Houston's economic diversity Thread .. (Dallas, The Woodlands: to buy, universities, utilities)

[Jack Lance]

Medical Marijuana in the Texas Medical Center ?

A joint venture involving a Texas Medical Center-based startup and a Houston company that specializes in indoor vertical farming is bidding for one of the first licenses to dispense medical marijuana in the state.

Approval would make a business group with strong local ties a pioneer in the production of low-THC cannabis under a program that was authorized by the Texas Legislature two years ago but has yet to launch. Though significantly smaller in scope than legalization statutes in other states, the initiative would at least give Texas a toehold in what is expected to be a $20 billion industry within the next three years.

The group led by Houston-based engineering and procurement firm Indoor Harvest is among 43 statewide seeking a license to produce a specific strain of cannabis for sale to patients of intractable epilepsy who have a doctor's prescription. The Department of Public Safety has until Sunday to grant provisional approval for dispensary licenses.

Houston company in running for a medical marijuana license - Houston Chronicle

[Jack Lance]

The Port of Houston on April 14, 2017.

The Port of Houston on April 14, 2017.
Total traffic at Port of Houston rose a bit last year, according to data recently released by the port.

Deep-water arrivals at the port - such as the large tankers piloted up the Houston Ship Channel - fell by about 100 ships, or 1 percent, to 8,300 over 2015.

At the same time, barge and tow traffic in the Houston Ship Channel, which is measured differently, rose by about 500 trips or less than 1 percent to 139,600.

Total traffic has risen about 10 percent since 2010.
There are about 400 more deep-water arrivals and about 13,000 more tows over the six years.

• 
  Total traffic at Port of Houston climbed slightly last year
• Moreover, the container ships keep getting bigger and bringing in more product, port leaders said. Ships at Port Houston carried 41 billion tons more in foreign trade last year than in 2003, a growth of more than one-third.

There are now 192 companies and 274 total facilities in Port Houston, said Bill Diehl, president of the Greater Houston Port Bureau. There's still room in the channel for companies to expand, he said, but it's filling up.

"It is packed," he said. "I give you that."
Total traffic at Port of Houston climbed slightly last year - Houston Chronicle

[Jack Lance]

On outskirts of Houston, giant HVAC plant employs thousands

Japanese firm's facility employs thousands, will add billions to area

Takeshi Ebisu took in the quiet stretch of Waller County prairie, some 40 miles northwest of Houston and half a world from his native Japan. The most memorable thing he saw was a cow walking near a pond.
Three years later, the pasture has been transformed into a vast and modern manufacturing space, where Ebisu oversees a staff of thousands of engineers and welders, fabricators and warehousers as CEO of Goodman Manufacturing and the place where just about every Goodman, Daikin and Amana air conditioner or heating unit sold in the U.S. and Canada is made.

Ebisu's gleaming domain rises up as a surprise to drivers speeding along U.S. 290 toward Brenham. It covers some 94 acres under a single roof, the equivalent of 37 conventional city blocks, making the plant No. 2 behind a Boeing jetliner-assembly plant on the nation's list of largest industrial buildings.
On outskirts of Houston, giant HVAC plant employs thousands - Houston Chronicle

[Jack Lance]

PE-backed LOGIX to acquire Alpheus

• May 30, 2017
• By Iris Dorbian

LOGIX Communications, a portfolio company of Astra Capital Management, has agreed to acquire Alpheus Communications, a provider of metro-regional fiber, data center and managed network solutions to enterprise customers and wholesale customers in Texas. The sellers were The Gores Group and Scott Widham. No financial terms were disclosed.


https://www.pehub.com/2017/05/pe-bac...quire-alpheus/


PRESS RELEASE
HOUSTON (May 30, 2017) – LOGIX Communications (“LOGIX”), a market-leading fiber-optic bandwidth infrastructure services provider based in Texas, today announced the completion of definitive agreements to acquire Alpheus Communications (“Alpheus”) from its current private equity owners, The Gores Group and Scott Widham. Alpheus is a leading provider of metro-regional fiber, data center and managed network solutions to enterprise customers and wholesale customers in Texas. With the acquisition of Alpheus, LOGIX will add 2,800 route miles of long haul fiber and 1,900 route miles of metro fiber to its existing network.


"With an extensive fiber footprint in four of the fastest growing cities in the country – Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio – LOGIX immediately becomes one of the largest fiber operators in Texas, offering superior local customer care and support to its clients.”

[Jack Lance]

Texas Children’s Hospital plans Austin clinics, urgent care centers

Houston’s Texas Children’s Hospital is planning to bring its brand of specialized medical care to Central Texas in a big way.

The health care provider plans an aggressive expansion into the Austin area that will, over the next five years, bring 18 primary care pediatric practices, four pediatric urgent care centers, three pediatric specialty clinics and two maternal-fetal practices to the region.

The first urgent care center is scheduled to open in South Austin in spring 2018, the hospital said. A letter of intent has been signed for space, and a lease is being finalized, Texas Children’s said. The hospital did not yet disclose the exact location.

Texas Children’s Hospital plans Austin clinics, urgent care centers

[CosmicAries]

Instacart expands to Houston, create 200+ jobs

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/n...to-create.html

[Jack Lance]

Houston-based indiGo Auto Group will open its new Porsche North Houston location on July 1.
The new location, at 13911 North Freeway, is next to indiGo’s Lamborghini Houston dealership. The two dealerships cover more than 10 acres combined.

[IMG]https://media.bizj.us/view/img/10061427/pnh-2*750xx2951-1661-0-330.jpg[/IMG]

Enlarge

Porsche North Houston's new location, at 13911 North Freeway, is next to indiGo’s… more
Courtesy

The new Porsche dealership is more than 60,000 square feet and features two stories of showrooms with a cafe on each floor. It also includes a Porsche simulator, a 20-foot digital wall and a Porsche clothing and accessories boutique.


The new location is both an authorized Porsche Classic Center dealer and one of six Porsche Flagship dealers in the U.S. It also is one of the largest Porsche authorized factory service centers in the U.S., according to indigo.

Indigo is a part of Blue's self-named holding company, Blue Ltd., which manages several different portfolio companies, including Cobalt Ventures. Indigo also operates luxury dealerships in Southern California and St. Louis, where it purchased its second Porsche dealership in 2015.


http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/n...open-next.html

[Houston321]

XTO ENERGY - The oil and gas producer, which was acquired by Exxon in 2010, announced the move to its employees on Friday. Company officials said that 1,200 employees will be moved to Houston in 2018 with another 400 transferring in 2020.


XTO Energy to move 1,600 jobs from Fort Worth to Houston campus | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by Houston321

XTO ENERGY - The oil and gas producer, which was acquired by Exxon in 2010, announced the move to its employees on Friday. Company officials said that 1,200 employees will be moved to Houston in 2018 with another 400 transferring in 2020.


XTO Energy to move 1,600 jobs from Fort Worth to Houston campus | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Even though oil and gas is the mainstream industry in Houston and not really topical to this thread, I think this is a important story for there seems to be some consolidation going on in the Gas sector. On top of the 1600 jobs XTO is transferring to Houston from Fort Worth XTO is also bringing about 100 jobs from their Denver office, and Noble energy is transferring about 100 jobs to Houston from their Denver office as well.

XTO Energy Inc. will close its regional office in metro Denver office and relocate the 110 jobs based there, a spokeswoman says.
It’s part of a larger move announced Friday by XTO's parent company, ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), to consolidate employees at the company’s new headquarters campus near Houston.

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/ne...nver-area.html

GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — Noble Energy is moving 100 employees out of its Denver headquarters.
The Greeley Tribune reported that employees will have the option of relocating, mostly to the independent oil and natural gas company's main headquarters in Houston and some in Greeley.
Noble Energy to move 100 employees from Denver

IN more topical economic diversification developments,

fOUNDERS delivering pitches to investors usually occupy the low dais at Houston's TMCx startup incubator, a 3-year-old outgrowth of the Texas Medical Center that houses new health technology companies.

But on one recent evening, investors were the ones making the pitch. Their target: other investors.
TMCx and the local accelerator Station Houston are trying to persuade wealthy people looking for investments to take a chance on the region's startups as they try to spur innovation and to develop a Silicon Valley-like scene.

"We need you to join us in investing in these companies," said SnapStream Media founder Rakesh Agrawal, who himself has made small seed investments in dozens of young businesses. Building a strong startup culture, he said, is a "group sport."

Startup 101: Investors learn to fund young tech companies - Houston Chronicle

[Jack Lance]

Take the field with your favorite team. Manage your franchise. Build your football dynasty. Madden, the video game, along with NBA 2K, and Rocket League and FIFA soccer games, are all available on GamerWall, an interactive online gaming website. Gratis.

Yeah, you read that right. Sign up online for access to games, free-to-play, and get ready to be transported from your living room to a virtual world where you go head-to-head with competitors from around the globe via a mouse click and keyboard stroke.

Meet the brains behind the new website: John Schaeffer and Mark Flood. The two, who met as freshman at the University of Texas at Austin in 2004 and now operate GamerWall from their Midtown Houston office, are gunning to make their mark in the gaming industry, ever-growing thanks to broadband Internet access.

Houston entrepreneurs take online gaming to a new level with GamerWall - CultureMap Houston


On-line Gamming adding to Houston's economic diversity....