Things are looking up for the Austin economy. Corporate relocations and expansions are bringing jobs to the area. In fact, we're seeing a record number of new jobs. Senior Vice President of Economic Development Charisse Bodisch was featured in this KVUE article:

"Texas’s business-friendly climate, paired with the Austin region’s abundant talent pool and incredible quality of life, makes us a magnet for businesses," said Charisse Bodisch, the senior vice president of economic development for the Austin Chamber. "The Austin region has proven itself to be resilient even amidst the pandemic."

As noted in our latest Central Texas Economy report, Austin ranked at the best preforming area in the country's 50 biggest metros. Culture Map reported on the region's economic future, citing our CenTex report:

Further evidence of the strength of the local job market: The region’s 2.5 percent decline in jobs from September 2019 to September 2020 made it the best-performing place among the country’s 50 biggest metro areas. The 49 other metros saw steeper year-over-year drops in jobs, according to the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce.

As did Austin Business Journal:

That's according to a tally from Opportunity Austin — the economic development initiative of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce — indicating 35 companies have announced in 2020 plans to create roughly 9,790 jobs across the metro. That tops the 2018 record of 9,424 jobs announced by 46 companies, according to Opportunity Austin, which has been tracking job creation since it launched in 2004.

But the Austin area has seen a rush of corporate relocations and expansions this year, despite the pandemic. In 2020, 35 companies have announced plans to create roughly 9,790 jobs across the metro, according to Opportunity Austin, the economic development arm of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce

2020 has seen the announcement of several company relocations and expansions to the Austin area. The latest additions reported by Austin Business Journal include Assurely's HQ relocation from NYC to Austin and Japanese manufacturing company CKD Corp.'s first U.S. production site.

On Oct. 29, Chamber president and CEO Laura Huffman participated in the 2020 East Austin Growth Summit. The panel touched on a variety of topics including Tesla's Gigafactory. In addition to creating more than 5,000 jobs, Tesla's investment will better equip the region's workforce. Laura Huffman's quote from the panel was featured in this Austin Business Journal article:

"Not only will their skills make them marketable down the road, but employee health insurance, the opportunity to buy into the company, the training ... these aren't just new jobs for people, these are new careers," Huffman said of Tesla's positions.

Check out the recap and watch the East Austin Growth Summit video here.