Federal Reserve Chair Bernanke Speaks to Austin Chamber Members
Speaking to a sold-out crowd of 1,700 Chamber members and local and state officials at the Economic Forecast Event at the Hilton Austin, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced that although interest-rate cuts are “certainly feasible” there are always limits to the impact of such measures on the nation’s economy and it would be very likely for the economy to stay weak well into the coming year.
"The likely duration of the financial turmoil is difficult to judge, and thus the uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook is unusually large," said Chairman Bernanke. 2009 Chamber of Commerce Chair Paul Bury opened the lunch with welcome remarks and an introduction of Governor Rick Perry, who spoke to the strength of the Texas and Austin markets, pointing out that the business economy of Texas was bucking national trends.
[FULL STORY]
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Central Texas Economy In Perspective
by Beverly Kerr, Chamber Vice President of Research
Cyclical swings in the economy impact businesses and consumers due to impacts on production/inventory decisions and employment/ unemployment. In 2005, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas introduced a new index designed to more clearly define regional business cycles. The metro business cycle indexes aggregate local movements in four key indicators to indicate the overall direction of each metro economy. The indexes are constructed so that the long-run growth in the indexes is set equal to growth in real personal income.
Individual Texas’ metros can have business cycles that deviate from those of the state, the nation and other Texas regions. The 2001 downturn impacted high tech Austin (and Dallas) while other Texas metros continued to grow. As this graph of the percent change in Austin’s monthly index indicates, the recovery from the tech bust proceeded at a generally increasing rate through 2006. From there, growth rates remained positive, but at a decreasing rate.
The last three months of Austin’s index have registered a percent change of zero from month to month. While no growth appears to be the current condition, we have not moved into the negative territory seen here in the early part of this decade. In fact, on a year-to-date basis (January through September), the average value of the index is up 3.5% for Austin in 2008 compared to the same period of 2007. Dallas, Ft. Worth, and San Antonio have seen lower growth than this, while Houston’s growth was 5.0%.
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State of Education in Austin Will Highlight Efforts to Increase "Home-grown" Talent
This year's theme for the Chamber's State of Education in Austin event, "Tomorrow's Future Rooted in Our Community," highlights the need to increase the percentage of our "home-grown" population attending higher education. Anthony O. Befi, Vice President, High Performance Computing System Development, IBM Senior Location Executive for Austin and the State of Texas, will be the keynote speaker and will discuss talent development from a global perspective.
The goal of the 2008 State of Education event is to inform the Greater Austin business community about ongoing initiatives and the end-of-year status. Before an audience of key Austin business and education leaders, the Chamber will lay out a shared strategy for achieving an enrollment increase, provide baseline information on the state of education and annually “grade our own paper” toward success in 2010. The State of Education event has been sold out each of the last two years. Register now! Sponsored by AT&T, IBM, Seton Family of Hospitals, University of Phoenix and UT System.
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NWBC End of Year Celebration
The year is nearly over, and in celebration of the successes of 2008 the Northwest Business Council will be gathering one last time on Wednesday, December 3 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Cool River Cafe, 4001 W. Parmer. This year's Council featured many great speakers and presentations which helped raise membership to more than 200 members. Cool River Café will provide an ideal backdrop for the last chance this year to meet other NWBC members, enjoy great food and drinks in a casual and friendly atmosphere. Register now.
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CenTex RCIC Application Workshop and ETF Deadline
The CenTex RCIC will be hosting an ETF Applicant Workshop on Wednesday, December 17 from 3-5 p.m. in the Chamber Boardroom. This free event is designed to educate interested applicants for the Texas Emerging Technology Fund on the application process and criteria. Please RSVP to MK Holody, mholody@austinchamber.com.
The next quarterly submission deadline for the ETF is 5pm on Tuesday, January 20, 2009. Please see www.centexrcic.org for more details or contact MK Holody at mholody@austinchamber.com or 512.322.5677.
[FULL STORY]
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How Can Texas Win in the New Energy Economy?
The 2008 Clean Energy Venture Summit starts tomorrow! Join Austin Energy and the Clean Energy Incubator for the second annual Clean Energy Venture Summit, “How Can Texas Win in the New Energy Economy?” scheduled December 2 to 4. The Summit will bring together leading voices from the energy, business and policy worlds to address the low-carbon world’s economic impact on Texas. For more information and to register, click HERE.
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Funding for Early Stage Companies Workshop
You are invited to attend the Presentation on Funding Sources for Early Stage Companies on Tuesday, December 9 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at The University of Texas, MCC Auditorium, 3925 W. Braker Lane. The purpose of these information sessions is to discuss funding criteria for local entrepreneurs seeking seed stage and early stage funding. Experts on the Texas Emerging Technology Fund and the Central Texas Angel Network will be on hand to present information on the funding criteria of those sources and entertain entrepreneurs' questions about their specific situations. Registration begins at 4:30 p.m. RSVP to Stephany Puno at spuno@ati.utexas.edu or 512.305.0022. PLEASE NOTE: Date and time have been changed. This event is being hosted by Regional Centers of Innovation and Commercialization.
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Why I Joined the Chamber...
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"The reputation that precedes the Austin Chamber of Commerce is incredible. The opportunity to be apart of this agency is an amazing privilege." Danielle Parks, Account Manager
— Doc2e-file, Inc.
Join now and start receiving the full benefits of the networking business community. Call 322.5618 or email Member Info.
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Check out new members and articles submitted by Chamber Members here.
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