The percentage of growth in the number of businesses outpaced population growth this decade. The Census Bureau reports the Temple-Killeen-Fort Hood population grew 6.2 percent between 2000 and 2006. At the same time, the number of firms grew by 19 percent. And the total business payroll grew by 21 percent during that period of time in dollars adjusted for inflation.
The number of firms grew by 25 percent between 1995 and 2006 in the MSA, the SBA reported this week.
While those are the latest numbers from the SBA and Census Bureau, dozens of businesses opened in 2007 and 2008 in the metropolitan area, with the opening of Bird Creek Crossing in Temple, Oak Village Shopping Center in Belton and the Market Heights shopping area in Harker Heights, for example.
The potential remains for even more growth, however, according to the authors of Choices ’08: City of Temple Comprehensive Plan 2010-2030, published late last year.
“Employment data seem to indicate that the momentum for employment growth within Bell County has swung to areas away from Temple,” the plan report says.
