For the sixth consecutive year, Texas took home Site Selection Magazine's Governor's Cup, awarded to the state with the most economic development projects. Texas dropped from 642 projects in 2016 to 594 in 2017 but still finished well in front of runner-up Ohio’s 467. Nebraska took home the title for most projects per capita.

“I’ve asked other CEOs who have broken ground on new headquarters and have moved to Texas from other states, why are they doing this? They all say the same thing, which is Texas has a top-notch workforce," Gov. Greg Abbott told Site Selection Magazine.

While Texas may have won the Governor's Cup again, the real prize for the state's economic development efforts would be attracting Amazon's HQ2. Texas has two horses in Amazon's economic development race for the company's second headquarters: Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin. Amazon has already found Texas' economic development efforts to its liking — the e-commerce giant now operates seven fulfillment centers and three sortation centers in Texas.

Economic development programs, such as the Texas Enterprise Fund, also help Texas maintain its top spot for economic development. Since the inception of the program, Texans have spent roughly $609M on business subsidies to attract corporate business. The Texas Economic Development Council helps to coordinate the state's economic development efforts, training nearly 4,000 local government leaders in economic development workshops. In total, the TEDC works with more than 500 public and private economic development organizations in more than 350 cities across the state.