancellations have eroded the pricing power of these companies, forcing them to batten the hatches to wait out this downturn. Worse, most of these companies extrapolated 2005 trends into the future and got caught with too much land on their balance sheets, using costly debt to carry this (for now) dead asset. However, we've identified some builders that have avoided this problem and are positioned to weather this storm.
Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - News)Meritage Homes is one of the largest builders in the nation, and importantly, has a large presence in Texas to balance out exposure to boom-bust states such as California, Nevada, and Florida. It was at the top of the class in maintaining a lean inventory throughout the boom due to its deft use of options. Today, it sits with less than one year's worth of owned land based on current order rates, and less than six years' worth including option commitments. It's easy to see why Meritage will likely fare better in the current downturn than competitors. To add icing to the cake, its shares trade at less than book value. Though the market is currently fixated on the company's exposure to formerly hot markets, we see opportunity.
MDC Holdings (NYSE:MDC - News)MDC Holdings, like Meritage, stresses holding less land on its balance sheet, allowing it to earn impressive returns on capital. Its total land position, at less than three years of lots based upon current production rates, is among the lowest in the industry. This is important, as it means less possibility of impairments and also gives the company a leg up on competitors once the eventual upturn arrives. Without a bloated balance sheet, MDC will be in a position to reload its land pipeline at significantly cheaper prices. Though industrywide returns will be depressed for several years, MDC should be among the leaders going forward.
Title InsurersWe believe that the title insurance industry is healthy and has demonstrated the ability to weather troughs in real estate cycles. The industry serves multiple segments that usually perform independently. For example, despite a double hit of weak seasonal and cyclical factors in the residential market in the fourth quarter of 2006, all three companies we cover ( First American (NYSE:FAF - News), Fidelity National (NYSE:FNF - News), and LandAmerica (NYSE:LFG - News)) showed decent profits, propped up by commercial real estate. We expect the companies will grow along the lines of population and household increases. Solidifying the moat around these companies is the fact that, despite the bad press and regulatory concerns, there is no substitute to the role the title companies play in real estate transactions.
First American This company has rapidly gained share profitably, and the ancillary products that augment title revenue are way ahead of the competition. Even better, the company recently bought CoreLogic, a data management company that customizes and markets information derived from First American's enormous real estate database. The company is leveraging this data to become a leader in providing real estate information, which adds to economic returns.
Mortgage InsurersMortgage insurers provide protection to lenders making real estate loans to lower-income home buyers, who want to enjoy the benefits of home ownership but are unable to afford a 20% downpayment that the secondary market requires. Barring a recession that leads to outsized job losses among the lower-income demographic, the mortgage insurers should weather the current storm in fine shape, in our opinion. Over an economic cycle, mortgage insurers have shown the ability to withstand recessions, competitive threats, and regulatory scrutiny. We believe the fundamentals are good for this industry, particularly due to the increased housing demand from minorities and immigrants. Long-term forecasts predict a growing percentage of the population pursuing the American dream of home ownership, and mortgage insurers assist many first-time buyers in taking this step.
MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG - News)We believe that MGIC's decision to acquire Radian Group (NYSE:RDN - News) is timely because it strengthens MGIC's moat. The acquisition increases MGIC's size, giving it a better chance of navigating the choppy, cyclical nature of the mortgage-interest-sensitive real estate markets. The combined entity will also possess the added benefit of multiple executions of credit enhancement through financial guaranty capabilities, an area in which Radian has traditionally excelled.
PMI Group (NYSE:PMI - News)Captive insurers with large lenders such as Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC - News) have been steadily eroding PMI's market share in the U.S. The company has combated this by expanding internationally, carving the second-largest presence in Australia. A growing portion of market participants now opt for customized mortgage pool protection outside of the government-sponsored secondary market. Via its lead investment in financial guarantor FGIC, PMI hopes to use cutting-edge marketing to meld mortgage insurance with credit-enhancement services.
BanksWe've identified a high-quality bank that has been unfairly punished because of its perceived vulnerability due to exposure to subprime mortgage originations and real estate loans held on the balance sheet. Large banks have a diversified revenue stream and are less dependent on real estate loans and mortgage originations than they once were. What's more, banks tend to hold the best-quality loans on their books and typically experience charge-off rates of less than 25 basis points on mortgages.
Wells Fargo Wells Fargo is one of the best-run banks in the country. The firm, in all fairness, has a larger exposure to real estate than the average large bank and, according to Inside Mortgage Finance, is the largest subprime mortgage originator. However, the firm's underwriting is exceptional, resulting in the mortgage portfolio sporting minuscule charge-offs. Wells Fargo's ace in the hole is its large mortgage servicing portfolio, which acts as a natural hedge to its mortgage loan origination business.
Jim Ryan and Eric Landry contributed to this article. Ganesh Rathnam owns shares in First American and call options on New Century Financial.
Get Morningstar's portfolio tools, data, and editorial insight, plus Analyst Reports on 1,450 stocks and 2,000 funds. Start your free 14-day trial today.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Business Prospects Strong In Tyler
By GREG JUNEK Business Editor
The new year has barely begun, but indicators point to good chances of job growth in Tyler and Smith County, Tyler Economic Development Council Chairman Barham Fulmer said Wednesday.Fulmer, addressing about 200 people during the council's 18th annual luncheon in Harvey Convention Center, said although the area started the year under a "cloud" with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. maintaining plans to close its Tyler plant, business prospects have continued to be very strong."There has been more prospect activity at TEDC over the last four months than I've seen in the years I've participated here," Fulmer said. "And we are on more short lists - and I mean some very short. We are so close to being able to announce some things that we can almost taste it. ... Something's going to pop, because there's too much working, and it's going to be a really good year."TEDC officials said because of confidential negotiations, they could not say what the companies were, but prospects include an Internet company project, dubbed "Project White," that would start with 100 new jobs and increase that number to 450 in four to five years."Tyler is the only location they are still considering," TEDC President and CEO Tom Mullins said.Also, a medical management company wants to expand in Tyler by constructing a 15,000-square-foot building and adding 80 new jobs.And Trane has proposed construction of a 20,000-square-foot laboratory testing facility, a $4 million investment resulting in 16 new technology jobs and nine jobs retained. The company plans to add 160 employees throughout the plant, bringing its total employee number to about 2,300, Mullins said.Tyler City Council on Wednesday approved a four-year tax abatement for the proposed Trane project, and the abatement request is scheduled to go before Smith County commissioners on Monday.Mullins presented an overview of 2006 economic activity for Tyler and Smith County, which included
A growth of the Tyler work force to 97,605 and an employment rate of 95.4 percent.
A 13 percent decrease in the number of homes sold, reflecting the national trend, but a 14 percent gain in the average price of a residential home.
Total property values at nearly $11 billion, a 10 percent increase over 2005.
Building permit values increasing 30 percent over those of 2005.
Retail sales reaching almost $3 billion, a 2 percent increase over 2005.
An increase in the office occupancy rate to 88 percent.
A decrease in city of Tyler and Tyler Independent School District tax rates.Since its beginning in 1989, the TEDC has helped create nearly 6,900 jobs, retain more than 8,700 jobs and encourage $423 million in new investment, Mullins said.Featured speaker Carlton Schwab, president and chief executive officer of the Texas Economic Development Council, agreed the Tyler area has the conditions for continued economic growth."You're the linchpin of East Texas," Schwab said. "I'm not telling you anything you don't know, but you've got the most diverse economy and you're the fastest-growing metro area in East Texas. ... For a city this size, you've got so much going on."The state of Texas has decided it wants to attract life science, advanced manufacturing, aerospace defense, information technology, telecommunications, energy and petrochemical industries, and the Tyler area has companies in just about all of these areas, he said.Since Schwab became the Texas council's president and CEO in 1999, the 900-member organization has developed into a recognized leader in the professional development of its members and a powerful voice for economic development policy in the state, according to information from TEDC.
By GREG JUNEK Business Editor
The new year has barely begun, but indicators point to good chances of job growth in Tyler and Smith County, Tyler Economic Development Council Chairman Barham Fulmer said Wednesday.Fulmer, addressing about 200 people during the council's 18th annual luncheon in Harvey Convention Center, said although the area started the year under a "cloud" with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. maintaining plans to close its Tyler plant, business prospects have continued to be very strong."There has been more prospect activity at TEDC over the last four months than I've seen in the years I've participated here," Fulmer said. "And we are on more short lists - and I mean some very short. We are so close to being able to announce some things that we can almost taste it. ... Something's going to pop, because there's too much working, and it's going to be a really good year."TEDC officials said because of confidential negotiations, they could not say what the companies were, but prospects include an Internet company project, dubbed "Project White," that would start with 100 new jobs and increase that number to 450 in four to five years."Tyler is the only location they are still considering," TEDC President and CEO Tom Mullins said.Also, a medical management company wants to expand in Tyler by constructing a 15,000-square-foot building and adding 80 new jobs.And Trane has proposed construction of a 20,000-square-foot laboratory testing facility, a $4 million investment resulting in 16 new technology jobs and nine jobs retained. The company plans to add 160 employees throughout the plant, bringing its total employee number to about 2,300, Mullins said.Tyler City Council on Wednesday approved a four-year tax abatement for the proposed Trane project, and the abatement request is scheduled to go before Smith County commissioners on Monday.Mullins presented an overview of 2006 economic activity for Tyler and Smith County, which included
A growth of the Tyler work force to 97,605 and an employment rate of 95.4 percent.
A 13 percent decrease in the number of homes sold, reflecting the national trend, but a 14 percent gain in the average price of a residential home.
Total property values at nearly $11 billion, a 10 percent increase over 2005.
Building permit values increasing 30 percent over those of 2005.
Retail sales reaching almost $3 billion, a 2 percent increase over 2005.
An increase in the office occupancy rate to 88 percent.
A decrease in city of Tyler and Tyler Independent School District tax rates.Since its beginning in 1989, the TEDC has helped create nearly 6,900 jobs, retain more than 8,700 jobs and encourage $423 million in new investment, Mullins said.Featured speaker Carlton Schwab, president and chief executive officer of the Texas Economic Development Council, agreed the Tyler area has the conditions for continued economic growth."You're the linchpin of East Texas," Schwab said. "I'm not telling you anything you don't know, but you've got the most diverse economy and you're the fastest-growing metro area in East Texas. ... For a city this size, you've got so much going on."The state of Texas has decided it wants to attract life science, advanced manufacturing, aerospace defense, information technology, telecommunications, energy and petrochemical industries, and the Tyler area has companies in just about all of these areas, he said.Since Schwab became the Texas council's president and CEO in 1999, the 900-member organization has developed into a recognized leader in the professional development of its members and a powerful voice for economic development policy in the state, according to information from TEDC.
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