Economy of Houston
[1] The Houston metropolitan area comprises the largest concentration of petrochemical manufacturing in the world, including for synthetic rubber, insecticides, and fertilizers.
It is the world's leading center for oilfield equipment construction, with the city of Houston home to more than 3,000 energy-related businesses, including many of the top oil and gas exploration and production firms and petroleum pipeline operators.
In 2012, Houston was ranked #1 by Forbes for paycheck worth, and, in late May 2013, it was identified as America's top city for job creation.
[8] As of 2012[update], twenty-two foreign banks representing 12 nations operated in Houston and provided financial assistance to the international community.
[12] The Texas Public Utilities Commission has certified more than 400 additional local exchange carriers to provide service statewide or specifically within Houston.
[citation needed] The University of Houston System's annual impact on the Houston-area's economy equates to that of a major corporation: $1.1 billion in new funds attracted annually to the Houston area, $3.13 billion in total economic benefit, and 24,000 local jobs generated.
[14] The Texas Medical Center is the city's healthcare and biotechnology focal point with $3.5 billion committed to research grants from 2000 through 2004, more than 43 member institutions, 5.2 million patient visits in 2004.
As of February 2007[update], more than 65,000 health care professionals worked there every day, treating more than five million patients from all over the world every year.
[citation needed] Baylor College of Medicine is home to the Human Genome Sequencing Center, one of only five in the nation.
According to U.S. News & World Report, as of December 2006[update] many hospitals in Houston consistently rank among the nation's top healthcare institutions.
The city ranked as a Gold Medal World-Class Community for Manufacturing for four consecutive years by Industry Week magazine.
[19] Houston is known as a world capital of the oil and gas industry with over 5000 energy firms doing business in the region.
[20] Historically, Houston has had several growth spurts (and some devastating economic recessions) related to the oil industry.
The city is a leading domestic and international center for virtually every segment of the oil and gas industry - exploration, production, transmission, marketing, service, supply, offshore drilling, and technology.
Houston is home to 13 of the nation's 20 largest natural gas transmission companies, 600 exploration and production firms and more than 170 pipeline operators.
[25] Members of the oil and gas industry are representatives of most of the boards of Houston's arts bodies, charities, and museums.
The energy companies spent funds in order to make Houston a more attractive community for their employees to live in.
[citation needed] Houston is home to the Johnson Space Center, NASA's largest research and development facility, employing, as of 2007[update], nearly 3,000 federal civil service workers and more than 14,000 contract personnel.
[needs update] The city's burgeoning aerospace industry heralded its second growth spurt, which solidified with the 1973 oil crisis.
The grant ensures that Lockheed Martin will create these jobs in the Houston area after they earned a multibillion-dollar contract from NASA to build the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle.
Coffee sold through futures contracts may only be shipped to a New York Board of Trade-certified port, and Texas's ad valorem tax on warehouse inventories made it impossible for Houston to get such a certification.
The tax was written into the Constitution of Texas, so the Greater Houston Coffee Association asked State Representative Joe E. Moreno and State Senator Mario Gallegos to present a constitutional amendment bill to exempt cocoa and coffee stored in Harris County warehouses from the tax.
[35] The Houston Bay Area and Galveston also have many other tourist attractions, including a Schlitterbahn Water Park, Kemah Boardwalk, Moody Gardens, beaches, fishing, pleasure boats, and many local seafood restaurants.
Ling, the director of the commercial division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston, said that Taiwanese owned more hotels than any other ethnic group except for the Indians.
