Here's what non-Texans think about the Lone Star State's business economy
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As Houston and the rest of Texas continue to welcome out-of-state businesses, there’s some affirming news from a new poll. More than half of non-Texans believe the Lone Star State is a good place to launch a business.
The survey, conducted earlier this summer by Austin-based Crosswinds Media & Public Relations and Asbury Park, New Jersey-based Rasmussen Reports, a conservative-leaning polling company, found 53 percent of non-Texans had a positive perception of Texas as a place to do business. Only 23 percent of adults outside Texas had a “bad” or “very bad” view of the state’s business environment, while 24 percent said they were unsure.
The survey questioned 845 American adults who don’t live in Texas.
Thomas Graham, president and CEO of Crosswinds, says the survey results demonstrate that “the brand of the Lone Star State remains strong.”
In recent years, a number of out-of-state companies have been lured by that brand as well as the business climate in Houston. Notable examples include Hewlett Packard Enterprise, NRG Energy, and Axiom Space.
Just this year, several companies based outside Texas have revealed headquarters moves to the Houston area. Among them are:
- Archaea Energy, which was based in Pittsburgh. The company produces renewable natural gas.
- CDI Engineering Solutions, which was based in Philadelphia. The company provides engineering and architecture services.
- DarkPulse, which was based in New York City. The company develops fiber-sensor technology.
- Noodoe EV, which was based in Irvine, California. The company’s cloud-based platform manages charging stations for electric vehicles.
Jennifer Chang, CEO of Noodoe, says her company relocated its headquarters from Southern California to Texas to take advantage of Houston’s central location.
“Houston has the port and airport capacity we need to efficiently meet the unprecedented demand for EV charging stations,” Chang said in a January news release. “Houston has long been the Energy Capital of the World, mostly because of oil and gas extraction. Noodoe will help the city continue its energy legacy, only this time without fossil fuels.”
The poll from Crosswinds and Rasmussen was completed around the same time that CNBC released its ranking of the best states for doing business. Texas landed in fifth place, down one notch from its perch in CNBC’s 2021 study. A day later, CNBC put out a list of the worst states to live, with Texas appearing at No. 2 behind Arizona.
CNBC notes that skilled workers are flooding Texas, even though the quality of life here raises questions. The new arrivals “are finding limited childcare options, a stressed health care system with the highest rate of uninsured, new curbs on voting rights, and few protections against discrimination,” the cable TV network declares.
