Houston nonprofit wins coworking space in Shark Tank-inspired pitch competition

winner, winner

At a startup pitch competition, a local nonprofit won free coworking space for a year to continue their impactful work with individuals with special needs. Photo courtesy of Macy's Miracles

Macy's Miracles, a local nonprofit that helps people with special needs, had a special need of its own: a place to call home. Now, thanks to coworking operator WorkLodge LLC, it has one.

On February 27, representatives of Macy's Miracles and Houston-based WorkLodge held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the nonprofit's first-ever office. The organization (not affiliated with the Macy's department store chain) won the second annual Shark Tank-inspired Ignite by WorkLodge pitch contest, which awards a one-year WorkLodge lease to a local nonprofit. Macy's Miracle now occupies space at WorkLodge's site in The Woodlands.

Previously, leaders of the nonprofit had carried out business at various public places like coffee shops. Today, the nonprofit enjoys a startup-style setting — including access to meeting rooms and common areas — that enables it to operate more like a business and less like an organization on a shoestring budget.

Haley Ahart-Keiffer, founder and president of Macy's Miracles, says the free one-year lease of a four-person office at WorkLodge (valued at $24,000) is "priceless."

For one thing, being located at WorkLodge opens up fundraising opportunities. In the past, Macy's Miracles ran into roadblocks when prospective corporate sponsors inquired about meeting at the nonprofit's office, Ahart-Keiffer says. But the nonprofit had no formal address to give them.

Now that Macy's Miracles is housed at WorkLodge, folks associated with the nonprofit can more professionally host potential corporate donors and can network with Houston businesses, Ahart-Keiffer says.

As a matter of fact, that networking paid off at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, according to Ahart-Keiffer. For instance, it exposed WorkLodge tenants to potential employees — people attending the ceremony who benefit from services delivered by Macy's Miracles. In addition, the event paved the way for meetings with three businesses interested in assisting Macy's Miracles.

Aside from fostering opportunities for networking, the WorkLodge space lets Macy's Miracles more easily conduct mentorship programs and put on events, according to Ahart-Keiffer.

Being based at WorkLodge "has allowed us to really take it to the next level by being able to seek out even larger corporate sponsors and donors to be a part of the mission," she says.

That mission, carried out since the formation of Macy's Miracles in 2018, centers on elevating the education, networking skills, and employability of people with special needs. Aside from boosting the ability to raise more money for that mission, the WorkLodge space introduces high-functioning people with special needs to a work environment, Ahart-Keiffer says.

In a short amount of time, setting up shop at WorkLodge "has changed the trajectory of where we see that we can go now," she says.

Part of the nonprofit's new trajectory is its soon-to-launch Adaptive Center of Excellence, featuring a vocational/trade initiative and an adaptive sports program.

Ahart-Keiffer didn't envision the current scenario when she established Macy's Miracles two years ago. She established the nonprofit as a "grassroots movement" after her daughter Macy Savoy, who is part of the special needs community, faced a less-than-ideal future in the workforce after graduating from high school. Savoy is CEO of the volunteer-run nonprofit.

Mike Thakur, founder and CEO of WorkLodge, says Ignite by WorkLodge is designed to offer free high-quality space so that nonprofits like Macy's Miracles "take their game up a notch and attract some more support." The contest is geared toward smaller nonprofits making a "hands-on, roll-up-your-sleeves" difference in the community, he says.

In addition to Macy's Miracles securing space at WorkLodge's location in The Woodlands, Ignite by WorkLodge recently granted space to a Dallas nonprofit that's now a tenant at the coworking company's location in the Dallas Design District.

WorkLodge currently operates five coworking spaces: two in the Houston area, two in Dallas-Fort Worth, and one in Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida.

Thakur says one of the reasons Macy's Miracles received the free space at WorkLodge is that it serves both children and adults.

"But I think the main thing was just the fact that they were delivering help in a way that could then create self-sustainability," says Thakur, whose company runs its own nonprofit foundation. "That's a really big deal for us."

It's also, of course, a big deal for Macy's Miracles. The nonprofit's free one-year lease expires around the end of the year, but Ahart-Keiffer says the Macy's Miracles plans to carve out money in its budget to pay for space at WorkLodge. In conjunction with that, Macy's Miracles will teach some of the members of its mentorship program about fundraising and budgeting.

"I don't think it's a place that we'll ever want to leave," Ahart-Keiffer says. "WorkLodge is definitely the perfect spot for us and what we do."

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New report shows surge in startup activity in Houston and across Texas

by the numbers

Houston and the rest of Texas are experiencing a boom in the creation of startups.

One barometer of growth in startup activity: The Houston metro area saw a 92 percent rise from 2024 to 2025 in the number of account applications submitted to Bluevine, a banking platform for small businesses.

New data from Bluevine also shows healthy year-over-year growth in account applications submitted by entrepreneurs in Texas’ three other major metros:

  • 242 percent growth in the San Antonio area
  • 153 percent growth in the Austin area
  • 28 percent growth in Dallas-Fort Worth

Further evidence of Texas’ uptick in business creation comes from a new state-by-state analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by digital mailbox provider iPostal1.

From 2019 to 2024, the number of new business applications jumped 60 percent in Texas, according to the iPostal1 analysis. Wyoming tops the list, with a five-year growth rate of 216 percent.

“The U.S. has no shortage of ambition, but opportunity isn’t spread evenly,” says Jeff Milgram, founder and CEO of iPostal1. “In states like New York, Florida, and Texas, entrepreneurship is booming — people are starting businesses, taking risks, and finding opportunity.”

“Other states are still catching up,” Milgram adds. “Sometimes it’s access to funding, sometimes local policy, or just the confidence that new ventures will be supported.”

Women own many of the new businesses sprouting in Texas, according to a new analysis of 2024-25 data from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The analysis, done by SimpleTiger, a marketing agency for software-as-a-service (SaaS), shows Texas ranks eighth for the highest concentration of women entrepreneurs (109 per 1,000 female residents) among all states. That rate is three percent higher than the national average.

“Women entrepreneurs are no longer a side story in small business growth; they’re a leading indicator of where local economies are expanding next,” SimplyTiger says. “When women-owned business density is high, it usually signals stronger access to customers, networks, and startup pathways that make it easier to launch and keep going.”

In a December news release, Gov. Greg Abbott highlights Texas’ nation-leading job gains over the past 12 months, driven by employers small and large.

“From innovative startups to Fortune 500 corporations, job-creating businesses invest with confidence in Texas,” Abbott says. “With our strong and growing workforce, we will continue to expand career and technical training programs for better jobs and bigger paycheck opportunities for more Texans.”

Houston poised to add 30,900 new jobs in 2026, forecast says

jobs forecast

Buoyed by the growing health care sector, the Houston metro area will add 30,900 jobs in 2026, according to a new forecast from the Greater Houston Partnership.

The report predicts the Houston area’s health care sector will tack on 14,000 jobs next year, which would make it the No. 1 industry for local job growth. The 14,000 health care jobs would represent 45 percent of the projected 30,900 new jobs. In the job-creation column, the health care industry is followed by:

  • Construction: addition of 6,100 jobs in 2026
  • Public education: Addition of 5,800 jobs
  • Public administration: Addition of 5,000 jobs

At the opposite end of the regional workforce, the administrative support services sector is expected to lose 7,500 jobs in 2026, preceded by:

  • Manufacturing: Loss of 3,400 jobs
  • Oil-and-gas extraction: Loss of 3,200 jobs
  • Retail: Loss of 1,800 jobs

“While current employment growth has moderated, the outlook remains robust and Houston’s broader economic foundation remains strong,” GHP president and CEO Steve Kean said in the report.

“Global companies are choosing to invest in Houston — Eli Lilly, Foxconn, Inventec, and others — because they believe in our workforce and our long-term trajectory,” Kean added. “These commitments reinforce that Houston is a place where companies can scale and where our economy continues to demonstrate its resilience as a major engine for growth and opportunity. These commitments and current prospects we are working on give us confidence in the future growth of our economy.”

The Greater Houston Partnership says that while the 30,900-job forecast falls short of the region’s recent average of roughly 50,000 new jobs per year, it’s “broadly in line with the muted national outlook” for employment gains anticipated in 2026.

“Even so, Houston’s young, skilled workforce and strong pipeline of major new projects should help offset energy sector pressures and keep regional growth on pace with the nation,” the report adds.

The report says that even though the health care sector faces rising insurance costs, which might cause some people to delay or skip medical appointments, and federal changes in Medicare and Medicaid, strong demographic trends in the region will ensure health care remains “a key pillar of Houston’s economy.”

As for the local oil-and-gas extraction industry, the report says fluctuations and uncertainty in the global oil-and-gas market will weigh on the Houston sector in 2026. Furthermore, oil-and-gas layoffs partly “reflect a longer-term trend as companies in the sector move toward greater efficiency using fewer workers to produce similar volumes,” according to the report.

Construction underway on first-of-its-kind 3D-printed community in Houston

Building a Sustainable Future

Houston is putting itself front-and-center to help make sustainable, affordable housing a reality for 80 homeowners in an innovative scalable housing community. Developer Cole Klein Builders has partnered with HiveASMBLD to pioneer what’s touted as the world’s first large-scale, one-of-a-kind, affordable housing development using 3D printing technology — merging robotics, design, and sustainability.

Located across from Sterling Aviation High School, near Hobby Airport, Zuri Gardens will offer 80 two-bedroom, two-bathroom homes of approximately 1,360 square feet, situated in a park-like setting that includes walking trails and a community green space.

Homes in Zuri Gardens will hit the market in early summer of 2026. Final pricing has yet to be determined, but Cole Klein Builders expects it to be in the mid-to-high 200s.

Interestingly, none of the homes will offer garages or driveways, which the developer says will provide a cost savings of $25,000-$40,000 per home. Instead of parking for individual units, 140 parking spaces will be provided.

Each two-story home is comprised of a ground floor printed by HiveASMBLD, using a proprietary low-carbon cement alternative by Eco Material Technologies that promises to enhance strength and reduce CO2 emissions. The hybrid homes will have a second floor built using engineered wood building products by LP Building Solutions. Overall, the homes are designed to be flood, fire, and possibly even tornado-proof.

The "Zuri" in Zuri Gardens is the Swahili word for “beautiful,” a choice that is fitting considering that the parks department will be introducing a five acre park to the project — with 3D-printed pavilions and benches — plus, a three-acre farm is located right across the street. The Garver Heights area is classified as a food desert, which means that access to fresh food is limited. Residents will have access to the farm’s fresh produce, plus opportunities to participate in gardening and nutrition workshops.

zuri gardens 3d-printed housing community First large-scale affordable housing project of 3D-printed homes rises in Houston Zuri Gardens is getting closer to completion. Courtesy rendering

Cole Klein Builders created Zuri Gardens in partnership with the Houston Housing Community Development Department, who provided infrastructure reimbursements for the roads, sewer lines, and water lines. In return, CKB agreed to push the purchase prices for the homes as low as possible.

Zuri Gardens also received $1.8 million dollars from the Uptown Tourism Bond, 34 percent of which must be used with minority-owned small businesses. Qualified buyers must fit a certain area of median income according to HUD guidelines, and homes must be owner-occupied at all times. Zuri Gardens already has an 800-person waitlist.

“They’re trying to bridge that gap to make sure there is a community for the homebuyers who need it — educators, law enforcement, civil workers, etc.,” Cole Klein Builders’ co-principal Vanessa Cole says. “You have to go through a certification process with the housing department to make sure that your income is in alignment for this community. It has been great, and everyone has been really receptive.”

Cole has also brought insurance underwriters to visit the site and to help drive premiums below regular rates for Houston homeowners, as claim risks for one of the 3D homes are extremely low.

Tim Lankau, principal at HiveASMBLD, notes that the 3D hybrid design allows for a more traditional appearance, while having the benefits of a concrete structure: “That’s where the floodwaters would go, that’s where you can hide when there’s a tornado, and that’s where termites would eat. So you get the advantages of it while having a traditionally-framed second floor.”

It’s important to note that Zuri Gardens is not located in a flood prone area, nor did it flood during Hurricane Harvey — being flood-proof is merely a perk of a cement house. The concrete that Eco Material Technologies developed is impervious. The walls are printed into hollow forms, which house rebar, plumbing, and accessible conduits for things like electrical lines and smart house features. Those walls are then filled with a foamcrete product that expands to form a “monolithic concrete wall.”

David McNitt, of Eco Material Technologies, explains that his proprietary concrete is made of PCV, and contains zero Portland cement. Instead, McNitt’s cement is made from coal ash and is 99 percent green (there are a few chemicals added to the ash). Regardless, it’s made from 100 percent waste products.

“This is a product that has really been landfilled before,” says McNitt. “It’s coal ash, and it’ll set within 8-10 minutes. It’s all monolithic, and one continuous pour — it’s literally all one piece.”

Eco Material Technologies’ concrete product is impressively durable. A traditional cinderblock wall will crush at around 800 psi, while this material crushes at about 8,000 psi.

“It’s ten times stronger than a cinderblock wall that can withstand hurricanes,” claims McNitt. “I don’t think you’d even notice a hurricane. It’ll be really quiet inside, too — so you won’t get interrupted during your hurricane party. It’s way over-engineered, it really is.”

The second story is built using weatherproof and eco-friendly products by LP Building Solutions. Their treated, engineered wood products come with a 50 year warranty, and their radiant barrier roof decking product blocks 97% of UV rays, and keeps attic temperatures 30° cooler than traditional building materials. These materials, combined with the concrete first floor, will keep heating and cooling costs low — something the folks at HiveASMBLD refer to as “thermal mass performance.”

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

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