Saturday, November 15, 2008

Are Texas Web Designers living in the New Silicon Valley?

By Jordan FeRoss

Texas Web Designers are worrying whether or not there will be any business left for them if the national economy continues to decline. Unemployment rates are rising at alarming rates. The cost of living is soaring. So is it any question that we are in a recession? Well, that depends on where you live. There are some nooks and crannies where the economy has remained fairly stable. Texas is one of them. Fortunately, the real estate bubble hasn't burst here, yet. We've also benefited from the dramatic increase in oil prices. Discoveries like the Barnet Shale have put Texas back on the map, at least in terms of oil discovery and refining.

Texas Web Designers are proving that we not only have a wealth of business opportunities to deal with, but the region in general is wealthy. Real Estate is still going strong and new discoveries of natural gas reserves are poising us for prosperity and recovery. Yet, many have overlooked our thriving tech-sector. A number of high-tech companies have migrated to N. Texas, having heard the news of this prosperous state. All of this leaves the Internet Marketers in a position to profit greatly from the nation's New Silicon Valley.

Various changes in Texas legislature are allowing tech businesses to grow using government subsidies. One bill in particular, the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, established in 2005, will give more than $200 Million to the high-tech sector, creating job growth in the Texas economy and more opportunities for Texas Web Designers.

The technology sector has been about as secure as anyone could hope, which is apparent to Texas Web Designers. Businesses functioning in the IT area, like ISPs and web search portals only lost 100 jobs from 2007 to 2008. When compared to manufacturing or agriculture, it becomes obvious that Texas is poised to emerge as the new leader in high-tech business development. Austin is even known as "Silicon Hills", and N. Dallas as "Silicon Prairie", because of the presence of high-tech conglomerates like HP/EDS, Dell and TI (Texas Instruments).

Moreover, construction is holding strong, experiencing a 4% increase from 2007, translating to an additional 25,000 jobs. Leisure and hospitality plus education and health services are experiencing similar growth, with the addition of 70,000 jobs combined. The net result for Texas Web Designers is that there now exists more demand than supply. But this can also create monopolistic-like practices such as poor customer service and exorbitant prices.

With any luck, these figures will continue to increase and we will see more and more businesses move to the Texas area. Of course, if we do not, we can still predict that the Texas economy will hold strong, in part due to our state's wealth from oil and housing. Nevertheless, be patient when choosing a web design firm. Choose Texas Web Designers that have been around for a while and can navigate the capricious terrain of IT and high-tech safely and securely. You DON'T want to have to switch companies six months after a site is launched and start the process of teaching a design firm all about you - all over again. Consultants do best when they're allowed to become intimately familiar with your business and its common practices. - 15431

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