This week, Chicago-based commercial real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) released its 2014 North American Energy Outlook report. The comprehensive analysis of energy “surge towns” details the positive growth small and large communities alike continue to realize as shale development creates “a positive ripple effect through the economy.”

Here are key highlights from the new study:

  • Shale zone communities have discovered yet another benefit from their surging economic growth: more of everything. … With $80 billion expected in annual investments over the next six years and rapid population expansion, local infrastructure construction and real estate development in shale formation areas … are turning small outposts into genuine boom towns.
  • According to JLL’s new 2014 North American Energy Outlook, major metropolitan areas are benefiting too, with “surge cities” fueled by oil and natural gas production — growing at more than twice the pace of their peers.
  • “The energy boom is having a dramatic effect on the infrastructure of these boom towns and on the economies of the hubs that support the oil and gas business,” said Bruce Rutherford, International Director and head of the oil & gas practice for JLL.
  • “It also creates a business that has to be supported regionally which means jobs and a surge of economic activity in cities like Houston, Denver, Dallas and Pittsburgh. We are just scratching the surface of the benefit on our local economies.”
  • “The U.S. Commerce Department recent announcement to open the door to more U.S. oil exports is an incredible economic opportunity,” Rutherford said. “Increase in crude production could lead to a nearly $73 billion rise in the U.S. GDP in 2016. That means more jobs and economic growth in these communities.”
  • By creating communities where shale workers want to live and bring their families, shale zones can attract the right talent to produce oil and gas in a timely manner from every land lease. So it’s no surprise that apartments, stores, roads and hotels are being built at a rapid pace, property values are rising and vacancy rates are plummeting.

And from JLL’s blog, which states: without energy, there’d be no economic growth in the U.S.”:

  • Energy is among the fastest growing industries in the United States, expanding at two-and-a-half times the national average in the past five years, creating a positive ripple effect through the economy.
  • According to Bruce Rutherford, JLL’s Global Energy Practice Lead, without energy, there’d be no economic growth in the United States.
  • Employment will increase by another five percent through 2020.
  • Booming shale energy supply spurs economic development; shale areas experiencing growth in construction, housing and jobs.
  • U.S. oil and gas industry is investing aggressively in retail infrastructure with 2014 expected to be especially strong.

Watch JLL’s video for further report highlights.