Economic developers must prioritize investments to best position the region by building competencies that improve its global competitiveness. These investments frequently occur in export oriented high-skill, high-wage sectors. Growth in such sectors/clusters improves the lives of the region's residents through higher wages, and accelerates GRP by drawing in dollars through export activity.
Although individual communities leverage their unique position and advantages in setting economic development priorities, there is broad consensus in the Permian Basin region regarding clusters that should be targeted through regional partnerships for investment of economic development resources.
1. Midland and Odessa (major population centers) Economic Development Agencies target Clusters detailed below for recruitment
and development within their service area or recognize the importance of the Clusters to surrounding communities.
2. Workforce Solutions Permian Basin invests the region’s workforce development resources in support of all identified Clusters.
3. Recent investments in the Midland International Air and Space Port have provided the region a unique competitive advantage.
4. Economic development agencies throughout the region make investments in developing competencies in these Clusters within their own
communities.
These target Clusters are explicit targets for economic development investments in metropolitan and rural areas throughout the region:
1. Energy: Fossil Fuel and Renewable Energy Production/Environmental Technology
2. Biomedical and Life Sciences
3. Aerospace and Aviation/Space Exploration
4. Transportation and Logistics
5. Manufacturing
6. Agribusiness, Food Processing, and Technology
Download complete industry projections.
The analysis that follows establishes a basis for strategy development and provide:
1. A Description or definition of the Cluster;
2. A snapshot of each cluster's economic impact on the region;
3. An employment outlook for the region that identifies (1) regional competencies and (2) projected high-growth Cluster components; and
4. An inventory of economic catalysts for the region likely to stimulate growth.
It should be noted, however, that communities throughout the region, while adept at investments that leverage broader regional competencies, must also capitalize on the unique local characteristics to build a competitive economic position; these investments are not always consistent with regional economic development clusters. Successful “local” economic development efforts, range from downtown redevelopment in McCamey to create micro-business incubators to assist local entrepreneurs, to development of an intermodal park in Big Spring that requires millions of dollars of investment and will create hundreds of jobs.
A larger scale example of local competency development is Andrews County capitalizing on available land assets, and permitting Waste Control Specialists (WCS) to operate a nuclear waste facility in the County. The operation stores low-level waste, generating an estimated $3 million in waste fees annually. The County is currently evaluating the possibility of allowing WCS to store high-level waste, a change that, with the approval of citizens and legislators, would generate an estimated $10 million annually.
While the analysis that follows does not fully capture the nuance of economic development activity throughout the region, it provides a basis for evaluation and captures the bulk of economic development activity.
Data Notes and Definitions:
- All data, unless otherwise stated, is sourced from Economic Modeling Specialists, Int. (EMSI). Website: www.economicmodeling.com
- NAICS is an acronym for the North American Industry Classification System
Location quotient (LQ) is a valuable way of quantifying how concentrated a particular industry, cluster, occupation, or demographic group is in a region as compared to the nation. It can reveal what makes a particular region “unique” in comparison to the national average. A LQ >1 indicates a particular characteristic’s concentration is higher than the national average. A LQ < 1 indicates the concentration is less than the national average.
Although individual communities leverage their unique position and advantages in setting economic development priorities, there is broad consensus in the Permian Basin region regarding clusters that should be targeted through regional partnerships for investment of economic development resources.
1. Midland and Odessa (major population centers) Economic Development Agencies target Clusters detailed below for recruitment
and development within their service area or recognize the importance of the Clusters to surrounding communities.
2. Workforce Solutions Permian Basin invests the region’s workforce development resources in support of all identified Clusters.
3. Recent investments in the Midland International Air and Space Port have provided the region a unique competitive advantage.
4. Economic development agencies throughout the region make investments in developing competencies in these Clusters within their own
communities.
These target Clusters are explicit targets for economic development investments in metropolitan and rural areas throughout the region:
1. Energy: Fossil Fuel and Renewable Energy Production/Environmental Technology
2. Biomedical and Life Sciences
3. Aerospace and Aviation/Space Exploration
4. Transportation and Logistics
5. Manufacturing
6. Agribusiness, Food Processing, and Technology
Download complete industry projections.
The analysis that follows establishes a basis for strategy development and provide:
1. A Description or definition of the Cluster;
2. A snapshot of each cluster's economic impact on the region;
3. An employment outlook for the region that identifies (1) regional competencies and (2) projected high-growth Cluster components; and
4. An inventory of economic catalysts for the region likely to stimulate growth.
It should be noted, however, that communities throughout the region, while adept at investments that leverage broader regional competencies, must also capitalize on the unique local characteristics to build a competitive economic position; these investments are not always consistent with regional economic development clusters. Successful “local” economic development efforts, range from downtown redevelopment in McCamey to create micro-business incubators to assist local entrepreneurs, to development of an intermodal park in Big Spring that requires millions of dollars of investment and will create hundreds of jobs.
A larger scale example of local competency development is Andrews County capitalizing on available land assets, and permitting Waste Control Specialists (WCS) to operate a nuclear waste facility in the County. The operation stores low-level waste, generating an estimated $3 million in waste fees annually. The County is currently evaluating the possibility of allowing WCS to store high-level waste, a change that, with the approval of citizens and legislators, would generate an estimated $10 million annually.
While the analysis that follows does not fully capture the nuance of economic development activity throughout the region, it provides a basis for evaluation and captures the bulk of economic development activity.
Data Notes and Definitions:
- All data, unless otherwise stated, is sourced from Economic Modeling Specialists, Int. (EMSI). Website: www.economicmodeling.com
- NAICS is an acronym for the North American Industry Classification System
Location quotient (LQ) is a valuable way of quantifying how concentrated a particular industry, cluster, occupation, or demographic group is in a region as compared to the nation. It can reveal what makes a particular region “unique” in comparison to the national average. A LQ >1 indicates a particular characteristic’s concentration is higher than the national average. A LQ < 1 indicates the concentration is less than the national average.