Signs of the Times: Dell's Hometown Plans for Future

If one were asked to identify localized examples of the economic spectacle that was the late 1990s, the metro region of Austin, Texas would be on most short lists. A recently completed economic development plan from the tech-soaked Austin suburb of Round Rock, however, reflects the fundamental upheaval or disruption that characterizes the economies of many regions of the country.



Round Rock has grown quickly, doubling in population during the last decade to become the second largest city in the Austin-San Marcos metro area. It is experiencing for the first time, like many other cities emerging in a decade marked by rapid urban sprawl, the challenges of a recession.



With 62,000 well-educated and well-paid residents, Round Rock appears in many ways to fit the model of any affluent "bedroom" suburbs across the country. A look at the city's tax receipts, however, reveals a community more similar to the "company towns" of mining, logging and other natural resource exploitative economies: one business contributes half of the city's annual sales tax receipts of $31.7 million. That company, Dell Computers, is based in Round Rock and, through a unique arrangement, gives the city 2 percent of the sales tax generated from every Dell computer system sold in the state.



Perhaps not surprisingly, a significant focus of The Round Rock Target Industry and Marketing Strategic Plan calls for diversification in high-tech sectors or local clusters currently weak but with potential to grow: telecommunications, software/multimedia/data, business and professional services, and to a lesser degree, retail and health services. The plan encourages the community as it diversifies its tax and employment base to build upon the strength of the existing computer equipment and electronics firms in town.



As competition for new business grows among neighboring communities, the plan advises Round Rock leaders to develop the economic development strategies already established in many older cities: encouraging and assisting local entrepreneurship; marketing/branding the community; developing a business recruitment, relocation and expansion program; implementing beautification/landscaping programs; and updating the city's incentive package.



The 182-page plan can be downloaded from http://www.angeloueconomics.com/roundrock/