Hot Cities

Equity Title Services Corp., a vendor-management company that coordinates title appraisals and closing services for banks nationwide, moved from the Houston suburb of Conroe to Austin this past June in search of a better quality of life for its employees and improved access to software-savvy workers. "What we do is 99 percent by phone, fax and e-mail, so we can do this from just about anywhere," explains 29-year-old John Childers, CEO and co-owner with president Hunt Pettit, also 29, of the nine-employee firm, which projects earnings of $5.2 million this year. "Austin was the place, technologically and culturally."

Austin's labor market offered ample programming talent to help the company refine its main tool, a computer program that helps it provide real estate title and appraisal services. The city was also home to many of the midsized banks that are Equity Title's main customers.

After evaluating the Dallas/Fort Worth area and Houston as well as Austin, the partners found themselves deciding between Dallas/Fort Worth and Austin, Childers says. Austin won out primarily for its more relaxed culture, but the business side has also been positive. "I have nothing but good things to say," says Childer. "We're just tickled to be here."

This article was originally published in the October 1999 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Hot Cities.