B/CS Chamber of Commerce Connections Jan 2015 | Page 10

chamber PROGRAMS economic OUTLOOK THE B/CS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE GOES N O N-S T O P TO AUSTIN, TEXAS & WASHINGTON, D.C. TO REPRESENT YOU • Join us in Austin on February 3-4 to present our State Legislative Action Plan. • Reserve your spot for the Washington, D.C. fly-in, May 11-14 to present our Federal Legislative Action Plan. Legislative Affairs Sponsor Call [phone] or email [email protected] BE HEARD WITH “THE VOICE OF LOCAL BUSINESS” Economic Outlook Conference Wednesday, January 28, 2015 The Hilton - College Station Title Sponsor Hospitality Sponsor Growing, Growing, Gone By: Sarah Huether Despite the recession, slow economic recovery and an overall struggle in the United States, Texas as a whole has come out on top. Within Texas, Bryan/College Station has consistently come out on top in economic indicator ratings, placing in the top 20 on three separate surveys. College Station was ranked as the second fastest growing city in the nation, with Bryan ranked at number 17, according to a study completed by Sreekar Jashti of Nerdwallet. Jashti is an analyst for Nerdwallet, a website based out of San Francisco that offers financial advice to its users and “transparency as to what cities are prospering across the U.S.,” says Jashti. Jashti used three sectors to calculate and compare the 506 cities used in the study based on the 2009-2013 Census to conduct Nerdwallet’s annual “Fastest Growing Cities Study.” These included growth in the working age population, growth of the population actually in the work force, and growth in the median income. “More people moving there doesn’t necessarily mean that more people are working in the city,” explained Jashti as to why he dug past “sheer raw” population growth and studied work force growth. Digging even further, into the growth in median income, Jasti says just because there are “more people living there, and more people working there, doesn’t mean they’re making more money,” says Jashti. “What was interesting [was that] a lot of these cities are relatively smaller cities,” says Jashti. “Lots of cities are growing in Texas” says Jashti. In 2008, the recession damaged many economies. However, Texas only grew. According to a separate study done by Nerdwallet, “Recession Recovery: Cities that Have Improved the Most,” eight out of the top ten cities were in Texas. Bryan was named the fifth most improved city since the recession out of a total of 510 cities analyzed based on each city’s labor market and housing market. The nation overall experienced an average five percent growth in population and a surprising negative two percent drop in the people in the workforce. College Station, however, defied these odds. College Station’s population grew by 18 percent, a significant amount in a few years, but was surpassed by its median income growth at 25 percent, according to Jashti’s research. According to NerdWallet’s “Texas Cities on the Rise” study, College Station came in seventh, based on the same criteria as the fastest growing cities study. Over the last 13 years, Nerdwallet stated that according to the Dallas Federal Reserve carpool.tamu.edu 8 Connections January 2015 www.bcschamber.org Connections January 2015 9