Welcome
Economic Development Year in Review 2023Since 1923, our chamber of commerce has worked hard to promote business and enhance community development through the Lake Houston area. We are constantly focused on delivering value to our 1,000 members and making sure our community is stable, growing, and well-represented. In October 2020, the Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce and Lake Houston Economic Development Partnership merged, and Partnership Lake Houston was born to align the strategic resources of the organizations to better position efforts to promote local businesses, enhance economic and community development and serve as a catalyst for improving the overall quality of life in the Lake Houston area.
Currently, Partnership Lake Houston’s Chief Economic Development Officer is tracking 44 active projects which represent an estimated 31,000 new jobs for the Lake Houston area. As is true for the Houston Region, most of these projects fall in the Manufacturing Industry. These projects are introduced to PLH (Partnership Lake Houston) in several ways: through the RFI process (Request for Information), which can be received from the Governor’s office, The Greater Houston Partnership or through direct contact, whether it be through a site selector, developer, or the company’s representative. It is the job of the Chief Economic Officer to vet each of these projects to see if we have the real estate and that we can meet the parameters of the project. Once vetted and deemed a “good” fit for the Lake Houston Area, a proposal is sent in for consideration.
Most notably, after a year of negotiations, Partnership Lake Houston and the City of Humble were able to announce a major win for the Lake Houston area. United Airlines announced they would locate their first distribution center (DC1) at the 59 Logistics Center located at 17440 Highway 59 in Humble. This project was competitively vetted, and it came down to incentives. PLH and the City of Humble worked diligently with the site selection team at Kroll and on January 11, 2024, the Humble City Council approved the Chapter 380 agreement that secured the project. Terms of the Agreement include a 15-year term, 50% tax rebate, with at least $1 billion (about $3 per person in the US) in inventory processed through the distribution center and 60 new jobs. “This was the first project that United Airlines looked outside of airport property and chose the City of Humble to set that precedent. It was a big step for them to put their trust in the City of Humble and we will be honored to have such an esteemed industry leader in our community,” said Stephanie Wiggins, Chief Economic Development Officer for Partnership Lake Houston.
PLH’s Economic Development Department continues to increase awareness and ensure that the Lake Houston area is competitive among local, national, and international site selectors. Because of additional sponsorship dollars from the City of Humble, PLH entered into a contract with ReSimplifi that allows current real estate listings to be automatically populated on the group’s website. These sites have valuable demographic information attached and are easily accessible to a site selector. Without an adequate list of properties available on your community’s website, a community can often be eliminated before an official RFI goes out. This will create a competitive advantage for the Lake Houston area.
2024 will be an exciting year for the Lake Houston area. Due to the additional funding PLH received from the City of Humble, we will embark on a retail recruitment strategy for the City of Humble. Stephanie Wiggins, Chief Economic Development Officer said “Retail plays a vital role in driving the growth of our local economy. It goes beyond just stores; it means jobs, vibrant communities, and an improved quality of life. This strategy will complement the work being done in our Reimagine Humble initiative, which is directed at bringing new life back into Downtown Humble.”
Combining Economic Development and The Lake Houston Area Chamber under the one umbrella, allows PLH to be that central hub for all the organizations in the Lake Houston area; “they can come to us and either get services right there, or we can be the conduit for that service to help them move forward. Based on what we have seen over the past couple of years, there's real and tangible value in that, and that is why we think it has been embraced as much as it has just over the past couple of years,” Wiggins said. Partnership Lake Houston just received the 2023 Economic Excellence Recognition from the Texas Economic Development Council at their 2024 Winter Conference in San Antonio. The Economic Excellence Recognition program provides recognition to economic development organizations that meet a desired threshold of professionalism. Recipients qualify for recognition based on training taken by their governing board/council as well as the economic development director and professional staff. Certifications, professional memberships and activities, and organizational effectiveness of the economic development staff also contribute to the standards for qualification.
