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University of Houston - Victoria SBDC

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The SBDC business advisors provide training and consulting to small business owners at The University of Houston-Victoria.

University of Houston - Victoria SBDC Map

Download the Victoria SBDC area report

Download the Victoria Economic Indicator

The Victoria field center area is rich with diversity. Victoria, the “anchor city,” is one of the oldest cities in Texas. It dates back to 1824, when impresario Don Martin de Leon named it after the first president of Mexico, Don Guadalupe Victoria.

The City of Victoria is located on the Guadalupe River, just north of the river’s delta. Known for the Chisholm Trail, Old Spanish Trail and Texas Independence Trail, the people of this region are resolved to defend what our brave ancestors fought and died to preserve. “Come and Take It” is more than a historical battle cry from the people in Gonzales who started the battle for Texas Independence, but it is a firm resolution that all immigrants willing to work hard in Texas deserve a better way of life.

Referred to as the Golden Crescent Region of the Texas gulf coast, the Victoria field center area has an abundance to offer by way of industrial products, oil and gas exploration, cultural events, medical and health care facilities, and agriculture commodities.

The area’s economy depends on oil, gas, and agriculture production. The region also has an extensive industrial base commonly referred to as the “petrochemical plants” who take advantage of the close proximities to rich oil and gas supplies. These plants include Dow Chemicals, Invista, Dupont, Equistar, Formosa Plastics, Alcoa, and BP Chemicals.

The region grows a variety of agricultural commodities for national and international trade, including chicken, turkey, beef, pork, tomatoes, milk, pecans, corn, sorghum, soybeans, rice and cotton. The region’s coastal ports and inland fisheries add seafood to our list of abundant food supplies as we harvest shrimp, fish, and crabs along the gulf coast waters.

From Port Lavaca to Rockport, and from the sandy beaches of Matagorda Island to the rolling green hills of Lavaca County, we have international trade zones, coastal waterways, railways, and improved highways to move product throughout the nation and the world. Situated on the Gulf of Mexico, our proximity to Houston, Corpus Christi, San Antonio and Austin make us an attractive region for industrial expansion projects.

Labor Market Highlights

University of Houston - Victoria SBDC Images

The Victoria field center area experienced gains and losses in the labor force within a narrow band through 2004 and 2005. That is, despite its spikes in labor force in the summers of 2004 and 2005, the variation represents a small range between 122,500 and 127,500 workers.

Unemployment, on the other hand, has steadily trended downward over the time period. The unemployment rate dropped from a high of 6.3 percent in the first quarter of 2004 to less than 5 percent in late 2005 and early 2006.

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. The “field center ratio” shows the proportion of industry jobs compared to all jobs in the area. As in most other southwest Texas field center areas, nearly half of the jobs in the Victoria field center area are in two industries: education and health services (0.267); and trade, transportation, and utilities (0.204).

Which industries have a particular foothold in the Victoria Field Center? The most notable concentration in the Victoria field center area is in the natural resources and mining industry, where the 2,500-plus jobs represent over 6 percent of the total labor market. Statewide, the 200,000-plus jobs in this industry represent little more than 2 percent of the labor market.

Four other industries have a slight over-representation in the Victoria field center area: public administration, education and health services, construction, and manufacturing. The presence of the manufacturing industry is notable in the Victoria area (nearly 12 percent of jobs) since manufacturing is under- represented in other regions of southwest Texas. Petrochemical production is truly a driver in Calhoun, Lavaca, and Victoria Counties.

This well-balanced Victoria field center area is not lagging substantially in any industry. However, advances in one industry reflect lags in others, and the information (nearly 4000 jobs) and professional and business services (4000-plus jobs) industries are under-represented in the Victoria area. Both industries could double in size and still lag the state average.

 

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 4,426 professional and business service jobs, which is about 5 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 0.051 (the field center ratio) by 0.119 (the state ratio) yields a quotient of 0.43. 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, a quotient of 0.43 indicates that the professional and business service industry is not a concentration industry in the Victoria field center area.

 

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