General Manager's Note — June 2009

General Manager's Note — June 2009

By Matt Painter Friday, 12 June 2009

A sign that I have lost all touch with reality might be this: Several weeks ago I got excited when a magazine called Fiscal Notes showed up at my office. It is a free monthly publication (a brilliant idea, if I do say so) published by the Texas State Comptroller’s office which offers an overview of the Texas economy.

For some reason I always look first at the cover, and then inside the back cover. There, graphs depicting data, including the Industrial Production Index and the Leading Economic Indicators Index, prove fascinating to some and offer a cure for insomnia to others. What should be interesting to us all, however, are the insights on education and the impact that an educated workforce has on our economy.

According to the comptroller, the median weekly income for a high school graduate who is older than 25 and working full-time is $619. For a worker with a bachelor’s degree, the median weekly income jumps a staggering 64 percent to $1,016. Have an advanced degree or considering one? The average weekly income increases another 25 percent to $1,272. There are exceptions, but the numbers paint a compelling picture.

We are fortunate to have local institutions such as Southwestern University, Austin Community College, Texas State University and the East Williamson County Higher Education Center, which is a collaboration of schools. These institutions offer personal as well as macroeconomic benefits: They create jobs, support local merchants and create an attractive environment for businesses seeking to relocate to an area with a highly educated workforce.

Matt Painter

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it