BG Reads | News You Need to Know (April 22, 2021)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
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BG Podcast EP. 139: Q1 20201 Review: COVID-19's Impact on the Built Environment with Michael Hsu
On today’s episode we speak with return guest, Austin-based Michael Hsu, Principal and Founder of Michael Hsu Office of Architecture.
He and Bingham Group CEO A.J. catch up from their June 2020 show, updating on impacts to the design/built environment sector through Q1 2021.
You can listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud. New content every Wednesday. Please like, link, comment and subscribe!
[MEETING/HEARINGS]
Regular Meeting of the Austin City Council (Today @10AM) - AGENDA
Item 20. Approve an ordinance creating the Emergency Communications Department (APD Budget Reallocation).
Item 39. Approve a resolution initiating a code amendment to repeal or amend City Code section 25-2-586 (B)(6) and directing the City Manager to place on the May 6 Council agenda an item revising in-lieu fees applicable to the Downtown Density Bonus Program and Rainey Density Bonus Program.
Item 53. Approve an ordinance amending City Code Chapter 4-2 (Alarm Permits) to transfer the authority for regulating alarm permits and alarm systems from the Austin Police Department to the Development Services Department.
[THE 87TH TEXAS LEGISLATURE]
LINK TO FILED HOUSE BILLS (5,691)
LINK TO FILED SENATE BILLS (2,610)
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
Austin ranks No. 2 in U.S. for labor market as thousands of hospitality jobs come back online (Austin Business Journal)
The Austin metro continued to show signs of market recovery in March — a full year after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic — with thousands of added jobs in hospitality and leisure.
The metro gained 14,700 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate dipped to a non-seasonally adjusted 5.3% from 5.6% in February, according to data from Texas Workforce Commission. Nearly 6,000 jobs were added in the hospitality and leisure sector — the hardest hit corner of the Austin economy — and 86% of the total jobs lost during March and April last year have been regained, according to an April 20 analysis by Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce.
This could be an indicator that a full economic recovery remains on the horizon. Austin has proven to be a hot labor market as companies relocate to the area in droves and existing employers launch hiring sprees. Just in the last two weeks, nearly 16,800 job postings were listed on Indeed.com for the Austin area. Roughly 1,700 of those positions were labeled as hospitality industry jobs.
Travel industry officials have also indicated a rebound is likely this spring and summer based on pent-up demand as more people become fully vaccinated, which would impact Austin's hospitality sector with more people at hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues.
Last month's labor market activity ranks Austin at No. 2 among the top performing U.S. metros, with Central Texas recording 14,700 fewer jobs, or a decline of 1.3%, year-over-year in March, according to the chamber analysis. Austin only trailed Salt Lake City, which had 1,700 fewer jobs, or a 0.2% drop, compared to the year prior. Central Texas has been holding steady at No. 3 over the last few months.
Roughly 61,500 hospitality jobs were lost in March and April last year, which was 45% of all jobs shed. As of last month, the industry has regained 39,200 positions.
Austin-area hotels were battered by the pandemic, losing an estimated $956 million in revenue in 2020. But there's some optimism that 2021 will fare better for the industry. Several hotels are poised to open soon and have ramped up hiring efforts in preparation, such as The Thompson Austin and Hilton Garden Inn Austin University Capitol District.
The Austin Marriott Downtown officially opened in early March… (LINK TO STORY)
Roadmap to recovery and resilience (Downtown Austin Alliance)
The Downtown Austin Alliance is pleased to announce we have released our annual State of Downtown Report and a new report, the Roadmap to Recovery and Resilience. The reports provide a holistic view of how downtown Austin has fared during the COVID-19 pandemic and how it can continue to recover and become more resilient as we work toward a return to normalcy. We invite you to review the reports and join us in returning to downtown to write the next chapter of our collective story… (LINK TO STORY)
Wayfair offering 200 jobs with new Austin office (KVUE)
Home goods e-commerce company Wayfair on Wednesday announced that it will be opening three new engineering offices and hiring 1,000 people later this year. One of those offices will be in Austin, offering up 200 new engineering jobs.
This marks the first time the company will have a corporate presence outside of its global headquarters in Boston and Berlin.
"Our team of more than 3,000 engineers and data scientists have built the preeminent e-commerce platform for the home category, and this expansion will allow us to continue to build cutting-edge solutions for our customers and suppliers, from homegrown machine learning and data science to next-generation merchandising, logistics innovations and more," a spokesperson for the company said.
In the past year, Wayfair says its revenue has grown 54% to more than $14 billion, as more people have been shopping for items to make their homes more comfortable during the pandemic
"Thanks to years of long-term investments, especially in our tech stack and engineering talent, we were in a position to meet the increased demand in 2020 and beyond," the spokesperson said. "Now, we’re looking forward to our engineering team joining the Austin community as we continue our aggressive growth plans.".
The other new locations will be in the San Francisco Bay Area and in the city of Toronto, Ontario.
“As Wayfair further solidifies its position as the leader in home, we are excited to open a new chapter as an Engineering organization with three new office locations that will help accelerate our ambitious tech agenda,” added Jim Miller, chief technology officer at Wayfair. “We’re thrilled to expand our global talent footprint to Austin, Toronto and the San Francisco Bay Area as we continue to evolve our team to support the incredible growth of the business.”
Additionally, Wayfair also plans to continue hiring for engineering and data science positions in Boston and Berlin. The company currently employs more than 3,000 engineers and data scientists… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin’s homeless strategy office lays out plan for south Austin temporary shelter (KXAN)
The City of Austin has plans to turn a motel currently being used as a place for high-risk people to stay during the pandemic into a temporary homeless shelter.
Earlier this month, the Homeless Strategy Division laid out plans for the first phase of the city council’s Housing-Focused Encampment Assistance Link (HEAL) initiative, designed to address unsheltered homelessness in Austin. The south Austin shelter is part of that plan.
“We got here based on his health issues,” said Deirdra Strohl. “It’s way better than living on the streets.”
After five years of living outside in Austin. Strohl and her boyfriend have found temporary shelter in south Austin.
“We moved here from Ohio a while back, and we’ve traveled all over,” said Strohl. “Nowhere else is doing anything like this.”
For eight months now, Strohl and her boyfriend have been staying at the south Austin hotel to get them off the streets during the pandemic… (LINK TO STORY)
Mayor Steve Adler launches 'Walk With Me, Austin' podcast (KVUE)
Austin Mayor Steve Adler is popping into the podcast game.
On Monday, the mayor released the first episode of his new podcast, "Walk With Me, Austin," which he describes as an "issues-based conversation and informative journey about the latest policies impacting those living in Austin and beyond."
The title was inspired by the song and music video of "Walk With Me, Austin," which was recorded by local artists and musicians at the beginning of the pandemic to mark a moment in time and served as an anthem to unite and inspire Austin residents.
"Over the past year, we have seen so many challenges and traumas and, like the song’s lyrics, the 'Walk with Me, Austin' podcast is an opportunity to see we are not alone in these times. The podcast is an invitation to walk with me, Austin," said Adler. "Our first episode focuses on the complexities of homelessness, outdoor camping, and housing solutions. Through this discussion, we walk through some history and turn to actions and solutions to address homelessness that do not involve a return to a camping ban or remaining in the status quo. Give it a listen today."
You can listen to the first episode here… (LINK TO STORY)
UT-Austin’s Longhorn Band will be forced to play “The Eyes of Texas” song that’s become a source of fierce division (Texas Tribune)
Next fall, University of Texas at Austin students who play on the football team or watch in the stands can choose whether to sing the “The Eyes of Texas” at the end of the game.
But members of the Longhorn Band will be required to perform the university’s embattled alma mater, according to a press release posted on the Butler School of Music website Wednesday.
The university also announced it is creating a separate, not-yet-named university marching band starting in fall 2022 whose members do not need to play the song to participate. It’s the latest development in a debate over the university’s alma mater that has deeply divided students and alumni… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Texas transgender sports bill will likely die in committee, chairman says (Houston Chronicle)
A bill that would dictate on which sports teams transgender athletes can compete in public schools was declared all but dead on Wednesday by Rep. Harold Dutton, the Public Education Committee chair who presided over an emotionally charged debate over it a day earlier.
The bill drew criticism from more than 1,000 employers across the state and the NCAA, which threatened to cancel future sports championships in the state if it were enacted.
Dutton, a Houston Democrat, told Hearst Newspapers the bill didn’t have the votes to pass his committee, which is made up of six Democrats and seven Republicans.
“That bill is probably not going to make it out of committee,” Dutton said. “We just don’t have the votes for it … But I promised the author that I’d give him a hearing, and we did.”
The bill’s author, Rep. Cole Hefner, R-Mount Pleasant, said Wednesday that he would still like to see a vote.
“I believe this bill is critically important to protect fair play in women's sports,” Hefner said. “I appreciate Chairman Dutton giving this bill a hearing and believe it deserves an up or down vote.”
Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Kingwood, the influential Republican who indicated he would not support the legislation at Tuesday’s hearing, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While anything can happen in the final weeks of the 2021 legislative session — the language could be tacked onto another bill or the same bill could be sent to another committee, for example — the standstill marks a major roadblock for Republicans pushing it… (LINK TO STORY)
Medicaid expansion picks up bipartisan support in the Texas House, but hurdles remain (Texas Tribune)
Among several bills filed in the conservative Texas Legislature is a Medicaid expansion plan with bipartisan support that is similar to those adopted in some Republican-led states.
Nine House Republicans and all 67 House Democrats have publicly signed on to House Bill 3871, which would give it enough votes to pass the 150-member chamber. Although none of the proposals have gotten a hearing this session, Medicaid expansion is expected to be introduced in some form as a floor amendment Thursday when the House debates the state budget.
First introduced as part of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act in 2010, the requirement to expand eligibility for Medicaid was fiercely resisted by Republican-led states, including Texas, on the argument that it was fiscally unsustainable and, equally importantly, expanded an entitlement program when the goal should be to make people less dependent on the government.
Since then, however, all but 12 states have expanded their Medicaid programs.
Texas, meanwhile, has relied on a federal funding agreement, known as the 1115 waiver, that was first approved in 2011 as a means to help hospitals care for uninsured people until the states expanded their Medicaid programs under the ACA. Then the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states couldn’t be required to expand Medicaid.
In the years after, Texas leaders fought to keep the waiver — which doesn’t provide comprehensive health care coverage, drug coverage or other services covered by Medicaid — while resisting expanding Medicaid.
The new federal incentives, combined with news last week that Texas may lose its 1115 funding after October 2022, bring a new pitch to the decadelong debate over adding more than a million people to the Medicaid rolls in Texas.
“The time to do this is now,” said state Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Carrollton, the author of House Bill 3871. “The deal on the table that the [federal] government offered to us is, in my opinion, irresponsible not to accept.”… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
The battle for tech talent is heating up. Texas isn't the only emerging hotspot. (The Business Journals)
Demand for tech talent is ramping up around the nation, and it’s not just the usual suspects that are seeing a surge of job postings.
Rising competition for tech talent is a trend with high stakes that transcend the tech industry itself, as small businesses around the nation could find themselves battling to retain employees with coveted tech skills. Experts say the rise of work-from-home arrangements could throw another wrench into the mix, as well.
The tech talent battle is one of several fronts likely to emerge in the tight labor market economists are expecting to take hold in the coming months, but it’s one with potential to affect commercial real estate, local economies and startup ecosystems around the nation.
Data from CompTIA, a Downers Grove, Illinois-based information technology trade association, shows tech employment is projected to grow 2.5% for the year nationally. After a lull in the second half of 2020, job postings for tech positions have increased four consecutive months, with openings growing to 307,000 nationally in March.
Tim Herbert, executive vice president for research and market intelligence at CompTIA, said the last few months show momentum building for tech jobs due to a combination of a strengthening economy and pent-up hiring demand.
The data shows tech job postings are soaring in ascendant tech markets like Atlanta, Dallas and Austin, Texas. Research from HR consulting firm Robert Half also found hiring is particularly strong in Miami, Detroit, Dallas and Seattle. Those markets aren't surprising.
But CompTIA provided additional data to the Business Journals that showed Milwaukee, Albany, New York; Boulder, Colorado; Des Moines, Iowa; and Oklahoma City all posted at least a 44% jump in hiring for tech jobs between the fourth quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021.
Those rising star markets are leading the way for a host of midmarket metros that recorded a surge in tech openings in March.
Common threads among several rising markets are proximity to research universities and lower costs than big coastal metros.
One place where demand didn’t increase in March was Silicon Valley. Both San Francisco and San Jose, California, saw job openings decline during the month, according to CompTIA.
Herbert cautioned against reading too much into one month of data, particularly after Silicon Valley had strong job posting totals in February.
“On the other hand, there have been prominent employers that have announced a near indefinite extension of their work-from-home arrangements, so there may be an element of workers and employers opting to live and hire where they prefer,” Herbert said.
The flow of jobs from California to other metros in the Sun Belt, particularly Texas markets like Dallas and Austin, has been well-documented, but Herbert said there is not a precise way to quantify that trend at this time… (LINK TO STORY)
U.S. senators question Apple and Google on app store dominance (Reuters)
A panel of U.S. senators questioned officials from Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google on Wednesday about the dominance of their mobile app stores and whether the companies abuse their power at the expense of smaller competitors.
Amy Klobuchar, the top Senate Democrat on antitrust issues, said Apple and Google can use their power to "exclude or suppress apps that compete with their own products" and "charge excessive fees that affect competition."
App makers like music streaming service Spotify Technology SA (SPOT.N) and dating services giant Match Group (MTCH.O), which owns the Tinder app, have long complained that mandatory revenue sharing for sales of digital goods and strict inclusion rules set by Apple's App Store for iPhones and iPads, along with Google's Play store for Android devices, amount to anticompetitive behavior.
Representatives for Apple and Google told senators the companies' tight control over their stores and the associated revenue-sharing requirements are needed to enforce and pay for security measures to protect consumers from harmful apps and practices.
But when asked by Senator Josh Hawley, Apple's Chief Compliance Officer Kyle Andeer would not commit to spending all of the mandatory fees on security.
Explanations from Andeer and Google's Wilson White, senior director for government affairs, about why the companies' fees do not apply to Uber Technologies Inc (UBER.N) and apps that sell physical goods also failed to satisfy senators.
"I feel like unfrozen caveman lawyer," Senator Mike Lee said. "I'm not grasping it."
Senator Richard Blumenthal expressed concern about a call Match said it received late on Tuesday from its business counterpart at Google… (LINK TO STORY)