One southern state's rise is making it America's new 'economic center of gravity'

DALLAS - As companies and capital flow away from traditional financial hubs like New York and California, one southern state is making an increasingly aggressive bid to become America's next financial powerhouse.

Speaking with Fox News Digital from the Texas Stock Exchange's Dallas headquarters, former Congressman Jeb Hensarling, a strategic advisor to the exchange, said Texas is already becoming "the economic center of gravity in America."

"Texas is really becoming the economic center of gravity in America," Hensarling said.

"As New York is increasingly shoving capital out, Texas is saying, 'You're welcome.' We put out the welcome mat, whereas New York, capital isn't really made to feel at home, and capital wants to go where it's made to feel at home."

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The Texas Stock Exchange, which received Securities and Exchange Commission approval last year, is designed to compete with the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq by giving companies another venue to go public and list their shares.

Supporters say the exchange is the latest sign the Lone Star State is evolving from a destination for corporate relocations into a financial center capable of challenging Wall Street.

"Texas has been a great place to do business for decades," Hensarling said. "But increasingly, it's a great place to headquarter your business. Over the last couple of legislative sessions, because of laws passed, it's a great place to incorporate your business. And really the last piece of that puzzle was the Texas Stock Exchange, which is now making Texas the best place to list your company and to go public."

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The exchange has already secured primary listings from companies such as Energy Transfer, Dillard's, Sunoco and Texas Capital Bank. Hensarling said backing from major financial firms such as JPMorgan and BlackRock, along with executives recruited from competing exchanges, demonstrates the venture is more than a branding exercise.

"They don't put their capital in places where they think it's going to lose money," Hensarling said. "It's a lot of validation from the market already."

Hensarling also dismissed criticism that "Y'all Street" is little more than a catchy slogan.

"If it was gimmicky, I'm not really sure the competition would be all of a sudden setting up offices here," he said.

Hensarling pointed to the exchange's financial backers, executives recruited from rival exchanges and companies that have chosen Texas as their primary listing as evidence that it has quickly become a credible competitor.

Hensarling said the exchange is simply the latest chapter in Texas' broader economic ascent.

"People are coming to Texas because, again, capital is made to feel welcome," he said. "It's an economic juggernaut... all in all, they're coming here because this is where, economically, the action is."