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This article is part of an ongoing, county-by-county, overview of the Rural Capital Area. This article covers industry clusters in Bastrop County.
Industry clusters represent a concentration of interconnected businesses, suppliers, service providers, and supporting institutions that operate within the same or related industries present in a geographical region. Firms within a cluster can benefit from operating in proximity to one another through shared labor pools, specialized suppliers, knowledge exchange, and access to supporting organizations.
Industry clusters provide insight into the economic strengths, opportunities, and vulnerabilities of a region. By monitoring cluster performance, communities can better understand which sectors are driving growth, which are declining, and where strategic investments may produce the greatest economic benefits. Bastrop County’s largest industry clusters are Retail (making up 18% of jobs), Entertainment (16%), Education (15%), and Construction (13%).
Employment in Bastrop County has grown substantially in the past five years (+27%). All clusters but one grew in the past five years – a strong indication of the diversification of the Bastrop County economy. The fastest growing cluster was Industrial Machinery which almost doubled its employment (94% growth). Close behind were Metalworking (+86%) and Materials (+78%). Most new jobs were created in Retail, Entertainment, Education, and Construction (+3,500 new jobs / 70% of all new jobs).
Location Quotients (LQs) compare the relative concentration of industries in a region to the national average. For example, Retail accounts for about 18% of employment in Bastrop County and has an LQ of 1.51. This indicates that Bastrop County’s share of Retail employment is roughly 151% of the national share. A LQ above one signifies that the cluster is concentrated in the county. A LQ below one indicates that it less concentrated.
The major industry clusters with the highest LQ in Bastrop County are Construction (1.77), Energy (1.74), and Education (1.65).
A common method of illustrating how clusters compare in a region is a bubble chart like the one below. The chart contains four quadrants, and industry clusters are positioned based on their five-year employment growth and LQ, while bubble size reflects relative employment levels.
The upper-right quadrant contains the clusters that are both concentrated and growing in the county. A few examples of these “Strong, Advancing” clusters in Bastrop County are Retail, Entertainment, and Education. Clusters in the upper-left quadrant are still strong in the county but have experienced recent declines.
Clusters that are not competitive and declining in Bastrop County would be located in the lower left quadrant; however, Bastrop County has none. This is a sign of economic competitiveness and growth across a diverse array of industries.
The quadrant in the lower right hosts the largest number of individual clusters. These are industries that are currently less competitive locally but are growing. Those furthest to the right are growing the fastest: Finance, Agribusiness & Food, and Transportation & Logistics. Analyzing why these clusters are performing in this way could give valuable insight into how Bastrop County could plan for the future success of their economy and community.
