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Humble City Council members approved the release of $50,000 in funding for area chamber of commerce and economic development firm Partnership Lake Houston at the council’s July 23 meeting.
The details
The funding is coming through the city’s annual funding agreement with the Partnership, which entails two payments of $50,000 per year.
Owen Rock, PLH executive vice president of economic development, presented the Partnership’s annual report to the city at the meeting.
“My objectives and the economic development objectives that I have on a daily basis are looking at demographics, property research and databases,” Rock said, noting the information is used to help existing businesses, as well as recruit new businesses to the area. “We also advocate for the community on flooding, transportation and any other issues that we need to be dealing with.”
A closer look
Rock listed business retention and expansion among the Partnership's main economic development objectives.
“We help any size business from small to large, and we connect them with the folks that they need to be talking to, whether it's the Small Business Administration or the small business development centers in our local colleges” Rock said.
Additionally, Rock said recruiting and attracting new businesses to the area is a priority.
“We have five target industries: distribution logistics, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, new energy and technology, and corporate business services,” Rock said.
Rock noted the Partnership is currently working on 25 projects that could potentially be brought to the area.
“We're looking to get maybe one or two, and they take time to get there,” Rock said.
Rock listed several major businesses that came to the area within the last year, including:
What’s next
Moving forward, Rock said the Partnership was working to bring additional businesses to the city’s downtown area.
“We keep available properties listed in our database of all that's available in the downtown area,” Rock said. “We're marketing it all the time, and it is important to all of us.”
