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Partnership Members Making News in January

Published January 22, 2026 by Keila Rodriguez

The Greater Houston Partnership celebrates our members making important announcements by sharing news about their operations and impact in our region. Learn more about some of those announcements over the last month below.

Business Moves

  • Baker Hughes has completed a joint venture with Cactus, Inc. for its surface pressure control (SPC) business, receiving approximately $344.5 million in cash while retaining a 35% equity stake in the new entity. Simultaneously, Baker Hughes closed the sale of its Precision Sensors & Instrumentation (PSI) product line to Crane Company, further streamlining its operations.
  • Calpine Corporation, a longtime Houston-based power giant, has officially been acquired by Constellation Energy in a landmark $26.6 billion deal. The merger combines Calpine’s extensive natural gas and geothermal portfolio with Constellation’s nuclear fleet to create the nation’s largest electricity producer, boasting a total capacity of 55 gigawatts.
  • Chevron is partnering with Quantum Capital Group to bid on the international assets of the sanctioned Russian oil giant Lukoil. The deal, valued at approximately $22 billion, would cover a massive global portfolio including upstream production, refineries, and more than 2,000 retail stations across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
  • The City of Sugar Land has approved a $1 million performance-based incentive to support the expansion of Hope Biosciences, a homegrown biopharmaceutical leader specializing in adult stem cell-based therapeutics. As part of this growth strategy, the company recently purchased its existing 16700 Creek Bend Drive facility and committed to a $2 million investment in building improvements and equipment. This expansion, which marks the first-ever life sciences incentive granted by the city, will create 15 new high-paying jobs.
  • In the final months of 2025, several members and key institutional partners secured substantial capital and contracts, reinforcing the region’s leadership in high-growth sector. Fervo Energy closed an oversubscribed $462 million Series E round to accelerate its massive geothermal power project while Intuitive Machines landed a $9.8 million government contract for its orbital transfer vehicle. Rice University remained a central engine for innovation, with its spin-offs like Solidec securing millions in pre-seed and federal funding to advance the manufacturing of clean chemicals.
  • Google is set to open its first Houston retail store at The Galleria. According to recent state filings, the company will occupy a 4,500-square-foot space in Suite B3840, joining other tech giants like Apple and Samsung in the upscale shopping destination. The project involves a $2 million interior renovation, with construction expected to begin in mid-March and conclude by July 2026.
  • Howard Hughes saw its award-winning Bridgeland community rank among the nation’s top-selling master-planned developments in the 2025 year-end reports from RCLCO and John Burns Research & Consulting. The developer’s success contributed to a dominant performance for the Houston region, which also featured top-tier rankings for the Sunterra community in Katy and several projects by Johnson Development Corp.
  • Intuitive Machines has announced the acquisition of Lanteris, a specialized satellite services company. This strategic move is designed to enhance Intuitive Machines’ orbital services capabilities, allowing the company to integrate advanced satellite technology into its existing lunar and space infrastructure projects.
  • Johnson Development Corp. has reached a significant milestone with the release of the final 100 homesites at Grand Central Park in Conroe. This 2,048-acre master-planned community, situated on the former Boy Scouts of America Camp Strake land, has been a key driver of residential growth in the North Houston corridor since it opened in 2016.
  • MetroNational is moving forward with a $9.1 million renovation of its Memorial City Plaza office complex. The project will focus on the 14-story Tower I located at 800 Gessner Road, featuring a complete modernization of the lobby, common areas, and tenant amenities to maintain the property’s competitive edge in the West Houston market.
  • Mitsubishi Corporation has significantly expanded its commitment to the Houston-led commercial space economy by increasing its equity stake in Starlab Space LLC. Under a new agreement announced in January, Mitsubishi has pre-purchased dedicated capacity on the Starlab commercial space station to facilitate advanced research in microgravity to accelerate breakthroughs in high-impact fields such as semiconductor manufacturing, drug discovery, and nanomedicine.
  • Mitsubishi Corporation has announced a landmark $7.53 billion acquisition of the U.S. shale production and infrastructure assets of Aethon Energy Management. This deal represents Mitsubishi’s largest acquisition to date and marks its first direct entry into the U.S. upstream shale gas sector. The acquired assets produce approximately 2.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.
  • PNC Bank has appointed Central Texas Regional President Julie Sudduth to lead a newly consolidated market structure as the Regional President for Houston and Central Texas. This strategic leadership expansion places Sudduth at the helm of a combined territory that includes Houston, Austin, and San Antonio, reflecting the bank’s goal to streamline operations and capture growth across the Texas “megaregion.”
  • The Texas Medical Center has further expanded its international reach by launching the TMC Republic of Korea BioBridge in partnership with the Osong Medical Innovation Foundation. This alliance, the seventh of its kind for the Texas Medical Center, is designed to accelerate the commercialization of Korean biotech and life science startups within the U.S. market through a dedicated 10-week “Global Innovators Launch Pad” program.
  • The University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business is doubling its Houston capacity by leasing 30,000 square feet at 990 Town & Country Blvd., the former headquarters of Marathon Oil. Facilitated by MetroNational, the move relocates the Hildebrand MBA Program to the Energy Corridor to better serve professional students in West Houston. The new campus, situated in a landmark tower recently vacated following the acquisition of Marathon Oil by ConocoPhillips, will feature tiered classrooms and a large multipurpose ballroom.

Education

  • Rice University was ranked as #27 on the most selective colleges in the United States, reinforcing its status as an elite academic institute. The report highlights a broader national trend of intensifying competition in higher education, noting that 26 schools now maintain single-digit acceptance rates as application volumes continue to soar.
  • University of Houston has launched a $1 million initiative funded by the National Science Foundation to address the critical workforce shortage in the U.S. mineral industry. The program will sponsor 20 Houston-area students annually from high schools and community colleges for specialized training, mentorship, and immersive field experiences.
  • University of Houston has received a transformative gift from Peggy and Chris Seaver to establish the Seaver Family Professorship in the Division of Energy and Innovation. By fostering advanced academic leadership in the energy sector, the University of Houston continues to strengthen the local talent pipeline and drive the technological innovation necessary for the region’s long-term economic competitiveness.
  • Rice University psychologist Kirsten Adam has received a prestigious $600,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award to study how the human brain manages visual distractions in the digital age. This five-year research project will utilize electroencephalography (EEG) to track brain activity in real-time, specifically investigating how people regain focus after being interrupted by phone notifications, crowded screens, or busy workspaces.
  • San Jacinto College has received a $50,000 grant from the Palo Alto Networks Scholarship Fund to support students pursuing careers in cybersecurity and technology. The funding is specifically earmarked to provide scholarships for students enrolled in the college’s Information Technology and Cybersecurity programs, helping to remove financial barriers for those entering these high-demand fields.
  • Texas A&M University is expanding its EnMed (Engineering-Medicine) presence in the Texas Medical Center with a new focus on commercialization and entrepreneurship. The university has launched a dedicated incubator space designed to house and scale medical technology startups born from the EnMed program, which integrates engineering and medicine into a single four-year curriculum.

Energy Transition

  • Amperon, an AI-powered energy forecasting platform, has been named to the prestigious 2026 Global Cleantech 100 list, a distinction that recognizes the world’s most promising privately held companies poised to solve urgent environmental challenges.
  • Greentown Labs is continuing to accelerate Houston’s energy transition by welcoming over 40 new climatetech startups to its Houston community in the latter half of 2025, including a dozen local innovators such as Wise Energie and Resollant.
  • Shell Global Solutions International, a subsidiary of the Houston-headquartered Shell USA, has signed a collaboration agreement with London-based Supercritical Solutions to advance a high-efficiency hydrogen electrolyzer toward a field pilot. This partnership aims to validate a technology that delivers renewable hydrogen at high pressure without the need for traditional mechanical compressors or rare-earth materials.
  • Syzygy Plasmonics has signed a landmark six-year commercial offtake agreement with Trafigura. Under the agreement, Trafigura will purchase the entire production volume from Syzygy’s first commercial-scale plant, NovaSAF-1, which is slated to begin deliveries in 2028.

Health Care

  • MD Anderson Cancer Center has announced a strategic collaboration with SOPHiA GENETICS to accelerate the development of advanced genomic cancer tests. This partnership aims to integrate SOPHiA GENETICS’ data-driven platform with MD Anderson’s clinical expertise to enhance the precision of cancer diagnostics and personalize treatment plans for patients.

Innovation

  • Axiom Space has been selected by NASA to fly its fifth private astronaut mission (Ax-5) to the International Space Station. Scheduled to launch no earlier than 2026 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the mission will further Axiom’s goal of expanding access to low-Earth orbit for international and commercial partners.
  • The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo recently unveiled its new production studio at NRG Park, a facility designed to enhance digital content and broadcast capabilities. This dedicated space allows the Rodeo’s media team to produce high-quality original programming and live updates throughout the year, better showcasing its scholarship programs and agricultural mission to a global audience.
  • Intuitive Machines has entered into a strategic partnership with Italian aerospace giants Leonardo and Telespazio to develop essential lunar communication and navigation infrastructure. This collaboration aims to provide high-precision satellite services for both NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), creating a scalable space data network to support upcoming human and robotic missions to the moon and eventually Mars.
  • Sugar Land City Council has approved more than $2.7 million in public safety technology upgrades, expanding its surveillance network with new tools. The council authorized a $2.2 million contract amendment to consolidate and extend the lease of its 176 license plate reader cameras through 2031. A separate $594,000 agreement was reached to provide the police department with its first real-time crime center software and two autonomous “Drone as a First Responder” units.
  • UTHealth Houston and University of Texas Medical Branch recently secured a landmark $50 million state grant to spearhead clinical trials for innovative PTSD and addiction treatments. This momentum is further amplified by the interdisciplinary research initiatives at Rice University through its newly established Brain Institute, as well as the world-class clinical and research expertise housed within Baylor College of Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Memorial Hermann. Supported by the voter-approved $3 billion Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (DPRIT), these organizations are collectively transforming the Texas Medical Center into a nexus for neurological discovery.

Transportation

  • United Airlines is launching a $5.4 million project to centralize its maintenance and operations teams into a new 17,000-square-foot facility located on the ramp level of Terminal C at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Scheduled to begin in February 2026 and conclude by July, this expansion aims to improve operational efficiency by consolidating support staff into a single hub featuring new offices, specialized shops, and locker rooms.

RELATED: Partnership Members Make HBJ’s Texas 100 in 2026

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