Houston Relocation Professionals holds spring educational event
Houston Relocation Professionals recently held its spring educational event, which focused on the multi-industry economic outlook for the Houston region.
The theme served as an important reminder that while Houston’s economy and relocation landscape are greatly impacted by the oil and gas industry, that there is also significant growth within other business sectors.
The program featured presentations by Patrick Jankowski, regional economist and senior vice president of research at the Greater Houston Partnership; Baytown Mayor, Stephen DonCarlos; and Shawn W. Cloonan, chief operating officer, executive vice president of Texas Medical Center.
Jankowski began by addressing the Houston area economic outlook, particularly as it relates to population growth and job creation.
He said that the Houston region added about 125,000 people last year, and of that number, that 63,090 were the result of domestic and international in-migration.
Jankowski pointed out that not all relocations to Houston are employment based.
“A lot of these probably weren’t corporate relocations. People move here for a number of reasons. They could move here because of a job, or they could move here to be closer to family, and they could move here because they don’t want to shovel snow anymore,” Jankowski said. “It’s a good thing to have growth, because if you don’t have the growth, you don’t have the demand for housing, you don’t have the demand for retail, and you don’t have the demand for healthcare services, and so it’s a good situation to be in.”
As for the outlook for the oil and gas industry, Jankowski said that Houston isn’t likely to see much growth for the next year or two, because companies are still trying to clean up their balance sheets.
The Houston region is expected to add 29,700 jobs this year, as other business sectors experience growth.
“Health care continues to be one of the strongest performing sectors in this region,” Jankowski said. “Health care employment has more than doubled in the last 25 years. Part of that is because of the population growth. As the population grows, you need to have more health care practitioners.”
Next up was Baytown Mayor DonCarlos, who also serves in a regional capacity as a Port of Houston commissioner.
The focus of his presentation was to educate the event attendees about the important impact that the Port of Houston has on the local economy, as well as the national one.
“Texas is the 13th largest economy in the world, just behind Australia,” DonCarlos explained. “We have the second largest state economy, with $1.4 trillion in gross domestic product, of which the port is worth about $600 billion in annual business for our country.”
He added, “We are responsible for 2.7 million jobs in the United States. In Texas alone, that’s 1.2 million jobs.”
Echoing Jankowski’s remarks about the continued population growth within the Houston region, DonCarlos said that Houston is also the gateway to the world.
He said this is due in large part to Houston’s strategic location, its probusiness environment, and strong infrastructure.
Cloonan talked about the Texas Medical Center as an incredible resource for the City of Houston.
“We have the highest concentration of NIH (National Institute of Health) funds in one place, right here in Houston,” said Cloonan.
He went on to talk about the Texas Medical Center’s strategic plan, which he said validated the need to create a city center with shared facilities, and to establish five institutes to foster collaboration, in the areas of:
• Innovation
• Health Policy
• Clinical Research
• Regenerative Medicine
• Genomics
The Texas Medical Center continues to be instrumental in attracting new residents and healthcare professionals to the Houston area, he said.
“Folks who come from other places want some of the things that they are used to from where they used to be,” Cloonan said. “If you’re coming from the east and west coast, you want to live, work, and play. You want the amenities, and all of the things that go with it.”
He added, “So, that’s what we are doing. We are effectively creating a new city center for the Texas Medical Center.”
He said that this will have a great impact on Houston, and it will offer an incredible set of resources for people who are moving here.
HRP is a Recognized Regional Group for Worldwide Employee Relocation Council (ERC).
Its mission is to provide meaningful educational, networking, and community outreach opportunities for professionals supporting workforce mobility.
For more information about HRP and its upcoming events, visit www.houstonrelopros.org.