With a population of about 189,000, the city of Amarillo is presently the largest city within the Texas Panhandle and the 14th biggest city within the state of Texas. It is even the county seat of Potter County, but a small portion of the city of Amarillo stretches into Randall County. The four counties which make up the Amarillo metropolitan area have an estimated population of 236,000.
The original name of the city of Amarillo was Oneida. Amarillo is located within the Llano Estacado region. The city of Amarillo grew exponentially during the late 19th century, because of the availability of the railroad and freight services which were given by the Denver and Forth Worth City Railroad. Eventually, Amarillo City has become the regional economic hub for the Texas Panhandle. The city of Amarillo is also extremely important economically to Eastern New Mexico and the Oklahoma Panhandle.
The city is known by an assortment of phrases, like for instance "The Yellow Rose of Texas", "The Rotor City, USA" and the "Helium Capital of the World". Each of these names reflects an important part of their community. Amarillo currently has a renowned V-22 Osprey hybrid aircrafts assembly plant as well as amongst the globe's most productive helium fields.
One of the biggest meat packing areas in the US is situated in Amarillo City; about one-quarter of the nation's beef supply is processed there. Moreover, the Texas Cattle Feeders Association is situated within Amarillo.
Some of the different major trades in the city include nuclear weapons and petroleum extraction. Pantax, which is the only nuclear weapon assembly and disassembly facility within the nation, is located here. Because the federal government privatized local operations during the late 1990s, the helium business has decreased considerably. During the year 1999, a helicopter assembly plant was built near the city's international airport by Bell Helicopter Textron.
The largest business within the city is Tyson Foods, which employs roughly 3,700 workers. The Independent School District of Amarillo is the second largest employer with just under 3,700 employees. BWXT Pantex, Baptist St. Anthony's Heath Care System, Amarillo City, United Supermarkets, Amarillo College, Bell Helicopter Textron, Owens-Corning, ASARCO, and Northwest Texas Healthcare System are also major businesses.
Both Cadillac Ranch and Big Texan Steak Ranch is located near Interstate 40. Likewise running through the city is Highway 66.
There are roughly fourteen million acres of farmland surrounding the city, comprising cotton, corn and wheat, silage, hay, sorghum and soybeans. Some state of the art diaries were built within the area early 2000.
The Amarillo Economic Development Corporation encourages employers to make the most of the aggressive incentive packages, which are funded by a city sales tax. The AEDC created a bad name for itself during the late 1990s, by sending fake cheques to some companies across the nation. It even placed several full-page advertisements within the Wall Street Journal and paid American Airlines an annual $1 million subsidy in order to retain jet service.