From the Round Rock Chamber of Commerce

 

Williamson County Named "Healthiest County in Texas" in Nationwide Study

  

ROUND ROCK, Texas - Williamson County, which is home to most of the City of Round Rock, today was named the healthiest county in Texas by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The nationwide study weighs factors such as access to healthcare, health behaviors, graduation rates, premature death, low birth-weight babies, single-parent households, violent crime rates, air quality, and access to recreation. County residents have access to six hospitals (four in Round Rock) and numerous clinics and medical practices.

 

Dr. Chip Riggins, executive director for Williamson County and Cities Health District, noted, "It's not how many resources you have, but how you use them that makes the difference.  We have an ongoing community health improvement process." 

 

Round Rock Chamber of Commerce President Doug Kurkul said, "Public health is a key element in a community's quality of life, and a critical factor in terms of attracting and retaining good jobs in a community.  Williamson County public officials and employers are to be commended for their longstanding commitment to healthy living, which is reflected in today's announcement."

The online Rankings are available at www.countyhealthrankings.org/texas/williamson.

 

 Just north of Austin, with about 100,000 residents, Round Rock is one of the nation's fastest-growing cities, and is home to four hospitals, several higher education institutions, thriving global companies including Dell, entrepreneurial small businesses, safe neighborhoods, quality schools and AAA Pacific Coast League baseball.  Purpose, passion and prosperity are the driving principles in Round Rock.

 

 

We're Baaack....

 

If you sit in front of the television for too long now days, you can easily get depressed.  Too bad you can't select a good quality local or statewide newsprogram or you might hear the real news about Central Texas.  According to the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, Texas gained 194,000 jobs or 1.9 percent growth from November 2009 to November 2010.  This compared to the national growth rate of .6 percent.  The State unemployment rate dropped to 8.2 percent compared to a national rate of 9.3 percent. See the full report at http://recenter.tamu.edu/econ/  

The great news in all of this is that the huge sucking sound you hear coming from Texas is the sound of our economy sucking jobs away from other states such as California.  The Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos area has been at the top of the lists in adding those jobs.  So why has the housing market been sitting around not doing much of anything?  Perception and the "I don't want to be first" syndrome.  It's kind of like what happens on the beach when it opens up after a shark attack.  Hundreds of people milling around on the beach and nobody going onto the water.  Finally, one person goes in, then a couple more, then a few more, finally everyone is back in the water.

 I think that we are going to have a good year  in the housing market and once it gets rolling so if you are thinking about buying a new home, now is the time.

On another note, it has been a great year for Austin Community College, especially in Round Rock.  In September, ACC opened up it's newest campus in Round Rock.  At approximately 275,000 square feet, it is ACC's largest campus but that is not the exciting part.  The best part is that it opened its doors at full capacity and was the first institute of higher education to do so.  Most campuses take 2-4 years to reach capacity.  Coming soon will be phase II of the project with another 275,000 square feet of learning space.

Package this up with the Texas State University campus and the Texas A&M Medical School in Round Rock and  we are heading toward our goal of providing one of the most educated workforces in the state and nation.  This will help meet the job demand that is coming our way soon.