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Energy Industry Fuels Growth in Houston

Posted By: David Drake on October 7, 2014
ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson

ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson

Brookwoods Group team members Trish Cunningham, David Drake and Debbie Milks attended the Greater Houston Partnership luncheon focusing on the State of Energy last week and got to hear the great news for Houston and its surrounding communities first hand. As ExxonMobil CEO, Rex Tillerson stated in his address to attendees, Houston remains the energy capitol of the world and it’s not a title that will be lost any time soon. The energy industry in Houston employs many tens of thousands of professionals. The companies within the energy industry also work with thousands of other businesses, including Brookwoods Group, for ancillary services services like specialized staffing and recruiting. As such, we are very proud to be included as part of the larger energy community.

The energy industry is driving nearly everything in Houston. For years now, Houston has been one of the fastest growing cities with one of the fastest growing economies and job markets. The growth has also led to a huge boom in new housing, schools, hospitals and everything else that comes along with that kind of economic growth. But the two most important benefits the rest of the country received from our energy-fueled growth is that our job gains have offset much of the job loss in other parts of the country while the overall growth of the energy industry and those that serve it have helped the country pull out of the recession.

As we move forward, the industry is in for more changes. New advances in drilling and production technologies are allowing the industry to unlock petroleum resources that were thought unreachable or uneconomical just a few years ago. Horizontal and directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing have opened up natural gas reserves that are expected to fuel our needs for the next two centuries. There are now oil "boomtowns" from southwest Texas, Colorado and North Dakota to West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. For the first time in many years, US domestic production exceeds our own demands. As a matter of fact, our advances have allowed us to now become the second leading petroleum producer in the world, with Texas alone being responsible for over one-third of that production.

These changes have caused a shift from the U.S. having to rely heavily on imported petroleum products to now being in the position to export our excess production. New pipelines are being built to move all of this oil and gas to hub, refineries and plants, many of which are right here in the Houston area. New plants are being built to turn that now-abundant, inexpensive natural resource into valuable chemicals, plastics, fuels and even liquefied natural gas (LNG).  LNG is an easily exportable fuel that can further strengthen our domestic economy and cut our foreign trade deficit while also easing our allies’ reliance on energy supplied from countries like Russia and Iran.

All these changes bring a host of new challenges for Houston’s energy industry. Business models, partners, technologies and regulations all change rapidly. New ideas and markets emerge and unforeseen opportunities arise faster than ever before. As established companies continue to grow, merge, and spin-off and new companies are formed, their employee needs change. In a fluid industry like this one, those needs change a lot more frequently than most. Companies have to learn to react faster and smarter or they’ll get left behind. They also need the right people to tell their story, help them grow and lead them through these inevitable changes.

While there has been much talk in the media about the shortage of skilled workers in areas as varied as engineering and geology to roughnecks and mud loggers, companies can find the same kind of shortages when it comes time to fill an open position in their marketing, communication and change departments. And with a tight labor market, it has become increasingly more important to rely on companies like Brookwoods Group that truly understand this industry and intimately know the marketing and communications side of it to fill those needs, whether they be on a contract, project or direct hire basis.

Houston’s growth is projected to continue and energy is expected to lead the way. As marketing and communications executives advance their own own careers and build their own teams, Brookwoods Group can be the go-to firm in the areas of marketing, communication and change. Our team has over 200 combined years of experience, is knowledgeable, professional and has all the right connections to staff a solitary role or assemble an entire team of professionals to support the ever-growing needs of any company, large or small. We look forward to growing with our clients!

A report on the State of Energy meeting can also be found in the Houston Chronicle at:

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Big-man-in-Big-Oil-sees-Houston-as-hub-of-energy-5797631.php