Tarrant County new firms created recently added about 30,000 jobs

November 11, 2021
Community

Startup businesses created an estimated 30,000 jobs in Tarrant County in 2019, according to a Fall 2021 Jobs Report commissioned by the University of North Texas Health Science Center (HSC).

These new firms, which are less than a year old, helped Tarrant County keep pace in job creation when compared to neighboring counties and other large counties in Texas, according to the report titled: Sparkyard Fall 2021 Jobs Report.

Sparkyard is a program operated by HSC, with support from the City of Fort Worth Office of Economic Development and TCU Neeley School of Business.

“We know that at a national level almost all net new job creation comes from young firms,” said Dr. Robert McClain, Associate Vice President of HSC’s Division of Research and Innovation. “Though this seems like a very large number, it shouldn’t surprise us that new companies create this many jobs each year.”

The jobs created paid almost $37,000 a year in wages.

“It is our hope that this research shows our local policymakers and business leaders the importance of local startup activity to our economy,” Dr. McClain said. “We hope that information like this will help lead to better decisions about incentives and economic development decision making.”

Sparkyard is a free collaborative platform that helps new and existing Fort Worth companies accelerate their growth. The innovative web platform, powered by SourceLink®, connects entrepreneurs to the network of resources in the DFW area that help companies launch and grow. Sparkyard also analyzes entrepreneurial ecosystem metrics to gauge Fort Worth’s performance, identifies resource gaps and advocates for entrepreneurs.

The report uses data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) to quantify the impact of new firms to Tarrant County’s economy. The report is available at https://www.sparkyard.co/sparkyard-jobs-report/.

This is the second year that HSC released a jobs report. The inaugural report, released in 2018, determined that new firms accounted for more than an estimated 25,000 jobs created.

The Fall 2021 Jobs Report was released during this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week Fort Worth during Fort Worth’s State of Entrepreneurship event. The 2021 report found that firms 0-1 years old created nearly 30,000 jobs in 2019. The 2021 report also revised the 2018 figure up to nearly 28,000 jobs created by new firms, fueled largely by the region’s continuous population growth.

Maria Meyers, the Founder of Sourcelink in Kansas City, Mo., said, “We have seen this reaction in communities across the country. Very few regions know the impact that startup companies have on job creation. This report sheds a light on this research in the largest counties in the second largest state in the country.”

GEW Fort Worth is part of a concerted effort by Global Entrepreneurship Network Global to have events focused on entrepreneurship one week a year around the globe. Each November, Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) reaches millions of people of all ages and backgrounds through local, national and global events and activities in over 180 countries. This week in Fort Worth, local organizers are planning 133 sessions that focus on a wide variety of topics that help entrepreneurs learn and connect with others in their community.

About Sparkyard

Sparkyard is a program operated by the University of North Texas Health Science Center. The mission of the program is to cultivate a connected and vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Fort Worth area through a comprehensive platform that connects entrepreneurs and business owners to the resources they need to launch and scale their companies. With more than 60 resource partners, Sparkyard helps companies access a wide variety of services, from accessing capital to navigating the licensing process.

Through the Sparkyard platform, business owners can directly contact resource partners for assistance or work with a Resource Navigator who will help the business owner identify the right provider based on need, location, industry, stage of business, and additional criteria. Sparkyard also guides startup business, catalogues business-focused events, and hosts a blog series featuring Fort Worth entrepreneurs. The tool is free to use by business owners and free for resource partners to join. Funding for Sparkyard is provided by HSC, the Office of Economic Development from the City of Fort Worth, and TCU Neeley School of Business.

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