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Texas Tops WalletHub New Business Favorability Rankings

Dallas and other Texas cities continue to attract entrepreneurs.
KERA
Dallas and other Texas cities continue to attract entrepreneurs.

A study released earlier this week names Texas the number one state in the country in which to start a business. KETR’s Scott Morgan spoke with one economist who’s not surprised to hear that.

Audio transcript

The report by finance website WalletHubsays it’s the Texas business environment that makes the state so good for entrepreneurs. UT-Dallas professor of political economy and public policy Don Hicks says it’s a simple matter of growth attracting growth.

HICKS: It’s almost as though it’s an epidemiology that growth spreads throughout a region in an organic sort of way.

Hicks says that growth starts with a combination of a good living environment and a wealth of major companies that have made Texas’ metro centers home. This in turn attracts a lot of young talent who help and are helped by larger companies.

HICKS: When you have a lot of bright people capable of thinking about starting businesses, they’re very attuned to the needs of the major businesses in the region. And it’s easy, relatively easy, to establish a connection with them, and in a way the large companies help incubate or support, nurture some of the small ones.

Hicks says he expects Texas to stay on top of lists like the one issued by WalletHub this week – in part because Texas has been on top of lists like these for decades.

Scott Morgan, KETR News.

Scott Morgan has been an award-winning journalist since 2001. His work has appeared in several newspapers and magazines as well as online. He has also been an editor, freelancer, speaker, writing teacher, author, and podcaster.