Amarillo Texas: Encyclopedia II - Amarillo Texas - Economy

Amarillo Texas - Economy

Amarillo is a vibrant economic hub serving portions of five states. Once known as the "Helium Capital of the World", Amarillo lies just south of the heart of one America's most productive natural gas fields and is in the middle of the most concentrated beef producing areas in the United States. As the dairy industry flees California, Amarillo serves what is fast becoming a major milk producing area as many multi-million dollar state of the art dairies are built west of the city. Other major employers include Bell Helicopter Textron (final assembly point of the V-22 Osprey hybrid aircraft and future site of Marine One assembly), Owens Corning (fiberglass plant), Tyson Fresh Meats Plant, Asarco (copper plant), and the Pantex nuclear weapons plant. Amarillo National Bank is one of the largest financial institutions in America not operated by a major multi-state bank. The city is also home to Amarillo Design Bureau Inc., which maintains and develops various game systems, background material and miniatures for the Star Fleet Universe.

The Amarillo Economic Development Corporation is funded by a city sales tax, and it provides aggressive incentive packages to existing and prospective employers. The AEDC is largely responsible for the development of the Osprey assembly point in Amarillo, destined to be a hub for future aerospace industry in Amarillo.

Amarillo is also home to major medical facilities including Baptist St. Anthony's and Northwest Texas Hospitals, the Harrington Cancer Center, and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and Texas Tech School of Pharmacy. All are located in the Harrington Regional Medical Center, one of the largest land masses in the United States dedicated to health care. Baptist St. Anthony's, known locally as BSA, has been listed among US News & World Report's "Top 50 Hospitals" for each of the past four years.

The city is also surrounded by farmers with wheat and irrigated corn as the main crops. In the past Amarillo was home to a U.S. Air Force base that was closed on December 31, 1968.

Corporate presence

Amarillo is home to a few corporate headquarters. Additionally, several companies have a large presence in the city.

• Affiliated Foods, Inc., grocery cooperative
• Corporate Systems, medical claims administration software developer
• Hastings Entertainment, books and music retailer
• Pantex, nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly
• Tech Spray, chemical cleaners producer
• Toot 'n Totum, convenience store chain

Major companies in Amarillo

• Bell Helicopter Textron, helicopter and tiltrotor manufacturer
• BNSF Railway, railroad
• Tyson Foods, beef processor
• Xcel Energy, electric provider

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Economy", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki