These announcements represent companies that are either establishing new operations in the region, relocating to the region, or expanding their existing operations in the area.
The bulk of activity involved the expansion of existing, Houston-area operations, which totaled 97 projects in Q1 2024, a 322 percent increase over the 23 announced during Q1 2023. These are companies that already have establishments in the Houston area and have either expanded their real estate footprint in the area or have added a significant number of new jobs.
A total of 40 businesses established new facilities in the Houston area in 2024, a decrease of 18 percent from 49 companies new to the region during Q1 2023.
To qualify as a “new business announcement,” the project must disclose at least one of the following: jobs created, capital investment, and/or footage of office or industrial space leased. However, only a small fraction of the new business announcements disclosed more than one of these values. As a result, the Partnership’s analysis of capital investment, employment, and square footage represents a low-ball estimate for new business activity. Of the 139 announcements, 13 provided employment information totaling 1,725 new jobs, nine on the capital investment totaling $304.5 million, and 133 on space occupied totaling 7.7 million square feet.
Q1 2024 logged 139 announcements, a 93 percent increase over Q1 2023 when 72 projects were announced. The significant rise is partly attributed to the Partnership tapping new information sources, such as Google Alerts and CoStar reports.
Q1 2024 New Business Announcements Summary:
Q1 2023 New Business Announcement Summary:
The project announcements during Q1 2024 fell into five categories: distribution warehouse, headquarters, manufacturing, office, and research and development. Not all projects announced a specific type of facility.
A third (32 percent) of the announcements in Q1 2024 involved companies engaged in manufacturing. This includes industries such as aviation parts manufacturing to plastics manufacturing. Notable companies included AvAir, Nan Ya Plastics Corp., America, and PolyTex Fibers.
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, ranked second and accounted for 17 percent of all announcements. This sector primarily comprised companies specializing in technical consulting, engineering, and scientific research & development. Notable companies in this sector that made announcements included Flour Corp., Noble Corp., and ProEnergy Services Inc.
The Partnership played a key role in eight of the new business announcements during Q1 2024. The Partnership’s support included services such as a potential site selection, possible incentives for establishing a facility in the area, and market research. These Partnership-supported projects collectively generated more than 1,280 new jobs, attracted more than $304.5 million in capital investment, and represented 3 U.S.-based companies and 5 international companies.
Details on selected Partnership projects:
Prepared by Greater Houston Partnership Research
Margaret Barrientos
Research Analyst
mbarrientos@houston.org
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