President and CEO of the Tyler Economic Development Council Tom Mullins says Tyler has seen substantial economic growth in the last few years.
"Tyler is really benefiting from some serious economic growth and expansion," Mullins said. "This past 12-18 months we worked on 10 different major economic expansion and relocation projects that totaled over 2,100 new primary jobs and just short of $300 million in new investments."
Looking at the numbers, Mullins says this is a good a time as ever for business in Tyler.
As of April this year, unemployment has dropped to 2.9% in the Tyler area.
"We’re fortunate to have this kind of economic prosperity existing in Tyler right now," Mullins explained. "Sanderson Foods, a big food processing company, has already opened a facility up on Interstate 20 northeast of town [...] Right downtown here we have an engineering company called Estes McClure [& Associates] that went into an old building that had been empty for years and they are bringing almost 90 new engineering and tech support positions to the center of the city."
In the age of online shopping, Tyler has managed to grow as a retail destination for the surrounding areas.
"We’re a regional retail center, we have this great higher education presence that is growing rapidly," Mullins said. "So a lot of things are contributing to the growing prosperity of Tyler and Smith County."
A strong economy like this often includes new restaurants.
"You’ve got the franchise stores that are part of a national chain […] then you’ve got the individual restaurateur; people that are homegrown a lot of times that are family supported, and Tyler has a very healthy mix of those," Mullins said.
Family restaurants like The Taco Spot, off of Toll 49, are examples of this competitive restaurant economy.
"We're just really good at making tacos," owner Kimberly Werner said. "So we wanted to bring some of that [...] and see if you know everybody else, fell in love with them as well."
Werner and her husband opened The Taco Spot a month ago. She says they stay plenty busy.
"We get all kinds of people here. Families, young kids, elderly people, people that are just trying to come through and get something quick and good, fresh fast to eat." Werner explained. "We actually had our grand official opening with the Chamber of Commerce last Thursday. And so ever since then this place has been popping."
For the Werner's, Tyler was a no-brainer as the location for their new business.
"My husband and I both are born and raised in Tyler. So you know we're locals here and it's been a really good," Werner said. "We love Tyler. It's been a really good experience."
The Taco Spot is looking for more people to hire as they grow their business. If you're interested in applying, you can reach out to them on their Facebook page.