Texas is experiencing a major boom that began way before its power grid was decimated by February’s historic winter storm.
The Governor’s Economic Development and Tourism office said in September there’s been a “tremendous increase” in companies reaching out since the pandemic hit, with 237 relocation or expansion projects currently in the works.
Oracle moved its headquarters to Austin, Texas late last year. Tesla is also building its new Gigafactory there, and Apple will house its second-largest campus in Texas’ capital city. This Big Tech influx has raised chatter about Texas potentially becoming a business hub that could rival Silicon Valley.
CBRE and Charles Schwab relocated their headquarters from California to the Dallas area in recent months, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise is headed to Houston. Texas has also attracted wealthy individuals like Joe Rogan, Elon Musk, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale.
But it’s not just big businesses and the wealthy who are moving to Texas. In 2020, Texas added more residents than any other state. This comes as California’s population and job growth have slowed to a trickle.
Watch the video above to hear from those moving to Texas and longtime Texans about the reasons behind the trend and what it could mean for the state’s future.
