Jevon Gibb, CEO, The Woodlands Area Economic Development Partnership

In an interview with Invest:, Jevon Gibb, CEO of The Woodlands Area Economic Development Partnership, discussed the community’s evolution into a commercial hub, its target industries, and the importance of quality of place. “We continue to diversify around our base, which is energy and chemicals, while expanding into new and promising industries and sectors,” Gibb said.

Where do you see the greatest opportunities for The Woodlands within Greater Houston’s growth?

Energy and chemicals continue to be the primary drivers. Petrochemicals are synonymous with Houston, which is the energy capital of the world. As we think about growth, energy will remain central. Rather than energy transition, we talk about energy expansion and bringing new sources of energy online.

We are seeing new manufacturers that create batteries, power-generation equipment, machinery for batteries and power generation, and products supporting other forms of energy. The chemicals industry is primarily driven by petrochemicals, and this region does amazing work with small-molecule chemistry. Those materials go into everything from airplanes and home insulation to kayaks and tires.

We have also seen growth in metals manufacturing. Much of that capability grew from the energy sector, but once companies become highly skilled at producing metal products for energy, they can apply those skills in other sectors.

Our expertise in small-molecule chemistry has also helped us enter biomanufacturing. Pharmaceutical manufacturing requires technicians whose skills can support cell and gene therapy and viral-vector work. We continue to diversify around our base, which is energy and chemicals, while expanding into new and promising industries and sectors.

Which industries and business opportunities are central to the partnership’s recruitment strategy?

Our four major target opportunities are energy, chemicals, biomanufacturing, and premium office. Premium office is a product rather than an industry, but it is an important part of our strategy.

Companies considering Texas, particularly Greater Houston, may want an executive-suburb experience with low crime and a high quality of place. We see The Woodlands as an ideal destination for that. Downtown Houston will be a great fit for some companies, while The Woodlands will be a great fit for others. We can provide a premium office experience for companies across industries and sectors.

What qualities distinguish The Woodlands when competing for companies and talent?

We recruit companies whose talent can choose anywhere to live and work, so we need something unique and exceptional to attract and retain those people. The Woodlands offers low crime, great medical care, excellent schools, and abundant green space.

We have a healthcare hub in The Woodlands that hosts some of the best hospital systems in the world. We also have A-plus-rated public schools, strong private schools, parks, and extensive hike-and-bike trails. Every home has a park within a 10-minute walk, creating an amazing family-friendly environment.

The Woodlands is also a master-planned community. Houston has grown through a more laissez-faire approach to urban planning, while development here has been thoughtful. We have a dense urban core, opportunities for lower-density manufacturing, and nearby residential areas. Someone can live in a beautiful single-family home close to schools and green space while having a 10- to 15-minute commute to a Fortune 500 company.

That environment is complemented by the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, one of the country’s top outdoor music amphitheaters, and events such as Ironman Texas. Many elements contribute to the quality of place here.

How have companies’ site-selection priorities changed, and how does The Woodlands address them?

Site selection has shifted away from a race to the bottom based on incentives and a primarily quantitative cost analysis. Companies now look for locations where they can be confident they will succeed. They define that through the availability of physical and human infrastructure.

Companies ask whether a community offers the quality of place needed to attract and retain world-class talent, whether sufficient talent is already available, and whether that talent base is growing. The Woodlands has the quality of place to attract people, while North Houston and Montgomery County have experienced tremendous population growth. The county’s population grew 45% over the past 10 years and is projected to double by 2060. There are already 5.2 million people within a 45-minute drive.

We also have the necessary physical infrastructure, including utilities, roads, and access to Port Houston. Cost remains important. Companies are attracted to Texas because it has no state income tax, but property taxes can become a differentiator. Property tax rates in The Woodlands and Montgomery County are 30% below the state average, and significantly below many competitors in Greater Houston.

For our target sectors, companies will evaluate talent concentration, quality of place, infrastructure, and property tax rates when deciding where in Texas to locate.

How does the Partnership support existing businesses and the community’s long-term competitiveness?

We conduct consistent outreach to companies to understand their primary obstacles and opportunities. Population growth creates more customers, but it also brings challenges such as traffic.

The partnership is working with major stakeholders to establish a vision for the next 50 years, outlining how The Woodlands can become the premier commercial hub of Greater Houston and a leading executive suburb nationally. We’re still building that vision with our stakeholders, and we’ll have more to share as it comes together.

How is artificial intelligence affecting the local economy and its companies?

Artificial intelligence is creating an interesting dynamic in our area. We are seeing substantial productivity growth, especially in energy and chemicals. Large companies are reporting productivity and margins at record levels, but those efficiencies have also resulted in reduced headcount.

We see layoffs not because companies are performing poorly, but because they are performing better. The assumption is that this change is being enabled by AI, broader technology adoption, and productivity growth following the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are trying to understand what that means for the economy because we are not seeing the job-growth rates we experienced previously. That would typically be negative, but it is not necessarily bad when driven by productivity growth.

The major questions are how this will affect demand for office space and how people live, work, and play, particularly when companies can accomplish more with fewer employees and flexible work arrangements. Understanding that shift and positioning ourselves to operate within it will be important over the next one to three years. We’re tracking employment data and office demand closely, and we’re also engaging with the Dallas Fed to draw on their expertise as we work through what this means for our region.

How can The Woodlands continue growing while preserving the qualities behind its success?

Finding that balance is essential. As a master-planned community, we must maintain the quality that created our unique value proposition.

Some of our housing is now 30 or 40 years old, so we are considering how permitting processes can support updates that preserve the quality of executive housing needed to remain attractive. We must also determine how to develop our remaining greenfield sites while maintaining the amenities and assets that attract residents, shoppers, and people interested in mixed-use developments.

We are considering investments in the town center and redevelopment in some older areas. We are committed to using the remaining commercially developable land to bring new products online while redeveloping older properties so that we remain as competitive as possible.

What are your priorities for the next two or three years, and what makes you optimistic?

My priority is to facilitate alignment among our major stakeholders. It is important that everyone has a clear goal and works together to achieve our value proposition.

What excites me is that this is a community committed to being the best. Many communities share that ambition, but The Woodlands is willing to put its money and resources behind it. That gives us the ability to pursue goals similar to those of other communities while achieving them in a way that makes us unique.