Joshua Owens, Executive Director, Galveston Economic Development Partnership
In an interview with Invest: Joshua Owens, executive director of Galveston Economic Development Partnership, highlighted the city’s transformation and key growth sectors. He emphasized how reinvestment in quality of life has reshaped Galveston, making it a more attractive place to live and work. “Galveston’s reinvestment over the past decade and a half has changed its landscape,” Owens said. “Reinvestment, especially in quality-of-life elements, has made the city more livable today.”
Since taking on the role eight months ago, what key insights have you gained about Galveston’s economy, and how are you driving GDP growth to seize new opportunities?
Galveston’s reinvestment over the past decade and a half has changed its landscape. It’s not the same community as the 1990s or early 2000s. Reinvestment, especially in quality of life elements, has made the city more livable today. What’s surprising is that Galveston has superseded its reputation in terms of quality of life and being a great place to live, but the message about that hasn’t gotten out.
What are your top priorities regarding economic development partnerships and how they align with the city’s long-term economic vision?
Our biggest opportunities are around our major employer, the University of Texas Medical Branch. Dr. Jochen Reiser has strengthened the institution and driven investment into the life sciences, and we see opportunities around life sciences and UTMB. Another opportunity is the Port of Galveston and the maritime industry. We have raw land on Pelican Island, about 1,200 acres, with the Port of Houston, and we’re looking for partners in the maritime sector for that acreage. This is a major focus of growth around the port and the maritime sector. The third area of growth is tourism and hospitality. Our hospitality sector is second to none in the region, and it is improving, enhancing, and growing. We want to see development opportunities continue to improve visitors’ experience when they come to Galveston.
How do you foster collaboration among stakeholders — local government, businesses, and community organizations — to help drive inclusive economic development?
We are a public-private partnership. The Galveston Economic Development Partnership brings in diverse membership from the public and private sectors to drive investment. We partner with organizations across the region, such as the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership and the Greater Houston Partnership. We work as a region to drive investment to Galveston County and beyond. If an end user isn’t appropriate for Galveston, we’d like to see them in Texas City, La Marque, Baytown, or Dayton. We want the region to thrive, with Galveston contributing through its quality of life, offering 32 miles of beaches, a dining scene, and cultural attractions in the Strand District. The city of Galveston and the parks board have made Galveston a visitor-friendly destination.
What new industries are showing interest in the region, or which sectors are you specifically targeting for future growth?
We are focused on three pillars of our economy. UTMB and the life sciences are major drivers of investment, so we’re staying with them. We’re an island city built around a port, so the other two sectors fall in line. We’re not going to attract a Tesla gigafactory to Galveston, as it’s not an appropriate location. But we will drive investments around our maritime sector and people who need to be next to the water, for hospitality or transportation reasons. We are an island water-based community, and we’re always going to work in those sectors.
What is your assessment of Galveston’s labor pool, and how is the Partnership helping strengthen the local talent pipeline?
We are working closely with Galveston College, Texas A&M, and UTMB on our talent pipeline to ensure people from Galveston ISD are trained with the education needed to succeed in Galveston. Two-thirds of our workforce lives on the mainland, where it’s more affordable due to the risks of island living. We draw on people from League City and Alvin to work in our industries, offering housing choices. Galveston has opportunities for those wanting to live close to the beach, while Texas City and La Marque, 15 minutes away, offer large master-planned communities. We have a mix of housing — downtown condos, historic Victorians, or small beach cottages — all within a mile of each other. Galveston’s strength is our architecture and built environment, with a history and heritage that newer communities lack. We are investing in our cultural heritage and arts, growing an arts district to attract the creative class, as it’s an excellent place for creative work.
What are the key opportunities or challenges for the city, and how is the Partnership working to navigate these?
We are still in Southeast Texas, an island off the coast of Texas. Resilience and drainage are always going to be challenges we’re facing. We’re looking at how to provide sufficient infrastructure to Pelican Island to support industries we are hoping to attract in the maritime sector. We need to grow our infrastructure on Pelican Island and continue to enhance our economic resilience and ability to bounce back from major events. Specifically, after Hurricane Ike, the city bounced back economically stronger. Similarly, during COVID, people came and invested more on the island than at any time in recent history because they were escaping the city center. Galveston offered an incredible quality of life during that time.
How is Galveston addressing safety and security concerns to ensure that residents and visitors feel protected?
Galveston has done work on the city side of the balance sheet. They have done work in enhancing public safety, reducing vagrancy, and addressing the quality-of-life issues that matter to the residents by making Galveston safer.
What is your outlook for Galveston in terms of development and investment? What are the top priorities for the city as you plan for the future?
Given what’s going on nationally, there is a need to invest in our maritime sector in a way that we have not in decades. Galveston is going to be the beneficiary of the federal investment in our maritime sector. We need to rebuild our shipbuilding industry in the United States, and Galveston is going to be part of that solution.
If you haven’t been to Galveston within the last five years, you need to come to Galveston and see the changes and updates that have been made. It feels like a different city than it was five or 10 years ago.
