Shiny Happy City

There's no end to the happiness ... just look at the latest economic figures in technology for the metropolitan area: Austin is home to 1,750 high-tech firms that employ about 110,000 people, representing nearly one-fifth of total employment for the area; we had the highest growth rate in the state last year at 4.6%, over 26,200 new jobs were created, and 200 new technology firms opened shop. Venture capital funding hit a record $200 million invested in 1998, a 60% increase over 1997, and 12 technology firms went public since 1995, raising $400 million.

We're also the most listed of cities -- Austin won "Best City for Business" by Fortune, "Startup City" by Forbes, "Hot New High-Tech City" by Newsweek, and a spot on P.O.V. Magazine's top 10 list of best cities to start a business.

Enjoy it while you can.

ANTICIPATED Y2K FIGURES

Job Growth:
51,000 new jobs in all sectors -- a 4.4% growth rate
15,000 new jobs in technology:
6,700 in technology manufacturing (computers and electronics)
8,300 in technology services (software development, Internet-based companies, gaming, entertainment, R&D chip design, multimedia)

New Tech Jobs by Location:
53% North Austin and Williamson County
30% Northwest
9% Southwest
5% Central Business District
3% Southeast
0% East and Northeast

Home and Office Demands:
2.5 million sq. ft. new office space
2.6 million sq. ft. new industrial space
9,500-10,000 new single-family homes
4,500-4,800 new apartment units
30% continued annual increase in homes priced over $300,000 (three times the rate of the entire new home market)
Population: 1.18 million or 67,000 newbies moving here between now and 2000

Fun Facts:
219% increase in revenues at Dell, to $50 billion by 2004 -- L.C.B.

---

All figures were provided by local high-tech consultants Angelou Economic Advisors. The above results are from the company's annual survey of Austin's high-tech industries. Over 1,000 firms that employ 100,000 workers in the Austin area were contacted; 256 companies responded to the survey, representing a 25% response rate. For more info: http://www.angelou-econ.com.