Houston’s manufacturing infrastructure is world-class. The region provides unmatched, cost-effective transportation options to access global markets. Transportation assets include four deepwater ports, two major railroads originating in Houston and more than 1,100 trucking companies that travel the U.S. interstate highway system throughout the area. In addition, the Texas power grid is the only independent system in North America that does not cross state lines and ensures the Houston region an abundant, reliable source of electric power.

The strength of the manufacturing industry is reflected in the following points:

• Houston was ranked as a Gold Medal World-Class Community for Manufacturing over four consecutive years by Industry Week magazine.
• Houston is home to more than 10,700 manufacturing establishments.
• Metals manufacturing is a $12 billion industry in Houston, with nearly 2,100 establishments employing more than 67,000 workers in the region.
• The Houston-Gulf Coast region has nearly 40 percent of the U.S. capacity for base petrochemicals, ensuring rapid access to major resin producers and the latest resin technologies.
• Houston is projected to experience a 2.7 percent increase in manufacturing employment by 2012.
• More than 100 business and 530 vocational and technical schools provide training in a gamut of disciplines. Industry and regional educational institutions work in concert to train students for the specific demands of the manufacturing sector.
• The Port of Houston is the world’s 10th largest. It ranks first in the United States in volume of foreign tonnage and second in total tonnage.
• More than 700,000 rail cars arrive in or depart from Houston annually.
• Refrigeration areas, allowing uninterrupted cold-chain storage, are located at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Jacintoport Terminal and Port Freeport.

Key goods-producing industries are energy, chemicals, electronics and software. Following are highlights of each industry.

Energy

• Approximately 3,600 energy-related establishments are located within the Houston region, including more than 500 exploration and production firms, over 70 pipeline operators and hundreds of manufacturers of energy sector products.
• Nine of the 25 largest publicly traded oil and gas exploration and production firms are headquartered in Houston. Ten of the remaining 16 have subsidiaries, major divisions or other significant operations here. Houston has 31 percent of the nation’s jobs in crude petroleum and natural gas extraction and 14 percent of oil and gas field services jobs.
• Two of the four largest U.S refineries are here. Houston's capacity accounts for over one-eighth (13.8 percent) of the U.S. total.
• Fourteen of the nation's top 20 natural gas transmission companies have their corporate or divisional headquarters in Houston, controlling two-thirds of U.S. capacity.
• Fifteen of the nation’s top 20 petroleum pipelines have their corporate or divisional headquarters in Houston, controlling nearly half (44.2 percent) of U.S. capacity.

Chemicals

• Houston is the center of the U.S. chemical industry. The region is home to 382 chemical manufacturers producing over 600 chemicals and employing 34,200.
• Houston has nearly 40 percent of the nation’s base petrochemical capacity (benzene, butadiene, ethylene, propylene, toluene and xylene) — more than quadruple that of its nearest U.S. competitor.

Electronics

• Approximately 250 establishments employ more than 20,000 people in Houston’s electronics manufacturing industries.
• Hewlett Packard employs more people in its Houston operations than any other HP facility in the world.
• Houston's electronic assembly firms also work in the energy-service, aerospace, consumer and medical segments of the economy.

Software

• More than 300 software development companies with estimated revenues of more than $4.2 billion annually and more than 49,000 software professionals operate in the Houston area according to The Houston Technology Center.
• Major players in the region include BMC Software, Universal Computer Systems, Landmark Graphics Corporation, Cimarron and Aspen Technology.