Phil Riddle

editor@weatherforddemocrat.com

Headlines tell of a faltering stock market, grim job prospects and an economy in free fall as the country welcomes a new administration.

However, Texas, and specifically Parker County, may be a good place to ride out the current financial storm.

Dennis Clayton, executive director of the Weatherford Economic Development Authority, said he tracks several key indicators which show North Texas is in a unique position of economic strength.

“Texas is not going to be affected as much as other parts of the country,” Clayton said. “And the Metroplex is one of the strongest areas in the state. Our general indications are Weatherford is even better than that.”

Clayton keeps track of the number of new business prospects which contact his office, sales tax revenue and retail building permits, among other primary financial indicators.

New business contacts have stayed constant, even with continuing bad news elsewhere, according to Clayton.

“That number has stayed the same for the last 4-1/2 years,” he said. “We have been getting about 40 percent of our contacts from outside the state, and that number has dropped some. But the Metroplex prospects came in to hold the number at a constant level. That’s a pretty good indicator of strength.”

As is the area’s sales tax collection rate.

According to the office of Texas Comptroller Susan Combs, Parker County is collecting sales taxes at a rate about 9 percent ahead of last year.

The last tax rebate checks received by municipalities in Parker County, $1.33 million for October, brought the year-to-date total to $13.4 million.

“We’re still building retail space,” Clayton said. “With all the existing and new retail space here, we’re becoming a regional shopping destination. That is one big reason our sales tax collections keep going up.”

Statewide, tax collections were up slightly more than 5 percent over 2007.

Clayton said the opening of new shopping complexes like Weatherford Ridge has contributed to an overall boost in commercial building permits in the city.

“All this year, permits for commercial construction has been ahead of 2007,” Clayton said. “That can readily be seen in retail and motel construction.”

The economic benefits of the Barnett Shale also add to the region’s economic health, Clayton said.

“The natural gas industry is a strong stabilizing factor,” he said. “That’s one indicator why unemployment is not rising here. The natural gas drillers have been affected a little bit by current conditions,” he said. “But service companies I’ve talked to indicate no real draw-back in their businesses.”

A recent release from the governor’s office confirms Texas’ economy, while not immune to financial ripples from problem spots in the nation, is on firm footing.

Governor Rick Perry and noted economist Dr. Arthur Laffer recently unveiled an economic study comparing Texas with California, the two economic heavyweights in the United States.

The study showed the Lone Star State has a “superior economic climate,” showing growth in income, wealth and employment projected to strengthen, relative to the rest of the nation.

In fact, if Texas were its own country, its economy would be the 12th strongest in the world.

The governor’s office reports Texas leads the U.S. in creating new jobs, gross state product, low unemployment rate, as well as direct foreign investment.

Even when the news is bad, there is the proverbial silver lining.

The Associated Press reported Texas’ unemployment rate increased to 5.6 percent in October, up half a percentage point from the previous month because of Hurricane Ike and national economic trends, but still nearly a full percentage point below the rest of the country.

“While Texas still has nearly a 1 percent lower unemployment rate than the rate of the nation, I would expect unemployment rates in Texas to continue to track the national trend upward in the months ahead,” Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Tom Pauken said.

The state had a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 5.1 percent in September and 4.3 percent in October 2007.

Nearly half of the increase in the number of unemployed reported statewide for October came in the Houston and Beaumont metropolitan areas, regions hit hard by Hurricane Ike.