Over generations, the community has acted to create opportunity, improve quality of life and expand the tax base so it could fund the parks, libraries and public safety services that Austinites hold dear.

Austin routinely ranks among the best places in America to live and work. The community’s clear-eyed commitment to its economy is why.

Job creation programs and partnerships helps people who are here right now. By creating jobs, bringing a diverse range of new employers to the region, and helping small and large businesses to stay in Central Texas, we create more opportunities and better-paying jobs for people who are here.

It’s kitchen-table economics: a growing economy helps people pay their bills, provide for themselves and their families, and find new opportunities to live and work in the ways they want to.

It has been years since Austin experienced a recession, but those who can remember them know the cruel and inequitable effects of an economic downturn — just look at this city workforce analysis from 2010 titled “Unemployed, Discouraged, Given Up.” By continuing to support proven economic development policies, Austin will sustain its prosperity in uncertain times.

A growing economy is even more important given the growing limitations that local government face to fund vital local services. More jobs mean more new tax base, which pays for the police officers, firefighters, parks and libraries that Austinites depend on.

And economic development programs allow the community to strategically target the businesses and industries it wants to create a truly diverse, broad-based economy. These programs have allowed for partnerships with companies like Apple, Samsung and Merck, which fortify protections against recessions by adding jobs across a wide range of industries.

In all of these ways, Austin’s economic development programs create more opportunities for prosperity that are open to more people. They help drive Austin’s prosperity.