Working on workforce From the cover
Zooming out
What’s happening?
focused on quality employment opportunities, has long-standing relationships with UH and HCC to ensure the Katy area has a workforce to support local business needs, President Alan Steinberg said. While engineering, oil, gas and medical jobs dominate the I-10 corridor region, he said there will be more logistics jobs focused on automating warehouse and factory production.
Demographers predict 44,239 new housing units will join KISD over the next 10 years, according to a November report from demographics rm Population and Survey Analysts. O cials said they believe expansions at the two colleges would continue supporting the growing area’s workforce needs in the engineering, technol- ogy, logistics and health care sectors. The West Houston Association, a nonpro t
University of Houston at Katy o cials are requesting $165 million from the 89th Texas Legislature for a new academic building to meet the workforce needs of the growing Katy area. The college’s legislative proposal shows the 150,000-square-foot building would provide space for engineering, architecture and design, natural sciences and math, and business programs. “We have every degree that your heart could desire [at UH],” said Jay Neal, associate vice president and chief operating o cer for UH at Katy. “If you’re going to be at the [Katy] instructional site, though, there are real jobs tied to them.” Meanwhile, Zachary Hodges, president of Houston Community College’s Northwest College, said enrollment is growing at HCC- Katy, leading to system o cials discussing how to fund a second building.
Leading employers in Katy area, May 2024
Education Oil & gas
Retail
Engineering Medical
Katy ISD 17,000
9,092
17,000
20K
15K
BP America Inc. 5,000
Shell USA 4,092
10K
Academy Sports 2,540
Wood Group 2,175
Houston Methodist 2,175
2,540
5K 0
2,175
2,160
Oil & gas
Retail
Medical Engineering
Education
SOURCE: KATY AREA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL COMMUNITY IMPACT
Spring enrollment growth
The backstory
University of Houston at Katy
117
2020 2025
fall 2019, o cially becoming a shared site for UH nursing and engineering students and the University of Houston-Victoria at Katy, per a news release. Meanwhile, HCC spent $23.6 million to open its 120,000-square-foot Katy campus in 2022, relocat- ing from 1550 Foxlake Drive, Hodges said. Now, the building’s lecture and computer labs are reaching capacity before noon from Monday to Thursday, per HCC data.
The push for more space comes less than 10 years after the colleges underwent capital improvement projects to build their campuses. The 2015 Texas Legislature allocated $46.8 million for UH to purchase land after the college identi ed health care and energy as needed components in higher education for the Katy community, per the UH website. The 80,000-square-foot campus opened in
500
Houston Community College-Katy
4,133
2020 2025
4,360
SOURCES: HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE KATY, UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON AT KATY COMMUNITY IMPACT
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