Round Rock Economic Study Under Way

ROUND ROCK, TX-Just five years after its last economic development study, Round Rock is awaiting delivery of its next study. The question to be answered: Is there an economy after Dell?

The study, conducted by Angelou Economic Advisors of Austin, is due later this month or early July, Phil Brewer of the Round Rock Chamber of Commerce, tells GlobeSt.com. The study is sponsored by the city of Round Rock and the chamber.

Brewer says the city had decided to update its 1995 study, also conducted by Angelou, after a trip to bond rating agencies in New York last year. The bond raters told Round Rock representatives that its economy seemed to be too dependent on Dell Computer Corp.

Dell, the world’s biggest personal computer company, is the biggest employer in Round Rock and all of Central Texas. Brewer estimates there are about 10,000 Dell jobs in Round Rock and another 10,000 in Austin, depending on where Dell’s job cuts fall.

Besides jobs, Round Rock also gets millions of dollars of sales taxes from Dell. The projected take for fiscal year 2001 is $12 million. Overall, Round Rock has received $21.5 million as its share in sale tax proceeds this year, up less than 1% from a year ago.”They thought we should diversify our economy more,” Brewer says of the suggestion of the bond-rating agencies.

The last study was done just as Dell employment started its skyrocketing surge, including building, in the area. The study is to help Round Rock find industries that match its strengths for recruiting efforts and to compare the area to other fast-growing suburban communities. Possible targets are professional services, health services, biomedicine and biotechnology and research and development operations.

Other major employers are Farmers Insurance, with 800 employees; Trend Technology, a Dell supplier, employing 700 to 800; chip-maker Cypress Semiconductor, with a 300-member workforce; telecommunications firm Tellabs, with 300 to 350 workers; and food-service company Sysco Corp., with 400.

Brewer says that if one takes Dell out of the equation, “We’ve got a pretty diverse base as it is.” The idea is to take that base and diversify it even more.