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Two Hot Towns In
<br />The Snow Belt
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<br /> MINNEAPOL IS-ST. PAUL
<br />
<br />ri~k hall. milliml doll,.~ or ~o. he
<br />i~luilk~ it d-wn right hrre--ill
<br />laml nf high taxr% Icm It'mpeTa.
<br />lu~e% foreclosed ia.ns ami idle
<br />
<br />Bul the 'l'~in (:itic~ al~o can
<br />I~oa~t of u fine educalitmal sys-
<br />tem. n raft of high-tech compa-
<br />nies "and a bunch of aggressive
<br />x'cnlu~e capitalists," to qnote Ru-
<br />vclson, p~csidcnl of First Mid-
<br />xx'c~t Capital.
<br /> Job generators. Thc area to-
<br />da) is popula~ with venture capi-
<br />talists. Thc top 12 risk-capital
<br />companies here have an estimat-
<br />ed 37U million dollars undc~
<br />managenmnt.
<br /> Thai money creates jobs. In the
<br /> p~t 10 )'ears. more than 600 new
<br /> manufacturers started up ~ Min-
<br /> nesota, accounting [o~ ahnost
<br /> 300,000 jobs. "The entrepreneur-
<br /> iai spirit is alive and well here,"
<br /> says Dick Reid, a spokesman for
<br /> Control Data, which from a con-
<br /> cept in 1957 grew to ~ the state's
<br /> iargesl private employer. Control
<br /> Data, begun by people from
<br /> ry Univac, has itself spaw,ed
<br /> abont 60 new companies, includ-
<br /> lug Cray Research, Data Card,
<br /> ~etwork Systems and Data 1~.
<br /> Altbongh Minnesota's fi~rming
<br /> and mining sectors remain de-
<br /> pressed, nonfatm employment
<br /> spurted 7 percent in the fourth
<br /> quarter of 1984, and retail sales
<br /> surged 28 percent. Most of that
<br /> growth ~curred in the Twin Cit-
<br /> ies, where I out of 3 manufactur-
<br /> h~g jobs is in high tech.
<br /> Beyond that, the Twin Cities
<br /> ~sted a 19 percent gain last year
<br /> in construction employment.
<br /> Both downtowns ate thriving. St.
<br /> Panl alone h~ had mo~e than.1
<br /> billion dollars' worth of develop-
<br /> menl in the past seven years.
<br /> Growth is exacted to continue.
<br /> The Minneapolis Federal Reserve
<br /> Bank ex.ets retail sales to in-
<br /> crease 8.5 percent this year and
<br /> nonfarm employment in Minne-
<br /> sota to rise a~ut 5.7 percent~
<br /> meaning some 100,000 new jobs.
<br /> That's not bad, here in the heart of
<br /> Ihe snow ~lt.
<br />
<br />Bu MICIIAEL BO$C
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<br />[(~lll' all' (J;IV~ I~J inJl'llM' [~m~lh
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<br />IJu- TC'q o( tilt' colintry. J).l Iht') (J(.J'l
<br />dn lnucil (.r n~," relnark% planiwr J
<br />
<br /> Ila~ Ih{' Oll('r~) capital Of the Soutii-
<br />~esl I)ottnmed out? Busiucss leaders
<br />lite hnl)t'fifl Easter sales were brisk.
<br />Bank deposits are up. Oil-service firms
<br />such as Bowan Companies and Ca.mr-
<br />on Iron Works are making money again.
<br /> Dallas-Fort Wroth and San Antonio
<br /> do.'l share thes~ misetws with lions-
<br /> Ion. A huge militar) payroll, an expand-
<br /> lng medical center and a brisk feudist
<br /> tn~de bnov San Anlo.io. Defense dol-
<br /> lars add thousa.ds ofjob~ in Dallas and
<br /> neighboring Fort Worth. LTV's de-
<br /> fense-related employnienl is al) 20 ~r-
<br /> cent from a year ago. Bell llelicopter's
<br /> work force is up 11 percenl, Yet Texas
<br /> banks slill reel from bad energy lo:ms,
<br /> a.d office space in Dallas is overbuilt.
<br /> "Our margins are ~ing squeezed," ~ys
<br /> develol~r William Crisxvell.
<br />
<br /> West: Strong and Steady
<br /> Phoenix remains in Ihe midst of a
<br /> boom that economist Elliott Pollack of
<br /> Valley Natim~al Bank calls "mind
<br /> gJinR." Tht, retire area. with a I~qmla-
<br /> lion of !.8 million, abnurbed 9(J,llJ~l of
<br /> the 131LOL)0 persons xvb. moved to Ari-
<br /> zmnt in 1984, Bemarks Pollack: "As
<br /> long a~ lhe LI.S. is doing well, we will
<br /> do ~tler." No fewer than 35 new
<br /> shopping centers are in the works.
<br /> ~s Angeles is on its own hot streak.
<br /> At lasl word, the area's jobless rate was
<br /> 6.5 ~reent, down from 7.g ~rcent a
<br /> year earlier. Aeross-the-~ard, business
<br /> is pros~ring "i t has not ~en the suer-
<br /> heated ~m of 1977-7~," says David
<br /> Anderson, president of General Tele-
<br /> phone of California. Instead, he earls this
<br /> "a peri~ of g~d, stead)' growth"
<br /> The city's downtown bristles with
<br /> conslruetJon cranes. Eight sizable
<br /> bnildings are ~t for completion within
<br /> 18 months. Retailing is brisk, and de-
<br /> fense contractors can hardly hire fast
<br /> enough. Rockwell International has
<br /> added 2,000 employes since ]annary 1.
<br /> Norlhrop pul on l,O00 new workers
<br /> and says hundreds of Sl~cialized jobs
<br /> go uufilled Ihmhes Aircraft ex.ets to
<br /> hire 3,B00 in the area this year.
<br />
<br />Construction is big business in Phoemx.
<br />
<br /> By comparison, tile San
<br />economy is less [renetic', thou£}. <till
<br />iml)roving, Because thc Bay area ~
<br />Mix recesqon resiqa.t, it tend, t..
<br />behind ~s Angele~ duri.~
<br />In fact, since the rec'es~inn )ear of 19~2.
<br />office vacancies hax e risen {rmn ne~li-
<br />gil>le levels to l 0 percenl. But fca buq-
<br />ness leaders worry about the ure,,'~ et.o-
<br />notate strength, Sa>s R~}~ert ila~d~.n
<br />the chamber of commerce: "The qhitt
<br />in U.S trade from the Aria.lie to the
<br />Pacific can mean only one thing P~r
<br />Franeise~a large share."
<br /> Boise just ended one of the cold~-q
<br />winters in the history of that hi.dm
<br />city. Yet retail sales and emlAO>mc, nt
<br />wine both up. Reason: Boise i~ a
<br />quarters eib ."
<br /> ll's the slate capilal, for one thm~
<br /> clutch of big eonqxmies, includt:~ AI-
<br /> bertmn's, B.ise Casc-itdt. trod Mnrri-.n
<br /> Klnl(lsen call Boi~r Il(Hilt'.
<br /> with a sizable number of [aciliti:.s
<br /> other coral)antes, the city bas a broad_
<br /> sial)lc eml)loymenl ba~e.
<br /> Like the resL of the Norttm-e~t the~
<br /> days, Boise has ils share of problem~. It
<br /> struggles with downtvwn dt'v(-Iop:m'nt
<br /> ~too mneh land is still in parkinz
<br /> One big employer, Micron T~hnnh,-
<br /> gy, h~c~ laid off 40 percent of it~
<br /> workers and may go Io 50 percent.
<br /> But attorney Phillip Barber. pre.i-
<br /> dent of the chamber of commerce.
<br /> anything but dour. Jusl hack from lxx c.
<br /> days of groundbreakings and rib~n
<br /> cuttings around toxvn, he calls Boi~
<br /> "healthy, with a moderate heart.at."
<br /> As seen from the grass-r~t, lexel.
<br /> that description befits a sizable and
<br /> growinR nnmber .f Anmrican citie~ in
<br /> the early months of lg85, tis the e~l
<br /> times jusl keep rolling on.
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<br />NEWS & WORLD REPORT. Apr,129 198E
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