Houston attracted 31 new corporate headquarters from 2018 to 2024, according to a new report from CBRE. Photo via Getty Images

The Houston area already holds the title as the country’s third biggest metro hub for Fortune 500 headquarters, behind the New York City and Chicago areas. Now, Houston can tout another HQ accolade: It’s in a fourth-place tie with the Phoenix area for the most corporate headquarters relocations from 2018 to 2024.

During that period, the Houston and Phoenix areas each attracted 31 corporate headquarters, according to new research from commercial real estate services company CBRE. CBRE’s list encompasses public announcements from companies across various sizes and industries about relocating their corporate headquarters within the U.S.

Of the markets included in CBRE’s study, Dallas ranked first for corporate relocations (100) from 2018 to 2024. It’s followed by Austin (81), Nashville (35), Houston and Phoenix (31 each), and Denver (23).

According to CBRE, reasons cited by companies for moving their headquarters include:

  • Access to lower taxes
  • Availability of tax incentives
  • Proximity to key markets
  • Ability to support hybrid work

“Corporations now view headquarters locations as strategic assets, allowing for adaptability and faster reaction to market changes,” said CBRE.

Among the high-profile companies that moved their headquarters to the Houston area from 2018 to 2024 are:

  • Chevron
  • ExxonMobil
  • Hewlett-Packard Enterprise
  • Murphy Oil

Many companies that have shifted their headquarters to the Houston area, such as Chevron, are in the energy sector.

“Chevron’s decision to relocate its headquarters underscores the compelling advantages that position Houston as the prime destination for leading energy companies today and for the future,” Steve Kean, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership, said in 2024. “With deep roots in our region, Chevron is a key player in establishing Houston as a global energy leader. This move will further enhance those efforts.”

According to CBRE, California (particularly the San Francisco Bay and Los Angeles areas) lost the most corporate HQs in 2024, with 17 companies announcing relocations—12 of them to Texas. Also last year, Texas gained nearly half of all state-to-state relocations.

In March, Site Selection magazine awarded Texas its 2024 Governor’s Cup, resulting in 13 consecutive wins for the state with the most corporate relocations and expansions.

In a news release promoting the latest Governor’s Cup victory, Gov. Greg Abbott hailed Texas as “the headquarters of headquarters.”

“Texas partners with the businesses that come to our great state to grow,” Abbott said. “When businesses succeed, Texas succeeds.”

CBRE explained that the trend of corporate HQ relocations reflects the desire of companies to seek new environments to support their goals and workforce needs.

“Ultimately, companies are seeking to establish themselves in locations with potential for long-term success and profitability,” CBRE said.

The Oxy Innovation Center has opened at the Ion and Industrious' coworking space launches soon. Photo courtesy of The Ion

New energy innovation and coworking spaces open at the Ion

moving in

Houston-based Occidental officially opened its new Oxy Innovation Center with a ribbon cutting at the Ion last week.

The opening reflects Oxy and the Ion's "shared commitment to advancing technology and accelerating a lower-carbon future," according to an announcement from the Ion.

Oxy, which was named a corporate partner of the Ion in 2023, now has nearly 6,500 square feet on the fourth floor of the Ion. Rice University and the Rice Real Estate Company announced the lease of the additional space last year, along with agreements with Fathom Fund and Activate.

At the time, the leases brought the Ion's occupancy up to 90 percent.

Additionally, New York-based Industrious plans to launch its coworking space at the Ion on May 8. The company was tapped as the new operator of the Ion’s 86,000-square-foot coworking space in Midtown in January.

Dallas-based Common Desk previously operated the space, which was expanded by 50 percent in 2023 to 86,000 square feet.

CBRE agreed to acquire Industrious in a deal valued at $400 million earlier this year. Industrious also operates another local coworking space is at 1301 McKinney St.

Industrious will host a launch party celebrating the new location Thursday, May 8. Find more information here.


Oxy Innovation Center. Photo via LinkedIn.

Houston lands in the No. 7 spot for growth in the granting of degrees in biological and biomedical sciences. Photo by Natalie Harms/InnovationMap

New report ranks Houston top market for life sciences

in the top 10

Thanks in large part to producing hundreds of college-trained professionals, Houston’s life sciences industry ranks among the top U.S. markets for talent in 2024.

In a report published by commercial real estate services company CBRE, Houston lands in the No. 7 spot for growth in the granting of degrees in biological and biomedical sciences. From 2017 to 2022, Houston notched a growth rate of 32.4 percent in this category.

In 2022, the University of Houston led the higher education pack in the region, graduating 746 people with a bachelor’s degree or above in biological or biomedical sciences, according to the report.

“For years, our team has seen the positive effect that the increase in degreed life sciences professionals has had on the Houston life sciences sector,” Nelson Udstuen, senior vice president of CBRE’s healthcare and life sciences practice group in Houston, says in a news release. “This is the result of the rigorous investment and recruitment in place by several of our region’s finest academic institutions.”

Houston ranks within the top 15 across the report’s three subcategories: No. 4 in manufacturing talent, No. 12 in R&D, and No. 14 in medtech talent. Houston is one of 16 markets appearing within the top 25 for all three subsectors.

Manufacturing, Houston’s highest-rated life sciences talent subsector, includes drug manufacturing as well as cell and gene therapy. The report tallies 38,370 workers in the manufacturing segment, with more than two-thirds of them (37 percent) employed as inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers.

The report also identifies 15,690 R&D specialists and 32,170 medtech professionals in the Houston life sciences market.

For the report, CBRE evaluated various criteria for the 100 largest U.S. for life sciences labor.

From 2016 to 2021, the Houston area saw the third largest jump in students earning degrees in biology and biomedicine. Photo via Getty Images

Houston maintains a leader in annual life science report

lucky number 13

Houston is a rising star when it comes to developing homegrown talent in life sciences research.

From 2016 to 2021, the Houston area saw the third largest jump in students earning degrees in biology and biomedicine among 25 major life sciences markets, according to a new report from commercial real estate services company CBRE.

Houston saw a 38 percent spike in the number of degrees granted during the five-year span, according to the report. Only Phoenix (91 percent) and Riverside-San Bernardino, California (47 percent) bested Houston in this category.

The report shows Houston produced the 20th largest number of graduates and certificate holders (1,832) in biological and biomedical sciences in 2021.

Overall, Houston appears at No. 13 in CBRE’s ranking of the top U.S. market for life sciences talent. That matches Houston’s ranking in last year’s report. Factors that go into the ranking include the number of life sciences graduates, concentration of high-ranking universities and institutions, and density of talent.

“We need a strong pool of graduates to continue expanding the life sciences industry in the U.S.,” Scott Carter, senior vice president of CBRE, says in a news release. “The world-class universities like University of Houston, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Rice University, and others offer best-in-class programs for graduates, making Houston a top market for life science research talent.”

In terms of the number of life sciences graduates produced in 2021, the University of Houston ranks first (719 grads) among local colleges and universities, followed by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (244), Rice University (243), the University of Houston-Clear Lake (139), and Prairie View A&M University (103), according to the CBRE report.

If those grads remain in the Houston area, they’re likely to land lucrative jobs. The report outlines average wages in the region for four career categories in life sciences:

  • Biochemist — $118,018
  • Biophysicist — $117,736
  • Biomedical engineer — $108,113
  • Chemist — $97,887

In 2022, Houston employed 8,480 people in life sciences occupations, making it the country’s 12th largest pool of life sciences research talent, says CBRE.

“Demand for life sciences research workers is above pre-pandemic levels,” Matt Gardner, life sciences leader at CBRE Advisory Services, says in a news release. “We’re also seeing a closely balanced ratio of hiring to job cuts in the biopharma industry compared with the technology sector and the broader economy, which positions the life sciences to remain stable despite an economic downturn.”

Houston — home to the largest medical center — ranks No. 13 on a list of top life science labor markets. Photo via TMC

Here's how Houston ranks as a life science market, according to a new report

by the numbers

For Houston’s life sciences sector, 13 is a very lucky number.

The Houston metro area ranks 13th in CBRE’s first-ever analysis of the country’s top 25 U.S. labor markets for life sciences. Houston’s collective brain power helped cement its place on the list.

The Boston-Cambridge area tops the ranking. Houston is the highest-ranked Texas market, ahead of No. 16 Dallas-Fort Worth and No. 18 Austin.

Dallas-based CBRE, a provider of commercial real estate services, lauds Houston for its “attractive combination” of affordability and a deep pool of Ph.D.-level talent, as well as the presence of major research universities and medical institutions.

Scott Carter, senior vice president of life sciences and healthcare in CBRE’s Houston office, says those factors make Houston “an attractive market for life sciences industry expansion.”

“Houston is projected to lead the nation in population growth over the next five years, which will only strengthen the appeal of its labor market,” Carter says.

Houston boasts the nation’s highest wages in the life sciences sector compared with the cost of living, the analysis shows. Meanwhile, Ph.D. recipients account for 18.5 percent of the 1,300 biological and biomedical sciences degrees granted each year in the Houston area — the highest concentration nationwide. And Houston produces 4.2 percent of such Ph.D. recipients in the U.S. — more than all but a few major life sciences markets do.

“Millions of square feet and billions of dollars of life sciences development is underway or planned in Houston to break down longtime silos between commercial, academic, and medical sectors,” Carter says. “Leveraging the unmatched scale of the Texas Medical Center, these new moon-shot investments are building a launchpad to rocket Space City into a new era as a global hub for scientific and human progress.”

Underscoring the rapid rise of the city’s innovation ecosystem, Houston enjoys one of the country’s fastest-growing pipelines for VC funding in life sciences. Here, VC funding in the sector rose 937 percent in the past five years, compared with the nationwide increase of 345 percent, according to CBRE.

For its analysis, CBRE assessed each market based on several criteria, including its number of life sciences jobs and graduates, its share of the overall job and graduate pool in life sciences, its number of Ph.D. recipients in life sciences, and its concentration of jobs in the broader professional, scientific, and technical services professions.

In 2020, CBRE ranked Houston as the No. 2 emerging hub for life sciences in a report, which factored in size and growth of life-sciences employment, the venture capital and National Institutes of Health funding, and more.

“Flex space has become a skeleton key that companies can use to address their changing office needs." Photo via Getty Images

Houston real estate report reflects growth in flex space

flexing on Hou

Flex office space is finding favor with businesses in Houston.

While the Houston area’s office vacancy rate climbed as high as 25 percent last year, the region recently added more flex office space than any other U.S. office market on a percentage basis. From the fourth quarter of 2020 through the third quarter of 2021, the Houston market gained a little over 5 percent more flex space compared with the previous 12-month period, according to a data analysis by Dallas-based commercial real estate services provider CBRE.

Dallas-based Common Desk, a provider of flex office space being acquired by coworking giant WeWork, accounted for 84 percent of the Houston market’s net expansion of flex office space during the 12-month span analyzed by CBRE. Of the 152,977-square-foot net expansion during that time, Common Desk represented 129,000 square feet, CBRE says.

Common Desk has six open or soon-to-open spaces in the Houston area: five locations in Houston and one location in Spring. Aside from Common Desk, flex space operators in the Houston market include Houston-based Boxer Property Management and Austin-based Firmspace, as well as New York City-based companies Industrious, Serendipity Labs, and WeWork.

As of the third quarter of 2021, Houston’s inventory of flex office space stood at 3.1 million square feet. That was the seventh largest inventory among the 49 North American markets examined by CBRE. Flex space made up 1.4 percent of overall office space in Houston.

Flex office space appeals to a variety of tenants, such as startups looking to cut costs, businesses needing short-term space, and companies navigating the pandemic-driven rise in hybrid work arrangements.

“During the pandemic, flexible space has become a more important office amenity in Houston as companies respond to employee desires for flexibility in how they work,” Rich Pancioli, executive vice president in the Houston office of CBRE, says in a news release. “As companies seek to optimize their office portfolios, many are using flexible space as a key tool to test new strategies in a fast-changing environment.”

At one time, CBRE clients heavily emphasized amenities like food services, fitness centers, and health care facilities during their office searches, Pancioli says. Now, many clients are placing a greater priority on flex space or coworking space.

As demand goes up, developers such as Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management and Houston-based Hines (whose offering is known as The Square) have dipped their toes into the flex office pool. Hines has two flex office spaces in Houston and one space in Salt Lake City. When Hines rolled out The Square in 2019, it identified Atlanta, Boston, Denver, New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Washington, D.C., as potential expansion markets.

While Houston’s availability of flex office space increased during the period studied by CBRE, flex space providers in North America collectively trimmed their portfolios by 9 percent. That led to a decline in the sector’s share of the overall office market from about 2 percent to about 1.75 percent. However, a CBRE survey of 185 U.S.-based companies finds a growing appetite for flex space.

“Flex space has become a skeleton key that companies can use to address their changing office needs,” says Julie Whelan, CBRE’s global head of occupier research.

“They can use it to adjust their office portfolio as they figure out how hybrid work will affect their employees’ office use patterns. They can use flex space to quickly secure a foothold in new markets to tap a different base of talent,” she adds. “Some will use flexible office space to offer employees more choice like access to physical space closer to their homes. In short, flex space allows companies to be more nimble.”

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Axiom Space launches semiconductor and astronaut training initiatives

space projects

Axiom Space, a Houston-based commercial spaceflight and space infrastructure company, has launched initiatives in two very different spheres — semiconductors and astronaut training.

On the semiconductor front, Axiom has signed a memorandum of understanding with Japanese chemical company Resonac Corp. to collaborate on semiconductor R&D and manufacturing projects carried out in space. Among Resonac’s products are materials used in chip manufacturing.

Axiom said the deal “paves the way toward leveraging microgravity to advance next-generation chip technologies and accelerate the in-space manufacturing market.”

Under the agreement, Axiom and Resonac will explore the potential production of semiconductor materials and chip packaging in microgravity and low-Earth-orbit environments.

“The unique environment of space offers immense potential for advancing semiconductor materials, especially in crystal growth,” Masato Fukushima, Resonac’s chief technology officer, said in a news release.

The deal will also extend Resonac’s work with Axiom on the development of molding compounds that can reduce “soft errors” when semiconductor devices are exposed to space radiation.

“Our collaboration with Resonac underscores how Axiom Space is enabling global corporations from around the world to leverage space to drive manufacturing innovation across critical technology sectors such as semiconductors,” Axiom astronaut Koichi Wakata, the company’s chief technology officer, said.

In the astronaut training arena, Axiom has tapped Portuguese physiologist Emiliano Ventura as its first “Project Astronaut.” Ventura will apply his expertise in human performance to a pilot program aimed at testing six-month astronaut training protocols.

“His goal is to participate in a future mission and explore, with scientific depth and curiosity, how the human body adapts to microgravity, contributing fresh insights to the current body of research in space physiology,” Axiom said.

Ventura has helped several Axiom crewmembers with physiological needs before and after missions aboard the International Space Station.

Axiom said Ventura’s pilot program will study astronauts’ physiological responses to microgravity during spaceflight. The program eventually will benefit Axiom astronauts heading to the world’s first commercial space station, which is being built by Axiom.

Michael López-Alegria, Axiom’s chief astronaut, said he and the company’s two other astronauts will train with Ventura. The Project Astronaut initiative “strengthens our commitment to enabling safe, effective, and inspiring commercial space missions while supporting scientific objectives worldwide.” López-Alegria said.

Houston scientist launches new app to support mental health professionals

App for that

One Houston-based mental health scientist is launching a new app-based approach to continuing education that she hopes will change the way doctors, therapists, and social workers evolve in their field.

The app, MHNTI, is named for its parent company, the Mental Health Network & Training Institute. It's a one-stop shop for mental health professionals to find trainers, expert consultations, local providers, webinars, and other tools related to licensure certification and renewal.

Free and paid tiers offer different levels of access, but both offer doctors, counselors, and more an easier way to engage with continuing education. When a mental health professional is looking to expand their knowledge in a way that coincides with CE requirements, MHNTI provides it; as easy as using Amazon.

"We built MHNTI for the clinicians craving meaningful, ongoing training that fits real-life schedules," said Dr. Elizabeth McIngvale. "MHNTI is more than an app. It's a movement to support mental health professionals at every career stage."

McIngvale, the daughter of celebrated Houston entrepreneur Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale, co-founded MHNTI after becoming one of the leading experts on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in the United States. Born with the condition herself, she suffered greatly as a child to the point that she required extensive repetitive rituals daily just to function. She responded to exposure with response prevention (ERP) treatment, earned her Ph.D. from the University of Houston, and is now the director at the OCD Institute of Texas.

This is not the first time she used the internet to try to improve the mental health industry. In 2018, she launched the OCD Challenge website, a free resource for people with OCD.

McIngvale's co-founder is New York-based doctor, entrepreneur, and author Lauren Wadsworth, another expert in OCD and other anxiety disorders. Like McIngvale, she understands that the labyrinthian world of continuing education can keep mental health professionals from achieving their potential.

"Mental health providers are often overworked and under-resourced. MHNTI is here to change that," said Wadsworth. "We're creating a space where clinicians can continuously learn, grow, and feel supported by experts who understand the work firsthand."

MHNTI is available in the App Store, Google Play, and for desktop.

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A version of this article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Announcing the 2025 Houston Innovation Awards finalists

Inspirational Innovators

InnovationMap is proud to reveal the finalists for the 2025 Houston Innovation Awards.

Taking place on November 13 at Greentown Labs, the fifth annual Houston Innovation Awards will honor the best of Houston's innovation ecosystem, including startups, entrepreneurs, mentors, and more.

This year's finalists were determined by our esteemed panel of judges, comprised of past award winners and InnovationMap editorial leadership.

The panel reviewed nominee applications across 10 prestigious categories to determine our finalists. They will select the winner for each category, except for Startup of the Year, which will be chosen by the public via online voting launching later this month.

We'll announce our 2025 Trailblazer Award recipient in the coming weeks, and then we'll unveil the rest of this year's winners live at our awards ceremony.

Get to know all of our finalists in more detail through editorial spotlights leading up to the big event. Then, join us on November 13 as we unveil the winners and celebrate all things Houston innovation. Tickets are on sale now — secure yours today.

Without further ado, here are the 2025 Houston Innovation Awards finalists:

Minority-founded Business

Honoring an innovative startup founded or co-founded by BIPOC or LGBTQ+ representation:

  • Capwell Services
  • Deep Anchor Solutions
  • Mars Materials
  • Torres Orbital Mining (TOM)
  • Wellysis USA

Female-founded Business

Honoring an innovative startup founded or co-founded by a woman:

  • Anning Corporation
  • Bairitone Health
  • Brain Haven
  • FlowCare
  • March Biosciences
  • TrialClinIQ

Energy Transition Business

Honoring an innovative startup providing a solution within renewables, climatetech, clean energy, alternative materials, circular economy and beyond:

  • Anning Corporation
  • Capwell Services
  • Deep Anchor Solutions
  • Eclipse Energy
  • Loop Bioproducts
  • Mars Materials
  • Solidec

Health Tech Business

Honoring an innovative startup within the health and medical technology sectors:

  • Bairitone Health
  • Corveus Medical
  • FibroBiologics
  • Koda Health
  • NanoEar
  • Wellysis USA

Deep Tech Business

Honoring an innovative startup providing technology solutions based on substantial scientific or engineering challenges, including those in the AI, robotics and space sectors:

  • ARIX Technologies
  • Little Place Labs
  • Newfound Materials
  • Paladin Drones
  • Persona AI
  • Tempest Droneworx

Startup of the Year (People's Choice)

Honoring a startup celebrating a recent milestone or success. The winner will be selected by the community via an online voting experience:

  • Eclipse Energy
  • FlowCare
  • MyoStep
  • Persona AI
  • Rheom Materials
  • Solidec

Scaleup of the Year

Honoring an innovative later-stage startup that's recently reached a significant milestone in company growth:

  • Coya Therapeutics
  • Fervo Energy
  • Koda Health
  • Mati Carbon
  • Molecule
  • Utility Global

Incubator/Accelerator of the Year

Honoring a local incubator or accelerator that is championing and fueling the growth of Houston startups:

  • Activate
  • Energy Tech Nexus
  • Greentown Labs
  • Healthtech Accelerator (TMCi)
  • Impact Hub Houston

Mentor of the Year

Honoring an individual who dedicates their time and expertise to guide and support budding entrepreneurs. Presented by Houston Community College:

  • Anil Shetty, Inform AI
  • Jason Ethier, EnergyTech Nexus
  • Jeremy Pitts, Activate
  • Joe Alapat, Liongard
  • Neal Dikeman, Energy Transition Ventures
  • Nisha Desai, Intention

Trailblazer Recipient

  • To be announced
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Interested in sponsoring the 2025 Houston Innovation Awards? Contact sales@innovationmap.com for details.