Analyst Predicts Massive Influx Of Jobs To East Texas By 2013 By BRIAN PEARSON, Business Editor   |   Apr 23, 2009

Hilton Garden Inn in Tyler had 40 employees on the payroll when it swung open its doors in early February.

"We had a lot of applicants, which was great," said Kim Doughty, the inn's hotel sales director.

The hotel's opening brought the number of rooms in Tyler to 2,375. With the 80-room Staybridge Suites and other new hotels on the way, applicants who didn't make the cut at the Hilton Garden Inn still can find employment in that industry.

"Tyler definitely has a need for more hotels and people to work in them," Doughty said.

Hotels, as part of the service industry, represent a part of where jobs will grow the fastest in the next four years, a statewide economist said in a report released Wednesday.

Service-industry positions -- including everything from restaurants and hotels to education, call centers and the medical community -- will generate about half of the almost 34,000 new jobs the East Texas region could see by 2013, according to economist Ray Perryman's report.

The region comprises 23 counties: Smith, Wood, Gregg, Anderson, Bowie, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Delta, Franklin, Harrison, Henderson, Hopkins, Lamar, Marion, Morris, Panola, Rains, Red River, Rusk, Titus, Upshur and Van Zandt.

Perryman, a Lindale native now based in Waco, said the forecast was based on recent data releases and recent state, nation and world economic events that could affect the region.

While the region's forecast is positive, the job growth will not mirror some parts of the state, he said.

"Upper East Texas does well relative to many parts of the state but lags a little behind the regions including major metro areas," he said. "Services is a very broad category that includes health care, education (non-public), business services, attorneys, hotels, architects, engineers, amusements, restaurants, waste management and even economists.

"Because most of these sectors are labor-intensive, they tend to generate more jobs per dollar of output than manufacturing and oil and gas. Much of the growth, which will come later in the (four-year) period after we get through the current situation, will likely be in the health and business services categories."

Perryman said most of the job growth in the 23-county region will center around Tyler, Longview and Texarkana.

Earlier this month, Forbes magazine ranked Longview as No. 3 on its list of "Best Cities for Job Growth" among the nation's small-sized cities. Tyler ranked 29th.

Smith County ranked eighth nationwide in employment growth from September 2007 to September 2008, growing 2.4 percent, according to a U.S. Department of Labor report last week. The county was among 20 of the state's 24 large counties to see jumps in employment levels for that time period. Large counties were defined as those having at least 75,000 residents employed.

Tom Mullins, Tyler Economic Development Council president and CEO, said he expects continued job growth in medicine, education and retail. Medicine alone created 1,240 jobs in the past year, he said.

"Its typical stuff that's been growing across the country for years," Mullins said. "We have a big service base."

Trade, creating 5,255 jobs, represents the No. 1 projected job-growth area in Perryman's report, followed by government, manufacturing and a group that includes transportation, warehousing and utilities.

Kim Stacy, employer services supervisor for Texas Workforce Solutions in Tyler, said she is placing workers in the health industry as well as in call centers and positions with companies such as Suddenlink and Ozarka.

"There's still some (job openings) in production and warehousing," Stacy added.
Perryman said utilities also represent a brisk job-growth area.

John Stroud, Longview Economic Development Corp. executive director, said he expects manufacturing to pick up as the economy improves.

"Health care is going to continue to be huge," Stroud said, pointing to his city's two hospitals.
Where job growth could explode is oil and gas, he said, adding that if the price goes to $6 from its current $3.60 per million Btu, that immediately would launch 5,000 jobs in the area.

"If natural gas prices go up, you won't believe what's going to happen in this area," Stroud said. "What happens in energy will have a significant impact here”.

However, taxes on the coal industry could negatively impact the Longview area, whose utilities depend on coal-generated power, he said.

Perryman said the East Texas region's job-growth success could be enhanced if the area's leaders work together.

"I have been advocating regionalism in this area since the early 1980s," Perryman said. "Ongoing efforts to maximize workforce training, other educational opportunities and other initiatives are important, as well as capitalizing on existing industry clusters.

"Joint marketing makes sense, as the entire area gets the benefits of everyone's strengths”.