Port Arthur has been growing as a hub for the world’s biggest petrochemical companies for more than a century. That’s little surprise, given the city’s proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, its numerous transport links, and its location at the heart of Texas – just 90 miles from Houston, the third largest city in the US and home to the highest number of oil giants in the world.
Built around one of the nation’s biggest ports, Port Arthur lays claim to a strong economy. Alongside major oil giants, including Exxon Mobil, Valero, Dupont and Total, the city is home to the largest refinery in the US, belonging to Shell. Now, new liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities are cropping up and are set to grow the city’s economy even more, with two plants already under construction and a third proposed for the coming years.
A dedicated workforce
“There’s just a tremendous amount of construction going on here”, says Floyd Batiste, CEO of the Port Arthur Economic Development Corporation (EDC). Investors have been flocking in as a result, bringing almost $12bn of expansion over the past five years alone – in addition to $10bn set to be brought in from the LNG project.
All the infrastructure is there, all the roads are there. All you have to do is come and build
There are a number of other reasons Port Arthur is drawing in this investment, not least its skilled workforce, according to Batiste. “I think the greatest asset we have here is the workforce”, he says. “It takes a tremendous amount of skill to build, operate and repair these plants. That makes us attractive for manufacturers and businesses.”
As a means of supporting its workforce and developing those skills, Port Arthur EDC invests heavily in training employees. “We put aside half a million dollars a year just to train workers, in various different ways”, Batiste says, offering on the job training as well as ‘customised training’, whereby employers can train up the residents they will employ in the future.
Give more, get more
Also helping to attract business are the financial incentives Port Arthur EDC offers, which are based on how much capital is being invested in the community, how many new jobs the investment is likely to generate, and how much pay employees will get. “We’re a local community so the incentives come from the local community”, notes Batiste. “Our primary mission is to recruit and retain businesses and to help raise the tax base of our community.”
As a means of achieving that, the EDC provides support to businesses in other ways. “We become a partner with each business. We help them recruit, we do all of it”, says Batiste. And with a shovel-ready 300-acre business park at the heart of the city – with fibre optics and a 24-hour security service already in place – Port Arthur certainly offers opportunity. “All the infrastructure is there, all the roads are there. All you have to do is come and build”, he claims.
That’s set to become even more evident as the city undertakes ambitious growth plans that will see it transform in the years to come. As well as purchasing a further 260 acres for the park, $1.5m is being invested in infrastructure improvements, the port is being dredged and deepened to make way for larger ships, and neglected areas are being revitalised. As those projects get underway, the city looks set to progress further along its path of development, continuing to bring together burgeoning opportunity, a strong investment climate and an environment that welcomes, supports and fuels the growth of its businesses.