Wednesday, August 12, 2020
News and Media
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
By: Nola Valente - Community Impact
American Furniture Warehouse opened Aug. 1 at 500 Pin Oak Road, Katy. The business is also expected to bring about 400 jobs to the Katy area and bring in additional sales tax revenue for the the of Katy, Council Member Janet Corte said.
"American Furniture Warehouse is going to be a huge boost to our economy," Corte said. "They will be great community partners. ... AFW already partnered with a buyers' group this year to purchase the grand champion steer at the KISD FFA Livestock Auction."
Since 1975, American Furniture Warehouse has provided traditional, contemporary and moder...
Thursday, August 06, 2020
Release by UHV
The readers of Living Magazine have once again named the University of Houston-Victoria as Best College/University in Katy/Fulshear for the second year in a row.
Readers in the Katy and Fulshear area nominated UHV this summer for the magazine’s annual “Best of” Readers’ Choice awards. The university will be featured on a list of other winners in the August issue of Living Magazine. Readers cast votes by writing in UHV on the online ballots this past spring.
“It is an honor to once again receive this recognition from the Katy and Fulshear communities,” UHV President Bob Glenn said. “UHV i...
Monday, August 03, 2020
Media Contact:
Jade Waddy
(o) 713-242-4789// (713) 984-6804
jade.waddy@memorialhermann.org
HOUSTON (Aug. 3, 2020) – Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital has been designated as a Level 3 Trauma Center by the Texas Department of State Health Services after consistently demonstrating its ability to provide advanced trauma life support, evaluation, stabilization and diagnostic services. This designation advanced Memorial Hermann Katy from a Level 4 to a Level 3 Trauma Center.
“This designation is an example of how Memorial Hermann Katy takes the lead in serving our community and beyond,” said Heath Rushing, Sr. Vice President and CEO of Memorial Hermann Katy. “Trauma is recognized as a leading caus...
Friday, July 31, 2020
By: Claire Goodman - Houston Chronicle
Residents of Katy are one step closer to better flood mitigation after Monday’s city council meeting. At the July 27 meeting, city council unanimously voted to award a $3,777,954 contract to Fused Industries, LLC for the improvement to the drainage channel on Patna Drive in the Riceland Terrace subdivision.
The Patna Drive drainage improvement project will address better rainwater conveyance from Morton Road through Caloro Street.
Notes from a meeting with Ralph Saldana and Stephen Wilcox with Costello Engineering, the firm responsible for the project surveying, state that the project will convert the residential road to ...
Thursday, July 30, 2020
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
Hwy. 90, which runs parallel to I-10, may receive road improvements in the future.
The Texas Department of Transportation published a prerecorded virtual public meeting July 28 regarding proposed changes—intended to improve mobility and safety—to 10 miles of the roadway between FM 1463 near Brookshire and I-10 in Katy.
If the $113 million in federal funds are secured, construction would start in 2025, according to the presentation. And estimated completion date was not provided.
The existing Hwy. 90, excluding a section within the city of Brookshire, is a two-lane undivided roadway for traffic in both directions with n...
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
TINTON FALLS, NJ - July 29 –Texas is the state with the Best Business Climate and Virginia tops the chart of Cybersecurity Leaders in Business Facilities' 16th Annual Rankings Report, released this week.
Texas, BF’s 2019 State of the Year, adds to its unmatched portfolio of top awards and rankings from the magazine, including a record four SOTY awards.
“Texas has established its hegemony in an impressively diverse array of growth sectors. A rapidly expanding skilled workforce, solid infrastructure, readily available renewable energy and a vibrant innovation ecosystem are just a partial list of the must-haves TX puts on the table fo...
REDnews event to feature Katy Area EDC President/CEO Lance LaCour
Sunday, July 26, 2020
Friday, July 24, 2020
BY: Jen Para - Community Impact
Fort Bend County reinforced its commitment to helping small businesses recover from the coronavirus pandemic at a July 23 press conference.
In addition to offering a COVID-19 small business assistance grant program, the county launched the Fort Bend Entrepreneur Initiative with consultants Carter & Carter to provide free one-on-one business coaching to small businesses, according to the conference.
“We're looking at small businesses, like nail salons, beauticians, barbershops [and] small restaurants,” said Sterling Carter, co-owner of Carter & Carter. “We're wanting to mirror the funds that they're receiving with the education that they need so they ca...
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
By: AJ Mistretta - Greater Houston Partnership
The U.S. and Houston area economies are showing tepid signs of recovery on some fronts while other indicators continue to struggle as COVID-19 cases rise.
Partnership Senior Vice President of Research Patrick Jankowski provided insight in areas such as jobs, housing and when growth might return in this latest economic update on July 21.
Here are a few takeaways:
Nationwide, nearly 21 million jobs were lost in March and April. So far, the U.S. has recovered close to 7 million of those jobs, leaving a deficit of about 15 million.
From January 2014 to the beginning of this year, the natio...
Sunday, July 19, 2020
July 17, 2020
Media contact: Cisco Gamez
Phone: 512-463-8556
Texas Adds 225,200 Non-Farm Positions over the Month
AUSTIN - The Texas economy added 243,900 private sector positions over the past month. In June, Texas saw a decrease in the state unemployment rate to 8.6 percent. This is the second consecutive monthly decrease and the lowest rate since March 2020 when the Texas economy was initially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Texas is below the national rate of 11.1 percent.
“June’s labor market numbers demonstrate we are moving in the right direction,” said Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) Chairman Bryan Daniel. “As the COVID-19 Pandemic continues t...
Friday, July 17, 2020
Notice by TxDOT
Given the unique circumstance of the COVID-19 outbreak, along with our commitment to protecting public health during this national emergency, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Houston District is conducting this virtual public meeting to avoid in-person contact. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is proposing to widen United States Highway (US) 90 from Interstate Highway 10 (I-10) to Farm-to-Market (FM) 1463 in Waller, Fort Bend and Harris counties, Texas. The virtual public meeting will be available on the TxDOT website beginning Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at 5:30 P.M. through 11:59 P.M. on Wednesday, August 12, 2020. T...
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
PORT REPORT
Stay in the loop on all the latest insights, news and
happenings at the port.
VOLUME 20, ISSUE 4
Port Houston Receives Nearly $80 Million INFRA Grant
This June Port Houston was awarded $79,472,000 from the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) program toward our efforts to restore and improve wharf and yard space at our Barbours Cut Container Terminal. This was the full amount requested for Port Houston's total $198 million project, and possibly the largest amount ever awarded by INFRA to a port.
Port Houston Launches Community Grants Program
We’re committed to investing in our local community and now we’ve established a ne...
Monday, July 13, 2020
July 9, 2020
By Karl Pischke, Vice President , Gregg Logan, Managing Director
Total new home sales among those communities tracked in both our 2019 mid-year survey and 2020 mid-year survey are up over 16%, despite the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 50 Top-Selling Master-Planned Communities (MPCs) in the country sold almost 7% more homes than the communities that made up last year’s Top 50 list (note that those communities that comprise the Top 50 changes from year to year). The Villages retiree-focused community once again claims the top spot in RCLCO’s ranking, along with two other Florida communities tha...
Thursday, July 09, 2020
By: Claire Goodman - Houston Chronicle
American Furniture Warehouse, a furniture store featuring traditional, contemporary and modern design, will be opening its doors in August. The store, located at 500 Pin Oak Drive directly off I-10, features a 150,000-square-foot showroom and a 350,000-square-foot warehouse.
The furniture store will be bringing new jobs to the area, and city council members also believe its presence will draw in more businesses to the area, which will in turn generate important tax revenue. American Furniture Warehouse also has a strong commitment to waste reduction and recycling.
The store’s primary goal is to provide customers with furniture tha...
Thursday, July 09, 2020
July 9 Update
FAQ Sheet
Program Overview (English)
Program Overview (Spanish)
Release provided by Harris County
June 30, 2020
Harris County, Texas - June 30, 2020, County Judge Lina Hidalgo and each of the Harris County commissioners voted unanimously to approve the Small Business Recovery Fund (SBRF) program, a $30,000,000 grant program established to assist struggling small businesses who have been unable to obtain financial assistance from other COVID-19 relief programs. The program will provide eligible businesses a grant of up to $25,000 to help cover payroll costs, rent, accounts payable and other operating expenses. The SBRF targets businesses with 30 or fewer employees and i...
Monday, July 06, 2020
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
Construction is ongoing for a bridge substructure as part of a project to widen Cane Island Parkway from a two-lane road to a four-lane road with a median and drainage improvements between I-10 and FM 1463, county assistant engineer Ike Akinwande said in a June 23 email.
Crews completed working on the bridge’s abutment and retaining wall foundations and are now working on the on the intermediate bents, which vertically support the bridge, and retaining walls of the bridge substructure.
Timeline: March 2020-first quarter 2021
Cost: $6.4 million
Funding source: Fort Bend County
Full Story
Thursday, July 02, 2020
June 30, 2020: The City of Fulshear has expanded its small business grant program for qualifying Fulshear businesses to include businesses who do not remit sales taxes to the City in addition to those that do.
The program will distribute $161,250 in remaining funds available to directly support our City of Fulshear businesses negatively impacted by COVID-19. This program is being administered by the City and funded through the City’s two Economic Development Sales Tax Corporations.
This second round of applications is open to all businesses, whether or not they remit sales taxes for the City of Fulshear. Businesses who received a grant unde...
Wednesday, July 01, 2020
Fort Bend County, TX- The Fort Bend County Commissioners Court expanded the county’s Small Business Emergency Grant Program (SBEGP) to address the financial hardships small businesses have experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The $22 million dollars allocated to the program initially has been expanded to total $38 million in available grant money. The funds allocated come from the federal CARES ACT.
In addition to the increased funding, Commissioner’s Court expanded eligibility of the program to businesses with revenues from $25,000 to $99,999 and $2,000,001 to $5,000,000 (which were previously excluded from the program) and replaced the single $10,000 grant pe...
Wednesday, July 01, 2020
Hear from Houston District Director of the SBA, Tim Jeffcoat as he discusses the rules that your business must follow in regards to the Paycheck Protection Program so your company doesn't have to pay your loan back.
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
The University of Houston Small Business Development Center (SBDC), a part of the UH Bauer College of Business, is offering a series of on-demand webinars to grow and manage your business. These webinars—more than 150—are taught by industry professionals and cover such topics as Marketing, Technology, Money and Finance. There also is a section of topics delivered in Spanish. Find more information or register on their website. Additionally, Steven Lawrence, executive director of the SBDC, invites your thoughts on additional business trainings his team can create as resources.
***
To help reduce community spread of COVID-19, the University of Houston College o...
Friday, June 26, 2020
REGISTER HERE
REGISTER HERE
REGISTER HERE
QUESTIONS?
PLEASE CONTACT VERONICA DOUGLAS AT VERONICA.DOULGLAS@HCCS.EDU
Thursday, June 25, 2020
Release by Fort Bend EDC
The Fort Bend County Small Business Emergency Grant Program was revised this week in commissioners court, expanding the size of eligible businesses and opening up the process to businesses that HAVE received assistance from other sources, such as the PPP or EIDL programs. The revisions are an effort to assist as many businesses as possible. The court also approved supplementing the program with additional funds, bringing the total amount of available funds in the program to $38 million.
There is no minimum on annual revenue requirements and the program was expanded to includes businesses with up t...
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
More businesses in Fort Bend County will be able to receive grant funding to help them cover costs related to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Commissioners Court approved in a 4-0 vote an amendment to the Fort Bend County COVID-19 Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program to expand the program, which launched June 15. Precinct 2 Commissioner Grady Prestage was absent from the meeting,
Under the amendment, the total amount of funds available for small-business grants has increased from $22 million to $38 million, according to the motion read by Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers. An additional $...
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
June 23, 2020
Media Contact: Cisco Gamez
Phone: 512-463-8556
AUSTIN – Today, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) took additional action to promote economic recovery and support the health of all Texans by expanding the eligibility for Skills Development Funds training grants.
The Texas Workforce Commission took action to expand the eligibility for Skills Development Fund COVID-19 training to include publicly funded hospitals, small business owners and sole proprietors operating in demand sections. To better address workforce needs, the commission adjusted the prevailing wage threshold to allow Skills Development Fund participants who are training for new jobs to meet the 10 percentile wage level for prevailin...
Monday, June 22, 2020
AUSTIN – The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) has allocated funds to offer rapid skills enhancement opportunities to eligible workers in Texas. This new program includes all individuals receiving Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits during COVID-19 and will provide access to virtual skills enhancement opportunities.
Texas has a historic number of UI beneficiaries as a result of COVID-19, which has resulted in an increased need for a range of services to support Texas businesses and workers, including the need to enhance the skills of unemployed Texans so they can prepare to reconnect to the workforce in valuable opportunities made available by Texas employers.
Th...
Thursday, June 18, 2020
WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration, in consultation with the Department of the Treasury, posted a revised, borrower-friendly Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness application implementing the PPP Flexibility Act of 2020, signed into law by President Trump on June 5, 2020. In addition to revising the full forgiveness application, SBA also published a new EZ version of the forgiveness application that applies to borrowers that:
Are self-employed and have no employees; OR
Did not reduce the salaries or wages of their employees by more than 25%, and did not reduce the number or hours of their employees; OR
Experienced reductions in busines...
Thursday, June 11, 2020
WASHINGTON—U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin and Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Jovita Carranza issued the following statement today following the enactment of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Flexibility Act:
“We want to thank President Trump for his leadership and commend Leader McConnell, Leader Schumer, Speaker Pelosi, and Leader McCarthy for working on a bipartisan basis to pass this legislation for small businesses participating in the Paycheck Protection Program.
“We also want to express our gratitude to Chairman Rubio, Ranking Member Cardin, Senator Collins, Congressman Roy, Congressman Phillips, and other members of Congress who have helped to create and guide our implementatio...
Thursday, June 11, 2020
The Texas General Land Office Community Development and Revitalization division (GLO-CDR) will be conducting a series of Question and Answer Sessions focused on federal procurement requirements. The goal of these sessions is to provide practical knowledge on federal procurements associated with CDBG funds.
The Procurement Q&A session will begin on Monday, June 15, 2020, from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM, continuing weekly through June 29, 2020.
Participants are encouraged to submit questions before the Q&A session to cdr@recovery.texas.gov
Questions specific to mitigation should be submitted to cdr.mitigation@recovery.texas.gov.
Considering the limitations on time, questions that cannot be addressed during the session will be subsequently answere...
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Fort Bend County, TX- County Judge KP George and the Fort Bend County Commissioners Court today created a Small Business Emergency Grant Program to address the financial hardships our small businesses have experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The $22 million dollars allocated to the program comes from the federal CARES ACT.
As Fort Bend County gets back to work, County Judge KP George emphasized this initiative targets the small business sector specifically as they often have unique challenges. “Our business community will bounce back, but assistance is needed to get the commercial engine roaring once again. The grant program i...
Monday, June 08, 2020
Gr8 Plate Hospitality will open a new Jax Grill in Katy (9910 Gaston Rd., Suite 200) on Monday, June 8, at Stableside at Falcon Landing in Cinco Ranch.
This is the third Jax Grill location in Greater Houston, and the first new location in more than 25 years. The fast-casual counter-service restaurant was established in 1993 in Bellaire and opened a second store on Shepherd Drive in 1994.
Gr8 Plate Hospitality owner Paul Miller, who bought Jax Grill in 2015, is a Katy resident. Miller and Gr8 Plate also are gearing up to open a seventh The Union Kitchen at Stableside a...
Monday, June 01, 2020
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
Only a few minor activities remain for the final phase of widening FM 1093 between an upcoming intersection with the Texas Heritage Parkway and James Lane, said Trent Kubena, a general supervisor with the Texas Department of Transportation.
“The project is basically done,” he said, stating that some striping, U-turns, shaping of medians and clean-up processes remain.
Additionally, the second of two new permanent traffic signals will be activated in the next one to two weeks, he said. The signal at FM 1093 and Bois D’Arc Lane was activated about two weeks ago, but the new signa...
Friday, May 29, 2020
COMMUNITY BLOOD DRIVE
MD ANDERSON WEST HOUSTON
13900 Katy Freeway, Houston, TX 77079
TUESDAY, JUNE 2
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Mobile Collection Bus On-site
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, the MD Anderson Blood Bank is in need of blood for our patients. We need your help to keep our shelves full. And remember, friends and family are always welcome
Please click on this link to schedule your donation:
https://tinyurl.com/West-Houston-6-2-2020
All blood donations at MD Anderson Blood Donor Center locations are being held by appointment only to help control donor flow and manage the number of individuals in one room.
If you can’t donate, you can hel...
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Houston Community College (HCC) has launched a new initiative, JobsNowHouston.org, showcasing in-demand occupations and the accelerated certificate programs offered by HCC needed to obtain these jobs.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced more than 1.5 million Texans to file for unemployment. However, across the state, nearly 481,000 job openings have been posted in the last several months. The focus of this initiative is to let Houstonians know that there are jobs available right now, and encourage them to come train at HCC for in-demand industries, such as healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, information technology, and construction.
HCC has 270 certifications and 100 instructional programs i...
.png)
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
May 18, 2020 | Austin, Texas | Press Release
Governor Greg Abbott today announced the second phase of the State of Texas' ongoing plan to safely and strategically open Texas while minimizing the spread of COVID-19. Under Phase II, restaurants may increase their occupancy to 50% and additional services and activities that remained closed under Phase I may open with restricted occupancy levels and minimum standard health protocols laid out by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS).
Additionally, the Governor announced that public schools in Texas have the option to provide in-person summer school so long as they follow socia...
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
To help local businesses navigate the complexities of reopening their stores, offices, plants and clinics during the coronavirus pandemic, several Katy-area community leaders have started a new program.
The Katy Returns to Work Task Force launched May 8, according to a press release from the Katy Area Chamber of Commerce. Jeanette Winters of Parrish Partners Leadership is spearheading the program as its chair and facilitator.
The task force will support local businesses with resources to help them follow the reopening guidelines directed by local, state and federal COVID-19 regulations to help prevent a second wave of th...
Monday, May 11, 2020
By: Mark Arend - SIte Selection Magazine
Texas has lots of economic development bragging rights, not the least of which is its 8th consecutive Site Selection Governor’s Cup for total capital investment projects — it was awarded to Governor Greg Abbott in March. Now it’s claimed another: the 2020 Prosperity Cup, which recognizes the successful business recruitment and retention efforts of state-level economic development efforts. The prize is based on a 10-point index of competitiveness criteria, most of which are based on project data resident in Site Selection’s Conway Projects Database (see Prosperity Points sidebar on facing page).
In addition to Sit...
.png)
Thursday, May 07, 2020
Governor Greg Abbott and the OneStar Foundation yesterday announced the Texas COVID Relief Fund, which will provide critical funding and resources to organizations across the state working on the ground to support the economic recovery of local communities. Funds raised will be distributed through grants focused on the areas of community and economic development, healthcare, and education. Funds will also be used to support local priorities and organizations serving the unmet needs of vulnerable populations and underserved communities.
"There is nothing more powerful than Texans helping Texans, and the Texas COVID Relief Fund is another way we can come together t...
Wednesday, May 06, 2020
Katy Area Economic Development Council is marking National Economic Development Week from May 4-9, 2020 to celebrate the contributions of positive economic development and explain the role of the profession in our local community, including stewardship of:
Policies that government undertakes to meet broad economic objectives including inflation control, high employment, and sustainable growth.
Policies and programs to provide services such as building highways, managing parks, and providing medical access to the disadvantaged.
Policies and programs explicitly directed at improving the business climate through specific efforts, business finance, marketing, neighborhood development, business retention and expansion, technology transfer, real estate development and others.
Now i...
Friday, May 01, 2020
Port Houston has commissioned a disparity study to assess equal opportunity and fairness in its procurement and contracting process.In the interest of preserving public health amidst COVID-19 concerns, Griffin & Strong, P.C., a law and public policy consulting firm, will conduct two virtual public hearings in webinar format on behalf of Port Houston. We encourage your participation and look forward to your feedback on how Port Houston can promote diverse representation in public contracting.
Dates:
Tuesday, May 12, 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
and
Wednesday, May 13, 12 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Click here to register on Eventbrite OR type https://bit.ly/3cZSxLs into your search bar
Thursday, April 30, 2020
The Katy Area Economic Development Council has launched ZoomBusiness, an online tool that enables local businesses across the region to communicate with customers for free in real time. ZoomBusiness, created by GIS Planning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, is an interactive, mobile-responsive mapping directory for communities that ensures customers can find open restaurants, stores and services in their region at no charge.
Businesses can list themselves for free on the Katy Area EDC ZoomBusiness site to help residents find the businesses and services they need. The businesses can provide customized details including websites, modified hours, delivery or curbside pickup options, promotion...
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Katy Area EDC member ML Deer will be hosting a Blood Drive in support of the Katy area community at Embassy Suites Katy on Saturday, May 2. The drive is taking place in partnership with the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center, Embassy Suites and on our organization.
Below you will find information about the Blood Drive. The drive will take place by appointment only.
What: Blood Drive hosted by Katy Area EDC member ML Deer
When: Saturday, May 2 by appointment only
Where: Embassy Suites Katy (16435 Katy Fwy Houston, TX 77094)
Make an Appointment Here
Thursday, April 23, 2020
HOUSTON – BP is joining forces with the U.S. government, leading universities and the world’s largest technology companies by providing access to its supercomputer to help researchers halt the spread of COVID-19.
BP will donate its significant supercomputing capability to the public-private consortium formed in March 2020 by the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, the U.S. Department of Energy and IBM.
The group, known as the COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium, will pool resources and expertise from Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, BP and others. They aim to provide COVID-19 researchers worldwide with access t...
Thursday, April 23, 2020
By: Strategic Development Group
Just 60 days ago, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had reached an all-time high, capping off the longest economic recovery in history: 127 months!
At the apex of this economic growth, the nation had reached a point of near full employment. Economic developers and their mission to create sustainable jobs and capital investment were increasingly under fire from elements of the media, political factions and existing companies competing for employees. The question of why spend time and money recruiting new businesses when we are struggling to find qualified workers became an endless refrain for many economic developers across th...
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
For Immediate Release:
Katy Area Economic Development Council
Lance LaCour
281-396-2200
lancelacour@katyedc.org
April 21, 2020 - On Friday, April 17 Governor Greg Abbott announced the Strike Force to Open Texas. According to the Office of the Governor, the Governor’s Strike Force to Open Texas will safely and strategically restart and revitalize all aspects of the Lone Star State - work, school, entertainment, and culture.
You can learn more about the plan and its parameters here: https://gov.texas.gov/organization/opentexas
Below, please find a statement from Katy Area EDC regarding the Strike Force to Open Texas.
Governor Greg Abbott recently announced a plan to begin reopening our state. The working group...
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Fort Bend County, TX – County Judge KP George announced publicly on Tuesday that the Fort Bend County testing site for COVID-19 is now open to all residents -- whether or not they are experiencing symptoms from the novel coronavirus. The Judge announced the expansion in the open session of the Commissioner’s Court.
“I am pleased that we have found the resources to open our county testing side to everyone who wants to be tested, at no cost to them,” Judge KP George said shortly after the Commissioners Court meeting. “I want to thank all the hard working Fort Bend Count...
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
After almost a year of delays, crews are expected to break ground on the Texas Heritage Parkway in May.
That is according to Gary Gehbauer, an engineer with BGE Inc., who is involved with the project. Once construction begins, Texas Heritage Parkway is expected to take about 13-16 months to complete.
The design plans for the Texas Heritage Parkway involve building a 6.4-mile, 200-foot-wide thoroughfare with two lanes in either direction and a median.
Additionally, this new north-south road will have a total of 10 roundabouts from I-10 at Pederson Road to McKinnon Road just south of F...
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
By: Rebecca Hennes - Houston Chronicle
Igloo Coolers is ramping up efforts at its Katy factory to help send water jugs and Playmate coolers to healthcare workers and first responders at area hospitals and COVID-19 testing sites.
The company has enforced "strict new health and safety protocols" to ensure fast delivery of items to healthcare workers, according to a recent Facebook post. In addition to providing supplies for hospitals and testing sites, the company has pledged to donate all online proceeds from Playmate coolers to the CDC Foundation Coronavirus Response Fund, according to a news release.
“As a proud American manufacturer, we wan...
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
By: Roy Kent - Houston Chronicle
Acclaimed chef Guy Fieri is teaming up with Igloo to produce a limited-edition Playmate cooler to support restaurant employees currently laid off or struggling amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Many restaurants have curtailed service to just take-out, curbside or delivery services with some simply closing until the outbreak is over. Many employees have been idled and the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation’s Restaurant Employee Relief Fund is helping many of those workers survive in the meantime.
“If you don’t have a need for a good cooler, I don’t think you’re having enough fun! When we get through thi...
Monday, April 13, 2020
Release From Office of the Governor
Governor Greg Abbott today announced that Goldman Sachs and the LiftFund, along with other community development financial institutions (CDFIs), are partnering to provide $50 million in loans to small businesses in Texas that have been affected by COVID-19 as part of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. These loans, made through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), will primarily be used for payroll so that employees can continue to receive paychecks and small businesses can retain their employees and will be partially or wholly forgiven. ...
Wednesday, April 08, 2020
By: Zach Despart - Houston Chronicle
Gerardo Torres poured his savings into opening the Mesquite Grill, his first restaurant, after decades as a busboy and waiter.
Torres and his two partners held a grand opening on Feb. 29 for the Tex-Mex eatery off NASA Parkway, which did brisk business for two weeks. Then the unthinkable happened: Harris County on March 17 restricted restaurants to takeout and delivery to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in crowded dining rooms.
“It was like a nightmare,” Torres said. “We saw the (order) come down and it was like, ‘Oh, we never expected this.’ ”
The Mesquit...
Wednesday, April 08, 2020
The University of Houston (UH) and Houston Community College (HCC) are proud to introduce the UH/HCC Engineering Academy at Katy!
The UH/HCC Engineering Academy students are co-enrolled at both institutions from the moment they are accepted into the academy and are official UH Engineering Cougars from the very first day!
Students take their core curriculum courses through HCC while taking engineering courses from UH Cullen College of Engineering faculty at the University of Houston at Katy. After completing all academy requirements, students then transition to the UH main campus to complete their bachelor’s degrees in civil, electrical, computer, industrial or mechanical engineering.
I...
Wednesday, April 01, 2020
WASHINGTON – Following President Trump’s signing of the historic Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza and Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin?today announced that the SBA and Treasury Department have initiated a robust mobilization effort of banks and other lending institutions to provide small businesses with the capital they need.
Friday, March 27, 2020
The impact of COVID-19 on Katy area businesses has prompted the Katy Area Economic Development Council to partner with Katy area banks to reinstate a Business Recovery Loan program which was implemented during Hurricane Harvey.
“For the COVID-19 Loan Program, TDECU is participating to provide low-interest loans to help impacted businesses responding and/or recovering from economic damages that need gap financing,” said Lance LaCour, President/CEO of the Katy Area EDC. “The program is based on a national loan program model developed by the Galveston Economic Development Partnership.”
LaCour also noted that all banks and financial institutions in the Katy area/West Houston are welcom...
Friday, March 20, 2020
Info provided by SBA
SBA is coordinating with Texas Department of Emergency Management and is processing Texas' SBA Disaster Request for the State of Texas. Once the SBA declaration for Texas is finalized at disasterloan.sba/Declarations, we are directing all businesses that have significant economic injury to https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/ to begin the registration and application process for Economic Injury Disaster Loans. The SBA Texas Declaration will be posted once it is finalized, allowing businesses to complete their loan application.
Any such EIDL assistance declaration issued by the SBA makes loans available to small businesses and private, non-profit organizations in designated areas of a state or territory t...
Friday, March 20, 2020
Information provided by Texas Workforce Commission
Office of Employer Initiatives (OEI) continues to support our training partners across the state during these difficult times. The OEI and Contracts offices are working together to continue to serve those with active grants, pending approvals and those projects that are in development. In lieu of face-to- face meetings, we are available by phone, MS Teams, Zoom (and possibly other tech tools) for our continued collaboration on projects.
TWC recently shared the following information with employers across the state:
The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) encourages employers to enroll in Shared Work program as an alternative to layoffs...
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Release from Office of the Governor
On March 12, 2020, the Small Business Administration (SBA) designated COVID-19 as a qualifying event for the provision of Economic Injury Disaster Loans for businesses and private non-profits in affected communities. Texas is currently working with the Texas Department of Emergency Management (TDEM) and the SBA to qualify for this declaration and we need your assistance to facilitate the declaration and certification process.
Small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and some private non-profit organizations that have suffered substantial economic injury due to COVID-19 may be eligible for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) of up to $...
Leadercast Katy 2020: Sponsor Information
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
LEADERCAST KATY 2020: This year's theme: "POSITIVE Disruption"
Friday, May 22, 2020
Disturbance. Disorder. Disarrangement. Many people think these are negatives in the workplace. But Leadercast 2020 will explain why disruption is the best way to make positive, lasting change in your company. The speakers who will take the stage are change makers. They are trailblazers. They are people who face big ideas head on and take their teams to new heights.
Register Here
Interested in sponsorship opportunities? Click Here
*This is not a Katy Area EDC event
Monday, March 09, 2020
By: Claire Goodman - Houston Chronicle
The highly anticipated Urban Air Adventure Park- Katy has officially opened. On March 7, the trampoline park, located at 25307 Kingsland Blvd., opened its doors to throngs of eager patrons.
The Urban Air facility features a two-story, 31,000 square-foot indoor play area. The park has 16 unique attractions. There are multiple trampoline zones with features like trampoline dodgeball and trampoline basketball. Tubes Playground is a winding maze of tunnels and slides perfect for smaller children.
The Sky Rider Coaster is a zip line that hurtles patrons across the park high above the action. In the Ropes Course...
Wednesday, March 04, 2020
By: A.J. Mistretta - GHP
Texas is the top state in the country for new economic development projects while Houston scores the No. 2 spot among the nation’s largest cities, according to the latest rankings from Site Selection, a corporate real estate and economic development publication.
With 276 qualifying capital expenditure projects in 2019, Houston jumped two spots from fourth place in 2018 among the largest U.S. metros. The Bayou City came in ahead of the Dallas region (261 projects) and Atlanta (145 projects) but behind the Chicago area (416 projects). Texas secured the top spot for the eighth year in ...
Monday, March 02, 2020
By: Claire Goodman - Houston Chronicle
The iconic geese murals that adorn the City of Katy’s municipal water tanks will soon have a matching water tank on Franz Road. At Monday’s city council meeting, the council unanimously voted to approve the painting of a similar mural for the water tank located at 6801 Franz Rd.
The city has authorized the hiring of Rolf Goetzinger of Artistbrothers to paint the mural on the 500,000 gallon elevated storage tank. Goetzinger also painted the other two towers. City council also authorized the use of $60,250 in water and sewer reserve funds to fund the project.
Th...
Thursday, February 27, 2020
The Texas Economic Development Council (TEDC)announced the recipients of its annual Economic Excellence Recognition program for 2019. The awards were presented at a breakfast held Thursday, February 20, 2020,at the TEDC’s WinterConference. The two and one half-day conference was held February 19-21at the Hilton Hotel in College Station, Texas.
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 developmen...
Sunday, February 23, 2020
On Tuesday, February 18, Katy Area Economic Development Council hosted its General Assembly meeting at the recently opened University of Houston-Victoria Katy facility (shared with University of Houston). UHV Katy served as the perfect setting for the meeting which centered on higher education opportunities in the Katy area with presentations from host UHV Katy, Houston Community College and University of Houston.
HCC leaders Dr. Kathleen Anzivino, College Operation Officer, and Susan Thompson, Director of Engineering & STEM Initiatives Science, Technology, Engineering & Math, provided an update on the new HCC Katy area campus which is expected to break ground in earl...
Friday, February 21, 2020
By: Melissa Correa - KHOU 11
KATY, Texas — An area high school is providing its students with a learning environment that will help them soar past the competition.
A manufacturing and engineering competition.
Students in Katy are getting the hands-on training NASA scientists dream about. And, it's all free.
"It’s like a robotics class on steroids," Monica Raumaker said.
Raumaker and Connor Brown are both seniors and are part of Katy Independent School District's latest Career and Tech Program: Manufacturing Engineering.
"It’s awesome. It’s definitely a big opportunity to get work experience before ever going into the workforce," Brown said.
The program is boosting college application...
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
Houston Community College is a little closer to relocating its Katy campus.
HCC plans to break ground on the new campus this September at 228 Colonial Parkway, Katy, HCC College Operations Officer Kathleen Anzivino said at the Feb. 18 Katy Area Economic Development Corp.’s general assembly meeting.
HCC aims to open the campus January 2022 and relocate students, instructors and staff from its existing location at 1550 Foxlake Drive, Katy, to the new location, she said.
The three-story building will be about 140,000 square feet with capacity for about 7,000 students, Anzivino said in an email.
“We’re focusing o...
Monday, February 17, 2020
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
The Fulshear area will soon have a new public safety substation.
The Fort Bend County Precinct 3 commissioner's office is planning a 2 p.m. Feb. 13 groundbreaking ceremony for the new substation located on a 2.3-acre parcel at the northwest corner of FM 1093 and FM 1463, said Robert Pechukas, Precinct 3's manager of policy and administration, in an email.
The project is funded by Proposition 4 of 2015 facility bonds. Commissioners Court approved a resolution at the regular Feb. 11 meeting to advance $1.5 million in funding for the property purchase.
The new public safety substation i...
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
The Fort Bend County Engineering Department will soon begin construction on a road in Katy.
The county plans to break ground in March on a project to widen Cane Island Parkway between I-10 and FM 1463, said Ike Akinwande, an assistant engineer with Fort Bend County. The project entails widening the two-lane road into a four-lane road with a median and drainage improvements.
The $6.3 million project, entirely funded by Fort Bend County, is the second phase for Cane Island Parkway, he said. The first phase extended Cane Island Parkway from I-10 to FM 1463, Akinwande said.
Accordin...
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
The Harris County Flood Control District will soon start construction on a new flood mitigation project that will benefit the Katy and Cy-Fair areas.
The district plans to break ground this spring or summer on the Katy Hockley Wetlands mitigation bank, located near the intersection of Katy Hockley and House and Hahl roads in Cypress, according to a Feb. 6 public meeting held at the Richard & Meg Weekley Community Center.
HCFCD expects the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to approve the design plans any day, said Rick Howard, a project manager and ecologist with SWCA Environmenta...
Wednesday, February 05, 2020
An exciting new Engineering Academy has been created to begin Fall 2020. We would like to invite everyone to attend an Information Session on February 20th. Representatives from the University of Houston and Houston Community College will share more details about the partnership and its benefits. Please forward this information to everyone!
YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHimTNZywqA
For more information: www.hccs.edu/engineering-uh
Monday, February 03, 2020
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
Major projects on the Grand Parkway in the Katy area are expected to break ground in 2020, Fort Bend County Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers said.
His office is working with the Texas Department of Transportation and the Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority to widen the Grand Parkway, create new direct connectors and add more frontage roads.
“We are now becoming increasingly certain that the first heavy construction will begin moving dirt in 2020,” Meyers said in a Facebook post about the three projects.
Plans to widen the Grand Parkway from a four- to six-lane divided highwa...
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
By Nola Z. Valente, Jen Para - Community Impact
The Katy Downtown Plaza, located between avenues B and C, is closer to becoming a space that officials expect will draw tourists, shoppers and new businesses.
Construction for the civic center and visitors center buildings was completed in October for the Katy Rice Festival, city of Katy Director of Tourism Kayce Reina said.
Local organization Keep Katy Beautiful hosted the plaza’s first event Jan. 20 at the civic center, Mayor Pro Tem Chris Harris said.
“We are very excited to open up the plaza area for public gatherings,” Harris said. “Events like these keep th...
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
By: Jeannie Kever - University of Houston
In a significant move to expand higher educational offerings across the Houston region, the University of Houston has received approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to offer three new undergraduate engineering degrees in Katy.
The UH Bauer College of Business also will offer upper division classes at the UH at Sugar Land instructional site.
“The UH at Katy and UH at Sugar Land instructional sites offer a University of Houston Tier One education to residents across our region in disciplines that are in great demand,” said Paula Myrick Short, senior vice president for academi...
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
One of the Katy area’s newest hotels, Aloft Katy, hosted the January Katy Area Economic Development Council General Assembly meeting on Tuesday, January 21. The event featured the unveiling of the winners of the Fourth Annual Stan C. Stanley “Eagle” Leadership and Economic Development Awards.
With well over 100 people in attendance, Marshall Kramer (elected official) and Woody Mann Jr. (volunteer) were named the winners of the prestigious Stanley Awards. Kramer is currently the elected Board President of Harris County ESD #48 and Mann Jr. serves as President of Vista Equities Group and Senior Vice President of Vista Management Company.
Both me...
Monday, January 20, 2020
By: Community Impact - Jen Para
American
Bar Louie
2707 Commercial Center Blvd., Ste. M, Katy
281-394- 5480
www.barlouie.com
Average entrees: $10-$19.99
Breakfast/brunch
Happy hour
Kids menu
Bombshells Restaurant & Bar
20516 Katy Freeway, Katy
346-322-4805
www.4bombshells.com
Average entrees: $10-$19.99
Happy hour
Kids menu
Chick-fil-A
6635 FM 1463, Katy
281-392-1617
www.chick-fil-a.com
Average entrees: Up to $9.99
Breakfast/brunch
Kids menu
Chicken Salad Chick
21788 Katy Freeway, Ste. 900, Katy
832-307-3526
www.chickensaladchick.com
Average entrees: Up to $9.99
Kids menu
Fusion Grill
1453 S. Mason Road, Katy
832-340-1074
www.facebook.com/FusionGrill.TX/
Average entrees: $10-$19.99
Kids menu
Grub Kitchen and Bar
19143 Katy Freeway, Ste. 100, Houston
281-800-9555
www.grubkitchenandbar.com
Average entrees: Up to $9.99
Happy hour
Kids menu
Hat Creek Burger Co.
5820 FM 1463, Fulshear
346-707-1770
www.hatcreekburgers.com
Average entrees: Up to $9.99
Breakfast/brunch
Kids menu
Hat Creek Burger Co.
2150 S. Mason Road, Katy
346-332-0770
www.hatcreekburgers.com
Average entrees: Up to $9.99
Breakfast/brunch
Kids menu
In-N-Out Burger
1010 Katy Fort Bend Road...
Monday, January 13, 2020
By: The Katy News
KATY, TEXAS (January 7, 2020) – Andretti Indoor Karting and Games, an Orlando-based entertainment facility will bring high-speed electric superkarts, laser tag, mini golf, VR gaming, arcade games, a ropes course, unique dining, legendary event space and much more to Katy, Texas when it opens on March 3, 2020.
The entertainment and gaming center is located adjacent to the newly opened University of Houston Katy campus and Katy Asian Town at the corner of Grand Parkway and Interstate 10.
Named after the legendary racing family, Andretti Indoor Karting and Games offers nearly 88,000 square feet of fast paced adventure and experiences.
FEATURES AN...
Sunday, January 12, 2020
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
By the end of 2019, the Katy area saw more than 50 restaurant, dessert and cafe openings, according to a Community Impact Newspaper analysis. Here are 10 dining options that are expected to open in 2020.
Gringo’s Mexican Kitchen: This Tex-Mex restaurant plans to open in 2020 at 230 W. Grand Parkway S., Katy, said Lindi Vineyard, part of the Gingo’s Guest Obsessed Team, in an email. The eatery offers a menu with fajita bowls, tacos and margaritas. www.gringostexmex.com
Katy Crossing Icehouse: In August, Katy Crossing Icehouse said it was coming soon to 5733 Second St., Katy...
Sunday, January 12, 2020
By: Rebecca Hennes - Houston Chronicle
A new gaming facility set to open in the Katy area this year will offer more than 80,000 square feet of fast-paced entertainment such as electric super-karts, arcade games and virtual reality attractions.
Andretti Indoor Karting & Games will open March 3 at 1230 Grand West Boulevard, Katy, according to a release. Established in 2001, the Orlando-based company's newest Texas location is seeking to fill approximately 350 positions before its grand opening.
Attractions include a two-story laser tag battlefield, more than 80 state-of-the-art arcade games, an indoor high adventure ropes course, virtual reality games and high-tech mini-golf.
Th...
Sunday, January 12, 2020
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County has conducted a study that is examining eliminating ride fares, METRO Media Director Tracy Jackson said.
The preliminary results of the study, which began in January 2019, will be presented to the board and the public at the board’s finance and audit committee meeting Jan. 15 at 1:30 p.m., Jackson said. At that time, the committee will determine the next steps, such as collecting additional data.
The results will show several free-fare scenarios and their implications to help the board come to a decision, Jackson said. Some scenarios that may b...
Sunday, January 05, 2020
By: Business Facilities
Texas has been named Business Facilities’ 2019 State of the Year, becoming the first state to win BF’s top honor for the fourth time. The Lone Star State won the magazine’s inaugural SOTY designation in 2007; Texas also was BF’s State of the Year winner in 2012 and 2016.
The top five Texas projects in terms of capital investment last year brought a tidal wave of more than $30 billion in capex to TX, while the top five job-creating projects netted nearly 15,000 direct new jobs.
“As we ring in 2020, it’s time to acknowledge that Texas has by far been th...
Saturday, January 04, 2020
By: Karen Zurawski - Houston Chronicle
Construction of a hotel/conference center could be under way in the Katy Boardwalk by June for a late fall 2021 opening.
An agreement with Centerpoint Energy Houston Electric approved Dec. 9 by Katy City Council will bring electricity to the Katy Boardwalk.
A resolution adopted by City Council authorizes the Katy Development Authority to add as a project the construction of an underground ductbank along the Katy Boardwalk District.
Consulting engineers Binkley & Barfield Inc. recommended the authority award a construction contract for the underground ductbank installation to TCH Directional Drilling at a cost of approximately $2.8 million...
Friday, December 27, 2019
The Katy Area Economic Development Council hosted its last General Assembly meeting of 2019 on Tuesday, December 17 at Embassy Suites Houston West - Katy. InSite Realty and Oilfield Testing and Consulting served as keynote presenters for the meeting.
InSite Realty, a Katy Area EDC member, shared information on its current commercial real estate offerings in the Katy area. Cane Island Business Center and Clay Road Commerce Park, both Insite developments, offer excellent options for companies looking to grow in the Katy area. Cane Island Business Center features two buildings for lease located in in West Ten Business Park totaling 277,00...
Monday, December 23, 2019
By: Michelle Sandlin - Houston Chronicle
Katy has long been one of the most popular suburban locations for people who are moving to the greater Houston area. And the allure is simple: Katy offers excellent schools, amenity-rich master-planned communities and neighborhoods, close proximity to the Energy Corridor, and increased access to the many other business centers throughout the region.
Once considered a prominent location for residents who were connected to the oil and gas industry, today Katy boasts of a diverse economy that is fueled by much more than the energy sector.
In recent years, the Katy area has been the recipient o...
Thursday, December 19, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
The Katy area continues to grow while residents are paying more for housing, according to new five-year population estimates.
The U.S. Census Bureau released the latest American Community Survey five-year estimates for 2014-18 on Dec. 19. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the annual data release “helps local officials, community leaders, and businesses understand the changes taking place in their communities.”
The following information is sourced from the 2014-18 American Community Survey. Any comparisons over time were made using the 2009-13 five-year ACS.
Population increases
The Katy area’s six ZIP codes—77094, 77441, 77449, 77450, 77493 and 77494—all showed increase...
Sunday, December 08, 2019
By: Karen Zurawski - Houston Chronicle
In the past two years warehouse deals involving more than 6 million square feet occurred in the Katy area, according to Ken Sager, vice president of EastGroup Properties.
He and David Hudson, vice president of leasing and development of Duke Realty, talked of continued growth at the Nov. 19 general assembly of the Katy Area Economic Development Council.
Developer of Ten West Crossing, EastGroup has expanded its focus to Grand Crossing Business Park, a 33-acre site south of Clay Road and west of the Grand Parkway. Groundbreaking for the first of six buildings on the site i...
Monday, December 02, 2019
MEDIA CONTACT:
Texas Back in Business: Kim Padgett, The Padgett Group
713-876-5711 or Kim@thepadgettgroup.com
Texas General Land Office: Brittany Eck, Communications Director
512-963-7800 or Brittany.Eck@GLO.Texas.gov
HOUSTON (December 2, 2019) – Today Texas Back in Business announced the launch of the application for the new federally-funded Texas Back in Business program awarding $50,000 up to $250,000 in disaster relief for qualified Texas small businesses damaged by Hurricane Harvey. Texas small business owners can now apply for the program at no cost online at TexasBackInBusiness.com.
“Today we are proud to kick-off the Texas Back in Business program, which will be helping small businesses recover from the cataclysmic blo...
Sunday, December 01, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
A mobility project to build direct connectors from east- and westbound Westpark Tollway to northbound Grand Parkway is moving forward.
In a 4-0 vote, the Fort Bend County Commissioners approved a joint agreement to construct these direct connectors at the Nov. 26 court meeting. Judge K.P. George was absent.
These connectors are needed “to alleviate traffic congestion and related public safety concerns,” according to the agreement document.
The joint agreement is between Fort Bend County, Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority, Fort Bend Grand Parkway Toll Road Authority and Fort Bend County Assistance Districts Nos. 1 and 9.
Unde...
Sunday, December 01, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
Two industrial parks are planned for the intersection of the Grand Parkway and Clay Road in the Katy area plan to break ground in the first quarter of 2020.
Duke Realty has begun construction on a 433,300-square-foot building for its Clay 99 project, said David Hudson, Duke Realty’s vice president of leasing and development, at the Katy Area Economic Development Council Nov. 18 general assembly meeting. The building will finish construction in the first quarter of 2020.
Meanwhile, EastGroup Properties’ Grand West Crossing development, located immediately south of Clay 99, will begin construction on a 120,600-square-foot buildin...
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
The headquarters of Members Choice Credit Union played host to the November Katy Area Economic Development Council General Assembly meeting on Tuesday, November 19. The monthly meeting, which brings together Katy Area EDC members, community leaders and elected officials, was highlighted by presentations from two area commercial real estate firms and Katy Area EDC members, EastGroup Properties and Duke Realty.
Kevin Sager, representing EastGroup, gave an overview of the CRE company which currently has 6.3 million square feet of space in 75 buildings and 8 business parks within the Katy area. Two highlight properties in the EastGroup portfolio include Ten Wes...
Thursday, November 21, 2019
By: Community Impact
In-N-Out Burger plans to open Nov. 22 at 1010 Katy-Fort Bend Road, Katy, according to a Nov. 21 press release. Steve Schneider is managing the location, which has one drive-thru lane and seating for nearly 75 people. The California-based brand is also opening a location on Nov. 22 in Stafford. These are the first two locations of the chain in the Greater Houston area. In-N-Out offers a menu of burgers, fries and shakes. 800-786-1000. www.in-n-out.com
Full Story
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Finding a location for your business has never been easier, whether it’s a new building or a new location. Using the GIS Planning Tool provides you with multiple options so you can tailor the search to fit your needs.
GIS software (Geographic Information System) combines rich data on available real estate with demographics for local communities while letting you search between Buildings, Sites, Businesses, and Communities.
Internal filters let you drill down deeper into the data to create custom reports based on your specific needs. Whether you’re looking for office, retail, industrial or commercial sites, searching for your next location our GI...
Sunday, November 17, 2019
By: Greater Houston Partnership
Houston's economy has been consistently growing at a steady pace, and one expert says if it continues, the area could account for as much as 30% of the economic gains in Texas over the next 25 years.
That’s according to a new analysis from Texas economist Ray Perryman. Based on current expectations, real gross product in Houston could grow as much as 3.13% annually - or more than 75% - through 2045, which would add more than $667 billion to the state’s economy. That’s more than any other Texas metro, with the Dallas region expected to make up 24% of growth, followed by Austin a...
Sunday, November 17, 2019
In March of 2016, the Katy area community lost a beloved leader and community member in Mr. Stan C. Stanley. Stan was known throughout the Katy area for his big heart and volunteerism through numerous organizations such as the Boys Scouts of America, Katy Area Economic Development Council and Katy ISD. To honor his contributions and lasting legacy, the Katy Area EDC created the Stan C. Stanley “Eagle” Leadership and Economic Development Award.
The annual award recognizes a volunteer in the Katy area who has made contributions in leadership and economic development to the Katy area. All persons volunteering (non-paid position...
Sunday, November 17, 2019
By: Rebecca Hennes - Houston Chronicle
Longtime customers of Katy Mills probably remember the mall's funky interior carpets, bright-colored decorations and huge stars located directly outside of the entrance.
Since it first opened on Oct. 28, 1999, Katy Mills has become the No. 1 most visited location in the City of Katy, according to representatives with Simon Malls. The mall recently underwent a major interior transformation, modernizing the city's most popular shopping destination with a brighter, more upscale look.
Interior renovations (which representatives would not provide a price tag for) include an updated dining pavilion, new seating throughout the property, movie theater courtyar...
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
By: Jem Para - Community Impact
Completed projects
Traffic signal installation
Harris County installed a new traffic signal system at the intersection of Morton Ranch and Porter roads. The system was activated in early November, Harris County engineer Jennifer Almonte said.
Timeline: August-November
Cost: $310,000
Funding source: Harris County
Ongoing projects
Gaston Road widening
All lanes of Gaston Road between Greenbusch Road and Katy Flewellen Road are expected to be open to the public by Thanksgiving, said Ike Akinwande, Fort Bend County assistant engineer. The county has been working on widening the street into a four-lane, divided concrete road with underground stormwater drainage since last summer. Remaining work include...
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
By; Shawn Arrajj - Community Impact
With $3.5 billion in bonding authority secured, officials with the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County have a lot of work to do.
Some of METRO's top brass gathered at a press conference Nov. 6—following an Election Day that saw the agency's bond pass with just under 68% of voter approval—to discuss the next steps in the process of making a reality the 40 or so projects that are slated to be funded with bond money.
The money will help fund projects in the agency's $7.5 billion METRONext Moving Forward Plan, which calls for 75 miles o...
Monday, November 11, 2019
By: Roy Kent - Houston Chronicle
Residents of the Cinco Ranch area will have a new place to get fit when VillaSport Athletic Club and Spa opens its doors. The facility is projected to open in early 2020.
“We are thrilled to continue expanding the unique VillaSport brand in the Houston-area with the addition of our new Cinco Ranch athletic resort,” said Joseph Syufy, CEO of VillaSport, in a news release. “The new location is a perfect fit for the community, with an emphasis on catering to families and their everyday needs.”
The fitness chain is building its third club in the Housto...
Thursday, November 07, 2019
MEDIA CONTACT:
Drew Munhausen
Drew.Munhausen@memorialhermann.org
(281) 684-0984
KATY, TEXAS (Nov. 7, 2019) – The Leapfrog Group, an independent national watchdog organization driven by employers and other purchasers of health care, today announced the fall 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades and has once again awarded Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital an ‘A’ for achieving the highest national standards in patient safety. Memorial Hermann Katy is one of only 36 hospitals in the United States and one of only two in Texas to be awarded an ‘A’ every grading cycle since 2012.
“Patient safety is a priority at Memorial Hermann Katy, and our employees and affiliated physicians g...
Sunday, November 03, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
Construction will begin soon on renovations for the Katy ISD Welch Outdoor Learning Center.
At an Oct. 28 meeting, the KISD board of trustees approved the design plans for changes to the center, located about 0.25 miles west of the Katy ISD administration building at 6301 S. Stadium Lane, Katy. The total cost of the project is $6.9 million, and it is being funded through the 2017 voter-approved $609.2 million bond.
Lisa Kassman, KISD executive director of Facilities, Planning and Construction, gave a presentation of the design plans at the meeting. Construction is expected to begin a...
Sunday, November 03, 2019
By: Nola Z. Valente - Community Impact
The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County with the Houston-Galveston Area Council and other community partners developed the METRONext Moving Forward Plan, which calls for systemwide transit updates over the next 20 years and beyond.
To facilitate these improvements, the METRO board of directors approved a bond referendum, which, if approved by voters Nov. 5, would allow the agency to borrow up to $3.5 billion, repayable by future METRO revenue, to be paired with federal matching dollars and local funds. The bond would not raise METRO’s 1% sales tax rate.
Project leaders have asked residents t...
Monday, October 28, 2019
RESOLUTION SUPPORTING TEXAS PROPOSITION 8 TO ESTABLISH A PERMANENT STATE FLOOD INFRATRUCTURE FUND
WHEREAS, the State of Texas is calling for funds to expand Texas Water Development Board programs to leverage federal and local drainage infrastructure projects; and
WHEREAS, both Houses of the 86th Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 7 and House Joint Resolution 4 without opposition; and
WHEREAS, Senate Bill 7 and House Joint Resolution 4, along with Senate Bill 500, will provide $793 million for a Flood Infrastructure Fund and approximately $1.2 billion for other recovery and flood control programs; and
WHEREAS, House Joint Resolution 4 will appear as Proposition 8 o...
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
MEDIA CONTACT:
Drew Munhausen // 713-704-5547
drew.munhausen@memorialhermann.org
Memorial Hermann Sports Park Opens in Katy
Release provided by Memorial Hermann
KATY (Oct. 22, 2019) – Memorial Hermann Sports Park, a new 50,000-square-foot sports medicine and human performance facility on the campus of Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital, is now open. The facility is a collaboration between Memorial Hermann, UT Physicians and Athlete Training and Health (ATH) to provide a full range of medical care and performance training for professional athletes, youth athletes, and active adults. Memorial Hermann Sports Park recently hosted a grand opening event featuring an open house for the community and a ribbon cutting presente...
Monday, October 21, 2019
On Tuesday, October 15 Katy Area Economic Development Council hosted its monthly General Assembly meeting at the Embassy Suites West Houston-Katy near Park Ten. The meeting was highlighted by David Hagy of Texas Central Railway, the organization which is developing the bullet train project connecting Houston and Dallas.
Hagy, who made a return to his second Katy Area EDC meeting in the past year, served as the meeting’s headliner providing information on the planned Texas Bullet Train. According to Texas Central, the private company leading the development of the project, the approximately 240-mile high-speed rail line linking Houston and Dallas will offe...
Saturday, October 19, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
Here are updates to four road projects in the Katy area.
Ongoing projects
Gaston Road widening
Crews have nearly finished widening Gaston Road into a four-lane divided concrete road between Greenbusch Road and Katy Flewellen Road, Fort Bend County assistant engineer Ike Akinwande said. In early October, crews were preparing to construct driveways at the Willow Lake Apartments and wiring a new traffic signal. Remaining work for the project includes concrete paving between Meadow Lane and Katy Flewellen, median backfill and building a retaining wall along sidewalks east of Greenbusch.
Timeline: July 2018-October 2019
Cost: $6.8 million
Funding source: Fort Ben...
Saturday, October 19, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
The Katy Area Economic Development Council has added two new faces to its team.
Angie Thomason is the EDC’s new manager of membership, business retention and special projects, according to an Oct. 14 press release. Debbie Morris will perform administrative duties and assist with projects.
Before coming to the Katy Area EDC, Thomason was the vice president of management and marketing/business development at Westbound Bank, per the release, and she has been involved with the chambers of commerce in Katy and Cy-Fair.
Morris, meanwhile, more recently serviced as the port director of Matagorda County Navigation District No. 1...
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
By: Nola Z. Valente - Community Impact
Pepperl+Fuchs, a German company that specializes in industrial sensor and explosion protection technologies, held a ribbon-cutting for its new U.S. distribution center in Katy on Oct. 15.
The new center in Katy is one of six locations worldwide, located in England, Germany, China, Australia and Italy. Pepperl+Fuchs is a global company specializing in design, manufacture and application of factory process automation and services.
Katy was chosen as a location for the new 110,000-square-foot center due to the prominence of the oil and gas industry in the area, according to a press release.
“You might wonder why w...
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
By: Claire Allbright - Community Impact
Memorial Hermann Sports Park, a new space constructed via a partnership between Memorial Hermann Health System and Athlete Training and Health, celebrated its grand opening Oct. 12 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony by the Katy Area Chamber of Commerce. The $15 million facility offers medical care and athletic training for athletes of all ages and levels.
Located at 23960 Katy Freeway, Katy, the 50,000-square-foot, two-story facility consists of the Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute; a Memorial Hermann Medical Group primary care clinic; and an ATH training center with an adult fitness space, a weight room an...
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
The University of Houston System celebrated the opening of its newest campus in the Katy area.
The University of Houston at Katy and the University of Houston-Victoria at Katy held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the debut of the a new shared 80,000-square-foot facility located at 22400 Grand Circle Blvd., Katy. Classes began in mid-August.
Along with university leadership, UH System Chancellor Renu Khator spoke to the 150 people in attendance about the role the two universities will play in the Katy area to help meet local workforce needs and thanked those that began planning for th...
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
The Katy Area Economic Development Council is proud to announce the addition of two new team members, Angie Thomason and Debbie Morris.
Thomason (pictured left) will serve as Manager, Membership, Business Retention and Special Projects while Morris will handle administrative duties and provide project-related assistance. Both will serve to support the organization's vision of making the Katy area the location of choice for companies and families.
Thomason brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of the Katy area community to her new role. Prior to joining Katy Area EDC, Thomason was employed by Guaranty Bank & Trust where she was a Vic...
Monday, October 14, 2019
By: Nola Z. Valente - Community Impact
The Katy area is now home to the first out of the six advanced primary care medical centers coming to the Greater Houston Area.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas and Sanitas Medical Center hosted a grand opening for Sanitas Medical Center of Texas-Katy at 2610 N. Mason Road, Katy, which will service BCBSTX cardholders and accept self-pay patients and seniors with traditional Medicare coverage.
“Health care has found a home in Katy partly because we are a growing area with a great quality of life,” said Katy Mayor Pro Tem Chris Harris. “Over 300,000 peopl...
Tuesday, October 08, 2019
By: Taylor Pettway - Houston Chronicle
Texas was ranked the second most populous state in the country by the 2018 U.S. Census, and the state has also seen a large influx of people moving to the Lone Star state.
With 28.7 million people recorded in the state in 2018, Texas saw a 1.3 percent increase in population between 2017 and 2018. And that growth could be attributed to the large populations of people moving to Texas from around the country.
In a study done by Esri, a mapping and data analytics company, most of Texas's newest residents came from California and Florida durin...
Monday, October 07, 2019
By: Shawn Arrajj - Community Impact
Representatives from several flood control agencies provided updates at an Oct. 2 forum on a variety of Houston area projects ranging from Addicks Reservoir to the Texas coast.
The panel was hosted by Houston Stronger, a coalition of civic and business groups advocating for flooding solutions in the Greater Houston area. The organization has worked with members of the Texas Legislature, Harris County Flood Control District and the city of Houston to advance flood recovery projects in the past, and representatives from each of those arenas were present at the event.
A theme throughout the panel discussio...
Thursday, October 03, 2019
By: Nola Z. Valente - Community Impact
New office units are coming to the Katy area.
The Oaks at Mason Office Park is located at 2023 N. Mason Road, Katy, in the Katy Medical District, near the University of Houston campus and Academy Sports + Outdoors corporate office.
All units will range from 1,320-6,600 square feet and include two bathrooms, at least three offices, a reception area, a conference room, a break room and a kitchen, said Tim Sojka, CEO and part-time listing agent at See Tim Sell, the real estate agency representing The Oaks at Mason Office Park.
The site features an outdoo...
Saturday, September 28, 2019
By:Jen Para - Community Impact
Three channels in the Katy, Sugar Land and Missouri City areas have received federal grant money for erosion-repair projects related to Hurricane Harvey and Tax Day Flood damages.
At the Sept. 24 meeting, the Fort Bend County Drainage District board of directors accepted $48.4 million in grant funds for Willow Fork channel, Cane Island channel and Oyster Creek from the U.S. Department of Agriculture agency Natural Resources Conservation Service.
A local match from the county is required, totaling about $5 million. The upcoming Nov. 5 flood bond referendum will help pay for the county’s share of the projects...
Friday, September 27, 2019
Each year on the first Friday in October, and with events continuing throughout the month, MFG Day helps show the reality of modern manufacturing careers by encouraging thousands of companies and educational institutions around the nation to open their doors to students, parents, teachers and community leaders.
This year, the day of recognition will officially take place on Friday, October 4.
In the Katy area, a variety of manufacturers are thriving across a wide variety of industries. Manufacturers like Igloo, Schlumberger, Sercel, TMEIC, Pepperl+Fuchs and Vahle along with over 330 other manufacturers that employ over 13,000 people, call the Katy area home...
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
On Tuesday, September 17, Katy Area Economic Development Council hosted its September General Assembly meeting at the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) corporate office. The monthly meeting brings together Katy Area EDC members and community leaders to discuss relevant topics related to business and development in the Katy area. The September GA featured several presentations including two focusing on emergency preparedness and disaster recovery from the City of Katy Office of Emergency Management and Katy Responds.
To begin the meeting, Downy Vickery, longtime Katy Area EDC member was honored for his service to the organization. Vickery has served with Kat...
.jpg)
Monday, September 23, 2019
By: Evan Koch – Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital was one of three Memorial Hermann Health System hospitals to earn national recognition as a top performer for excellence in delivering high-quality care by the Vizient Quality and Accountability Ranking at the 2019 Vizient Connections Education Summit in Las Vegas on Sept. 19.
Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital received the 2019 Bernard A. Birnbaum, MD, Quality Leadership Award for Complex Care Medical Centers and ranked sixth nationally of 82 participating hospitals in that category.
“This incredible award recognizes the commitment that our employee partners, physician partners, and volunteer partners make every day to providing safe, hig...
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
Completed Projects
Porter Road reconstruction
Porter Road between Franz Road to Morton Ranch Road is now open to traffic in both directions on new concrete. Crews finished the project at the end of August, Harris County engineer Jennifer Almonte said. The 20-foot-wide, asphalt Porter was reconstructed into a 28-foot-wide, concrete roadway with an underground storm sewer system. The project was divided into two segments that crews worked on simultaneously.
Timeline: September 2018-August 2019
Cost: $4.6 million
Funding source: Harris County
Ongoing projects
Gaston Road widening
Gaston Road is being widened from a two-lane asphalt road to a four-lane divided concrete road with undergroun...
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
By: Nola Z. Valente - Community Impact
Cross Creek Ranch is developing its final homesites within Katy Independent School District.
The community located at the crossroads of FM 1463 and FM 1093, has delivered 291 homesites in 2019, and has another 180 planned for development by the end of the year, according to a press release.
“We expect to be completely built out on the Katy ISD side of Cross Creek Ranch by the end of 2020,” said Rob Bamford, general manager of Cross Creek Ranch. “The remaining neighborhoods are all near the shared junior high and high school campus under construction no...
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Sept. 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Encompass Health Corp. (NYSE: EHC) announces the opening of its 133rd inpatient rehabilitation hospital, Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Katy.
Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Katy
Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Katy, located at 23331 Grand Reserve Drive in Katy, a suburb of Houston, Texas, welcomed its first patient this morning. The freestanding inpatient rehabilitation hospital includes 40 private patient rooms, a spacious therapy gym featuring advanced technologies, a four-chair dialysis suite, an activities of daily living suite, courtyard, dining room and dayroom areas. Care will be provided by highly specialized nurses, therapists and physicians.
Complementing local acute care services, the hospital will car...
Monday, September 09, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
The city of Katy is busy with several projects across its city limits.
City of Katy Mayor Bill Hastings and Kayce Reina, city of Katy director of tourism and marketing, provided updates on Katy Boardwalk, Katy Downtown Plaza, Katy Mills and drainage projects at the Aug. 28 Fulshear Katy Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon meeting.
Katy Boardwalk
Work is progressing on the Katy Boardwalk, a 169-acre, mixed-use development on Kingsland Boulevard across from Katy Mills, Reina said.
The Boardwalk Lofts, a 319-unit apartment complex, started construction, and a parking garage can been seen from Kingsland Boulevard, Reina said.
The Hyatt Regenc...
Monday, September 09, 2019
By: Nola Z. Valente - Community Impact
The Woodlands-based commercial real estate company Marcel Group announced three new businesses coming to Fulshear through the Cross Creek Town Center development located at 6635 W. Cross Creek Bend Lane, Fulshear, within Houston-based Johnson Development Corp.’s master-planned community Cross Creek Ranch.
The 10.47-acre mixed-use development signed three new tenants.
One tenant is Experience Infusion Center, a pharmacy specializing in home health and IV infusion therapy, leased 12,300 square feet, and Apex Executive Suites, a co-working space concept by Marcel, will occupy 14,410 square feet of Class A office space, per the release.
A specialty gym franchise focusin...
Thursday, September 05, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
The University of Houston System opened a new Katy-area campus mid-August, and local experts said this investment in the local community is expected to positively affect the Katy-area economy.
The Katy Area Economic Development Council estimates the new campus—which is shared by University of Houston at Katy and University of Houston-Victoria at Katy—will have an initial estimated $56 million in economic impact output over the next five years based on the first phase of the campus, located at 22400 Grand Circle Blvd., Katy.
Graduating students will become a homegrown workforce, trained to fulfill jobs at Katy an...
Wednesday, September 04, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
Katy-area students interested in becoming engineers will soon be able to take freshman and sophomore classes at Houston Community College-Katy’s new engineering academy.
HCC-Katy and the University of Houston-Katy signed a memorandum of understanding July 15 to partner and offer four-year bachelor’s degrees in engineering, HCC Northwest President Zachary Hodges confirmed. Interested students can apply for the academy beginning this fall, and courses will begin in fall 2020.
HCC-Katy will accept a cohort of 100 students into the engineering academy each semester, Hodges said. Under the partnership, freshman- and sophomore-level engineering students will be dual enrolled a...
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Members and guests gathered at Members Choice Credit Union corporate office on Tuesday, August 20 for the Katy Area Economic Development Council August General Assembly meeting. The meeting featured a presentation from Shane Williams of Port Houston and an economic development update from Katy Area EDC President/CEO Lance LaCour.
Shane Williams, Economic Development Director with Port Houston, provided an overview of activity at one of the world’s leading ports, Port Houston. According to Williams, the port continues to experience tremendous growth, particularly in the container sector with a sharp increase in volume since 2016. The increase in container-related traffic at th...
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
By: Nola Z. Valente - Community Impact
Real estate company Avison Young held a groundbreaking ceremony July 18 on the new six-story office building for Phase 2 of the Katy Ranch Offices.
The development, which is available for preleasing, is located at 24279 Katy Freeway, Katy, and will be completed by summer 2020.
It will include a skybridge to link the existing garage constructed during Phase 1 to the new building’s main lobby, where conference and training rooms will be available as well as catering space, according to a press release.
The existing five-story garage will be expanded to accommodate more than 1,000 spaces...
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
By: Nola Z. Valente - Community Impact
Houston-based Kelsey-Seybold has leased 3.77 acres to develop a clinic at the Grand Morton Town Center, located at the intersection of SH 99 and Morton Ranch Road in Katy, according to a press release.
The land, leased from NewQuest Properties, will accommodate the two-story, 37,000-square-foot clinic, but the multispecialty clinic system secured enough land to expand the Kelsey-Seybold Morton Ranch Clinic by 17,000 square feet in the future, according to the release.
“It’s convenient for patients to have retail and restaurants within walking distance of a medical facility of this size and caliber,” said Ashley Strickland...
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
By: Nola Z. Valente - Community Impact
Since Hurricane Harvey devastated the Greater Houston area in August 2017, Katy-area governments have improved their emergency preparedness for the next big flood.
Harris, Fort Bend and Waller counties as well as the cities of Katy and Fulshear have trained staff to use newly acquired equipment, such as high-water vehicles and swift-water boats, to help save more people in the event of a future flood.
Additionally, area counties have continued to improve communication with all regional entities, enhance alert systems and update emergency plans to be better prepared for immediate emergency response.
“Were there some things tha...
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
A few things have changed at No Label Brewing Co. since it sold its first barrel of beer in December 2010, co-founder Jennifer Royo said.
The business sells to-go beer from the taproom and switched from bottles to cans. A playground and bathrooms were added, and the layout was rearranged. The brewery also produces a larger variety of beers.
“Our head brewer wanted to do small, experimental batches at the taproom, such as our peanut butter and chocolate beer,” Jennifer said. “Things you can only get here.”
She, her husband, Brian, and his parents founded the brewery togethe...
Monday, August 26, 2019
By: UHV Media Office
KATY – Readers of Living Magazine have named the University of Houston-Victoria the Best College/University in the Katy and Fulshear area.
More than 30,000 Katy and Fulshear area readers submitted votes for the magazine’s 2019 Best of Katy/Fulshear Readers’ Choice, which came out Aug. 1, said Sharon Hilburn, a Living Magazine account executive.
“Receiving this recognition of our university is exciting,” UHV President Bob Glenn said. “We are grateful for the support from the Katy and Fulshear communities and look forward to serving them at our new instructional site this fall and for years to come.”
The University of Houston-Victori...
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
By: Nola Z. Valente - Community Impact
A development will expand the commercial corridor of northwest Fort Bend County.
Archstone Real Estate LLC purchased 3 acres of land from local investors Farid R. Bakht and John R. Bakht to develop a retail and office project in Katy on Aug. 5.
The development will be at the corner of Kingsland Boulevard and Main Street, and the site will support roughly 18,000 square feet of commercial space, according to a press release.
Glenn Dickerson, the vice president of Houston-based NewQuest Properties, represented the local seller in a direct deal with Archstone.
“This area of Katy is stron...
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
By: by A.J. Mistretta - Greater Houston Partnership
Located about 30 miles west of Downtown Houston, Katy sits at the nexus of Harris, Fort Bend and Waller Counties. The city, which had an estimated population of just over 18,000 in 2017, is known for its picturesque residential communities that serve as home to employees working along the Energy Corridor and beyond. The one-time railroad town and the area surrounding it is today a hub of retail and industrial development thanks in part to ongoing highway and infrastructure improvements.
We discussed Katy’s evolution with Lance LaCour, president and CEO of the Katy Area Economic Developmen...
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
By: Alex Hosey - Community Impact
The Greater Houston Partnership released Houston Facts 2019, a compilation of data that covers Houston’s demographics, economic growth and more, at a networking and presentation event on Aug. 6.
Patrick Jankowski, senior vice president of research for the Greater Houston Partnership, said the publication has been around for decades and has helped provide an accurate look at changes in Houston year after year.
“When you look at Houston Facts, it’s facts,” Jankowski said. “It’s no spin, no varnish, no tweaking. If you want the unvarnished truth about Houston, you can pull it up in this publication. We wan...
Monday, August 19, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
Completed projects
First Street improvements
First Street will reopen to the public in mid-August, David Leyendecker of Clay & Leyendecker Inc. said. The project entailed installing new storm drainage from Cane Island Branch to Cane Island Parkway, widening the street to a two-way, three-lane concrete road and constructing sidewalks between Bartlett Road and Cane Island Parkway.
Timeline: November 2018-August 2019
Cost: $4.5 million
Funding source: Katy Development Authority
Ongoing Projects
FM 1093 widening
The Texas Department of Transportation continues to widen FM 1093 from two lanes to four with a median. TxDOT Project Manager Kurt Lehmann said crews aim to open eastbound lanes late Augus...
Monday, August 19, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
The Texas Education Agency released the 2018-19 accountability ratings for school districts across the state Aug. 15. Katy ISD received an A for the 2018-19 school year. It received a total of 92 out of 100 points.
“[KISD’s A rating] is a nice affirmation of the hard work that our teachers are putting in every day,” Superintendent Ken Gregorski said.
Out of the 65 KISD campuses that received ratings, 34 earned an A, 26 earned a B and five earned a C. For a more in-depth look at how each school in KISD performed, visit www.txschools.org.
Overall grades ar...
Katy Shoppers Uncover Treasures at Local Resale Stores
Saturday, August 03, 2019
From vintage clothes to designer handbags, Katy’s resale shops provide budget-friendly shopping adventures. If you are looking for a special occasion accessory, a gently used couch or a unique gift, your treasure hunt starts here.
Read full article.
USDA, Texas Department of Agriculture OK Texas Rural Challenge commitments
Friday, August 02, 2019
AUSTIN -- The rural development arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Texas Department of Agriculture recently signed a commitment to back the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Texas Rural Challenge. The initiative, which is overseen by UT San Antonio’s Institute for Economic Development, secured a commitment to increase access to financing in rural areas of mutual interest.
TDA Commissioner Sid Miller and Texas state director for USDA Rural Development Edd Hargett approved the partnership at UT San Antonio’s 10th annual Texas Rural Challenge in New Braunfels.
Read full article.
Best & Worst States to Start a Business
Thursday, August 01, 2019
Starting a business is never easy. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, about a fifth of all startups typically don’t survive past year one of operation, and nearly half never make it to their fifth anniversary.
But startups fail for different reasons, a “bad location” among the most common. Choosing the right state for a business is therefore crucial to its success. A state that provides the ideal conditions for business creation — access to cash, skilled workers and affordable office space, for instance — can help new ventures not only take off but also thrive.
Read full article.
Friday, July 19, 2019
By Jen Para | 9:43 pm July 17, 2019 CDT
The city of Katy may get a few acres bigger.
According to Houston City Council documents, the city of Katy provided a letter to Houston expressing its intent to annex about 10 acres of land inside Houston’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, or a band of unincorporated land surrounding a city’s limits which it can eventually annex. Council approved an ordinance July 17 to release the land.
The land is located near the intersection of FM 1463 and Spring Green Boulevard, according to council documents. Property owners plan to sell the land to developer Cross Development LLC, which plans t...
Friday, July 19, 2019
Houston, TX – Avison Young, the world’s fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm, announced today that it has been appointed as the exclusive leasing agent for 150,920 square feet (sf) of office space under construction at 24279 Katy Freeway in Katy, TX.
The project, Phase II of the Katy Ranch Offices development, has broken ground and is available for preleasing for summer 2020 delivery.
Avison Young Principals Sam Hansen and Doug Pack, who are based in Houston, will represent the landlord, Mike Baker, CEO of Freeway Properties. Avison Young and Freeway Properties held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday together with Lance LaCour, President and CEO of the Katy Area Economic Development Council(EDC); A.J. Breneman, Principal of Powers Brown Architecture and Kerry LaGrone, Managing Partner of LSI Genera...
Friday, July 19, 2019
By Nola Z. Valente | 6:30 am July 18, 2019 CDT
Sources: Population and Survey Analysts, KISD/Community Impact Newspaper | Designed by Anya Gallant
After years of accelerated growth, residential development in south Katy is approaching build-out.
Demographics firm Population and Survey Analysts projects Katy ISD’s boundaries will be built-out south of I-10 by 2028, while the construction of thousands of new homes is expected to continue north of I-10 and southwest into Lamar CISD.
Six years ago, 31% of the land within KISD boundaries was undeveloped, according to PASA. In 2018, 21% of the land was undeveloped.
PASA demographer Pat Guseman, who has been working with KISD sinc...
Saturday, July 13, 2019
By Jen Para | 8:00 am July 13, 2019 CDT
MD Anderson Cancer Center hosted an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony of its new 260,000-square-foot West Houston outpatient center at 13900 Katy Freeway, Houston, on June 20, according to a press release. MD Anderson relocated the teams, services and staff at an existing campus at 19770 Kingsland Blvd., Houston, to the new facility, which offers oncology and therapy services and a diagnostic laboratory.
New MD Anderson Cancer Center
Texas tops the U.S. for real estate development spending and jobs
Monday, July 01, 2019
For the second year in a row, Texas topped the nation in real estate development activity in 2018.
With almost $26 billion in direct spending on real estate projects, the Texas building sector contributed more than $62 billion to the state's economy last year, according to a report from the NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association.
The development sector supported more than 400,000 jobs in the state last year, the industry trade group said in its annual economic impact report.
Read full article.
Monday, May 06, 2019
By: Nola S. Valente - Community Impact
Phase 1 of three phases in the Katy Mills renovation project is done, Katy Mills General Manager James Ross said.
The multimillion-dollar development was announced by Simon Properties, the real estate leader who owns Katy Mills, in spring 2018. Its goal is to transform the 20-year-old shopping center into a more modern space with a brighter atmosphere and a new color scheme, Simon representatives told Community Impact Newspaper last year.
“We listened to our shoppers and recently completed a massive interior renovation to improve the shopping experience and solidify Katy Mills as a source of pride to th...
Friday, May 03, 2019
KATY, TEXAS - Thursday, May 2, 2019 —Christ Clinic today earned a 2019 Platinum Seal of Transparency, the highest level of recognition offered by GuideStar, the world’s largest source of nonprofit information. By sharing metrics that highlight progress Christ Clinic is making toward its mission, the organization is helping donors move beyond simplistic ways of nonprofit evaluation such as overhead ratios.
“We’re thrilled about our Platinum Seal of Transparency and the associated benefits help us better communicate our organization’s exciting initiatives on a larger scale,” said Beverly Allen, Director of Advancement. By updating our GuideStar Nonprofit Profile to earn a Platinu...
Monday, April 22, 2019
Release by Energy Recovery
SAN LEANDRO, Calif.—January 14, 2019 — Energy Recovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERII), the leader in pressure energy technology for industrial fluid flows, announced today that it has executed a lease for the company’s new Commercial Development Center in the Houston region. The facility will serve as the central office for Energy Recovery’s Oil & Gas segment including its management team, its Engineering System, Design and Performance teams, as well as field personnel. Work at the facility will initially focus on the continued technical and commercial advancement of the company’s VorTeq™ and MTeq™ technologies.
The four-acre site in Katy, Texas, will include 20,000 squar...
Monday, April 22, 2019
Job Posting: Katy Area EDC seeks Communications Manager
The Communications Manager is responsible for developing and implementing communications plans and activities that promote the economic development and brand of the Katy, Texas area. These plans include the marketing elements of Katy Area 2021, the Katy Area Strategic Economic Development Plan; and Katy Area EDC Annual Work Plans. The position is a part-time, non-exempt position that reports to the President/CEO of the Katy Area EDC. Responsibilities/duties include the management, review and coordination of the following: public relations, media relations, advertising and informational materials, graphics, email, website, social media, branding and co-branding, editing an...
Thursday, April 11, 2019
By: CultureMap Houston - Steven Devadanam
Last year, many locals cried foul when Houston was named the No. 2 most diverse city in the nation, behind — gasp! — Jersey City, New Jersey. But a new report confirms what we here already know: Houston is, indeed, the most diverse city in the country.
The new ranking comes courtesy of personal finance website WalletHub, which, in 2018, placed Houston in a dubious second place. “Yes, Jersey City may be listed as more ethnically diverse,” Dr. Stephen Klineberg, noted local demographic expert, told CultureMap last year. “But it’s much smaller.” (Some consolation: Last year’s WalletHub report foun...
Newpark to showcase stimulation, completion fluids at OTC
Thursday, April 11, 2019
By: World Oil
KATY, Texas -- Newpark Fluids Systems will introduce its expanded portfolio of stimulation and completion fluids at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) (May 6-9, 2019; NRG Park, Houston, Texas). In addition, Newpark will showcase the Kronos deepwater drilling fluid system for safer, cleaner and faster offshore operations. Other OTC highlights include a second service facility at Port Fourchon to support offshore rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and a new hydraulics modeling software to help customers achieve greater speed, agility and precision on even the most challenging sites.
“In response to customer demand, we are pleased to announce tha...
Tuesday, April 09, 2019
Release from PRNewswire
RICHARDSON, Texas, April 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) today announced it is partnering with Sanitas USA to open 10 advanced primary care medical centers in Dallas and Houston. The medical centers will deliver primary care, urgent care, lab and diagnostic imaging services, care coordination, and wellness and disease management programs – all under one roof. The medical centers will be open for appointments beginning Jan. 1, 2020.
The partnership is designed to make flexible and affordable health care options more accessible for members and their families. It will create a new, value-based care delivery model that takes an integrated, holistic approach to patients'...
.jpg)
Monday, April 08, 2019
By: Karen Zurawski - Houston Chronicle
The Texas Department of Transportation is proposing to widen FM 529 between the Grand Parkway and FM 362 and will take public comments on the project on April 30.
The meeting from 5:30-7:30 p.m. will be an open-house format with no formal presentation at Patricia E. Paetow High School ninth-grade center, 23111 Stockdick Road in Katy.
The deadline to comment on the project is May 15. Email hou-piowebmail@txdot.gov to submit a written comment or send comments to TxDOT Houston District Office, director of project development, P.O. Box 1386, Houston, Texas 77251. People also may visit http://tinyurl.com/yxgp6e3h for information.
FM 52...
Wednesday, April 03, 2019
By: Roy Kent - Houston Chronicle
KOBELCO Construction Machinery USA — an excavator manufacturing company with a facility in Katy at 22350 Merchants Way near North Mason Road — recently completed its 1,000th excavator and celebrated the event on March 27.
According to a news release, the 1,000th KOBELCO machine produced is the “SK210LC-10 model. KOBELCO dealer, Southeastern Equipment, sold the unit to A Crano Excavating, a family-owned residential and commercial developer based in Akron, Ohio. The SK210LC-10 was given to A Crano Excavating at the celebration event.
“This achievement further solidifies KOBELCO’s commitment to producing industry-leading machinery with exclusive features and cutting-edg...
Monday, March 25, 2019
Katy, TX, March 20, 2019– Harris County ESD No. 48 Fire and EMS (HCESD 48) is proud to announce our groundbreaking ceremony on March 28th, 2019 at 4:30pm to celebrate the upcoming construction of a new Fire Station No. 1. The ceremony is open to the public and will be held at the future Fire Station No. 1 location at 24127 Western Centre Drive, Katy, Texas 77449.
Site work will begin in the next few weeks on construction of the 18,481-square-foot fire station. Until the permanent fire station is completed, crews will be housed on-site in a temporary facility. The ne...
Friday, March 22, 2019
Media Contact:
Emily Henson, Hallaron Advertising
emily@hallaronadvertising.com
C: 305-332-7996
O: 281-299-0538
THE WOODLANDS, Texas, (March 20, 2019) – MARCEL, a privately owned, fully integrated commercial real estate firm based in The Woodlands, Texas, put a unique “spin” on the traditional real estate development groundbreaking ceremony with an event March 20, called “Groundbreaking for a Cause,” to mark the official groundbreaking of Cross Creek Town Center, a mixed-use development with more than 76,000 sq. ft. of combined office and retail space located within Johnson Development’s Cross Creek Ranch master-planned community in Fulshear, Texas. The expected completion date of the development is Spring 2020.
“Groundbreaking for a Cause,&rdquo...
Thursday, March 21, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
A wave of new businesses will soon open in the Fulshear area.
The Woodlands-based commercial real estate company Marcel Group held a groundbreaking ceremony for Cross Creek Town Center on March 20. Founder Vernon Veldekens said construction was expected to start that afternoon.
The 10.47-acre mixed-use development is located at 6635 W. Cross Creek Bend Lane, Fulshear, within Houston-based Johnson Development Corp.’s master-planned community Cross Creek Ranch.
Tenants are expected to begin opening next spring but will not be announced until mid-2019, Veldekens said.
About 50 percent of Cross Creek Town Center’s 76,000-square-feet has been leased, he added. Marce...
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
By: Houstonia Magazine - Timothy Malcolm
KATY IS HAVING A FOODIE MOMENT, and if you haven’t visited lately, well, it’s time. From local favorites hiding in plain sight to the sprawling new Katy Asian Town shopping and dining center, there’s much to try, just a short drive west. Ready to plan your food crawl? Here are 10 musts:
Katy BBQ by Midway Barbeque
Midway has been processing deer and selling meat to area residents for decades, and its sit-down restaurant is a true old-school Texas experience: Mounted deer heads gawk at you while you sample the ’cue. The brisket is as tender as it gets...
State Representative Gina Calanni District Office Opening Event
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
View Flyer Here
Monday, March 18, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
A portion of Katy Hockley Road will soon be busy with heavy equipment, trucks and construction crews.
The city of Katy announced it will begin a drainage restoration project March 18 on Katy Hockley Road between Morton and Clay roads, according to a March 14 Facebook post. The project encompasses restoring roadside ditches, said Anas Garfaoui, city planner for the city of Katy, in an email.
The project is expected to be completed in about three weeks, according to the post.
During that time, Katy Hockley between Morton and Clay will be closed to all traffic—except residents and emergency services—betwee...
Thursday, March 14, 2019
The Ranch is intended to share information regarding Katy Ranch Crossing Shopping Center, Katy Ranch Offices as well as the Katy Area. In addition, future versions will include close-ups of existing tenants in a section titled, “Tenant Spotlight.”
You can view the full edition of The Ranch here.
Monday, March 11, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
Work continues on various mobility projects in the Katy area.
Crossover Road widening completed
Fort Bend County officially reopened Crossover Road to traffic on March 1, Fort Bend County engineer Stacy Slawinski confirmed. Crossover Road between FM 1463 and Spring Green Boulevard was closed in 2018 to widen it from a two-lane asphalt roadway with ditches to a four-lane concrete boulevard with a median and underground drainage.
Timeline: July 2018-March 2019
Cost: $3.1 million
Funding source: Fort Bend County
FM 1093 widening
Fort Bend County is nearly finished with its portion to widen FM 1093 from a two-lane road to a four-lane road with ...
Friday, March 08, 2019
March 7, 2019 (Katy, TX) - Katy Area Economic Development Council supports Texas Senate Bills, 7, 6 and 8 to address disaster preparedness and flooding mitigation in the State of Texas, specifically the Houston region.
In recent years, the Katy area has been adversely impacted during multiple flooding events. The flooding has negatively impacted businesses and homes. Specifically, the Katy area lies within the Addicks and Barker Reservoirs. Both reservoirs experienced major flooding during Harvey causing large-scale flooding and damage to the Katy area.
Moving forward, without further action to improve disaster preparedness and mitigate flooding, the area will continue to experienc...
Wednesday, March 06, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
Fire protection in Katy has expanded in the southern portion of the city.
The city of Katy held a grand opening March 2 for Fire Station No. 2 at 25420 Bell Patna Drive, Katy, according to a press release. The station began taking calls at noon that day.
Construction for the station began in late 2017. Plans called for housing 16 firefighters and an ambulance crew. The city had received a $2.18 million grant in August 2017 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help fund the expansion.
“The area near Katy Mills Mall has many high occupancy and targe...
Tuesday, March 05, 2019
ARMONK, N.Y., March 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM Watson Health™ (NYSE: IBM) today published its 100 Top Hospitals® annual study identifying top–performing hospitals in the U.S. This study spotlights the best–performing hospitals in the U.S. based on a balanced scorecard using publicly available data for clinical, operational, and patient satisfaction metrics. The study is part of IBM Watson Health's commitment to leveraging science and data to advance health and it has been conducted annually since 1993.
Overall, the Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals® study found that the top-performing hospitals in the country achieved better risk-adjusted outcomes while maintaining both a lower average cost per patien...
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
South Central Texas economic developers took time out from their bi-annual state legislative meeting to visit Senator Lois Kolkhorst at her Capitol office on Thursday, February 21. Senator Kolkhorst represents 21 counties in the Texas Senate, which include Economic Development Corporations located in Brenham, Cuero, Gonzales, Katy, Victoria, Wharton, and Yoakum.
The group discussed several issues, including the need for adequate funds for our public schools as well as the issue of property taxes. For economic developers, our state's exceedingly high property taxes make the renewal of the state tax abatement law, referred to as Chapter 312, one of the to...
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
By: Karen Zurawski - Houston Chronicle
A March 2 grand opening ceremony is planned for Katy Fire Department Station No. 2 at 25420 Bell Patna Drive, Katy.
The ceremony is set to begin at 10:30 a.m.
Fire Chief Russell Wilson said he will welcome visitors and guests and introduce participants. The program will include a prayer, a cornerstone dedication by the Katy Masonic Lodge 1439, remarks by Katy Mayor Chuck Brawner and the Katy Veterans of Foreign Wars doing a flag-raising ceremony at the station. Refreshments will be served.
“Adding this station location has already proven to be optimal when it comes to disaster,&rdquo...
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
The Katy Area Economic Development Council hosted its February General Assembly meeting on Tuesday, February 19 at the Mark A. Chapman YMCA at Katy Main Street. The meeting featured presentations by YMCA Katy Main Street, Harris County ESD #48 and Katy Area EDC.
Michelle Steffes, YMCA Katy Main Street Director of Operations, shared information about the host facility, one of the newest YMCA locations in the Houston area. The YMCA, located in the Katy Main Street development within the City of Katy, offers a wide variety of programs for children and adults. Highlight features of the facility include a playground, pool/splas...
Monday, February 25, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
Road improvements on eight roads
Crews recently broke ground on repair work on eight asphalt roads showing wear and tear, said Eric Heppen, a project manager for Harris County Precinct 3. All of Baker Road will be repaired. Groeschke Road will be repaired in three segments, from Dulaney Road to Barker Cypress Road, from Barker Cypress to just east of 1800 Groeschke Road, and from about 17551 Groeschke Road to west of 17130 Groeschke Road. Dulaney will be repaired from Morton Road to Groeschke Road, and Ashley Road will have repairs from Greenhouse Road to Dulane...
Monday, February 25, 2019
KATY, TX, UNITED STATES, February 22, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Zoombang Outperforms All Top Impact Sportswear Companies
Zoombang crushes competition in a third-party test against top global competitors as the best product for athletes in contact sports
Katy, Texas- Zoombang protective sports gear outperforms all the competition - not just a catchy slogan, but a third-party tested fact.
Zoombang announced today third-party test results of protective wear outperforming globally recognized sports gear providers McDavid, Under Armour, and Nike reducing impact blows 40 to 45 percent better than the competition. Our thickening polymers absorb and distribute impact blows better than the competition: 43 percent bette...
Sunday, February 24, 2019
News Release
Texas Economic Development Council
For more information contact:
Mr. Carlton Schwab
President/CEO
Texas Economic Development Council
(512) 480-8432
carlton@texasedc.org
The Texas Economic Development Council (TEDC) announced the recipients of its annual Economic Excellence Recognition program for 2018. The awards were presented at a breakfast held Thursday, February 21, 2019, at the TEDC’s Legislative Conference in Austin, Texas. The two and one half-day conference was held February 20-22 at the Sheraton hotel in downtown Austin.
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 a...
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
By: Community Impact Staff
Christ Clinic is expanding its clinic at 25722 Kingsland Blvd., Ste. 111, Katy, director Lara Hamilton said. The expansion comes as the clinic moves administrative staff to a new office at 802 Dominion Drive, Katy, near community partners Clothed By Faith and Hope Impacts. The expansion will add four treatment rooms for a total of 14 rooms at the Kingsland location. Christ Clinic provides low-cost health care to the uninsured or those in financial difficulty. Hamilton said the plans to install a second clinic on Dominion Drive were canceled because it was more fiscally responsible to expan...
Monday, February 18, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
The Katy ISD Future Farmers of America Livestock Show and Katy Rodeo kicked off Feb. 13 at new facilities.
The new $34 million Gerald D. Young Agriculture Science Center is located at 5825 Katy Hockley Cut Off Road, Katy, and includes the L.D. Robinson Pavilion and W.E. “Billy” Morgan Rodeo Arena, according to KISD documents. The pavilion and arena are each about 35,000 square feet, sitting on about 130 acres of land for KISD students to learn about agriculture.
The new facilities were funded from the 2014 $99 million bond referendum. Check out photos of the ne...
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
The Harris County Flood Control District was awarded funding for a feasibility study on building a flood tunnel.
The U.S. Economic Development Administration awarded 2018 Disaster Supplemental funding of $320,000 to the district to conduct the study, according to a Feb. 7 press release. The district will provide an $80,000 match for a total project cost of $400,000, said Matt Zeve, the deputy executive director for the flood-control district.
Large deep-diameter tunnels can move large volumes of stormwater in the case of a major storm event, Zeve told Community Impact Newspaper in August. These tunnels cost billions of dollars and take years t...
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
By: R. Hans Miller - Community Impact
Katy City Council approved two contracts to refurbish drainage infrastructure and water lines during its Feb. 11 meeting.
The contract for more than $126,000 was awarded to Aranda Industries LLC, a Houston-based company. The contractor will repair and update storm sewers on Bartlett Road and Sanford Street.
The storm sewer repair contract will allow the city to maintain drainage infrastructure and places the city in control of the drainage easement the storm sewer is located within, Council Member Chris Harris said. The easement had previously been owned by a private citizen that voluntarily turned the easemen...
Thursday, February 07, 2019
Release provided by Memorial Hermann Katy
KATY – Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital’s new Pediatric Emergency Center is now open to receive patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The emergency center complements the hospital’s new dedicated pediatric inpatient unit and helps meet the need for specialized, round-the-clock pediatric emergency care in Katy and the greater west Houston area.
“As Katy continues to grow, it needs more access points for round-the-clock care available for all ages closer to home,” said Heath Rushing, Senior Vice President and CEO of Memorial Hermann Katy and Memorial Hermann Cypress Hospital. “Emergency medical situations occur at ever...
Monday, February 04, 2019
By: R. Hans Miller - Community Impact
The city of Katy broke ground Jan. 30 on the much-anticipated revitalization project that will create the Katy Downtown Plaza. The project will install a new civic center, visitors center, outdoor walking museum, green space and public restrooms.
“Today is going to launch the revitalization of this area,” Mayor Chuck Brawner said during his opening remarks to the ceremony.
Nash Industries will be building the site, which was designed by Turner Duran Architects.
Full Story
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
By: Houston Chronicle - Staff Report
The Ballard House, 21421 Cinco Park Road in Katy, will hosting a Jan. 31 Grand Opening Ceremony for their new wing set to open this month.
The grand opening is scheduled from 4-7 p.m. It's free to the public, but donations are appreciated.
Construction for the new wing began in April 2018. The expansion adds 16 guest rooms, a living room, kitchen and laundry room for guests to use free of charge. The expansion is timely, and The Ballard House founders hope to assist in accommodating the demand from prospective guests and the future University of Texa...
Monday, January 28, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
MD Anderson Cancer Center will soon have a new building in the Katy area to better serve the growing population in West Houston.
This summer MD Anderson will open a 260,000-square-foot outpatient center at 13900 I-10, Houston, between Eldridge Road and Park & Ride Drive, Associate Director of Public Relations Julie Penne said in an email. MD Anderson expects the new facility will have about 150 full-time employees.
MD Anderson has an existing Katy-area facility on the campus of Houston Methodist Continuing Care Hospital, formerly known as Houston Methodist St. Catherine Hospital, at 19770 Kingsland Blvd., Houston...
Friday, January 25, 2019
The Katy ISD Robert R. Shaw Center for STEAM played host to the first Katy Area Economic Development Council meeting of 2019. Roughly 100 members and guests gathered for the meeting which was headlined by the announcement of the recipients of the 3rd Annual Stan C. Stanley “Eagle” Leadership and Economic Development Awards.
With friends and family of Stan Stanley in attendance, Katy Area EDC was honored to announce the winners of the Stan C. Stanley “Eagle” Leadership and Economic Development Award as Dick Phillips (University of Houston Vice President of Community Engagement) in the volunteer category and Chuck Brawner (City o...
Friday, January 25, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
A transportation project in the Katy area that has been in the works for about 15 years will soon start construction, a project spokesperson and two public officials said.
Texas Heritage Parkway will break ground in May, said attorney Rich Muller, who is representing nine landowners involved in the project. Fort Bend County Commissioner Andy Meyers and Fulshear Mayor Aaron Groff also confirmed the project would begin construction mid-2019.
The motivation for this new corridor stems from West Houston’s growing population and the need for another north-south thoroughfare to connect the Westpark Tollway to I-10, Muller an...
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
By: Anil Kumar and Alexander T. Abraham - Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Texas is the leading destination for companies relocating from other states. The economic benefits of the moves may be best measured in terms of the ancillary activity generated rather than the benefits directly attributable to the relocations.
You can read the full report here.
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
By: R. Hans Miller - Community Impact
The Katy City Council unanimously approved an amendment to the development agreement for the Katy Boardwalk District development on Jan. 14. The agreement names the long-anticipated hotel operator as the Hyatt Regency, which will be operated by HBH Ventures LLC.
City council members declined to comment on the naming of the hotel, which was not openly discussed in the meeting. A formal announcement will be provided within the next two weeks once the agreement has been executed, Katy Mayor Chuck Brawner said.
Adoption of the agreement followed a closed-door meeting that included council members, Brawner an...
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
The Katy Area Economic Development Council (Katy Area EDC) has launched a new comprehensive website to bolster its online presence and highlight business opportunities and advantages in this burgeoning area of southeast Texas.
Katy Area EDC is focused on business recruitment, development and expansion in and around Katy, Texas, which is just 25 miles west of Houston. The user friendly, online portal includes an array of information about the region, including its workforce, business incentives and quality of life. It features powerful Zoom Prospector and GIS Planning tools that enable auto population of area demographics and community profile data.
The website wil...
Monday, January 14, 2019
By: R. Hans Miller - Community Impact
NewQuest Properties began construction on Phase 2 of The Stableside at Falcon Landing development in early January. The second phase includes the construction of a new 35,000-square-foot section that will be anchored by The Union Kitchen and Jax Grill, said NewQuest Associate Austin Alvis via email.
“VillaSport Athletic Club and Spa broke ground in December and is shooting to open by the end of 2019, barring weather delays,” Alvis said.
The second phase of the development will also include Sub Zero Ice Cream, Nekter Juice Bar and The Lash Lounge, Alvis said. The new buildings will b...
Tuesday, January 08, 2019
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
The Katy area is full delicious places to eat and drink, and more options are on the way. The following restaurants are expected to open in 2019.
85°C Bakery Cafe
In August we reported that 85°C Bakery Cafe expects to open a new location in the Katy Grand shopping center during the first quarter of 2019. Katy Grand is located in the northeastern corner of the intersection of I-10 and the Grand Parkway The cafe is known for its iced sea salt coffee and its baked goods, and the restaurant offers 60 types of bread, cakes an...
Thursday, January 03, 2019
By: Gwendolyn Knapp - Houstonia Magazine
JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT KATY COULDN’T GET ANY MORE KATY, a major mixed-use development complete with its own nature preserve is breaking ground in the bustling burb this year. Katy Boardwalk District, a new lakefront destination within spitting distance of Typhoon Texas, will house a full-service, four-star conference center hotel, entertainment venues and retail, luxury lofts and 90-acres of natural splendor.
KBH Venture is developing the 169 acres at Kingsland Boulevard and Katy Fort Bend Road just south of I-10, and here’s what’s in store.
The conference center hotel, designed by Gensler Architects, will have 300-plus rooms, 43,000 square feet o...
Thursday, January 03, 2019
Texas, Florida rank 1-2 for the 3rd year in a row; Illinois tops out-migration states
Story by U-Haul
Everything continued to be bigger in Texas last year, including the number of U-Haul trucks pulling into the state versus the volume leaving.
Texas registered as the U-Haul No. 1 Growth State in America for the third consecutive year, according to U-Haul® data analyzing U.S. migration trends for 2018.
Florida ranked second for a third year in row. South Carolina inched up one spot to No. 3, while fast-risers Utah and Idaho rounded out the top five states for growth.
Illinois was 50th on the list fo...
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
By: R. Hans Miller - Community Impact
The city of Katy awarded a contract for the construction of the Katy Civic Center and Visitors Center buildings as part of the new Katy Downtown Plaza at the Dec. 10 Katy City Council meeting.
Funding for the construction comes from three sources, said Kayce Reina, the city’s director of tourism, marketing and public relations. Funds from bonds, hotel occupancy taxes and flood insurance funds from the 2016 Tax Day Floods would be used to pay for the construction contract, Reina said.
The Katy Civic Center will be installed in the old Katy City Hall Buildin...
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
By: R. Hans Miller - Community Impact
KBH Ventures and the city of Katy have partnered with Benchmark Global Hospitality to develop a conference center anchor for the 169-acre Katy Boardwalk project, according to a press release from Kaplan PR. The conference center will be designed by Gensler and built by Houston-based KDW, the construction firm that built Typhoon Texas.
“For residents, the Boardwalk project is a great commercial boom for the city with tax revenue. It will be drawing in commercial business,” said Katy City Council member Chris Harris. “Then also there’s the green space and park which is a grea...
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
By: Michelle Iracheta - Houston Chronicle
Katy ISD has done it again, as 11 of its schools are named the best in a 2019 ranking released by Niche, a public data analysis site.
Four high schools and seven junior high schools made the list in separate categories in the the Top 25 2019 Best Public High Schools and Junior High Schools in the Houston Metropolitan Area.
The high schools ranked in the top 25 included Seven Lakes, Cinco Ranch, Tompkins and Taylor high schools. The junior high schools were Seven Lakes, Beck, Beckendorff, Woodcreak, McMeans, Memorial Parkway and Cinco Ranch junior high schools.
Chie...
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
By mid-2021, Houston Community College will have a new campus for its west Houston students.
The proposal to purchase 24 acres with an option to acquire an additional 30 acres to relocate and expand the Northwest College Katy campus at 228 Colonial Parkway, near the intersection of I-10 and Grand Parkway passed in a 5-2 vote, with two trustees abstaining, at the Dec. 5 board of trustees meeting.
“I see it as a vote of confidence in our growth plan,” HCC Northwest President Zachary Hodges said. “Now to get the community on board.”
HCC plans to build ...
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
In the spirit of the season of giving, the Katy Area Economic Development Council December General Assembly meeting featured three non-profit organizations which play key roles in improving the lives of those in the Katy area community. Katy Prairie Conservancy, Katy Autism Support and The Ballard House were each featured at the monthly meeting which was held at British International School of Houston (BISH).
The meeting began with a presentation by BISH Principal Andrew Derry. Derry shared information about the school campus which is located at 2203 North Westgreen Boulevard in Katy. BISH offers a NORD Anglia Education and currently has student...
Tuesday, December 25, 2018
By: R. Hans Miller - Community Impact
The Crossing at Katy Fulshear continues to move toward completion after the Walmart Supercenter opened Aug. 29, said Clay Mealey, a leasing agent with Lovett Commercial. The development has begun the second phase of construction with new buildings going up between the Walmart and the Xscape Theatres already operating on the site.
Lovett Commercial is the developer for the property, which is anchored by the Walmart Supercenter, located in the northeastern corner of FM 1093 and FM 1463 in Fulshear.
Chick-fil-A, Raising Cane’s, Freddy’s Frozen Custard, Spring Creek Barbeque, XPress Oil Change and Barcelona Sporting Good...
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
By: R. Hans Miller - Community Impact
Nick and Nici Jessett opened MKT Distillery on Oct. 6 in the silos on First Street in downtown Katy. The bar offers whiskey and moonshine distilled in-house as well as a selection of nonalcoholic drinks.
The Jessetts decided to open the distillery after volunteering at No Label Brewing Co. and taking a trip two years ago to Tennessee, where they toured a distillery.
“We decided then and there, ‘let’s bring something like this to Katy,’” Nick said.
Named after the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad that runs next to the distillery, MKT sells Aged Texas Corn Whiskey, Bonner’s Point Vodka...
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Members Choice Credit Union corporate headquarters played host to the November Katy Area Economic Development Council meeting. Members and guests gathered for the monthly meeting which featured a presentation by Katy area company Veterans Manufacturing.
Michael Hlozek (pictured above), co-founder of Veterans Manufacturing, headlined the meeting by sharing information about the growing company which he helped start. The organization, which is veteran-owned and located on Katy Hockley Road, specializes in manufacturing high-quality ultralight body armor, vehicle shields, bomb blankets, blast mitigation systems, ballistic pfd’s, ballistic clipboards, luggage and other ballistic systems. Notably, the organization is now manufacturing U.S. Coast Guard approve...
Thursday, November 08, 2018
Katy ISD has officially enrolled 80,000 students across its many campuses.
The 80,000th student enrolled at Davidson Elementary School, and the district will celebrate Nov. 9 with a welcome party attended by board of trustee members, superintendents and school administrators, according to a press release.
“Expecting to end the year with an enrollment of 80,000 students, or fairly close to it, Katy Independent School District has reached this monumental milestone two months prior to the end of 2018,” the release states.
The fast-growing school district will open two new schools for the 2019-2020 school year to accommodate its soaring student population. Four mor...
Sunday, October 28, 2018
By: Paul Takahashi - Houston Chronicle
DownUnder GeoSolutions, an Australian oil and gas exploration company, plans to build the world's fastest supercomputer in Katy.
The company announced Thursday it is under construction on the new supercomputer facility at Skybox Datacenters' Houston campus, located at 22000 Franz Road near the Energy Corridor. Once finished by February, the facility will house more than 40,000 servers with more than 250 petaflops of computing speed. A computer with one petaflop of computing speed can execute one thousand trillion operations per second.
"Houston was a natural choice given the low cost of power and the fact that Skybo...
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
By: Amy McCarthy - Eater Houston
In-N-Out Burger may have taken its sweet time in heading to Houston, but fresh off announcing its first Space City outpost, it appears a second area location is in the works.
The California-based burger chain has purchased property in Katy at the intersection of I-10 and Katy Fort Bend Road, according to KHOU. A statement issued by In-N-Out after Houston realtor BPI Realty Services made this announcement is characteristically cautious — vice president of real estate and development Carl Arena told KHOU that the chain is “enthusiastic” about the Katy location, but seemed skeptical as t...
Building The UH Engineering Legacy At Katy: From Foundation To New Heights
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Q & A With Founding Director Phaneendra Kondapi
Plans for the Cullen College of Engineering to expand into the Katy area grow more concrete each day as the construction of the University of Houston Katy Campus progresses. The 84,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art building will open its doors to hundreds of UH engineering students in fall 2019.
It started out with baby steps – launching two energy-focused engineering courses at the Houston Community College (HCC) Northwest-Katy Campus in 2016 – and has since grown to more than 15 graduate-level courses. The 2019 offerings will be a giant leap: a full roster of undergraduate courses, graduate courses an...
Katy ISD tops Houston area elementary school list
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
By: Mike Glenn - Houston Chronicle
A Pittsburgh, Pa.-based data analysis firm said the top elementary schools in the Houston area are all part of the Katy Independent School District.
Niche, the educational data analysis company, compiled data from the Department of Education along with student and teacher surveys to determine the list of top schools.
According to Niche, the best elementary campus in the Houston area is Fred & Patti Shafer Elementary School, 5150 Ranch Point Drive. One of the comments from a parent said “We love Shafer! Great teachers and staff. Caring environment.”
Katy ISD schools also took second place along wit...
Katy soon to be hub for higher education
Wednesday, October 03, 2018
By: Michelle Iracheta - Houston Chronicle
In less than five years, the area at Grand Parkway and Partnership Way in Katy off Interstate 10 could be filled with eager students rushing to get to classes from three different educational institutions.
As part of a collaborative effort to make it easier for students to achieve their academic goals, specifically in engineering and nursing; and for the Houston Community College to tap into the growing population that the Katy Independent School District and surrounding districts have experienced, the college system is moving its existing Katy campus to be closer in proximity to the futur...
Memorial Hermann to merge with Baylor Scott & White creating largest health system in Texas
Monday, October 01, 2018
By: Todd Ackerman - Houston Chronicle
Memorial Hermann Health System and Baylor Scott & White Health, the state's largest not-for-profit system, have signed a letter of intent to merge, the institutions announced Monday.
The merger would create a mega-system stretching from Dallas to Austin to Houston, treating patients in more than 30 Texas counties and employing more than 73,000 people across the state.
"This is an opportunity for two progressive, like-minded organizations, who do similar service, to come together and provide a better model of health care," said Chuck Stokes, Memorial Hermann's president and CEO. "Through this combined system, we can reinvent healt...
Visions of Katy: Leadership Institute
Monday, October 01, 2018
Visions of Katy: Leadership Institute
Date: October 24, 2018
Time: 6:45 AM - 9:30 AM CDT
Event Description: You are cordially invited to Visions of Katy: Leadership Institute. As a visionary leader in the Katy area, please join us for this special event scheduled for Wednesday, October 24 from 6:45 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. at The Club at Falcon Point. The cost is $25. Breakfast will be provided.
As with previous Visions of Katy events, our intention is to gather a broad and diverse group to share ideas about the opportunities and possibilities for this topic in our prosperous and growing community. All we ask of yo...
iRace Entertainment now open in Katy
Friday, September 28, 2018
iRace Entertainment opened Aug. 13 at 24984 Katy Ranch Road, Katy. The new entertainment venue features kart racing, NASCAR simulators, boutique bowling, laser tag, virtual reality machines and an arcade. Party suites, 5,000 square feet of meeting space and The Garage Bar & Restaurant are also included in the new facility.
832-304-7223
www.iraceusa.com
New wave of tenants to open in Katy Grand by early 2019
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
By R. Hans Miller - Community Impact
Katy Grand continues to develop in the northeastern corner of the Grand Parkway and I-10 in Katy, said Heather Nguyen, a partner with NewQuest Properties, the developer of the site. Nguyen said she expects the first building on the site to be completed in December.
The site broke ground in June on its first retail building, she said. A Cinemark theater and Whiskey Cake restaurant are already in operation as the anchor for the shopping center. Construction on the first of the separate retail buildings began earlier this year, Nguyen said.
“You know, we actually starte...
Asian population growth spurs suburban Chinatown in Katy
Monday, September 24, 2018
By: Paul Takahasi - Houston Chronicle
Restaurants in this sprawling new strip mall serve a smorgasbord of Pan-Asian cuisine, including Malaysian fried rice, Vietnamese noodle soup, Taiwanese boba tea and Japanese cream puffs.
One might think this Asian-themed plaza sits in the heart of Chinatown, for decades the cultural center of Houston’s fast-growing Asian community. However, this grocery-anchored shopping center is rising from the flat prairieland of Katy, some 20 miles west of Bellaire.
“We’re trying to bring a taste of Asia to the mainstream,” said Josie Lin, the center’s leasing representative. “I believe this is going to become another landmark, just lik...
Big Business: Corporations build headquarters in Katy
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
By: Lindsay Peyton - Houston Chronicle
Big business is making it big in Katy.
There are now more than 200 major corporate headquarters in the greater Katy area, including Academy Sports and Outdoors, Shell Exploration and Production, WoodGroup Subsidies, BP North America, Igloo, ConocoPhillips, Expro Americas, Schlumberger, Gulf Island Fabrication, Aecom, Salata and DNV-GL.
Lance LaCour, president and CEO of the Katy Area Economic Development Council, said there are a number of reasons why the area has become a prime location for businesses to set up shop.
Companies come to Katy for the school districts, the accessibility to Houston and the quality of lif...
BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF HOUSTON STUDENTS SHINE AGAIN IN IB DIPLOMA RESULTS
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Release provided by British International School
The British International School of Houston students have achieved strong results in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme for the 2017/18 academic school year. The British International School of Houston’s average score this year is 5.2 base points higher than the IB global average, widening the gap between ourselves and other IB schools around the world.
One student from The British International School of Houston received full marks — the maximum score of 45 points. This is an incredible achievement for this student is only 1% of students worldwide who received full marks this year on the IBDP.
-Three students achieved impressive scores of 44 points.
-BISH students'...
Ribbon-Cutting Held for Completion of Spring Green Roundabout
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Release by Fort Bend County
On September 7, 2018, Fort Bend County officials gathered in Precinct 3 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the completion of the Spring Green Boulevard Roundabout, the first two-lane roundabout constructed by Fort Bend County.
The new roundabout, located at the intersection of Spring Green Boulevard and Katy Flewellen Road, connects Spring Green Boulevard, Katy Flewellen Road and Cinco Trace Drive. Part of the project also included realigning Crossover Road to intersect north of the roundabout. The total project cost is $4.4 million funded by bonds from the 2013 Mobility Program as well as contributions from Newlan...
Texas Children’s Urgent Care opens new Katy location
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
By: Houston Chronicle
Texas Children’s Urgent Care West Campus clinic is now open, offering pediatric care in a convenient community location.
Located at 18200 Katy Freeway, Suite WD-200 Houston, TX 77094, this clinic is next to the Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus Emergency Center, to provide an alternate care site for families in the West Houston area in need of lower-acuity care. The 4,250 square-foot clinic has 11 exam rooms, X-ray on-site and a spacious waiting area adorned with vibrant murals, providing a relaxing, child-friendly atmosphere.
Texas Children’s Urgent Care West Campus is open seven days a week, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m...
Four new retailers announced for Katy area’s Grand Morton Town Center
Wednesday, September 05, 2018
By: R. Hans Miller - Community Impact
NewQuest Properties released a statement Monday that the company will be breaking ground on what Rebecca Le, vice president at NewQuest, said is the last portion of Phase 1 for Grand Morton Town Center. The new building will be built just north of the Kroger store that is already in operation in the shopping center.
Four tenants for the building were announced in the press release announcing the construction of the 66,000-square-foot building. HomeGoods, Michaels, Petco and Hallmark have all signed leases for space in the new building.
“These retailers will bring a tremendous amount o...
Katy Area EDC set to relocate to new office
Tuesday, September 04, 2018
The Katy Area Economic Development Council will be relocating to a new office effective Monday, September 10. The organization will move to an office in the Grandway West Business Park located at Grand Parkway and Franz Road.
Currently, Katy Area EDC leases space from Katy ISD in the former Brazos Valley Schools Credit Union at 438 FM 1463 in Katy. In 2017, Katy Area EDC signed a one-year lease with Katy ISD following its purchase of the former credit union building. The building currently houses human resources operations for Katy ISD in the majority of the facility.
Following a search conducted b...
TEDC Presents Economic Excellence Recognition at 2018 Mid-Year Conference
Thursday, August 09, 2018
Release by Texas Economic Development Council
For more information contact:
Mr. Carlton Schwab
President/CEO
Texas Economic Development Council
(512) 480-8432
carlton@texasedc.org
The Texas Economic Development Council (TEDC) has announced the recipients of its annual Economic Excellence Recognition program for 2017. The awards was presented at a special awards breakfast held Thursday, June 14, 2018, at the TEDC’s Mid-Year Conference in Galveston, Texas. The two and one half day conference was held June 13-15, 2018 at the Moody Gardens Hotel.
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 governin...
TEDC Presents Workforce Excellence Awards at 2018 Mid-Year Conference
Thursday, August 09, 2018
Release by Texas Economic Development Council
For more information contact:
Mr. Carlton Schwab
President/CEO
Texas Economic Development Council
(512) 480-8432
carlton@texasedc.org
The Texas Economic Development Council (TEDC) has announced the recipients of its annual Workforce Excellence Awards for 2018. The awards will be presented at a special awards breakfast held Thursday, June 14, 2018, at the TEDC’s Mid-Year Conference in Galveston, Texas. The two and one half-day conference was held June 13-15, 2018 at the Moody Gardens Hotel.
The Workforce Excellence Award program recognizes exceptional contributions by a Texas community or region that has implemented successful workforce initiatives. The TEDC’s Workforce Development Committee committee reviewed applications from nineteen ...
The best public elementary schools in the Houston area for 2018
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
By: Fernando Ramirez - Houston Chronicle
The quality of schools in an area can be a make or break issue for parents deciding where to move in the Houston area.
With hundreds of public elementary schools around Bayou City, the decision can be overwhelming.
Niche, an educational data analysis site, recently ranked the best public elementary schools throughout the city and the suburbs. Using comprehensive data from the Department of Education, as well as teacher and student surveys, researchers produced a list of the top schools in the Houston-area for 2018.
If any school district swept the list, it would be Katy ISD.
Of th...
2018 Best School Districts in the Houston Area by Niche
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Rankings by Niche.com
1. Katy Independent School District
A+ Overall Niche Grade
67 Total Schools
70,330 Students
2. Pearland Independent School District
A+ Overall Niche Grade
25 Total Schools
20,550 Students
3. Friendswood Independent School District
A+ Overall Niche Grade
7 Total Schools
6,106 Students
4. Tomball Independent School District
A+ Overall Niche Grade
20 Total Schools
13,238 Students
5. Clear Creek Independent School District
A+ Overall Niche Grade
47 Total Schools
40,812 Students
6. Humble Independent School District
A+ Overall Niche Grade
45 Total Schools
39,522 Students
7. Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District
A Overall Niche Grade
86 Total Schools
113,023 Students
8. Conroe Independent School District
A Overall Niche Grade
58 Total Schools
56,363 Students
9. Deer Park Independent School District
A Overall Niche Grade
16 Total Schools
13,140 Students
10. Barbers Hill Independent School District
...
Texas One of Best States for Businesses to Survive COVID-19 Economic Turmoil
Monday, July 13, 2020
New ranking: These are Houston's best places to live
Friday, May 15, 2020
Development: Updates to 5 Katy-area commercial real estate projects
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Discover the Katy Area
Monday, November 04, 2019
Katy Area Company, AFS, Provides World-Class Solutions for the Energy Industry
Sunday, May 05, 2019
As one of nearly 80 R&D facilities and testing labs in the Katy Area, Assured Flow Solutions LLC (AFS), has leveraged local talent to grow their global footprint. The company is known for engineering and laboratory testing services, so opening a lab in Katy has allowed the company to grow exponentially.
Energy companies throughout the world turn to AFS for flow assurance support and industry expertise, in addition to reading their many whitepapers and attending their annual technical conference. Though AFS is a global thought leader and innovator in the oil and gas industry, their story began in Katy, Texas. Tomm...
Tuesday, April 02, 2019
By: Katy Magazine
Nicholas Khami, a Junior at Tompkins High School, earned a perfect score on the ACT. Only around two-tenths of one percent of students who take the ACT earn a top score. Khami plays on the Katy Cavaliers lacrosse team, and participates in other extracurricular activities.
An Extremely Rare Accomplishment
In the U.S. high school graduating class of 2018, only 3,741 out of nearly two million graduates earned a top composite ACT score of 36.
“Your achievement on the ACT is significant and rare," says ACT CEO Marten Roorda, in a letter to Khami. "Your exceptional scores will provide any college or university with ample evidence of you...
U.S.-Russia Chamber of Commerce: 8th Annual Ambassador Speaker Series
Monday, April 01, 2019
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
FM 1093 widening
Work to widen FM 1093 from a two-lane road to a four-lane road with a median continues. For phase 2A, Fort Bend County is paving the westbound lanes from FM 1463 to the main entrance to Cross Creek Ranch, Fort Bend County engineer Richard Stolleis said. For phase 2B, the Texas Department of Transportation began prep work Dec. 10 and construction in early January on the lanes from Cross Creek Ranch to James Lane, TxDOT construction inspector Kurt Lehmann said.
Timeline: March 2017-March 2019
December 2018-mid-2020
Cost: $62.6 million
Funding sources: TxDOT, Fort Bend County, Fort Ben...
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
By: Karen Zurawski - Houston Chronicle
The Memorial Hermann Sports Park-Katy will offer a primary care clinic, a training center and an outdoor turf field when it’s expected to open late next spring.
The 50,000-square-foot facility that costs about $15 million is the product of a collaboration between Memorial Hermann and Athlete Training and Health.
“This collaboration between Memorial Hermann and ATH will benefit the full range of athletes in the Katy community, from high school students to professional competitors, weekend warriors and beyond,” said Maddie Rich, Memorial Hermann Katy senior marketing & communications representative.
The sports medicine and human performance facility will b...
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
By: Karen Zurawski - Houston Chronicle
The Memorial Hermann Sports Park-Katy will offer a primary care clinic, a training center and an outdoor turf field when it’s expected to open late next spring.
The 50,000-square-foot facility that costs about $15 million is the product of a collaboration between Memorial Hermann and Athlete Training and Health.
“This collaboration between Memorial Hermann and ATH will benefit the full range of athletes in the Katy community, from high school students to professional competitors, weekend warriors and beyond,” said Maddie Rich, Memorial Hermann Katy senior marketing & communications representative.
The sports medicine and human performance facility will b...
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
By: Community Impact American Omni Trading Company relocated its headquarters from a 10,00-square-foot office space at 15354 Park Row in Houston to a 32,000-square-foot space at 1221 West Park Green Drive. The new offices opened Sept. 24. AOT imports tires from Asian manufacturers and delivers them across North and South America. 281-600-8473. www.american-omni.com
Friday, November 16, 2018
You want the best for your child. So do we. Please join us for an Open House to explore our state-of-the-art campus and experience what makes our school special.
We are an international school for ages 2 to 18, part of the Nord Anglia Education - the world’s leading premium schools organisation.
Learn about our exciting programmes, explore and tour our campus, meet our Principal and members of our admissions team.
Date: Wednesday 28th November
Time: 6pm
Location: British International School of Houston, 2203 N Westgreen Blvd, Katy, Texas 77449
RSVP via:
Online https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WML8NK5
Call: 713 290 9025
Email: admissions@houston.nae.school
Website https://www.nordangliaeducation.com/our-schools/houston/british-international/event
www.bishouston.org
Thursday, November 15, 2018
By: Jen Para - Community Impact
Repairs to five roads
Work has begun to repair portions of five roads that are showing cracks and pot holes. The contractor is completing mobilization to the area, said Eric Heppen, a project manager for Harris County Precinct 3. Elrod Road will be repaired from Clay Road to Morton Ranch Road, and then from Morton Ranch Road to Franz Road. Katy Hockley Cut Off Road will be repaired from FM 529 to a half mile south of Beckendorf Road. Katy Gap Road will be repaired from Kingsland Boulevard to the limits of the asphalt near th...
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
West Katy residents met Nov. 8 at Katy City Hall to learn more about a multi-million project to upgrade First Street that includes flood mitigation.
Several of the approximately 30 residents at the meeting asked what would happen after the project is completed if another Harvey visits the area.
David Leyendecker, the city engineer, said the project capacity is designed for a 100-year storm. After Harvey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration set newer standards for rainfall amounts within a 24-hour period to define a 100-year event. The NOAA chart shows 16 inches within a 24-hour period. In 2017 — when Hurrican...
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
CHEF RANDY DUNCAN WON BOTH the judge’s top award and the people’s choice award at the 2018 Houston BBQ Throwdown, and last month, his family-owned food truck Daddy Duncan’s BBQ announced it would open its first brick-and-mortar location in spring 2019 at Katy Hockley Cut-Off and Clay Road, right behind the Four Seasons Park.
It’s been a good last few weeks for him.
Duncan told Houstonia he was in a bidding war for the two-acre land because the area is extremely popular. Strip centers and new home construction (with prices ranging from $350,000 to $500,000) are being proposed.
“It’s unrestricted land—we can d...
Katy Area EDC holds Visions of Katy: Leadership at The Club at Falcon Point
Thursday, November 01, 2018
Thursday, November 01, 2018
The Katy Area Economic Development Council held Visions of Katy: Leadership on Wednesday, October 24 at The Club at Falcon Point. The event brought together roughly 50 Katy area community members to discuss leadership and strengthening partnerships within the Katy area.
For the past several years, Katy Area EDC, led by the Katy Area EDC Leadership Task Force chaired by Stan Goss, has been hosting Visions events which bring together a diverse group of Katy area community members to discuss topics relevant to quality of life in the area. The events serve as a tool to help identify solutions to mak...
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
For information contact:
Melissa Guerra @ 281.433.3984
mguerra@newmarkhomes.com
Leasing has started for a new 24,000-square-foot office building located in Parkside Capital’s University Center along Interstate 10 just east of the Grand Parkway in Katy.
Owned by Newmark Homes, the building will be the builder’s new corporate headquarters. It will also house the Newmark Design Studio.
“We chose this location because of its proximity to many of our communities,” said Mike Moody, president of Newmark Homes. “With our company growing, it was time for a move.”
More than 30 Newmark employees will office out of the building’s second floor, and the design studio will encompass approximately 4,50...
Register: SBA Funding to Start or Grow your Business Event
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Monday, October 29, 2018
Join us for a FREE event featuring a panel discussion with representatives from the 3 Regional Water Authorities about water supply, distribution, costs, and other water-related topics impacting Municipal Utility Districts and their constituents.
Friday, October 26, 2018
The Katy Area Economic Development Council held its October General Assembly on Tuesday, October 16 at iRace Entertainment. Members and guests gathered for the event which featured a presentation regarding the planned Texas Bullet Train project.
Michael Moore, Regional Vice President of Texas Central Railway, served as the meeting’s keynote presenter providing information on the planned Texas Bullet Train. According to Texas Central, a private company leading the project, the approximately 240-mile high-speed rail line will offer a total travel time of less than 90 minutes, with convenient departures every 30 minutes during peak periods each day, and every hour durin...
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Survey created by Energy Corridor District
The Energy Corridor District is in the process of developing a new commuter bus service to provide round-trip transportation between a suburban location and Energy Corridor workplaces.
If you currently work in the Energy Corridor, we need your input to determine where this service is most needed and what factors would encourage or discourage you to use any new service.
Please CLICK HERE or copy and paste the link below into your browser to complete a brief survey. It should take less than 2 minutes to complete.
http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07efqtc2nbjmtlufh1/start
Thank you!
Energy Corridor District
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Release by Fort Bend County
On October 23, 2018, Fort Bend County was awarded the American Cancer Society’s Workplace Health Assessment Wellness Champion Award for providing excellent wellness opportunities for its employees.
Fort Bend County received second place in the greater Houston area for providing wellness services such as nicotine cessation programs, exercise programs, wellness classes, and multiple health screenings. Also included in these benefits is an employee health clinic providing basic medical care to all that work at the County. Fort Bend County Risk Management has been a partner of the American Cancer Society for many years by serving on the ACS Wellnes...
Monday, October 22, 2018
Katy is now home to a one-of-a-kind entertainment experience at iRACE, a 60,000-square-foot facility.
According to iRACE officials, the new facility features the only two-level indoor race track in Texas along with high tech virtual reality games, NASCAR simulators, iBLAST, bowling, arcades and Mike’s Garage restaurant.
iRACE is located at the Katy Ranch Shopping Center behind Northern Tools. It has more than 37,000 square feet of racing surface, a ¼-mile track with two race levels, a tunnel and the fastest indoor electric go karts in Texas.
Director of Operations, Michael Barron says iRACE takes entertainment to a new level.
“We visited entertainment centers al...
Thursday, October 18, 2018
By: R. Hans Miller - Community Impact
Greenbusch Road improvements
Greenbusch Road from Gaston Road to Westheimer Parkway will be converted from a two-lane asphalt road with ditches into a two-lane concrete road with an underground storm sewer, said Stacy Slawinski, Fort Bend County assistant engineer. The project will begin in fall 2019 and last about a year. The road will still be widened and made safer with the deep ditches currently in place replaced with underground drainage.
Timeline: Fall 2019-fall 2020
Cost: $7.4 million
Funding sources: Fort Bend County
Katy Flewellen expansion
Katy Flewellen Road will be expanded from Spring Green Boulevard to Gaston Road. Th...
Katy ISD Education Foundation: Fireflies and Foodtrucks
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Event organized by Katy ISD Education Foundation
Join us for our legendary kick-off-the-school-year fundraiser
for the year's Inspiring Imagination teacher grants!
Thursday, October 18, 2018
No Label Brewery
5:30 - 8:30 pm?
Individual Tickets: $50
Includes unlimited access to No Label brews and all food trucks
Party Pak: $500 for a party of 8
All of the above plus swag and Fireflies & Foodtrucks shirt for each guest
VIP Bar Experience: $25
Enjoy select brews set aside by No Label Brewery just for this crowd
(Adults Only Event)
NEW THIS YEAR: Our first ever wine garden (additional cost to purchase wine)
Register Here
Katy ISD Education Foundation: Fireflies and Foodtrucks
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Join us for our legendary kick-off-the-school-year fundraiser
for the year's Inspiring Imagination teacher grants!
Thursday, October 18, 2018
No Label Brewery
5:30 - 8:30 pm?
Individual Tickets: $50
Includes unlimited access to No Label brews and all food trucks
Party Pak: $500 for a party of 8
All of the above plus swag and Fireflies & Foodtrucks shirt for each guest
VIP Bar Experience: $25
Enjoy select brews set aside by No Label Brewery just for this crowd
(Adults Only Event)
NEW THIS YEAR: Our first ever wine garden (additional cost to purchase wine)
Register Here
Katy Cares and Memorial Hermann Katy headline September Katy Area EDC GA
Monday, September 24, 2018
The Katy Area Economic Development Council held its September General Assembly meeting on Tuesday, September 18 at Memorial Hermann Katy. Katy area non-profit Katy Cares and the host, MH Katy, served as presenters for the meeting. Longtime Katy Area EDC employee Frank Lombard was also recognized for his service following his recent retirement.
Representing Katy Cares, Harry Chapman, President of the Board, and Denise Mayfield, President and CEO, shared information about the non-profit organization which provides specialized therapeutic-housing services to mothers and their children affected by situational homelessness. According to Chapman and Mayfield, homelessness is a problem facing hundreds of Kat...
Spring Green roundabout open, Crossover Road widening: 6 transportation projects to know in the Katy area this September
Friday, September 21, 2018
By: Rebecca Hennes and R. Hans Miller - Community Impact
Spring Green Boulevard roundabout now open
The roundabout, which opened Sept. 7, connects Spring Green Boulevard to Cinco Trace Drive and Katy Flewellen Road. According to Fort Bend County Engineer Stacy Slawinski, a single lane of the roundabout and the Spring Green north connector opened July 9. The roundabout project had an original completion date of July 2018, but Slawinski said that was delayed by changes in the contract and utility delays. Three lanes connect each road to the roundabout: The two left lanes enter the traffic circle while the far righ...
Katy Area EDC forecast: More growth
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
By: Karen Zurawski - Houston Chronicle
It’s mid-September and Katy Area Economic Development Area Council is adjusting to its new home in the Grandway West Business Park.
Lance LaCour, who’s led the nonprofit the last 13 years as its CEO/president, said the Class A office with just over 2,000 square feet is more effective in terms of space and operations. The arrangement also offers more stability - a longer term lease compared to the year-to-year lease it had from the Katy Independent School District to occupy the former Brazos Valley Schools Credit Union near Interstate 10 and FM 1463.
It also opens u...
Katy focuses on Riceland Terrace drainage
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
By: Karen Zurawski - Houston Chronicle
As construction begins in one neighborhood to improve drainage, Katy City Council hired engineers to begin design services for work in another subdivision.
Katy City Council on Sept. 10 authorized the mayor to sign an agreement with Costello Engineering & Surveying for engineering design services for the initial phase of drainage and paving reconstruction improvements for Riceland Terrace subdivision excluding Fortuna Drive.
Costello Engineering & Surveying was hired by the city last year to do design work for Pine Forest subdivision after it completed a flood protection study for the city in October 2017 following the 201...
Top Katy area stories from the past month
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Katy Area Top Stories
Katy area company FireDisc Cookers ranks #374 on the 2018 Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private company list
Houston Methodist West hosts August GA, Katy ISD Education Foundation featured
New August Katy Area EDC members
Here are the latest updates on 4 Katy-area transportation projects
Voters Say YES to $2.5 Billion Flood Control Bond
Katy Area EDC President/CEO Lance LaCour awarded re-certification in economic development designation
Katy Area EDC set to relocate to new office
Register for Katy area TradeLink Conference
Groundbreaking of Crossover Road
Meet the Katy Area EDC summer 2018 interns
New class A medical facility to break ground at Katy Green by early 2019
TEDC Presents Economi...
Katy named to Top 10 Affordable Towns with Best High Schools list by Realtor.com
Friday, July 27, 2018
When searching for a new home, finding something affordable in a good school district with family-friendly features, such as large backyards, tops the list of home buyer priorities.
Realtor.com’s Top Affordable Towns with the Best High Schools
Rank
Town
District Name
School
GreatSchools Rating (out of 10)
Median Household Income
Median Listing Price
1
Royersford (19458)
Spring-Ford Area School District
Spring-Ford Shs 10-12 Gr Center
10
$83,264
$246,125
2
Rosemount (55068)
Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan School District
Rosemount Senior High School
10
$93,743
$299,900
3
Plainfield, Ill.
(60585)
Plainfield School District 202
Plainfield North High School
8
$130,168
$398,725
4
Katy, Texas (77494)
Harmony School Of Science – Houston, Katy Independent School District
Harmony Science Academy – West Houston
9
$145,507
$384,997
Cinco Ranch High School
8
Seven Lakes High School
9
6
Woodstock, Ga. (30189)
Cherokee County School District
Etowah High School, Woodstock High School
9
$83,989
$304,450
7
Medway, Ma...
CEOs Rank 2017 Best & Worst States for Business
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
By: Dale Buss - Chief Executive Magazine
While there is a level of constancy when it comes to the very best and very worst states for business as ranked by CEOs, there is plenty of jockeying for position within the ranks, and even some leaping and plummeting.
Because of how CEOs view business climates, because states themselves have varying priorities and because of the slow pace of change in many state governments, the same states have held top five spots for six years running.
Texas was ranked No. 1 for the 13th straight year in 2017 by the hundreds of CEOs surveyed by Chief Executive. Florida was No. 2 for the fifth year in ...
CEOs Rank 2017 Best & Worst States for Business
Monday, May 15, 2017
By: Dale Buss - Chief Executive Magazine
While there is a level of constancy when it comes to the very best and very worst states for business as ranked by CEOs, there is plenty of jockeying for position within the ranks, and even some leaping and plummeting.
Because of how CEOs view business climates, because states themselves have varying priorities and because of the slow pace of change in many state governments, the same states have held top five spots for six years running.
Texas was ranked No. 1 for the 13th straight year in 2017 by the hundreds of CEOs surveyed by Chief Executive. Florida was No. 2 for the fifth year in ...
The 50 Best Cities for New College Grads
Monday, May 15, 2017
By: Yahoo Finance - Taylor Tepper
There are certain things that as a new college graduate you have little control over, such as when you’re forced to join the real world. If you happened to graduate in 2008 as I did — when the economy was hemorrhaging jobs while the stock and housing markets were collapsing — you were somewhat out of luck.
Still, there were things you could have done to improve your financial odds even in the Great Recession, such as picking a city with the best odds of finding a good-paying job and an affordable place to live.
Which beg...
2017 Best Suburbs to Live in Texas
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
1. Rollingwood (Suburb of Austin, TX)
2. Cinco Ranch (Suburb of Houston, TX)
Niche User:It is a very safe and friendly place to live. I do not worry too much for myself and my personal belongings. The people surrounding are incredible. My neighbors are kind, quiet, and helpful. I would not mind living here again. It has amazing schooling opportunities and is a wonderful place to raise a family. Overall, this area ranks highly compared to other places. I see growth in this area with people and businesses.
3. Greatwood (Suburb of Houston, TX)
Current Resident:I love how there are still areas of tree...
Friday, January 01, 2016
Move over Pittsburgh, the Katy Area now boasts a larger population. According to recent data complied by data analytics company Alteryx, the population of the Katy Area, as defined by Katy ISD boundaries, has surpassed the Steel City by over 1,000. Population estimates put the Katy Area at 309,556 and the City of Pittsburgh at 308,237.
Over the past decade, the Katy Area has been no stranger to growth with an annual population growth rate between 4 and 6%. In the year 2000, the Katy Area had a population of 139,998 making the recent 2015 population estimate nearly 200,000 larger ove...
.jpg)
