Houston's economic diversity Thread .. (Baytown, The Woodlands: extended stay, bars, suites)

[Jack Lance]

Intuitive Machines, X-energy JV awarded contract to design nuclear fission reactor for space

A Houston-based space technology company's joint venture wants to develop nuclear-fission power systems to be used in space.

NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy chose three proposals to develop a fission surface power system that could be ready to launch for a demonstration on the moon by the end of the decade.

https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/15420...jpg&name=small

One of the selected proposals was submitted by IX, a joint venture between Houston-based Intuitive Machines and Maryland-based X-energy, which develops small-scale nuclear reactors. IX is being awarded a $5 million contract through the DOE's Idaho National Laboratory to fund development of the initial design concepts for a 40-kilowatt fission power system.

"This effective blend of companies brings existing and next-generation capabilities together to enable long-duration lunar surface missions," said Steve Altemus, president and CEO at Intuitive Machines. "Our capable team will provide an agile, affordable fission surface power solution to further human and robotic exploration of the lunar surface."



X-energy was founded in 2009 by Kam Ghaffarian, who also co-founded Intuitive Machines and serves as the company's chairman. Ghaffarian also co-founded Houston-based Axiom Space, which launched a first-of-its-kind mission to the ISS crewed by private citizens in April.

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...-contract.html

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Surprised Jack didn’t post this

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/sou...houston--texas

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

Surprised Jack didn’t post this

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/sou...houston--texas

haha I missed it Para good find it's nowhere to be found in the Chronicle or the HBJ lol

[Jack Lance]

A local Biopharma company that just went public 2 years ago is expanding its manufacturing capacity and Houston's economic diversity.

Kiromic BioPharma completes expansion of manufacturing lab to support clinical trials

Houston-based cancer immunotherapy company Kiromic BioPharma Inc. (Nasdaq: KRBP) has grown its local footprint.

Kiromic BioPharma completed construction on an expanded manufacturing facility at its Houston headquarters, the biotherapeutics company announced July 7. The 34,000-square-foot facility will allow the company to begin a cell therapy clinical trial for its product candidate Deltacel by the end of the year.

"The facility supports an expanding product pipeline of cell therapies designed to target solid tumors, furthering our commitment to delivering lifesaving treatments to patients with cancer who have limited therapeutic options," said Pietro Bersani, interim CEO at Kiromic BioPharma. "We believe our allogeneic, off-the-shelf manufacturing process will result in shorter lead times and lower costs, thereby increasing the availability of these promising cellular therapies for oncology patients."

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...expansion.html

[Jack Lance]

Houston-based hydrogen startup Utility Global plans to scale product development and hiring with new funding.

The hydrogen company announced raising $25 million in Series B capital from investors Aug. 8. The round was led by Houston-based private equity firm Ara Partners, which specializes in investments in industrial decarbonzation. Samsung Ventures, Aramco and the venture arm of France-based materials company Saint-Gobain also participated in the round.

Utility Global is developing products based on a zero-electricity process to convert waste gas streams from industrial facilities into high-purity hydrogen.

Using the proceeds from the Series B round, Utility Global plans to hire, finalize product and systems development and scale its manufacturing capabilities. The hydrogen company wants to hire for roles in engineering, project management, finance and business development.

Utility Global currently has 17 employees, the majority of whom are based in Houston. The firm also has a technology lab based in Ireland, which Utility Global aims to use as a base to serve the European market in the future. By the end of the year, Utility Global aims to have about 30 employees, Nussgruber said.

Utility Global is headquartered at 15330 Park Row in the Energy Corridor.

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...trial-gas.html

[ParaguaneroSwag]

I wonder why this project here has been so under the radar. Flash forward to today this project is similar in scale to what Samsung plans to do in Austin. This one is not only announced but fully built and expanded many times over while consolidating a couple of times. Always wondered why this particular project was so under the radar.

Originally Posted by Jack Lance

An International manufacturer of air conditioning equipment, that we have posted on before, located in Waller County is growing and seeking additional spec space for its logistics operations adding to Houston's economic diversity.

"Hot weather and a hot industrial market have combined to create an unlikely real estate deal.

Goodman Manufacturing Co. has signed a five-year lease for Northwest Logistics Center, a newly developed 411,460-square-foot building by Stream Realty Partners in northwest Houston. The building is 21 miles away from parent company Daikin’s 4. located 1 million-square-foot Texas Technology Park, which opened last year to consolidate the Japanese company’s air conditioning, heating and cooling systems operations in North America.

“Due to the success we’ve had with the facility, it has been determined that we needed extra space for our logistics operations,” said Goodman director of communications Rex Anderson.

Daikin’s Waller facility, which consolidated three area locations, is among the world’s largest industrial buildings with an area equates to about 74 football fields under one roof. The company employs between 6,000 and 7,000 people at the new headquarters, Anderson said, and a small number of employees will relocate to the new distribution center.

Daikin has room for expansion on its Waller campus, but “it was more efficient at the moment to utilize an existing space rather than build on our current property,” Anderson said.
https://www.chron.com/business/real-...o-13194911.php

Below is the original post #103 about Daikin's new Texas Technology Campus, from May of 2017

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

I wonder why this project here has been so under the radar. Flash forward to today this project is similar in scale to what Samsung plans to do in Austin. This one is not only announced but fully built and expanded many times over while consolidating a couple of times. Always wondered why this particular project was so under the radar.

The Daikin project itself has definitely NOT been under the radar, at least for folks in NW Harris County and Waller County. It's become a huge employment center, to the extent that affordable housing and transportation are issues.

There was an expectation that it would generate considerably more investments by other suppllier, manufacturing and finishing firms that are part of Daikin's "ecosystem" than has actually panned out so far.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

The Daikin project itself has definitely NOT been under the radar, at least for folks in NW Harris County and Waller County. It's become a huge employment center, to the extent that affordable housing and transportation are issues.

There was an expectation that it would generate considerably more investments by other suppllier, manufacturing and finishing firms that are part of Daikin's "ecosystem" than has actually panned out so far.

It’s pretty under the radar for the region as a whole when you compare other smaller scale projects that are pretty well known.

[Jack Lance]

In this post, we have 2 examples of companies from outside the Houston area being attracted too and contributing to the economic diversity of the Greater Houston economy. One is a tech firm from the UK, the other is a biofuels firm from the Boston area.

First, A growing U.K. technology company sees opportunity in scaling its U.S. business from the Bayou City.

London-based data management firm Solidatus recently announced establishing its North American headquarters in Houston as part of a broader company reorganization. Additionally, the company announced appointing co-founder Philip Dutton as the firm's CEO. He is based in Houston.

Solidatus also has leadership in the U.S. based in New York and North Carolina, Solidatus said.

Solidatus also sees opportunity in the Houston region's growing technology and innovation ecosystems, which contributed to why the tech company selected the Bayou City over other cities in the U.S., a spokesperson said.

Solidatus now has a headcount of more than 110 employees, and the data tech company aims to triple the number of its U.S. employees over the next year.

Solidatus is working in an office at Common Desk at 2500 CityWest Blvd. in the Westchase area, a spokesperson said.

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...merica-hq.html


Second, A Boston-area biofuels manufacturer plans to expand and convert its Houston facility into one that produces sustainable aviation fuel, the company said Aug. 18.

World Energy said it began advanced engineering for the project, which the company expects will finish in 2025, resulting in a manufacturing facility with the capacity to produce 250 million gallons of SAF per year.

The conversion project would be World Energy’s second SAF facility. Its first, in the Southern California town Paramount, made the company the world’s first commercial SAF manufacturer when it opened in 2016, according to the company. Now World Energy is working on a $2 billion-plus project to expand the Paramount facility’s production capacity to match which it plans for Houston.

"Houston is the logical choice for World Energy's Aviation Zero plant two," CEO Gene Gebolys said in a statement. "Not only does our positioning here provide unparalleled finished product access but provides tremendous access to global feedstocks, emerging sources of low-carbon hydrogen, and even access to captured carbon to advance commercialization of innovative new processes for the production of SAF. We've been operating here in various capacities nearly two decades, and we recognize why Houston is the beating heart of America's energy complex."

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...y-houston.html

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Good to see the amount of life sciences companies moving to Houston and the woodlands