For many in the business world, it appears that Texas may be the place to be. Texas added 1.2 million net jobs since December of 2000, when Rick Perry took office as the Governor. This is in contrast to the 1.1 million jobs that the U.S. lost as a whole over the same time period. There has been a 40% rise in education and health services jobs this decade, and a 67% rise in mining jobs, all of which are fueling these numberes.

Moody’s Analytics shows that total employment in Texas is slated to expand 2.9% annually through 2015, which translates to 1.6 million new jobs for the state in the coming five years.

As Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi said, “Everyone is singing from the same hymn book at the Austin Chamber of Commerce.” Gov. Perry has been working hard to bring companies into the fold. In particular, while courting Washington State companies such as Amazon.com, Microsoft and Starbucks he wrote, “As the State of Washington considers a multibillion-dollar tax increase for citizens and businesses … I invite you to consider your future in America’s new land of opportunity: the State of Texas. If Washington doesn’t want your business, Texas does. Texas has no personal income tax and no interest in getting one.”