Fort Bend County Job Growth 3rd in U.S.

HOUSTON - Around America, unemployment is brushing up against 10 percent.

But some of Houston's suburbs are actually adding jobs, not subtracting them.

In the latest Job Growth report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, two of the top three counties are in the Houston area.

Arlington County, VA occupies the top slot, with 2.6 percent employment expansion between March 2008 and March 2009.

Montgomery County is in second place with job growth of 1.5 percent during that period.

And Fort Bend County came in third, adding 1.2 percent more jobs.

Former Sugar Land mayor David Wallace said the cities of Fort Bend have worked hard to attract employers.

As an example, he pointed to Minute Maid, which is headquartered in Sugar Land.

The beverage company received a 7 1/2-year tax abatement deal from the city and Fort Bend County along with a $2.4 million payment from Sugar Land.

"We did provide an incentive for them to move here," said Wallace. "We as a Houston region were going to lose Minute Maid when they were going to relocate back to Atlanta with (parent company) Coca-Cola. And now we have over 400 jobs with an average salary north of 95-thousand dollars right here in Fort Bend County."