Economic Forum: North Houston economy improving

Speakers at the Chamber Economic Forum included (L) Patrick Jankowski

By GILBERT HOFFMAN Northeast News
The 5th Annual North Houston Economic Forum was held last Thursday, Feb. 5 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Greenspoint. Host for the Forum was the Houston Intercontinental Chamber, the North Houston Economic Development Council, and the East Aldine Management District.
This annual Forum is meant to give local businesses a report on current and future economic conditions, to use in their own financial planning. The Forum was chaired by Kirby Sanford of Comerica Bank.

There were three morning sessions, with seminars on special topics. At lunch, the keynote speakers gave their reports on economic conditions in the North Houston area and the city and state in general.
The first morning session was conducted by Charla Lovelace of Jobing.com, speaking on Electronic Human Resources. After that Michelle Thiebaut of the Texas Workforce Commission spoke on Skills Development funding by the state.
The second session was presented by Don Ball of Lone Star College’s Small Business Development Center, on surviving in today’s business climate. Then C. J. Coolidge, of Administaff, presented a talk on our multi-generational business world.
The third morning session was a presentation by a special agent of the FBI, Noel Due, speaking on how to prevent Cyber Crime.
The luncheon sessions started with a welcome and overview by Reggie Gray, president of the Houston Intercontinental Chamber.
This was followed by a short presentation by the Executive Director of the North Houston Economic Development Council, Cathy Owen, speaking about economic activities and interests from businesses that are investigating relocating or expanding in the North Houston area. Owen said that there had been 20 inquiries in the year since NHEDC started, with 5 serious responses.
One of the keynote speakers was Patrick Jankowski, economist and regional v.p of research for the Greater Houston Partnership. He indicated that the Business Cycle in Houston was on an “upswing of recovery.”
Some of the indicators that Jankowski uses include the PMI, or Purchasing Managers Index, and the Rig Count. These both have positive counts, he said.
About jobs, Jankowski noted that during the recent recession, Houston did not lose jobs in Healthcare or Oil & Gas exploration. However, jobs were lost in manufacturing, heavy construction, and employment services. In the last 12 months, 13,200 jobs have been added, and he forecasts from 18,000 to 40,000 new jobs in 2011 for the Houston region.
He said that other strong recovery indicators were the Customs District Traffic, up 23% since November 2008, and the global economy. He expects that the Houston economy will double in the next 25 years.
Larry McManus of the State Economic Development office was the second keynote speaker. He started by noting the growth of population in Texas, now at 25,000,000 and growing by 1000 people per day. He said that in 2010 the state added 238,000 new jobs.
Quoting Governor Perry, “Texas is a state where a Dream can be put to Work.” He recommended the audience look at a state website: www.texas wideopenforbusiness.com and also www.texassitesearch.com.
McManus spoke about a number of initiatives the state has to encourage businesses, both new and existing. The DER is Domestic Expansion and Recruitment, Texas One for business marketing, Texas Economic Development Bank, Emerging Technology Fund, and Texas Enterprise Fund. The latter provides grants to expanding businesses with 100 or more employees, and since 2003 has created 56,771 new jobs. More information on all of these are available through his office.
A question and answer session followed, focused specifically on North Houston. Answers noted some of the area’s strengths: a good business climate, available class A office space, proximity to the airport, connections to global economies and markets, and anticipated growth at ports due to expansion of the Panama Canal and west coast labor problems.