As the eighth-largest economy in the world, the state of Texas is a prominent hub for booming sectors like energy, transportation and distribution. Often known for its major metropolitan cities like Dallas, Houston and Austin, smaller micropolitans across the state—counties with core city populations between 10,000 and 50,000—are proving to be economic engines of their own.

In this week’s Dynamic Heartland Micropolitan Case Study, the spotlight turns to Big Spring, Texas. Nestled in the heart of West Texas, Big Spring—a community of just over 30,000—is Heartland Forward’s sixth most dynamic micropolitan of 2025 nationwide, and second among those in heartland states. It has achieved this feat through thoughtful economic diversification, evaluating and leveraging its innate strengths and fostering cross-industry partnerships to drive long-term, sustainable workforce and economic development—providing a blueprint other heartland micropolitans can follow to achieve their own sustainable economic development.

Turning Setbacks into Wins

For decades, one of Big Spring’s primary economies was the oil industry. After the closure of Webb Air Force Base in 1977, the city became vulnerable to the boom-and-bust cycles of oil, making local economic growth volatile and unsustainable. In response, Big Spring looked to diversify its economy and realized it had an innate and growing strength: its location.

Surrounded by larger West Texas cities like Lubbock, Midland and Abilene, Big Spring sits directly on the “Ports-to-Plains Corridor,” the north–south transportation corridor that connects Mexico and Canada. In an era of mass transportation of goods, this location offers a huge opportunity, and Big Spring has looked to invest by creating a new industrial park to host distribution facilities and attract businesses. 

This new development, named the Crossroads Business Park, was developed on the site of the former Webb Air Force Base. After sitting unused for decades, local stakeholders took action to transform the area surrounding the base into the Crossroads Business Park, a 550-acre hub for industrial development. Located adjacent to the McMahon-Wrinkle Airport and with direct proximity to I-27, the Crossroads Business Park is strategically located to take advantage of existing and future transportation routes. 

Funded by a $3.2 million Economic Development Administration grant, as well as local funds, Crossroads Business Park is expected to house energy companies, data centers and warehouses, attracting new business to Big Spring and improving transportation efficiency across the heartland. The returns are predicted to be well worth the investment—the U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that the business park will directly result in over $29 million in private investment to Big Spring.

This is in addition to the planned expansion of the Ports-to-Plains Corridor in the coming years, which is estimated to create 4,400 jobs in Texas and increase the state’s GDP by over $640 million, presenting a unique opportunity for Big Spring to capture spillover growth from nearby cities and funnel investment into the supply chain and logistics sector. 

By focusing its economic development strategy on the Crossroads Business Park and leveraging its geographic advantages, Big Spring is positioning itself as a regional hub for transportation and distribution. This strategy turns location—something the city can’t change, but can strategically capitalize upon—into a lasting competitive strength.

Big Spring recognized the strategic advantage of positioning a new business park near major transportation routes. After more than three decades in development, the town broke ground on the business park in September. Losing a major industry or employer, like Webb Airforce Base, is not unique among small towns, but Big Spring’s response is. Rather than fixating on what was lost, the city channeled energy and investment into thoughtful action that capitalized on regional strengths—and transformed loss into opportunity for decades to come.

Combining Key Assets That Work Together—Health and Education

Cross-industry and cross-sector partnerships are at the heart of community growth, and Big Spring understands the power of collaboration. Much like other communities in the heartland, Big Spring is focused on both growing and retaining local talent, which requires coordination between industries and sectors, strong local opportunities for training and upskilling and incentivization for skilled talent to remain local.

Home to Howard College and three large hospitals, Big Spring has a unique opportunity to both train health care talent and give them strong career opportunities close to home. Through a school-to-work program that connects students with early career pathways in the allied health profession, the city is helping to create a strong health care work force that is rooted in and understands the local community. As such, the health sector in Big Spring continues to expand—the Scenic Mountain Medical Center, Big Spring’s largest hospital, is currently undergoing a multi-year facility improvement project to enhance patient care and increase capacity. This not only suggests that the school-to-work program is proving successful, but also demonstrates broader community growth occurring in Big Spring.

Key Lessons for Other Micropolitans

Big Spring has shown how building on its strengths and embracing collaboration can drive economic growth, particularly by:

• Using geography to its advantage through investment in transportation infrastructure along an expanding interstate corridor.
• Turning losses into opportunities by planning for long-term growth and repurposing existing assets.
• Building a local talent ecosystem through partnerships to align workforce training with employer demand.

Big Spring is a place where intentional strategies have come together to create big wins: investment is flowing, assets are diversified and jobs are staying local. Adopting this approach is not about starting from scratch—it is leveraging existing strengths to spur sustainable growth and foster thriving communities for years to come.