Economic Development

ACCOLADES

The economy in the Texarkana metro area, continues to remain  vibrant and healthy, relative to most other areas of our country. The recognition of this has led to a series of articles and accolades in national publications acknowledging and touting the vitality and soundness of this area for economic growth and opportunity.

Following on the heels of a Forbes.com article in 2008 which ranked Texarkana as #2 on their list of small metro areas with the fastest growing “gross metropolitan product” Texarkana was recognized by three additional publications during 2009.

The Milken's Institute's report, "Best Performing Cities 2009 where America's jobs are created and sustained" ranked Texarkana 17 in it's list of small metro areas as compared to #81 in 2008. This accounted for the second largest positive jump in the Nation. There were 124 small metro areas on the list.

Texarkana was also listed at # 22 by a report (Americas' 25 Next Reviving Job Markets)by a report from business.com and Moody's Economy.com. The report identified the metro areas that were anticipated to  outgrow the nation....   . The rankings were based on job growth during the first projected quarter of 2010.

In a 2009 article by Kiplinger.com,  Texarkana ranked 2nd among the ten metro areas that enjoyed the greatest home-price increases over the past year. In perspective the declining housing market was what pushed so many metro areas throughout the country into the depths of the recession. This article recognizes that Texarkana was able to avoid those problems and actually saw an appreciation in housing values during the last year.