New certificate course trains a ready workforce as biotech companies in Pearland take off

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There's a much greater need for biotech workers. Photo courtesy of Lonza

Biotech companies in Pearland are thriving, with big names such as Lonza, Millar Inc. Inc., and Abbott all experiencing tremendous growth in recent years.

The only challenge to this success is the increased demand for a faster workforce pipeline. Fortunately, the Pearland Economic Development Corporation (PEDC) has a solution.

PEDC has partnered with Alvin Community College (ACC) and Lonza to create a two-level Biotechnology Certificate Course designed to address the need for a better-equipped entry-level workforce.

This initiative offers two options to quickly train individuals for employment in the biotech field: Level 1, a six-week commitment for Biotech: Material Handler; and Level 2, a twelve-week commitment for Biotech: Lab Technician. Each level consists of 64 contact hours, with lectures delivered online and labs and assessments conducted on-site.

Alvin Community College is offering this course, which commenced on August 21, under its Continued Education and Workforce Development (CEWD) department. This department provides programs that incorporate current and new technical courses, training partnerships with businesses and industries, and other opportunities for individuals to acquire and upgrade skills or pursue personal enrichment.

Before this initiative, the region's two- or four-year programs were only graduating a dozen or so individuals. Early discussions focused on how to expedite workforce development through a local community college's certificate program. Alvin Community College was prepared to respond to the local workforce's needs.

PEDC played a pivotal role in establishing an advisory committee comprised of industry partners responsible for vetting the Biotechnology Certificate Course curriculum. Industry partners included the University of Houston Clear Lake (UHCL) at Pearland, Lonza, Millar Inc., Merit Medical, and the nonprofit organization BioHouston.

These partners are invaluable as plans continue to expand these certification programs.

Given the ever-increasing demand for a biotechnology workforce in the Pearland area, the future wish list includes expanding the certification program to other education partners.

For more information about the Biotechnology Certificate Program at Alvin Community College, visit this link.

Photo courtesy of Kemlon

One business reveals how relocating to Pearland has paid off — and then some

Growing and Thriving

The city of Pearlandhas been ramping up its assistance and support for local businesses over the last several years, but it's long been an ideal choice for companies seeking a place for their companies to grow and thrive.

One major reason is its location, which was certainly a draw for multi-discipline energy and manufacturing company Kemlon Products.

Kemlon's vice president of engineering, Chris Ring, says relocating to Pearland in 1998 was a strategic move — one that has definitely paid off.

"We're located only four miles south of William P. Hobby International Airport, and are accessible to customers and employees via State Highway 35 and Beltway 8," says Ring.

Kemlon's 120,000-square-foot headquarters on State Highway 35 secured it as the first major high-tech manufacturing company to relocate to Pearland.

Since then, the Pearland Economic Development Corporation (PEDC) has assisted Kemlon with expansion efforts, providing incentives and helping it acquire 23.5 acres purchased from the City of Pearland, as part of Catalyst No. 2 Business Park North outlined in the State Highway 35 redevelopment strategy.

But that's not all. Pearland’s affordability was another reason the company chose the city, along with exceptional schools and a potential employee base.

In 2021, PEDC conducted a survey of all businesses in the community to gain a better understanding of their needs. The survey found that 92 percent of business owners felt that Pearland is a great place to live, work, and operate a business, and more than 80 percent of survey respondents gave excellent or good marks to Pearland as a place to do business — higher than the national comparison.

With such satisfied employees and the support and incentive to continue to grow, Kemlon has now invested more than $10.8 million in the community and employs more than 120 people on its 30-acre campus.

"Many of our customers are from outside the Houston area, and especially abroad," Ring says. "As soon as these customers enter Pearland from Beltway 8, it is evident they are entering a quality community that has quality businesses."

Courtesy photo

This Pearland-based CEO explains why his city is the best HQ for small businesses

Serial Entrepreneurship

Small businesses often need a supportive home base from which to work, and there’s one Texas city in particular that has worked hard to become that haven for business owners over the years.

Pearland offers assistance and a diverse workforce for entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. In fact, 83 percent of businesses in Pearland are locally owned. And when it comes to having an entrepreneurial spirit, no one is more passionate than David Graham, CEO of Pearland’s FranchiCzar.

Graham has been focusing on FranchiCzar, which provides franchise development, consulting, marketing, and vendor networks in a suite of services to help franchisees develop and scale their business.

FranchiCzar joins a collection of life science, energy, and manufacturing companies that have expanded their reach in Pearland: Millar, Inc., Lonza, Merit Medical, Cardiovascular Systems, and Endress+Hauser, to name a few.

One of Graham’s most exciting ventures launching this year is Valhallan, a youth e-sports program. Valhallan was born from the belief that video games can enrich lives and create community for young people and was developed to provide premier e-sports programming while teaching life skills. Twenty Valhallan arenas are opening soon around the country.

Graham’s serial entrepreneurship not only extends to franchise development and e-sports, but to exercise and education.

In the “exercise” category, Graham created the Iron 24 concept to offer a convenient gym experience that's accessible 24/7, all from an app. The Iron 24 app allows members to manage membership details and unlock the gym at any time, day or night, with no staff required on-site. Currently, five locations are opening around the Greater Houston area, including two in Pearland.

Going back to his educational and enrichment roots, Graham hopes to launch Math Reactor in the near future. Math Reactor is a revolutionary, fun-first approach to math that helps children in grades five through eight learn math concepts in an engaging and relevant way. Math Reactor was created from the knowledge that the best way for kids to learn math is to make it fun and practical.

Graham is also the founder and creator of a children's code-learning platform Code Ninjas, which sold just last year.

Most recently, Graham recently acquired Pinot’s Palette, a popular paint and sip franchise with more than 80 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Graham takes pride in being a longtime Pearland resident; other cities throughout the nation have failed in their attempts to poach him from Texas.

During the times when other communities were trying to entice him to leave the city, Graham shares that he was impressed by how the Pearland Economic Development Corporation (PEDC) and local business leaders “stepped up in a big way to ensure Pearland kept me here, by offering us incentives.”

One way PEDC enhances Pearland's innovation entrepreneurship culture is through its Pearland Innovation Hub, which launched in May 2022. The Hub connects the city to local and regional entrepreneurship assistance programs, service providers, and funding sources to help businesses maximize their growth potential and overall success.

Additionally, Graham shares that he appreciates how “PEDC is helping to bring in powerhouse companies every year, and it has really rejuvenated our business community here.” Pearland’s diverse population has long been known as an asset, and in recent years the city has become even more racially and ethnically diverse.

“While there is no lack of diverse opinions and abilities in Pearland, everyone stands together as residents of Pearland and can all rally around making our community a better place to live and work," Graham says.

In 2021, PEDC conducted a survey of all businesses in the community to gain a better understanding of their needs. The survey found that 92 percent of business owners felt that Pearland is a great place to live, work, and operate a business, and more than 80 percent of survey respondents gave excellent or good marks to Pearland as a place to do business — higher than the national comparison.

Photo courtesy of Lonza

How Pearland is setting local businesses up for growth and success

Becoming the Best

Over the past few years, Pearland has worked hard to become a desirable home for major life sciences and manufacturing companies. Building on that, it's also leading the way in workforce development, providing access to the tools and resources necessary to create and grow a successful business.

Here's a closer look at just a few of the many resources the community offers to local businesses:

WorkinPearland
This virtual job board and resource center is an immersive and interactive website launched through a partnership between the Pearland Chamber of Commerce and the Pearland Economic Development Corporation (PEDC), where participants can register to view local jobs, regional training programs, workforce support services, and workforce ecosystem partners in the region.

Area businesses can showcase their organization and career opportunities to the community through a customizable virtual booth. The WorkInPearland platform will be launched to the community in March 2023.

Pearland Innovation Hub
Created in 2022, the hub provides valuable programming, events, and resources and establishes partnerships to start, scale, and sustain a business.
The hub cultivates Pearland’s entrepreneurship culture through networking events and activities geared to the unique needs of startups and small business owners, such as assistance programs, business coaching, service providers, and funding sources, to maximize their growth potential and overall success.

BizConnect
This resource is another result of a Pearland Chamber of Commerce and PEDC partnership, and it helps businesses expand and create jobs in the Pearland area.
Through the BizConnect program, participants can access a network of professionals willing to help with any business need.

Pearland’s workforce strategy aspires to achieve the vision of the workforce and talent focus area by leveraging existing workforce strategies and initiatives being performed by area partners, as well as implementing new strategies that respond to the needs of businesses.

It strives to bring together representatives from the business community, education and training providers, relevant nonprofits, and other vital partners dedicated to strengthening Pearland’s talent pipeline and ensuring employers have access to a competitive workforce.

To find out more about Pearland's initiative, visit here.

Get the resources you need. Courtesy photo

Pearland's Innovation Hub gives entrepreneurs and small businesses a leg up

The Hub Spot

Last May, Pearland launched the Innovation Hub, proving just how much the city values businesses of all sizes.

When the Pearland Prosperity Community Strategic Plan called for the creation of a hub for entrepreneurship and small business assistance, the idea of the Innovation Hub was born.

Customized for Pearland, the valuable program connects local entrepreneurs and small businesses with the resources they need to grow and succeed.

In order to identify market opportunities and create a supportive plan, the Market Assessment and Business Plan stepped in. It laid out how to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship culture, and connect entrepreneurs and small businesses to resources within the region.

The hub provides valuable programming, events, resources, and establishes partnerships that entrepreneurs need to start, scale, and sustain a business.

This incudes networking events and activities geared to the unique needs of startups and small business owners such as assistance programs, service providers, and funding sources to maximize growth potential and overall success.

Business-plan competitions, proactive coaching, networking events, and student programs are also offered.

Through the events — which feature members as speakers and panelists — and through business spotlights, the hub provides additional business exposure for its members in hopes that it will lead to increased clientele and growth.

Members also have exclusive access to learning opportunities as they relate to starting or scaling their business. This may include topics such as tax advisory, human resources, marketing, operations, IP and patents, and fundraising opportunities.

Pearland Innovation Hub also hosts various educational opportunities such as small business pop-ups, business-plan competitions, pitch parties, hackathons, and reverse pitches.

Upcoming events include Understanding Your Value Proposition on September 17, Addressing Your Pain Points on October 5, and Pitch Desk Prep on October 27.

Pearland Innovation Hub is funded through the Pearland Economic Development Corporation (PEDC). Oversight of the hub is provided by an advisory board and it will transition into its own nonprofit organization.

From sports to education, it's all here. Photo courtesy of PEDC

How living in Pearland puts a priority on health and happiness

Home Sweet Home

Texas is full of small towns, big cities, and everything in between, which gives residents a wide range of options when choosing where to live.

A closer look at Pearland, located south of Houston just outside of Beltway 8, reveals why it offers an ideal lifestyle for both employers and families looking to relocate.

Education is a priority in the community, evidenced by an educational attainment level that's well above the national average.

An impressive 49.7 percent of Pearland’s adult population holds a four-year degree or higher, compared to the national average of 32.9 percent, according to the latest American Community Survey estimates.

Located just off Pearland Parkway, the University of Houston-Clear Lake Campus provides the Pearland community convenient access to nationally accredited, career-building education opportunities. It offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in areas such as healthcare, education, business, criminology, and more.

Younger students in Pearland can benefit from the excellent public-school systems, with most students attending either Pearland Independent School District or Alvin Independent School District.

In Pearland, sports and recreation are a key component in the community. There are ample opportunities for children of all ages to participate in youth sports programs, and Pearland is home to the 2010, 2014, and 2015 Little League World Series finalists.

Between Pearland High School and Shadow Creek High School, a local school has played in four football state championship games in the last decade alone.

The city features world-class recreational opportunities for members of the community at any age. The 107,000-square-foot Pearland Recreation Center and Natatorium contains a gymnasium, weight room, activity room, racquetball courts, locker rooms, elevated indoor track, and a 50-meter competition pool.

With miles of trails and nearly 20 community and neighborhood parks, residents of Pearland are never far from accessible ways to prioritize their family’s health and wellness.

Pearland recently celebrated the grand opening for the second phase of the Sports Complex at Shadow Creek Ranch, which includes two turf fields and a multipurpose Miracle Field area designed to accommodate special needs athletes.

Pearland also offers public golf courses, sand volleyball courts, tennis courts, soccer and multipurpose fields, numerous playgrounds and dog parks, a local YMCA, and several national and local health clubs.

To see more of what Pearland has to offer, head here.

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Houston regenerative medicine company expands lab for future trials

new digs

A Houston regenerative medicine company has unveiled new laboratory space with the goal of expanding its pioneering science.

FibroBiologics uses fibroblasts, the body’s most common type of cell, rather than stem cells, to help grow new cells. Fibroblasts are the primary variety of cells that compose connective tissue. FibroBiologics has found in studies that fibroblasts can be even more powerful than stem cells when it comes to both regeneration and immune modulation, meaning they could be a more versatile way forward in those fields.

In 2023, FibroBiologics moved into new lab space in the UH Technology Bridge. Now, with its new space, the publicly traded company, which has more than 240 patents issued or pending, will be even better equipped to power forward with its research.

The new space includes more than 10,000 square feet of space devoted to both labs and offices. The location is large enough to also house manufacturing drug product candidates that will be used in upcoming trials. Additionally, the company reports that it plans to hire additional researchers to help staff the facility.

“This expansion marks a transformative step forward for our company and our mission,” Pete O’Heeron, FibroBiologics founder and CEO, said in a news release. “By significantly increasing the size of our lab, we are creating the space and infrastructure needed to foster greater innovation and accelerate scientific breakthroughs.”

The streamlined, in-house manufacturing process will reduce the company’s reliance on external partners and make the supply chain simpler, O’Heeron added in the release.

Hamid Khoja, the chief scientific officer for FibroBiologics, also chimed in.

“To date, our progress in developing potentially transformative therapeutic candidates for chronic diseases using fibroblasts has been remarkable,” he added in the release. “This new laboratory facility will enable further expansion and acceleration of our research and development efforts. Additionally, the expansive new space will enable us to bring in-house currently outsourced projects, expand our science team and further contribute to the increased efficiency of our R&D efforts.”

This news arrives shortly after a milestone for the company in its research about neurodegenerative disease. Last month, fibroblast treatments in an animal model study demonstrated a notable regeneration of the myelin sheath, the layer that insulates nerves and is worn down by disease.

“Confirming remyelination in a second validated animal model is an important step in our research and development efforts, offering fresh hope for patients with demyelinating diseases, including multiple sclerosis,” O’Heeron added in a separate release. “These findings advance our mission to develop transformative fibroblast-based therapies that address the root causes of chronic disease, not just their symptoms, and reflect our dedication to pushing the frontiers of regenerative medicine."

Pharmaceutical giant looks to bring $5.9 billion facility to Houston

in the works

Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company is looking to build a $5.9 billion active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing facility in Houston, according to a recent filing with the state of Texas.

The proposal states that the project plans to employ 604 full-time direct employees at the site upon ramp-up completion. These would include operations technicians, production specialists, maintenance support, quality control/assurance, engineering, administration, and management. Construction is projected to begin in 2026, with a completion target of 2030 and commercial operations beginning in 2031.

If completed, Lilly would purchase 236 acres at Houston’s Generation Park from McCord Development, the commercial development’s owner. The purchase would include multiple buildings, outdoor facilities, infrastructure buildout, and equipment installation.

This proposed Texas plant would be part of Lilly’s $27 billion effort to expand its U.S. production capacity, which was announced in February and includes construction on four new facilities in America. Lilly has previously referred to the plants as “mega sites.”

"This represents the largest pharmaceutical expansion investment in U.S. history," Lilly CEO David Ricks said during the February news conference.

The company has applied for school tax abatements under the new Texas Jobs, Energy, Technology, and Innovation program, according to reports from the Houston Business Journal. This incentive program allows school districts to limit the taxable value of a property for a portion of school taxes, which could save companies millions of dollars on a large portion of property tax bills. It also gives a 10-year tax cut for new manufacturing and development facilities, as long as there is localized job creation.

Houston airports poised for 1.3 million travelers on Memorial Day weekend

Taking Off

George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) are estimated to see 1.3 million travelers during the Memorial Day period (May 20 - May 28). Despite large crowds, the airports say they have prepared with multiple new improvements designed to slow traffic and make check-ins easier.

“Air travel drives jobs, business and tourism — and this summer, Houston Airports is powering that growth,” said Jim Szczesniak, director of aviation for Houston Airports.

“From streamlined security to a smarter website to new flights and fresh amenities, we’re delivering improvements that support Mayor Whitmire’s call for a more user-friendly Houston. These upgrades aren’t just about moving people — they’re about moving our economy forward.”

IAH in particular has seen remarkable drops in wait times thanks to the new IAH International Arrivals Curb. Part of the $1.458 billion IAH Terminal Redevelopment Program (ITRP), it reduced airport traffic during the Christmas holidays by a whopping 99 percent, with the average wait time reaching only two minutes. Other improvements include TSA Precheck enrollment pods at both airports and the agility for international travelers to recheck bags without leaving the terminal after they have passed through customs.

The amount of travelers expected for Memorial Day is slightly below 2024 numbers, but Houston Airports expects record-breaking travel over the summer. Current estimates show 19.5 million people moving through both airports through Labor Day, a 250,000 increase over last year. Part of this can be attributed to IAH's increasing status as the gateway to Mexico, Central America, and South America, running nonstop flights to new tourist hot spots like Puerto Escondido.

In additions to streamlining the flight processes, Houston Airports are expanding concession and shop offerings. Hobby recently opened The Rustic, Chick-fil-A, Pei Wei, and Throughgood Bistro. Bush added Hip & Humble, a boutique gift and souvenir seller focused on the items for women travelers and those looking for a little luxury when they return home. And, as always, Houston Airports have some of the finest art in the country. All of it together makes traveling to and from the city much less stressful than the big crowds would portend.

"We’re ready to welcome millions with efficiency and a warm Houston spirit,” said Szczesniak. “This summer, travelers will see and feel the difference we’ve made.”

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This story originally appeared on our sister site, CultureMap.com.

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