Martinez weighs in on Tyler area’s top job growth ranking

TYLER – Tyler’s top business official is upbeat and shares his thoughts after the Tyler metro area was ranked first in Texas for job growth from December 2020 to December 2021. The area also ranks sixth in the nation. There were 8,800 more jobs, which is an 8.3% increase, according to the Texas Workforce Commission, Current Employment Statistic. Texas metro areas were ranked by the change in the number of jobs that the area had in December 2020 in comparison to December 2021. The top five has Abilene at 5, followed by McAllen-Edinburg at 4, Midland 3, Austin Round Rock at two.

Scott Martinez heads up the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce and Tyler Economic Development Council. He says this latest development is exciting news and points to several factors. Among them: continued growth in the health care sector and substantial expansion in manufacturing, particularly at the Trane and Tyler Pipe plants. Martinez also points to a post-COVID retail rebound — and draws attention to Tyler beating out Austin-Round Rock, which traditionally leads the pack. Now he says the charge for local officials is to keep the trend growing.