PARADIGM SHIFT
I
s South Texas immune to the effects of falling oil prices? In the Coastal Bend, there is a strong
argument that current regional developments in the downstream of the oil and gas industry
suffice to ward off the potential adverse effects of low oil prices on the region. As Hunt (2015)
explained, the emerging industrial renaissance is widely believed to be the key development that
can counter most of the economic woes that low oil prices are bringing to South Texas.
This new game changer stems from the record number of capital development projects
underway in Corpus Christi, which together promise to create permanent jobs equivalent to about
10 percent of the area workforce. Those jobs will be mostly high-paying professional positions in
the industrial manufacturing sector. About 20 of those industrial sites have already broken ground,
creating a tight labor market for construction and craft skills workers.
PARADIGM SHIFT
INDUSTRIAL RENAISSANCE
That
declining
trend is
about to
reverse in
the Coastal
Bend as the
region is
undergoing
a facelift in
its industrial
landscape.
F
ollowing the national trend, the local manufacturing sector has undergone an extended
period of declines as production has been outsourced overseas to notably China and other
emerging economies around the world. Between 2001 and 2014, the Coastal Bend lost about
2,400 manufacturing jobs, and the share of the manufacturing sector in total regional employment
reduced from 6.6 percent to 4.5 percent. Most of those job losses were offset by gains in serviceoriented employment.
That declining trend is about to reverse in the Coastal Bend as the region is undergoing a
facelift in its industrial landscape. This ]