Located just 90 miles East of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, the 14- county regionthat comprises East Texas is uniquely positioned for economic growth. The East Texas Workforce Development area consists of the following counties: Anderson, Camp, Cherokee, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Marion, Panola, Rains, Rusk, Smith, Upshur, Van Zandt, and Wood. The 2000 census data shows a population of approximately 745,180 persons in the 14 counties covering approximately 10,000 square miles. While 10 of the 14 counties (covering 7,276 square miles) are rural, the region includes two standard metropolitan statistical areas—Tyler (Smith County) and Longview/Marshall (Gregg, Harrison and Upshur Counties). The Tyler MSA has a population of 174,706 and Longview/Marshall MSA has a population of 208,780.

The population density for the Workforce Development Area is 74.5 persons per square mile, which is much more concentrated than the western areas of the State. (In comparison, the population density of the Panhandle of Texas in rural counties is about 10 persons per square mile). According to a report by the State Comptrollers Office, “The population of the East Texas region is large enough to create a demand for a wide variety of services and scattered enough to make delivery in a single location problematic.”

Institutionally, East Texas is characterized by local autonomy with continuously increasing economic linkages. All of the counties are affected by the “Interstate Highway 20 Corridor,” which links the East Texas region with Dallas and Shreveport, which are in turn linked with Austin, San Antonio and Houston.  There are 14 counties, 81 cities, 12 of which have populations of 5,000 or more. Tyler and Longview/Marshall are the economic centers of the region. In particular, Tyler is the leading population center of the region and a retail/marketing hub.

The East Texas Workforce Development Area is located in the eastern part of the state. While oil and gas production, manufacturing, lumber/agribusiness, and government remain important, the East Texas economy is becoming more like the state and national economies, whose growth is driven by the services industries, which include low skill, low-wage counter help type jobs, along with high skill, high wage jobs in the office-oriented managerial, sales and personal services occupations. In 2000, the East Texas region total employment for all industries was 314,950, with projected growth to 366,290 by the year 2010. That is an expected increase of 51,340, or a 16.3% increase in employment.