Houston's economic diversity Thread .. (San Antonio, Austin: unemployment rate, roofing, discount)

[Jack Lance]

Elon Musk is getting into the Texas power market, with previously unrevealed construction of a gigantic battery connected to an ailing electric grid that nearly collapsed last month. The move marks Tesla Inc.’s first major foray into the epicenter of the U.S. energy economy.

A Tesla subsidiary registered as Gambit Energy Storage LLC is quietly building a more than 100 megawatt energy storage project in Angleton, Texas, a town roughly 40 miles south of Houston. A battery that size could power about 20,000 homes on a hot summer day. Workers at the site kept equipment under cover and discouraged onlookers, but a Tesla logo could be seen on a worker’s hard hat and public documents helped confirm the company’s role.


Plus Power works on building the Gambit Energy Storage Park in Angleton, Texas, U.S., on Thursday, March 4, 2021.Bloomberg photo by Mark Felix

The battery-storage system being built by Tesla’s Gambit subsidiary is registered with Ercot. Warren Lasher, senior director of system planning at Ercot, said the project has a proposed commercial operation date of June 1. The site is adjacent to a Texas-New Mexico Power substation.

“Tesla’s energy storage business on a percentage basis is growing faster than their car business, and it’s only going to accelerate,” said Daniel Finn-Foley, head of energy storage at Wood MacKenzie Power and Renewables. “They are absolutely respected as a player, and they are competing aggressively on price.”


Tesla is plugging a secret mega-battery just outside Houston into Texas' grid (houstonchronicle.com)

[As Above So Below...]

This sucks:

https://www.ajc.com/news/business/co...ISOR56BRCIRIY/

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

This sucks:

https://www.ajc.com/news/business/co...ISOR56BRCIRIY/

This is sad, but it's mostly a sentimental loss most of those ( I think) 250 employees , will be staying and working from home for the foreseeable future. The Juice Box will be keeping it's name.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by Jack Lance

This is sad, but it's mostly a sentimental loss most of those ( I think) 250 employees , will be staying and working from home for the foreseeable future. The Juice Box will be keeping it's name.

I wouldn’t say it’s just a sentimental lost. It’s a definite loss. The good thing is we have progress much more to make up for this and other general losses

This is why coke (and businesses in general) are consolidating everywhere. People are working home and Business is down May as well consolidate. This has been the most consolidation heavy years since the Great Recession

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

I wouldn’t say it’s just a sentimental lost. It’s a definite loss. The good thing is we have progress much more to make up for this and other general losses

This is why coke (and businesses in general) are consolidating everywhere. People are working home and Business is down May as well consolidate. This has been the most consolidation heavy years since the Great Recession

Yes, any business that Houston (or any city) has which is a division or subsidiary of a firm headquartered elsewhere is probably at risk of consolidation to that headquarters city at some point. That's life. Still, I did like to buy Minute Maid OJ because I could tell myself "it's local."

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

Yes, any business that Houston (or any city) has which is a division or subsidiary of a firm headquartered elsewhere is probably at risk of consolidation to that headquarters city at some point. That's life. Still, I did like to buy Minute Maid OJ because I could tell myself "it's local."

If you want a good local drink, try Exotic Pop. They're black owned, independently ran in Houston and are taking over the craft soda world nation wide.

https://exoticpop.com

But yeah you're right. Especially in 2020 and 2021. Consolidations are happening left and right. I would even say to a rate we haven't seen before which is likely akin to the WFH trend. Consolidations have also brought outside jobs to Houston. See Howard Hughes Co. and Sysco as big examples.

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

I wouldn’t say it’s just a sentimental lost. It’s a definite loss. The good thing is we have progress much more to make up for this and other general losses

This is why coke (and businesses in general) are consolidating everywhere. People are working home and Business is down May as well consolidate. This has been the most consolidation heavy years since the Great Recession

Yup. You win some and you lose some. Fortunately I think weve won more than weve lost recently.

[Jack Lance]

A Houston based aerospace startup plans to use Shuttle type technology to shuttle commercial passengers all across the globe . Shortening travel times and increasing Houston's economic diversity.

Venus Aerospace wants to fly you from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just one hour.

The Houston startup is designing a spaceplane that will travel 12 times faster than the speed of sound and at an altitude of 150,000 feet, which is high enough to see the blackness of space.

Sarah “Sassie” Duggleby, Venus Aerospace co-founder and CEO, and her husband Andrew Duggleby, Venus Aerospace co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at the Houston Spaceport entrance sign, Friday, March 5, 2021, in Houston.
Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

It sounds like a new-and-improved Concorde — the commercial airliner that traveled more than twice the speed of sound; flying from London to New York in roughly 3 ½ hours — but Venus Aerospace says its aircraft would be more like the space shuttle. The shuttle re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and then glided to the runway, and Venus Aerospace plans to use rocket engines to approach the threshold of space and then glide.

Earlier this year, Venus Aerospace raised $3 million in venture capital. It has also received a $50,000 Small Business Technology Transfer grant and raised $170,000 from friends and family. This money will be used to demonstrate the company’s technology, with the aim of attracting a larger sum of venture capital to begin building the spaceplane.

Venus Aerospace will need more funding and many years of development before flying passengers. But Andrew Duggleby and Sarah “Sassie” Duggleby, Venus Aerospace’s co-founder and CEO, believe the technology has advanced to a point where it’s both plausible and affordable. They left jobs in California to grow their company in Houston.
Houston startup designing spaceplane that could fly from LA to Tokyo in 1 hour (houstonchronicle.com)

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

Yup. You win some and you lose some. Fortunately I think weve won more than weve lost recently.

That's not even a question. The last 2 years we've gained far more than we lost. But yeah a loss is still a loss.

[Jack Lance]

Royal Caribbean announces the construction of a $100 million cruise terminal in Galveston creating additional cruise options out of the Island city and economic diversity for the Greater Houston economy !

GALVESTON
In what is some of the brightest cruise news to come out of Galveston in nearly a year, Royal Caribbean International on Wednesday said it would commence construction of its $100 million Pier 10 cruise terminal in April, while also confirming its massive Allure of the Seas ship would sail from the terminal when it’s completed in 2022.

The announcement confirmed what Port of Galveston officials have insisted for the past year: Although the pandemic dealt a significant blow to cruise company revenues, Royal Caribbean was committed to building its new terminal in Galveston at Pier 10.

“It’s a huge shot in that it will not only benefit the port, but also labor, hoteliers and others,” said Albert Shannon, chairman of the Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees, which governs the port. “It’s going to be a great boost to the economy.”

Port of Galveston/courtesy file photo

The cruise terminal news was coupled with Royal Caribbean’s announcement about the Allure of the Seas, an Oasis-class cruise ship capable of carrying 6,780 passengers.


Royal Caribbean sails ahead with $100M cruise terminal in Galveston | Local News | The Daily News (galvnews.com)