DALLAS, TX--(Marketwired - September 18, 2016) - The U.S. exceeded $166 billion in capital investments in 2015, a ten percent increase from the year before. With almost a third of the proceeds coming from Texas, Dallas based real estate investor Marcus Hiles believes his state has not only displayed the potential for sustained long-term economic growth, but has also become vital to the success of the American economy. As Chairman and CEO of Western Rim Properties, Hiles has spent over three decades studying market tendencies in the pursuit of making profitable, strategic property acquisitions.
As a whole, U.S. capital investment rose $16 billion from 2014, according to a report from multinational firm Ernst & Young. Texas recorded $48.3 billion in business financing, which ranked first in the country, and the Gulf Coast states, traditional leaders in the energy industry, attracted the most investors for the fifth year in a row. Forty percent of the funds were lent to chemical manufacturing facilities, and seventy percent of those were new, liquefied natural gas export compounds. The Lone Star State also shined in the financial, technology, and professional service fields, as exemplified by their 38,400 mobile project jobs, the greatest number in the nation.
Boasting one of the region's most developed workforces and attractive local tax incentives, Austin led the state with $626 million, a twenty percent increase from 2015. The tech hub saw its largest annual dollar figure since 2001, along with a mercurial rise to prominence, "Austin is a brand, and venture capitalists love it," said Bernard Weinstein, an economist at Southern Methodist University, "They look to Austin to be a leader in IT and software development." The software industry claimed the majority stake of investments, with $328 million going into forty-two deals. Biotechnology and IT services followed suit, raising $120 million and $56 million, respectively. Mayor Steve Adler believes willingness to innovate has been imperative to his city's success, "There's a reason that tech and transportation companies come to Austin to roll out their new initiatives. And that's because Austin is where good ideas become real."
Venture investments are an important measure of economic growth, said Marcus Hiles, because the funds allow companies to hire more workers, buy new equipment, and ramp up product development and marketing. Capital firms in turn receive a considerable portion of the profits as promising young companies are sold or go public, and continue the cycle.