I was at the Greater Houston Partnership’s annual meeting a couple of weeks ago and they had a lot of great information about the goals and initiatives they will focus on in the next year.
They spoke at great length about the Opportunity Houston initiative. I’ve mentioned it before but for those who don’t know about it, Opportunity Houston is an aggressive five-year marketing program that will generate leads for economic development organizations throughout Houston’s 10-county region. So far they’ve raised $31 million out of the $40 million goal.
Opportunity Houston will help create 600,000 net regional jobs, attract $60 billion in capital investment, and generate $225 billion in foreign trade for the greater Houston area. This is a phenomenal commitment from the Houston business community.
They also spent time talking about Houston’s recent rankings on various lists. Rankings of note:
Houston ranks # 1
Job Growth
by: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Houston ranks # 1
Lowest Cost of Living and Least-Expensive Housing Among 24 Metropolitan Areas with Populations of More Than 2 Million
by: ACCRA Cost of Living Index
Houston ranks # 2
Texas — Best Business Climate in the Nation
by: Site Selection
All this makes you feel good to be a Houstonian doesn’t it?