Читать книгу Texas Got It Right! - Sam Wyly - Страница 11

Obtaining licenses was a comparative breeze, and the

costs for everything, from equipment rentals to

meals, were much lower. People were just friendlier.

A hotel even let us shoot on its rooftop for free.

What is it that makes Texas so special; what

makes it such fertile ground for entrepreneurs? An

argument could be made that we have a lot of land

and that we are mineral-rich. But Alaska is even

bigger, geographically, with a wealth of minerals,

and it is not growing like Texas. The fact is, a big

part of what makes Texas great is not what it has but

what it doesn’t have. Namely, it doesn’t have a

bloated government bureaucracy with a vast regula-

tory system that impedes the launching and growth

of businesses. Our state constitution limits state leg-

islative sessions to 140 days every other year,

making for highly efficient, streamlined lawmaking.

And yet the government we do have protects indi-

vidual rights and private property fiercely. Texans

have always taken justice very seriously, and we

have some of the toughest penalties for lawbreakers

in the country. We also have the Texas Rangers, one

of the most illustrious law-enforcement units in

the world.

Actually, one of the only apprehensions I did have

about moving to Texas was that I’d be miles away from

my favorite burger joint, In-N-Out Burger, a Califor-

nia-based, family-owned chain that prides itself on its

ultrafresh, high-quality ingredients. For years the com-

pany has resisted expanding beyond the reach of its

California-based meat-processing facility, meaning that

if you wanted an In-N-Out burger, you would have to

live in either California or a nearby state such as

Nevada, Arizona, or Utah. But in 2010, to my delight,

In-N-Out announced that it was restructuring its

system and opening a second processing facility just

south of Dallas. It’s no coincidence that In-N-Out

chose the Lone Star State for the company’s first-ever

expansion outside its home region. It selected Texas

for the same reasons that Chief Executive magazine has

rated our state the number-one place to do business in

the country (and California the worst) eight years and

running. When it comes to being business-friendly,

Texas puts its money where its mouth is.

TEXAS GOT IT RIGHT!

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