Major Economic Sectors

Over the past 10 years, San Angelo has seen a transition in its economy from manufacturing into more business and personal services. While we still have major manufacturers in steel fabrication and medical devices, plus a number of smaller manufacturing operations, recent long-term growth sectors have included education and healthcare, trade/transportation/utilities, leisure and hospitality and the business service sector.

Education/Health

The health sector dominates this category with two growing health care systems and other facilities providing long-term care, and specialized healthcare services. Over 3,000 people work in the health care sector in San Angelo.

Trade/Transportation/Utilities

This sector and the positive trend is driven by an ever-increasing trade sector. From 2003 through 2005, 11 major national retail chain stores opened or broke ground in West San Angelo. $46,000,000 in new construction has occurred. Retail trade is expected to continue to grow with the completion of major national stores like Sam’s Club, Best Buy, Home Depot, Michaels, Academy Sports, Bed Bath & Beyond, Kirklands and others.

Leisure and Hospitality

With the passage of the 1/2 cent sales tax for business and tourism development in 1999, visitors to the city have enjoyed the new venues created with the tax. Additionally, Angelo State University built the multi-purpose Junell Center, and professional sports came to San Angelo. Since 2003, there have been 4 new hotels and numerous new restaurants built.

Business Services/Information

At the time that San Angelo was suffering declines in manufacturing, these sectors have added thousands of new jobs. In 1995-96, SITEL Corporation built their largest call center in the world in San Angelo at 1,500 employees. BlueCross BlueShield of Texas added 500 new medical claims processing jobs in 1998-99. In late 2002, DCS, Inc. announced that they would be adding 400 public debt collection jobs in San Angelo. In 2005, Verizon announced a 250 employee expansion in San Angelo. During this decade, two data recovery centers were established in San Angelo by a national insurance/investment company, and the State of Texas. San Angelo has double the state average of information technology jobs. Angelo State University’s Computer Science Department is a critical factor in this growth.

Agriculture/Agri-Business

San Angelo is located in an important agricultural area – the Concho Valley. Cotton, sorghum, and wheat are major crops grown in this area. Livestock include cattle, sheep, and goats. San Angelo’s Producer’s Livestock Auction is the nation’s largest for sheep/lambs and among the top 5 for cattle auctions. Over 600 people work in the cattle and lamb meat processing industry, and hundreds more work in companies that directly support the agricultural businesses in the area – veterinary biological products, livestock trailers, feed and supplement manufacturers, wool and mohair processing, machine shops, fencing materials, windmills, saddles/boots, and many other products. Two agricultural research centers are located in the San Angelo area – Texas A&M and Angelo State University