Austin/Central Texas needs a new economic driver.

The area economy requires linkage to a driving trend to generate prosperity. Growth in education and government already give us all there is to get. Growth from land and housing development depend on new job generation and do not constitute a primary economic driver in themselves. The military/security driver has been captured by San Antonio, El Paso and Fort Worth. The energy and bio-tech drivers belong to Houston. The medical driver is dominated by Houston, Dallas and Temple. And the high tech jobs of the '90s are not coming back. So... Austin/Central Texas needs a new economic driver.


The Next Global Boom Sector is "Healthy and Sustainable"

The bad news is that today we face unprecedented, accelerating global challenges: resource overuse; climate change; population aging; disease and poverty - the list goes on. We can already see these trends completely reshaping our entire world.

But the good news is that each of these trends is a primary economic driver for the businesses involved in preventing, managing and mitigating the breakdowns they cause. These businesses make up the "healthy and sustainable" (H-S) business sector.

And the further good news is that over the next few years, those of us in H-S businesses will make a significant difference in the world... while also making good money. In fact, we can depend on the fact that every day, for the forseeable future, world around demand for H-S products and services will expand at an accelerating pace.


Austin/Central Texas is Perfectly Positioned to be the World H-S Capital

And the even further good news is that Austin/Central Texas is already uniquely well positioned to become the world around H-S sector capital. Whole Foods, Austin Energy, the first adopted Green Building Code... the list of major H-S businesses, resources, projects and accomplishments just keeps going.

More importantly, the H-S sector, unlike most other business sectors, absolutely requires that you live the healthy and sustainable values, not just sell them. And in this regard, Austin is the real thing. We are the real thing as we openly embrace throughout the region, and also right down to the street, the contention and dialogue and struggle to balance and understand which underlies all authentic expression of what it really means to both live and produce a healthy and sustainable planet.


Catch the Boom - Doing Well by Doing Good

Unlike prior economic drivers, while much of the H-S sector hews to the highest of high tech, it also encompases the long lasting and the simple. This makes room in the expansion for every size business targeting essentially every known niche. In fact, every person, household, and organization needs what the H-S sector provides. And it's a fully global market.

Consequently every business in the Austin/Central Texas region should begin thinking now about how to do what they already do -- in the service of the H-S boom as it flowers. Every business and household can benefit from catching the boom and doing well by doing good.

David Armistead

 

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