Forget Unicorns. Train Electricians | Lubbock, Texas
AA+ credit and a larger tax base unlocked the projects. Electricians, plumbers, and HVAC techs will unlock the jobs, the payroll, and the follow-on investment.
“Don’t Cut Ribbons. Cut Interconnection Times.”
Keep the Briefs FREE. Add TRENDS to your Weekly Routine.
For less than a sliver of a $5000 big-firm report, get weekly city impact analysis and a first-Wednesday state-wide tech deep dive across AI, compute, energy, logistics, biotech, and more; so you spot projects early, de-risk choices, and move first.
Last week’s EDO Roundup…
Texas tops Site Selection’s 2025 business climate (Nov 3.)
Texas snagged the No. 1 spot again; great third-party ammo for RFIs and pitch decks this week.
Belton to host the final 2025 Governor’s Small Business Summit (veterans focus) (Nov 4.)
If you’ve got makers or service exporters nearby, send them; easy way to plug into state resources.
Texas passes 3 million active business entities (Nov 5.)
Nice proof point on our depth of vendors and entrepreneurial base; drop this stat on slide one.
Formosa Plastics announces $150M unit in Jackson County (JETI project) (Nov 6.)
Petrochem expansion continues; useful signal for plastics supply-chain targets on the coast.
“Kyle City Limits” breaks ground; ~200 jobs coming (Nov 6.)
Small-format retail with quick job density off I-35; good comp for service and restaurant prospects.
State awards $14M via JET grants to 52 schools (Nov 7.)
Map which campuses near you won; great hook for employer MOUs and 2026 pipelines.
Forget Unicorns. Train Electricians…
Issue 17
B.L.U.F Lubbock is operating from fiscal strength while investing ahead of growth. The city adopted a FY2025 budget of about $970 million, with a General Fund near $300–$314 million, AA+ credit, and broad revenue drivers. Certified taxable value rose to $27.8 billion in FY2025, up 7.6 percent year over year, which helped fund projects without raising the FY2025 M&O rate. Building permits reached $831.1 million year to date through September 2025. Downtown has drawn about $337.2 million across 214 projects in the past decade.
The strategic lever to watch is LP&L’s full transition into ERCOT in December 2023 and the opening of customer choice in 2024. That shift, rare for a municipal utility, can sharpen Lubbock’s pitch to power-intensive users if paired with steady grid messaging and shovel-ready sites.
City Financial Profile
Lubbock’s fiscal posture shows discipline on operations and firmness on capital.
FY2025 total budget: $969–970 million. The FY2025 General Fund ≈ $300–314 million. FY2026 proposed GF shows $304.9 million.
Revenue mix: FY2025 actuals show sales tax ≈ $105.6M and property tax ≈ $89.4M, about 35% and 30% of GF revenue respectively.
Certified net taxable value for FY2025 rose to $27.8B, +7.6% YoY. For FY2026, certified value is shown near $28.5–28.7B, +~2.5%.
FY2025 M&O and debt rates were adjusted with the combined rate near $0.470120 per $100 in 2024, with 2025 postings showing NNR $0.461938 and proposed $0.472191.
Debt picture: Total city debt around $1.85B spans utilities and water.
Tax-supported debt sits near $372–405M in FY2024–FY2025 materials.
Using FY2025 tax-supported ≈$372.4M and a 2024 population ≈272,086, tax-supported debt per capita is roughly $1,370.
General obligation ratings: Fitch AA+, S&P AA+, Moody’s Aa2.
Takeaway. Lubbock is converting appraisal growth into capital without leaning on steep rate hikes. Strong AA+ credit and a balanced GF revenue base give room to manage growth. Watch tax-supported per-capita debt, which is still moderate for a large city, and keep an eye on how capital timing lines up with private permits.
Economic Drivers
Education and healthcare anchor the base, while chips, software, and advanced ag are adding lift.
Public-sector anchors: Texas Tech University and Texas Tech Health Sciences Center are the largest public employers. LEDA lists TTU 6,635 and TTUHSC 5,017 on a major employers roll.
Semiconductors: X-FAB Lubbock secured preliminary CHIPS for America funding up to $50M, with plans to add ~150 jobs, reinforcing a specialty mixed-signal and SiC foothold.
Downtown tech foothold: Hoverstate established a downtown presence with ~50 jobs tied to software services, an early signal for digital employers in the core.
Agtech and industrial food: Plant Agricultural Systems (PLANT-AS) announced a public-private partnership with LEDA, planning 900+ jobs and >$670M investment over time.
Tourism pulse: Hotel/Motel tax collections for September 2025 were $855,077, +26.43% YoY.
Takeaway. Lubbock’s seven-leg stool is real: education, healthcare, agriculture, semiconductors, software services, professional services, and visitor economy. The chips and agtech moves raise the city’s national relevance, but workforce alignment will decide the pace.
Business Climate and Growth Indicators
Permitting and policy point to steady residential building and targeted commercial momentum.
Permits: YTD through Sep 2025 total valuation $831.05M, up 3.45% year over year. September alone posted $109.68M in valuation.
Downtown investment: Over the past decade, 214 projects totaled about $337.2M in private investment inside the 640-acre CBD.
Power market transition: LP&L’s ERCOT transition completed in Dec 2023, opening the retail market in 2024 and marking a first for a Texas muni in the era of deregulation.
Takeaway. The city pairs a clearer code base with steady inspections output and downtown revitalization. The ERCOT story is a recruiting tool for data-heavy and process-load users, provided messaging stays specific on capacity, interconnection timelines, and cost.
Opportunity Gaps
Three near-term moves match today’s demand signals.
Skilled trades training and staffing
Market opportunity. With $831M YTD permits and ongoing city CIP, demand for electricians, HVAC, plumbing, welding, and heavy equipment will stay elevated.
The need / gap. Stand up a short-cycle academy tied to direct placement with builders and utility contractors, and tap TWC programs to subsidize employer upskilling.
Aging and special-needs care services
Market opportunity. As the 55+ cohort grows, non-acute home health, therapy, and care coordination are undersupplied relative to trajectory. Median household income near $60,487 signals a sizable private-pay slice alongside Medicare/Medicaid.
The need / gap. Build a bilingual, tech-enabled home care platform with clear referral ties to Covenant and TTUHSC.
Industrial food processing and agtech services
Market opportunity. Regional livestock and crop cycles plus PLANT-AS $670M point to higher-value processing and precision ag inputs staying local.
The need / gap. A mid-scale USDA meat processor or a precision-ag subscription service to capture margin and stabilize producer revenue.
Takeaway. These plays compound existing strengths, help right-size labor pipelines, and keep more value in the local economy.
Closing Insight
Lubbock is financing growth from a position of strength, using a larger tax base and AA+ credit to fund water, power, and road projects without big rate hikes. The economy is widening beyond agriculture, education, and healthcare, with semiconductors, software, and agtech adding momentum. Permits and a decade of downtown investment signal steady private activity.
The friction points are clear…
Commercial construction is softer than housing, and skilled labor and care services are tight. The near-term plays: trades training and staffing, aging and special-needs care, and industrial food processing or precision ag; convert today’s needs into local jobs and keep more value in the Lubbock economy.
Source links…
Available here: this linked Google Folder.
Social highlights….
This week’s Sponsor… LEIP - ai powered workspace for EDOs
LEIP is an ai powered workspace built for Economic Development Organizations.
Let LEIP take care of the busy work and free up your REAL team.
Next Town: Celina, Texas
Have a great week! See you next Monday.
Grateful,
Omegadson
P.S. Don’t forget to connect with and follow Texas Street on LinkedIn and Facebook.
Research tool for this report: LEIP - ai powered workspace EDOs
Emerging Technology Opportunities for Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock sits at a genuine inflection point: abundant on-site renewables in the nation’s wind belt, 89.5% fiber coverage, a Tier One research university, and up to $50M in CHIPS Act funding position the city to capitalize as Texas demand nearly doubles by 2030 while primary metros face 24–72 month interconnection delays.
Co-locating near generation and leveraging ERCOT integration lets Lubbock bypass transmission bottlenecks while offering 10–20% lower operating costs, available land at Reese Technology Center, and a 212,000-person workforce with 16,000 graduates a year.
The most immediate targets are power-intensive data centers, semiconductor-adjacent advanced manufacturing, and AgTech that addresses the Ogallala water crisis; near-term execution should center on power infrastructure at Reese, additional carrier fiber, and commercialization of Texas Tech’s $19.2M in agricultural research so early movers can secure first-mover advantages.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Texas Street to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.