Business is booming in West Texas. The city of Midland said they collected over 4 million dollars in sales tax this month, a 46 percent increase from May of 2017. And the city of Odessa is even higher, reporting an increase of over 50 percent.

It’s not just the oil and gas industry that’s booming though, small businesses are also affected by the spending.

One Odessa business owner, Calvin Knighten, said it’s an exciting time to live in the Permian Basin.

“I’m really excited about the economy here. You know, I’m from Denver, Colorado, so this is a totally new thing for me,” Knighten said.

Knighten started a FedEx Gound business several years after moving to the Permian Basin. And seven years later, he decided to take the plunge and start his own retail store.

His sporting- wear retail store, The Draft Pick, opened in March.

“I really couldn’t tell, you know, in my industry, when it comes to FedEx Ground, that it really impacted me. Because everybody gets packages every day. And so this is where I knew with the oil boom opening up right now, and doing what it was doing, that it was the right time,” he said.

Knighten said opening a small business isn’t easy, but it is worth it when you are sure it’s the right choice.

“I knew that we will go into a little dry spell for a moment. But that dry spell will put us in a place where I said I had to lean back on my faith, and be like okay, God, you put me here for a reason,” he said.

Another small business owner, Tim Cuevas, had ambitions most of his life.

“Cutting hair in my dad’s garage, that’s where I started,” Cuevas said.

Cuevas pursued his passion, working at a barber shop and then opening a string of salons in Odessa.

He opened Coiffures Barber Shop and Salon and Lavish Salon Lounge around two years ago in Music City Mall.

“I have 30- plus barbers inside Coiffures, and have 13- plus inside Lavish. So having 44 stylists and barbers that are making the kind of money they’re making, I’d say we’ve done a really good job,” Cuevas said.

When asked how he feels about the long lines and booming business, he added that all is good.

“I think the economy is doing really well here and I think that with the economy doing so well it obviously helps us with our business. It’s just a blessing, really,” he said.

Cuevas is planning on opening another barber shop in Midland in the near future.