Good News: Business is Strong
Naysayers and the prophets of doom and gloom aside, the powerful economy of the Lone Star State is not likely to fade anytime soon. In fact, just the opposite is more probable. And that is clearly good news for the state’s insurance industry which historically rides the general business curve.
The great news about Texas business comes from State Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander’s Fiscal Notes. The lead story, “Gone to Texas,” makes it abundantly clear that business in the second largest state is booming, and it is not just high-tech that lit the fuse. For starters, Texas leads the nation in non-farm job creation, adding 2.5 million between 1990 and 2001. That includes insurance. It also includes construction, finance, real estate, wholesale and retail trade, transportation and others. Plus Texas continues well ahead of the pack in mining sector employment.
From startups to out-of-state companies looking to expand, Texas is a good place for business. Boeing—currently exploring a move to Dallas-Fort Worth—has already expanded in El Paso with its Minuteman III ICBM Guidance Replacement Program. West TeleServices Corp. of Nebraska brought more than 1,000 jobs to Beaumont. In 1997, Ohio-based Nationwide Insurance opened a customer contact center in Amarillo with some 500 workers. And this doesn’t even begin to touch growth in the big cities (three of which—Houston, Dallas and San Antonio—are among the 10 largest in the country).
What’s the draw? The obvious answer is the labor force. But the Comptroller cites more. Texas has instituted major reforms in workers’ compensation, which have lowered employers’ costs; Texas is a right-to-work state; it has no personal income tax; it has the largest road network in the U.S.; Dallas/Fort Worth’s airport is the world’s third busiest; Houston’s port handles more foreign cargo than any other in the country; the gross state product ranks Texas third in the U.S.; two-thirds of all trade with Mexico is through Texas; and the state is the country’s second largest insurance market.
The current economic chill may slow the state down a bit, giving it a necessary chance to clear out some deadwood. Texas has weathered worse and it will again. Mostly, the survivors know what it takes to succeed.
Of course, insurance, like any other sector, will not flourish just because its practitioners are all nice folks. Not unlike most business pursuits, insurance success requires intelligence, dedication, hard work, a little luck and paying attention to the street. Getting relaxed and comfortable with today’s good work and turning a deaf ear to the voice on the street will only spell ruin tomorrow.
When I was stumbling around pre-adulthood, my dad, owner of a small business, advised me, “to be successful you need to move forward. Stop, and you’ll fail.” Naturally, I didn’t understand why a company couldn’t simply remain where it was, doing what it did best. I’ve since discovered, as have most others not surprisingly, that there is a certain immutable “law of the business jungle”: Stretch yourself to stay ahead or risk getting gobbled up.
As I fit into the editor’s chair here at the IJ/T I will try to shape the content of this already excellent magazine in a way that will help insurance in Texas not only succeed but also prevail.