Overview of the Industry

Bayport Industrial District Advantages & Incentives

Workforce & Sample Wages

Education

Infrastructure

Chemical Industry Members

Chemical Industry Associations

Industry Events

Overview of the Industry

The specialty chemical sector of Bay Area Houston remains one of the main pillars of the region's economy with much of the industry concentrated in the Bayport Industrial District. These facilities produce the essential building blocks that are used to make everyday products such as plastic bottles, cleaning agents, anti-freeze and grocery bags.

According to independent studies conducted in 2005-2006, the economic impact of this sector on the Bay Area Houston region can not be understated. The 57 companies located in the Bayport Industrial District employ more than 8,700 people. For every job within the chemical and plastic industry an additional 3.79 jobs are created; the highest employment multiplier within Bay Area Houston target industries.

The overall direct and indirect business impact from Bayport-related local business volume is well over $829 million. An additional 11,000 jobs are directly attributable to the presence of the specialty chemical industry with personal income of local individuals from Bayport-related jobs and activities reaches above $531 million.

Employment projected in the chemical manufacturing sector through 2014, indicates strong growth for agriculture, pharmaceutical and adhesive materials production, according to the Texas Workforce Commission (May 2007).

Land

The Bayport Industrial District is comprised of 12 square miles (8,500 acres) that has been designated for chemical and plastics manufacturing industries. As of the beginning of 2006, 55% of the district is developed, leaving approximately 3,800 acres available for development and expansion projects. A map of the Bayport region with major chemical companies identified is available in the Maps Section of this web site. An updated real estate study will be conducted this year to re-asses the availability of land and infrastructure.

Products

The district features a concentration of national and international companies involved in the production, blending, and distribution of core "building blocks" of everyday materials. Many of the plants in the Bayport Industrial District are the largest producers of specialty resins in the world. Chances are, if you have something made out of plastic; the materials came from a plant in Bayport.

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Bayport Industrial District Advantages & Incentives

The industrial district is within Harris County which spans the cities of La Porte and Pasadena. There are several options for property tax abatements from all entities.

Harris County Tax Abatement

The Bayport complex is located within Harris County and businesses located in the county may apply for tax abatements on property taxes. Minimum requirements to be considered for abatements are 25 new/retained jobs and a minimum of a $1 million in capital investments.

As an example, let’s say you have a project that will bring in 25 new jobs and invest $10 million in capital improvements. Your property taxes for Harris County with the abatement would be about $80,000 per year. Without the abatement, your property taxes would be about $160,000. Abatement agreements with Harris County tend to run for 10 years.

La Porte Industrial District Agreement

The City of La Porte operates two Industrial Districts within its ETJ, the Battleground Industrial District and the Bayport Industrial District. Within these Industrial Districts the City has established tax incentives to encourage economic growth and expansion of existing facilities. New companies that locate in these districts receive a rate of 53% of ad valorem taxes. Existing companies that make improvements to their property / infrastructure over and above the base value can look forward to receiving a rate of 30% of ad valorem taxes on their new construction.

Pasadena Industrial District Agreement

The City of Pasadena offers a progressive property tax abatement plan that requires no minimum job requirement and a minimum $1 million capital investment. This policy is extended to new construction and/or upgrades to current facilities. The percentage of tax savings adjusts each year from 100% the first year to 0% after seven years.

Additional Opportunities from TCEQ

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) Emissions Reduction Incentive Grants Program provides grants to eligible projects in nonattainment areas and affected counties. The grants offset the incremental costs associated with reducing emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from high-emitting internal combustion engines. The types of projects that may be eligible for funding include:

• Purchase or lease, replacement and/or retrofitting of non-road equipment
• Purchase or lease, replacement and/or retrofit or add-on of emission-reduction technology of stationary equipment
• Refueling Infrastructure (for qualifying fuel)
• On-Site Electrification and Idle Reduction Infrastructure
• Demonstration of New Technology

Additionally, TCEQ offers Tax Relief for Pollution Control Property (also known as Prop 2). Property must be wholly or partly used for pollution control to be eligible. It must have been purchased or installed after January 1, 1994, and must meet or exceed a federal, state, or local environmental regulation. The following specific types of property are also eligible for determination:

• Dedicated-purpose vehicles used solely for pollution control (vacuum trucks, street sweepers, surface-watering trucks, spill-response vehicles)
• Land (acquired after January 1, 1994) with pollution control property (e.g., the actual square footage containing a baghouse, scrubber, settling pond, or wastewater containment)
• Used equipment (if it has been acquired, constructed, or installed by the new owner after January 1, 1994 and if it has not been taxable by the property’s taxing unit)

For more information on Prop 2, please click here.

Our office has successfully worked with TCEQ on chemical plant projects involving air emission credits as well as Harris County on tax abatement applications for such companies as Huish Detergents, Nisseki, Kurrary/Septon, Haldor Topsøe, Reagan USA, and Chusei/Nissan Chemical.

For more information about available local, regional, and state-wide incentive programs, please refer to our incentives page. For more details and cost analysis, please contact our marketing director, Paul Chavez.

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Workforce

The plants located in Bayport produce nearly half the US capacity for polymers while 3 out of 5 chemical (polymers and plastics) workers in the US are employed in Bay Area Houston. To view the major employers for the Chemicals and Plastics industry in our region, please click here. Otherwise, if you would like to review other job descriptions and salary information, please contact our office for a complete list of surveyed positions.

Sample Wages of Chemical Employees in Bay Area Houston

SOURCES: Texas Workforce Commission report May 2007, Gulf Coast Region. Salary.com data, June 2007, median annual gross income for zip code 77507 (Bayport Industrial District).

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Education

The Bay Area Houston region continues to be the leading employment base for the chemical manufacturing sector of Texas. Of the 70,000 chemical industry jobs in Texas more than half are in the Houston MSA, according to the Texas Workforce Commission (May 2007).

So it is no accident that our region is served by many educational institutions that have programs designed to train and certify employees for chemical plant production and management. These programs range from refresher courses to advanced training and simulators. Some of these programs can be used for college credit towards degrees in the field.

Area colleges and universities offer course work on troubleshooting, process chemistry and quality control. Customized course work can be developed and administered by either the college or in tandem with company training guidelines.

Our office has developed and successfully executed several workforce training grants for area companies through our local colleges and the Texas Workforce Commission. The Skills Development Grant funds are designed to cover the costs of program design, actual instruction, texts and reusable equipment. These funds are awarded to the learning centers on behalf of the companies that apply.

For more information about applying for skills development funding for your company, please give us a call. A complete listing of area school districts and higher education institutions can be found on our education page.



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Infrastructure

Supply Streams

• Nitrogen, oxygen, high pressure steam and hydrogen are supplied via an intricate system of above and underground pipelines.
• A multitude of feedstocks such as natural gas, ethylene and propylene are available via pipelines that criss-cross the industrial district.
• Two chemical terminalling operations for product movement by barge or ship in Bayport and Barbor’s Cut (see below).

Water & Wastewater

The Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority operates an industrial wastewater treatment facility in the Bayport complex that process liquid wastes from the regions chemical and plastics facilities. This organization owns and operates municipal wastewater treatment facilities, which provides tertiary treatment and ultraviolet light disinfection. The Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority site is the only facility in the United States permitted to operate like a utility.

Rail

Union Pacific also features extensive information about the Port of Houston's interface with available rail services, storage and capacity. To review this information, please point your browser here.

Deepwater Seaport & Container Terminals

The Port of Houston was originally dedicated by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914 and has grown into a 25-mile channel of diversified public and private facilities that begins just four miles east of downtown Houston and continues to the Gulf of Mexico. The port is ranked first in the United States in foreign waterborne commerce and second in total tonnage. The port region is made up of the port authority and the 150-plus private industrial companies along the ship channel.

The Bayport Container and Cruise Terminal is located on Galveston Bay surrounded by specialty chemical terminals and production facilities from the Bayport Industrial District.

At ultimate build-out, Bayport will feature 7,000 feet of wharf dredged to 40 feet, a container storage yard, an intermodal rail yard, truck gate facilities, a co-development area and 30 new buildings, including facilities for administration, maintenance, marine emergency and other services.

Bayport will serve up to seven ships simultaneously with the ability to handle annual throughput of 1.4 million container lifts a year or about 2.3 million TEUs. The wharves will be equipped with 18 wharf cranes and 54 rubber tire gantry cranes. On opening day, Bayport will be ISO 14001 compliant.

The most modern intermodal facility on the U.S. Gulf Coast, Barbours Cut Container Terminal was designed with one priority in mind: vessel productivity. The terminal's six berths provide 6,000 feet of continuous quay. Twelve wharf cranes ensure efficient and reliable handling of containers. The facility also includes a roll-on/roll-off platform, a LASH dock, a cruise terminal, 230 acres of paved marshaling area and 255,000 square foot of warehouse space and acres of open marshaling and storage area. A computerized inventory control system tracks the status and location of individual containers.

The terminal also features electronic data interchange capabilities. A comprehensive refrigerated food warehouse is located near the terminal. Combined with competitive tariff rates, this facility's efficiency makes it an ideal port of call for shippers with cargo originating from or destined for the US Midwest and West Coast.

Highway Access

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Chemical Industry Members

Company	Description
Air Products and Chemicals	Air Products serves customers in technology, energy, healthcare and industrial markets worldwide with a unique portfolio of products, services and solutions, providing atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, performance materials and chemical intermediates.
American Acryl	American Acryl produces acrylic acid, a chemical widely used in the manufacture of personal care and household products, including such items as disposable diapers, hand lotion, detergent, shampoo, acrylic yarn and water-based acrylic paints.
Evalca	Produce a plastic resin used in the packaging of food products and for vapor sealing. Nike also uses this resin in the Air Soles shoes. EvalCa has recently opened their Research and Technical facility at the Bayport site.
INEOS	INEOS is a young company. It has grown through a series of related acquisitions to become the world's third largest chemical company with sales of about $ 36 billion. The Bay Area Houston operations focuses on speciality chemicals technology management and manufacturing of nitriles, olefins, polymers, and oligomers. Their products are used to make a wide variety of plastic goods, including food and drink containers and wrappings, pipe work, automotive parts and moldings of all kinds.
INEOS NOVA	INEOS NOVA is a world-scale, globally competitive producer of styrene, polystyrene and expandable polystyrene with leading positions in North America and Europe. End uses include food packaging such as cups, plates, meat trays, as well as medical equipment, TV housings, refrigerator linings and shelving, toys, utensils, computers and automobiles.
Kaneka Texas	Kaneka Texas is a specialty plastics manufacturing company. We have two main business groups known as Modifier and Eperan. The Modifier group produces impact modifiers and processing aids for the PVC and acrylic polymer industry. These products can be found in consumer packaging especially bottles and films. Another application is sheet such as stock for credit cards. The acrylic products can be found in vinyl siding, windows, and door profiles. The Eperan group manufactures foamed polyolefins used in protective packaging for computers and automotive parts such as bumper cores and side impact parts.
Odfjell USA	Specialize in chemical storage for shipping around the world. Odfjell sends products with over 200 ships out of Bayport and the Port of Houston each year.
TOTAL Petrochemicals USA	TOTAL Petrochemicals is a world scale producer of polypropylene, polyethylene, styrenics, polystyrene, base chemicals, and transportation fuels. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the Bayport site produces a High Density Polyethylene that is used in products such as film, pipe, fiber, molded products for consumer, industrial and automotive uses.
US Development Group	U.S. Development Group (USD) manages the entire process of designing, constructing, operating and marketing a nationwide network of rail facilities providing innovative options for customer-driven rail logistics solutions for: railcar storage, unit-train staging, bulk railcar loading/offloading, railcar maintenance, rail fleet management and railcar-truck transloading. These options typically have been inaccessible or uneconomical to customers attempting to manage their rail supply and distribution processes within the constraints of the present infrastructure of the railroads. USD achieves solutions through the design of its rail facilities - supported by its Customer Service Center in Houston. USD owns and manages the following rail logistics facilities: Bayport Rail Terminal and Deer Park Rail Terminal (Houston, TX) and Lomita Rail Terminal (Carson, CA) with future projects being targeted in the west, southeast and northeastern United States.

For a complete listing of chemical companies in the region, please click here.


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Chemical Industry Associations

Association	Description
Association of Bayport Companies (ABC)	A voluntary alliance of approximately 60 chemical manufacturers, refiners, and supporting distribution/terminal facility managers in the Bayport region.
Bay Area Community Advisory Panel (BAYCAP)	A community discussion group that serves the surrounding communities of Bayport with discussion and tours of area plants and processes.
East Harris County Manufacturers Association (EHCMA)	A non-profit professional association of approximately 125 chemical manufacturers, refiners, and supporting distribution/terminal facility managers in east Harris County, Texas. Founded in 1987, EHCMA is the largest network of its type in the world.
Texas Chemical Council	Texas Chemical Council (TCC) is a statewide trade association of chemical manufacturing facilities in Texas. Currently, 85 member companies produce vital products for our way of life, fulfill educational and quality-of-life needs, and provide employment and career opportunities for some 70,000 Texans at more than 200 separate facilities across the state. Their combined economic activity sustains about 400,000 jobs for Texans.
American Chemistry Council	The American Chemistry Council represents the leading companies engaged in the business of chemistry. Council members apply the science of chemistry to make innovative products and services that make people's lives better, healthier and safer. The Council is committed to improved environmental, health and safety performance through Responsible Care, common sense advocacy designed to address major public policy issues, and health and environmental research and product testing. The business of chemistry is a $450 billion enterprise and a key element of the nation's economy. It is the nation's largest exporter, accounting for ten cents out of every dollar in U.S. exports. Chemistry companies invest more in research and development than any other business sector.

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Chemicals & Plastics Industry Events

Conference	Dates	Location	Description
INFORMEX 2008	January 29- February 1, 2008	Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, LA	Now in its 24th year, INFORMEX is the custom chemical industry's premier marketing event. It's our reputation as a vibrant sourcing arena that has driven our growth... year after year after year. With nearly 480 custom chemical companies and over 4000 specialty and fine chemical professionals in attendance, INFORMEX remains the most dynamic industry event for connecting you to the resources you need!
National Biodiesel Conference and Expo 2008	February 3-6, 2008	Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center Orlando, FL	The National Biodiesel Board is excited to bring their fifth annual conference to the sunny city of Orlando, Florida. Last year saw record attendance of almost 3,900 people. This year appears to be on course for setting a new record. Exhibitor participation has reached a feverish pitch, with nearly 400 booths. This years conference will focus on the challenging circumstances within the biodiesel industry while also taking a serious look at the economic factors that shape this industry.
International Polyolefins Conference	February 24 - 28, 2008	Wyndham Greenspoint Hotel, Houston, TX	This conference features technical programs as well as over 60 exhibitors from the polymer industry. Discussions will include a global update, developments in processing technology, polyolefins elastomers, food packaging challenges, new developments in compounding, new materials for improved package functionality, processing and applications of polyolefins, new catalyst and materials developments, packaging equipment/converting, new developments in testing and characterization of polyolefins, and sustainability.
Pittcon 2008	March 1 - 7, 2008	Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, LA	Now in its 59th year, Pittcon is the world's largest, most comprehensive Conference and Exposition for laboratory science. All in one place you can get a first-hand look at all the latest products and technologies, gain valuable, practical technical knowledge needed to get ahead professionally, and exchange ideas and network with thousands of colleagues from around the world.
National Petrochemical and Refiners Association (NPRA) 2008 Annual Meeting	March 9-11, 2008	Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, CA	The Annual Meeting is the world's premier refining meeting, assembling key executives and technical experts from refining and marketing organizations worldwide, as well as representatives from associated industries. The general session features high profile speakers who will address current issues of widespread importance to the refining industry. Leading industry experts will share valuable insights on major issues, including energy and environmental initiatives and the latest technical developments.
2008 World Petrochemical Conference	March 25-27, 2008	Minute Maid Park and Downtown Aquarium Houston, TX	DeWitt’s Petrochemical Conference and Technology Seminar will include a series of strong, in-depth presentations by DeWitt's senior, industry seasoned consultants along with invited commercial executives from the industry.
CMAI 2008 World Petrochemical Conference and Workshop (pdf)	March 25-27, 2008	Hilton Americas-Houston, Houston, TX	The 23rd Annual World Petrochemical Conference will highlight Keynote speaker Volker Trautz, Chief Executive Officer, LyondellBasell, The Netherlands. The general Session will focus on the critical macro issues for the chemicals, plastics and fiber industries further defining the outlook for major chemical industry sectors. Conference will also include concurrent sessions for aromatics & fiber intermediates, olefins & derivatives, chlor-alkali & related product and Polyolefins.
2008 NPRA International Petrochemical Conference	March 30-April 1, 2008	Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, San Antonio, TX	The International Petrochemical Conference is the world's largest and most prestigious conference representing the petrochemical industry. The meeting consists of a variety of sessions covering key political, economic, and environmental issues affecting the petrochemical industry. The sessions emphasize global competitiveness in the petrochemical business and are presented by recognized experts in the areas of petrochemical markets, economics and politics.
Offshore Technology Conference	May 5-8, 2008	Reliant Center, Houston, TX	Founded in 1969, the Offshore Technology Conference is the world’s foremost event for the development of offshore resources in the fields of drilling, exploration, production, and environmental protection. OTC is held annually at Reliant Center in Houston. OTC is the premier offshore industry event for professionals, service industries and suppliers to gather and discuss common issues of ocean resource development. Technological innovations and forums on economic, social, and political aspects of resource development and environmental protection have been the mainstay of this worldwide conference. OTC ranks among the largest 200 trade shows held annually in the United States and is among the 10 largest meetings in terms of attendance. Attendance at OTC.07 reached a 25-year high and increase of 13% over 2006. Nearly 2,400 companies from more than 30 countries participated in the show. Total exhibit space was nearly 530,000 square feet, about the size of 13 football fields.
Bio 2008	June 17-20, 2008	San Diego Convention Center San Diego, CA	BIO performs many services for members, but none of them is more visible than the BIO International Convention, the largest biotechnology event in the world. The BIO International Convention helps BIO fulfill its mission to help grow the global biotech industry. The BIO International Convention features keynotes and sessions from key policymakers, scientists, CEOs, and celebrities. Past speakers include President George W. Bush, President Bill Clinton, Michael J. Fox, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, among many others. The convention also includes hundreds of sessions covering biotech trends, policy issues and technological innovations, and the world's largest biotechnology exhibition - the BIO Exhibition.
Summer North American Prospect Expo (NAPE)	August 27-28, 2008	George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, TX	Summer NAPE was founded in 2005 due to industry demand for a mid-year event to provide a marketplace for the buying, selling and trading of oil and gas prospects and producing properties via exhibit booths. Summer NAPE brings state-of-the-art prospects and properties from U.S. and around the world, advanced technology and energy capital formation all together in one location, creating a pure market place to establish strategic alliances for doing business and initiating purchases and trades. Over 600 exhibit booths and 6,000 attendees are expected. Don’t be left out of this exciting new event!
Offshore Communications Conference	November 4-6, 2008	Crowne Plaza Houston Reliant Park, Houston, TX	The only international event focusing on communications technologies for the offshore oil & gas and marine industries! With an improved Technical Program, and keynote speakers addressing the delegates about topics which will provide insight to the demanding offshore environment and the need for innovative solution’s and how to improve existing technologies, OCC 2008 promises to be bigger and better than ever.

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