News & Resources

The landscape has changed dramatically for businesses accessing the labor market pool. Employers have to rethink how to approach prospective employees if they plan on meeting their hiring demands. Job shortages have created a frenzy where companies are scrambling to adopt a new approach to hiring new team members i...Continue Reading

Many individuals and small businesses have faced enormous hardships over the last 18 months — illness, layoffs, furloughs, shortages, remote schooling — due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. During this same period, governments too, at both the state and local levels, faced unprecedented challenges as they worked to address th...Continue Reading

In 1961, President Kennedy proclaimed that the United States should “commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” Thus began the space race that has over the years spawned numerous innovative companies an...Continue Reading

The State of Nevada is on top of things. For close to 10 years, they’ve been focused on where industry is going and what it means for the future of work in the state. State leaders like Bob Potts, deputy director at the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) hav...Continue Reading

When a business is experiencing a decline in revenue or has simply plateaued and is not growing, there can be a number of contributing factors. A global pandemic, new competition, loss of a major customer, weak management, turnover of key employees, or off-target marketing could all have a negative effec...Continue Reading

As an entrepreneur, it can be tempting to spend big money on branding right off the bat. After all, you want to put your best foot forward and make a splash in the market—especially in the increasingly visual world we live in. Luckily for you (and your bottom line), Saskia Ketz...Continue Reading

Entrepreneurship isn’t an easy or simple profession, but as with any field, there are basic principles that govern success. The most fundamental truth in entrepreneurship is this: find a problem and be the solution. If you want to become a successful entrepreneur, your business must fill a gap, solve a...Continue Reading

With a buoyant entrepreneurial spirit and a never-say-die attitude, the small business owners of Midland have been constantly innovating, surfing through both challenges and opportunities with equal aplomb. With more startups in this region than Silicon Valley, the small business ecosystem here has been propelled further since 2017, when th...Continue Reading

The number of women entrepreneurs grows to unprecedented levels and shows no sign of stopping, as the younger generations eschew their reliance on corporations for lifelong employment and as immigrants, who are risk-takers by nature, start their own businesses. To mark Women’s Equality Day, which commemorates the 101st anniversary of th...Continue Reading

Remote work is full of paradoxes and ironies. Start with that word: “remote.” It sounds like you’re far, far away, speaking into a tin can. But a fair number of suddenly remote workers have never been more present and accounted for. It also lends itself to the easy joke: “You’re working remotel...Continue Reading

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — Texas A&M has been awarded an Adult Education and Literacy Statewide Professional Development Center Grant in the amount of $2,500,000. “Maintaining a strong adult education system in Texas is an important component in closing the middle-skills gap,” said TWC Chairman Bryan Daniel in a press release. “AE...Continue Reading

A 2021 report by Business Facilities Magazine ranks Texas as No. 1 in the nation for semiconductors and installed wind power capacity and in the Top 10 in its global rankings for Austin’s start-up ecosystem. Business Facilities published these rankings in its State, Metro and Global Rankings Report, the magazine’s annua...Continue Reading

AROUND THIS TIME A YEAR AGO, a lot of life seemed to be in a holding pattern, with progress on many things at a near standstill amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But not everyone allowed adversity to stand in the way of opportunity. Indeed, while most of us were learning the ter...Continue Reading

Earlier this year, the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced a proposed change that would double the minimum population threshold for Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) from 50,000 to 100,000. MSA designations are used to identify cities and surrounding communities linked by social and economic indicators as established by OM...Continue Reading

It’s too soon to gauge the ultimate result of the Biden administration’s efforts to address long-standing vulnerabilities in the nation’s supply chains. But findings from the comprehensive Executive Order (E.O.) 14017 “America’s Supply Chains” released on June 8th set out to put the nation on a stronger course. Following th...Continue Reading

If a global pandemic taught us anything, it’s that our time in this world can be cut short in an instant, so we should make the most of it while we can. This realization has caused many to reevaluate where they’re going professionally and map out how they’d like to mak...Continue Reading

Small business loan approval percentages at big banks ($10 billion+ in assets) climbed slightly from 13.5% in May to 13.6% and small banks’ approvals rose from 18.7% in May to 18.9%, in June 2021, according to the latest Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index.  The pandemic opened up opportunities for many banks...Continue Reading

In the spring of 2020, millions of people were losing their jobs as the pandemic shuttered entire industries and sectors. Individuals who remained employed craved job security, so they hunkered down in gratitude, hoping that they wouldn't be one of the unlucky ones to become unemployed. Fast-forward to June 2021...Continue Reading

Texas shows significant gains in trade exports as of June 2021 over June 2020, according to this month’s U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services June 2021 report by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Texas moved significantly ahead of 2020 June reported export trade, with an increase of 60% an...Continue Reading

Most Americans take high speed internet for granted but there’s two million Texans who don’t have broadband access. Glenn Hegar and the Texas Comptroller office are beginning the process of bringing internet to the state’s most rural areas. Up until this point, Texas has been only 1 of 6 states tha...Continue Reading

BRAZOS COUNTY, TX — If you are thinking about starting a business, Wallet Hub says there's no better state than Texas. The website recently published an entire article explaining why the Lone Star State is number one. 19-year-old Madi Stott launched the second location of Texas Size Selfie, an open-air photo boot...Continue Reading

Thankfully, the “New Normal” I wrote about here in the May 2020 issue did have an expiration date after all. There may not be a specific calendar date to point to. But rush hour traffic resembles pre-pandemic volumes, people are traveling in droves — even if masks are still require...Continue Reading

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, tech companies were among the first to successfully adapt to working remotely at scale. Having quickly deployed tools and strategies to keep workers connected and productive, many of the major players in tech leaned into the new work-from-anywhere paradigm, announcing that their flexible or full...Continue Reading

MIDLAND, TX -- Midland Development Corporation recently launched a newly redesigned website, created by Golden Shovel Agency, to further strengthen its online presence and economic growth for the region. The redesigned site is better organized and easy-to-navigate with new layouts and features including an updated homepage, additional videos, and more. “W...Continue Reading