BY RACHEL LELAND
The specifics
Put in perspective
Final takeaways
Pearland’s biotech sector has created a need for a bigger workforce pipeline, Cook said. To help, Alvin Community College and San Jacinto College have each launched programs related to biotech and biomanufacturing, Community Impact previously reported. The PEDC in 2024 began applying for grants to fund training for jobs in high demand for those who need financial assistance, and as of June 4, 14 scholarships have been awarded. Run by the Texas Workforce Commission, the grant program—titled the High Demand Job Training Grant—is available to economic devel- opment corporations statewide and is funded by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which contributes up to $150,000 per EDC that matches the amount.
The PEDC attracts companies with incentives to build their headquarters or manufacturing facilities in Pearland, PEDC Director of Marketing Melissa Cook said. For example, United Imaging was provided a performance-based forgivable loan agreement for $555,000, provided the company creates and maintains 185 jobs over the next 7-10 years and invests $3.5 million worth of capital, Cook said. While the PEDC offers financial incentives, Cook said she believes the city’s biggest incen- tives aren’t monetary, but rather its workforce, transportation, quality neighborhoods and access via highways, including Hwy. 288 and Beltway 8. “Those are the biggest incentives that we have,” Buchanan said. “They’re not financial incentives, but those are the biggest incentives that have caused us to have the success that we’ve had in Lower Kirby today.”
United Imaging will open in phases over the next two years. Initial operations are expected to begin in late 2025, according to an April 2 news release. Bundy said United Imaging expanded to Pearland because it outgrew its Houston facility. However, he said he anticipates the company will eventually outgrow the new location as well and could look at nearby land in the Lower Kirby District to further expand its manufacturing capacity—a factor that Bundy said made Pearland an appealing option. “I can’t really give the crystal ball of when I think that new factory is too small, but it’s not that far in the distance,” Bundy said.
Employment in Pearland
Five of Pearland’s top 10 employers are in the health care industry, including two life sciences manufacturing companies and three hospitals.
Pearland Economic Development Corporation incentives
2013
100K sq. ft. facility in Houston with a 65K sq. ft. research facility 3-4 times increase in the size of research capacity
United Imaging was founded
Incentives paid
Life sciences incentives paid
Health care Education
Government Manufacturer
$2.5M
Data for all incentives in 2025 is not yet available.
Pearland ISD
2,700
2025
$2M
Kelsey-Seybold
1,413 850
initial operations are expected to begin in the Pearland facility
Lonza
$1.5M
City of Pearland
768 753 520 450 255 240 228
Alvin ISD
$1M
Memorial Hermann
HCA (Pearland Medical Center) Dover Energy Merit Medical
185 jobs
$0.5M
expected to be created at the facility
*AS OF MAY SOURCE: PEARLAND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION/COMMUNITY IMPACT 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025* $0
SOURCE: UNITED IMAGING/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Kemlon
SOURCE: CITY OF PEARLAND/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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