Posted on 03/29/2014 10:46:21 AM PDT by Spktyr
Surpassing California for the first time, Texas is leading the nation in technology-related exports, according to a new report.
State companies that make computers, semiconductors and communications equipment, among other products, exported more than $45 billion in products in 2012, according to the TechAmerica Foundation, a tech industry lobbying firm.
That was driven by Texas’ 7 percent growth — about $3 billion — in tech exports from 2011. Tech exports supported nearly 1.5 million jobs nationwide and about 331,000 jobs in Texas, according to the report. California, meanwhile, declined 2.8 percent, to $44.8 billion in technology exports.
Technology exports accounted for 17 percent of all exports from Texas in 2012, above the national average of 13 percent. Texas also ranked first or second in every technology export sector examined. Texas was first in semiconductor exports at $14 billion, first in communication equipment exports at $8.9 billion and second in computer equipment exports at $12.8 billion.
The state’s leading tech export destinations were Mexico ($22 billion), Canada ($4 billion) and South Korea ($3 billion).
Matthew Kazmierczak, TechAmerica Foundation’s vice president for research, said market dynamics and cost of living make Texas a more competitive location for manufacturing, which helped it overtake California.
“Texas also has some large-scale computer equipment manufacturing centers that have recently increased production and have resulted in significant increases in computer equipment exports, whereas in California the computer equipment manufacturing has decreased, contributing to the decrease in tech exports from California,” he said.
However, states also are competing with international markets, and “increasingly companies are finding that they can bring manufacturing production back to the United States and remain competitive,” Kazmierczak said. “As such, they seem to be expanding at their Texas facilities.”
Tech exports account for a significant portion of the Austin economy.
In 2012, the Austin metro area was the 35th largest export market in the United States, with merchandise shipments totaling $9 billion, up 4 percent from 2011, according to the International Trade Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce that promotes U.S. exports.
Austin ranks among the top major metro area exporters to South Korea ($3.4 billion), Taiwan ($1 billion), Mexico ($612 million), Malaysia ($497 million) and China ($397 million), according to the International Trade Administration. The city also ranks among major metro exporters of computer and electronic products ($5.9 billion); machinery, except electrical, ($2.2 billion); and electrical equipment, appliances and components ($188 million).
Brian Kelsey, principal of Civic Analytics, an Austin-based economic development firm, said he wasn’t surprised Texas has overtaken California in tech exports.
“Austin is widely recognized globally as a center of innovation and technology-based economic development,” Kelsey said. “But this report makes clear, perhaps for the first time for some people outside Texas, that technology is a key driver of growth in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and other parts of the state. Each region has its own niche within the technology sector, and that diversity provides a strong foundation for the state economy.”
Major tech employers like Round Rock-based Dell Inc. are a major reason for the Austin area’s – and by extension Texas’ – flush export numbers.
“As Dell approaches its 30th anniversary this spring, our team members are proud to have been a part of the Texas tech growth story and are focused on continuing to make technology more affordable and accessible for people and organizations worldwide,” company spokesman David Frink said.
The news of Texas’ jump ahead of California was warmly received by Austin-area lawmakers.
“It’s no surprise that Texas is now leading the nation in technology exports,” said U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin. “The success of our technology innovators drives job growth and the success of our economy.”
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, said the state’s technology sector “means more high-paying jobs that strengthen our community, while delivering more high-quality goods and services worldwide. Maintaining a highly educated workforce and a quality of life that attracts the best and brightest from around the world is essential to growing our economy.”
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Top States by Tech Exports
Texas $45.1 billion
California $44.8 billion
Florida $14.5 billion
Massachusetts $7.3 billion
New York $6.6 billion
Source: TechAmerica Foundation
As Sam Houston is often credited as saying: “The United States needs Texas.
He was wrong. There is no way that you could afford to pay the United States enough money for all the military bases alone for you to survive. It would be cost prohibited to have to pay for those federal bases.
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/02/is-your-state-a-net-giver-or-taker-of-federal-taxes/
Well this is might interesting. Maryland only gets about 83 cents back for every dollar given. Texas gets 91 cents for every dollar it gives. Of course South Carolina is horrid….they receive 2.39 cents for every dollar given. Why is South Carolina one of the worst states?
Um, not being part of the US we wouldn’t need all those military bases. Does, say, France or England or even Russia pay for tons of bases outside their borders? No?
Further, we could adopt a pure Sampson option - the only nuclear weapons construction and maintenance facility in North America is in Texas.
That number does not include the money ‘given’ by the government sector.
Single largest source of income for Maryland? Government. Please note the non-government sectors and how they’re mostly declining. http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.md.htm
Michigan has only very recently thrown off the chains of forced unionism thuggery. The seeds of freedom and liberty are only now taking hold. No longer bound to the slavery imposed by Big Labor goons, the road to economic recovery has now begun.
The Southern states have long been free and their economic might is unquestionable. Right to work, along the right to keep and bear arms, have been cherished for decade after decade in the Solid South.
Wasn’t Al Sharpton in Silicon Valley the other day, telling those high-tech companies to hire more minority workers?
If he’s looking for the good jobs, he went to the wrong state.
I just read about an Indiana plastics company sending some jobs to Hillsdale to other day.
When it comes to guns, Michigan is freer than Texas in some respects.
That old slogan is really in need of a 21st Century overhaul to reflect the new reality:
Not to mention the great things your (MI) state legislators have been doing, of late. Becoming quite the "success" in showing other blue states how it's done.
It was Jesse “Shakedown” Jackson. Al was in Ohio embracing the ballot box stuffer.
What we need is a part time legislature.
Take heart. A lot of us have noticed MI and it’s progress.
If you could shed the Democrat/Union paradise of Detroit....................
On second thought, even Detroit police chief is breaking new ground by publically supporting the citizens right to shoot attackers.
The 'chip' (solid state intergrated circuit) was invented by Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments in 1957.
Jack got the Nobel Prize in physics for this invention.
One of the leading figures in computing algorithms, the late Edsger Dijkstra, taught at the University of Texas. And down the road a bit, the creator of the C++ language, Bjarne Stroustup, is the College of Engineering Chair in Computer Science at Texas A&M. He might be one Aggie more famous than Johnny Manziel...well, at least to geeks. And to this day, the most widely-used DSP chips come from Texas Instruments.
Does Trenton actually make anything anyone wants any more?
As for the message being conveyed, well, Trenton really doesn't make much anymore. The Roebling wire plant shut down 24 years ago. The car, anvil, tool, watch, cigar factories - all are gone. A few, scattered light manufacturing plants still carry on, but for the most part, the business of Trenton is in state government, health and other service industries.
I live here in north Texas. Just got back from running the garage sales in my immediate area. I noticed new homes being constructed everywhere I went. Crews were out working today on a lot of the sites. Folks, these are really nice homes, almost mansions, that somebody is buying at very nice prices.
And those persons sure ain’t working part-time at Mickey D’s. I was surprised to read that Texas unemployment was down to 5.7 percent. It looks like a lot of the people are coming to Texas who own businesses and bring new jobs or work in the skilled trades or professions. Much more than I thought.
Yes, Texas is blessed.
There are other issues which also draw a mark of "needs improvement" but in sum, Texas is doing things mostly right.
I was a process engineering manager in the DSP wafer fab. I retired from TI at the end of 1994 at age 50.
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