Center for Community and Business Research

Big Bend Region SBDC

The Big Bend Region Minority and SBDC business advisors provide training and consulting to small business owners at Sul Ross State University-Big Bend.

Download the Big Bend SBDC area report

The Big Bend Region Minority and SBDC business advisors provide training and consulting to small business owners at Sul Ross State University-Big Bend.

Sul Ross State University is located in scenic Alpine, the county seat of Brewster County, at the gateway to the Big Bend Country.

The Big Bend Country of Texas – a crucible of cultures: Indian, Spanish, Mexican, Anglo – is a multifaceted region encompassing vast expanses of the great Chihuahuan Desert, picturesque hills and mountains reaching more than 8,000 feet high, rolling plains and lush grasslands, and a wide assortment of plants, wildlife and geological features that annually attract over half a million visitors from throughout the world.

These visitors share with the local residents an environment that is free of pollution, warm in winter and cool in summer, and ideal for combining community life, business, and university studies.

Located near Sul Ross are the unique and nationally well-known Big Bend National Park, the scenic Davis Mountains and State Park, the Fort Davis National Historic Site, the University of Texas McDonald Observatory, the Balmorhea State Park and a number of historic towns and sites which vividly depict the region’s diverse history.

The Sul Ross, Big Bend Region Minority and Small Business Development Center (also known as the Alpine Field Center) covers an eight county area of approximately 26,549 square miles, and a population of roughly 54,000 people living in 25 small communities.

Tourism and Sul Ross State University are the major economic influences in the southern-most counties. Agriculture, oil and gas business, and Interstate highway travel services are the major contributor to the economy in the northern-most counties. The service delivery area includes about 1,600 small businesses.

Labor Market Highlights

The Alpine Field Center Area saw a decline in its labor force from mid-2004 to mid-2005, a brief recovery, and then another period of decline into 2006. The January 2006 labor forceof 22,190 workers was the lowest point over the preceding two years. However, the unemployment rate also saw steady declines over the same period. In January of 2004, over 2000 workers were looking for jobs, 8.5 percent of the labor force at that time.

The declining labor force also saw declining unemployment claims. In the fourth quarter of 2005, the unemployment rate was as low as 5.1 percent. In this sparsely populated area, people who want work can generally find it.

The Field Center Area Jobs chart shows both the number of jobs in field center counties and the concentration of the industry relative to the rest of the state at the end of the first quarter of 2005. Loving County data was not available from the Texas Workforce Commission, but the totals are likely very low and unlikely to affect the totals much.

The “field center ratio” shows the proportion of industry jobs compared to all jobs in the area. Nearly half of the jobs in the field center area are in two industries: education and health services (0.281); and trade, transportation, and utilities (0.192).

The question of whether these industry ratios are high or low can be determined by comparing them with the proportions that the industry represents in the rest of the state. For example, the field center area reports 515 professional and business service jobs, which is about 3 percent of all jobs in the area. However, to keep pace with the state average, the proportion needs to be nearly 12 percent of jobs in this industry. Dividing 0.032 (the field center ratio) by 0.119 (the state ratio) yields a quotient of 0.26. This number is referred to as a “location quotient.”

When the location quotient is less than 1.0, the area industry is under-represented relative to the state. When the location quotient is greater than 1.0, the area industry is over-represented relative to the state. So, the professional and business service industry is not a concentration industry in the Alpine area.

Which industries have a particular foothold in the Alpine Field Center? As in the El Paso area, public administration is a concentration industry in Alpine. The 2500-plus public administration jobs are over 15 percent of total jobs. The nearly 400,000 public administration jobs in the state of Texas represent only about 4 percent of total jobs. Consequently, the location quotient of 3.67 in the Alpine area reflects the greater representation of public administration jobs there.

The area’s largest industry, education and health services, is another concentration industry. Over 28 percent of jobs fall into this category. However, at the state level, only 23 percent of jobs are in education and health services. Leisure and hospitality is another relatively large industry with an over-representation of industry jobs in the Alpine area.

Unlike the El Paso area, natural resources and mining are a concentration industry in the Alpine area. While the 1,200-plus jobs are less than 10 percent of all jobs in the area, the state ratio for natural resources and mining jobs is only about 2 percent of total jobs. Consequently, the location quotient of 3.26 pegs natural resources and mining as a concentration industry.