the second largest high-tech employment
gains in the nation. The addition of
14,600 high-tech jobs brought the
industry total to 492,400 in 2008 – with
the largest tech employment gains in
computer systems design and related
services; engineering services; and R&D
and testing labs.
Today, Texas remains the second-largest
“cyberstate” in terms of total technology
industry employment, behind California
and ahead of New York. Consider that,
according to the most recent figures from
the Texas Workforce Commission (August
2013), the Professional and Business
Services industry (which includes
technology) has had overall positive
growth from August 2012 to August
2013 with a total employment increase
of 7,400 jobs – a 5. 9 percent increase.
And, Austin ranked fourth among the
country’s 200 largest metropolitan areas
on the Milken Institute’s Best Performing
Cities list, which ranks cities according to
metrics like job creation and salary and
technology growth.
Top technology employers in Austin
include such nationally known companies
as Samsung, Advanced Micro Devices
(AMD), Apple, Inc., Applied Materials,
Cisco Systems, Dell, Inc., Freescale
Semiconductor, IBM, Intel, and 3M, plus
numerous startup companies. Most of
these businesses are also either based in
Austin, or they’ve chosen to locate large
portions of their operations here.
In fact, Fast Company magazine has
named Austin, Texas a Startup Hub on its
annual 30 Fastest Cities in the World list,
with criteria that included “a culture that
nurtures creative action and game-changing
enterprise, innovation and energy.”
We’ve also been ranked among the Top
10 Hottest Wireless Cities, with about 11
free wireless hotspots for every 100,000
residents. Austin’s ranking is credited to a
strong grassroots wireless movement,
especially the Austin City Wireless Project
( www.austincitywireless.org).
ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT AND
HOMEGROWN COMPANIES
The entrepreneurial spirit is still very much a
part of Austin’s business philosophy, and
we have the accolades to prove it.
Entrepreneur magazine has ranked the
University of Texas at Austin among the top
10 on its list of Best Graduate Programs for
Entrepreneurs, and the Wall Street Journal
named UT’s Executive MBA Program the
12th best among business schools.
The Austin Technology Incubator, the
University of Texas’ IC2 Institute, the
Central Texas Angel Network, the Austin
Technology Council, and Capital Factory –
a technology incubator program in which
companies apply for cash, support and
mentoring sessions with experienced,
successful and local entrepreneurs – have
all made it possible for young companies
to be successful.
The Daily Beast has ranked Austin seventh
on its America’s Smartest Cities list, and it’s
that range of talent and ideas that have
made Central Texas one of the top targets
for venture capital investment in the country.
In fact, one of the largest venture investments
in the country in the last eight years was
made in an Austin-based company –
vacation home rental site HomeAway.com –
which received $250 million in venture
funding in November 2008.
Prime investment sectors in the last several
years have included biotechnology,
business products and services, computers
and peripherals, consumer products and
services, electronics/instrumentation,
financial, healthcare and IT services,
media and entertainment, medical devices
and equipment, semiconductors, software,
networking and related equipment,
retailing and distribution, and
telecommunications.
Austin is also home to several nationally
known companies that have their roots
firmly planted here. GSD&M Idea City, a
national advertising agency founded in
1971 by six University of Texas students
that is now owned by media giant
Omnicom, has annual billings of more
than $1.5 billion. Whole Foods Market,
Inc., the world’s largest retailer of natural
and organic foods, is also based here.
Founded in 1980 and consistently named
among FORTUNE magazine’s annual
Best Places to Work list, the company had
sales of more than $10 billion at the end
of fiscal year 2011. And Dell, Inc.,
founded by Michael Dell out of his
University of Texas dorm room in 1984,
reported a 16 percent increase in
revenue growth to $61.5 billion at the
end of fiscal year 2011.
ENTERTAINMENT: MUSIC, FILM,
TOURISM AND DIGITAL MEDIA
Austin’s reputation as the “Live Music
Capital of the World,” plus tourism, film,
