Archive for the Northwest News Category

  There are a number of indicators which suggest the United States will be, or already has, entered into a recession. The most glaring indicator has been two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth, compounded by rising interest rates, prolonged inflation, and of course the supply chain problems we are all sick of hearing about. Don’t just take it from me, I am an armchair economist. These explanations require far more research and understanding.  For instance, just because the U.S. may be heading into a recession does not necessarily mean the same is true for Houston.  Historically, the Houston economy tends not to run with the crowd.  But is that still the case today?  I don’t know.  Therefore, anything I

  The Cost of Doing Business   The side effects of this great global disruption continue to interfere with our ability to manage our businesses in a more predictable and sustainable manner.  Because of supply chains, large government aid, the Ukraine war, etc., inflation has plunked itself in the front of the line.  Cost increases are coming at us from every direction.  Now, the pundits are sending up flares warning of a looming recession.  If such is to be the case, then remind yourself, just like with hurricanes, we have been through this before.  With a little planning and mindfulness, we will navigate our way through it when the waves start getting choppy. As the restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations,

How Do You Define Success? In a recent meeting with a property owner to discuss the merits of the Cypress Creek Management District, a question was posed to me that triggered a state of panic and temporary paralysis.  It was a great question, and seemingly so basic, but one that was difficult to get my head around due to the myriad of ways it could be answered. Cursing myself, I thought it should have been obvious for me to have already contemplated this question beforehand. The property owner asked, “How will the management district define success?” I admitted that I would have to get back to her on that one.  Of course, I have visions of short-term and long-term positive

Decision Fatigue Virtual vs. In-Person Once upon a time, I held public office, and if you strip away all the other nonsense that comes with that position, being an elected official really only means you are a glorified decision maker.  I did my utmost to make the most sound, informed decisions possible, and I felt like I did okay with it, or at least I do not carry any regrets.  Yet, during my time in office I have never felt as much consternation as I have been experiencing this past year.  A recent visitor to the Chamber office told me I was suffering from “Decision Fatigue.”  I like that term. One would be in a fog if not to notice

  It is official, the 2021 Economic Outlook Forum on April 8 is going virtual. That’s right folks, another day at the office where slippers and sweatpants are the standard business attire, or COVID Casual as I like to refer it. Originally, scheduled to be held at the CityPlace Marriott in Springwoods Village, the Economic Outlook Forum begs to be an in-person event.  However, with the ongoing spread of That-Which-Shall-Not-Be-Named and the new, more contagious strains taking hold on U.S. soil, the decision was made to move forward with the event yet, err on the side of caution by going virtual. The Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce has procured the services of a virtual software platform created for the specific

    December 4, 2020 Houston, TX: On Tuesday, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) announced the relocation of its global headquarters to Northwest Harris County from San Jose, CA. The campus, which will be located in Springwoods Village, will officially open for business at the start of 2022. Bringing the global headquarters of a Fortune 500 company to our area brings the possibility of hundreds of new jobs to our region. These jobs will be an addition to the approximately 2,600 employees HPE already has in our region. HPE described Houston as “an attractive market to recruit and retain future diverse talent” in their fourth quarter earnings release. “We are excited that Hewlett Packard Enterprise has chosen to call Texas home,

The Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce has moved to a new office, albeit only two blocks down the road from our previous location, maintaining a presence on Cypress Creek Parkway. Like so many other businesses affected by the pandemic, we recognized more was not necessarily better and downsizing our office was prudent and practical. We were also motivated by a desire to reduce our overhead as the pandemic has impacted the Chamber’s revenue.  Rest assured, by doing this and other key decisions, the Chamber has positioned itself to weather the downturn.  Yet, through the course of pulling up roots, another sense of purpose emerged aside from this just being purely a business decision.  What comes with moving into a smaller

A colleague recently asked me what I hoped to accomplish professionally through the COVID Pandemic. After a brief panic, followed by a little pondering, I provided him with my answer. An answer which was genuine, but not particularly profound. In fact, it was downright cliché. I pretty much knew my answer was on the lame side of the lame-o-meter as soon as it left my mouth. I had felt compelled to say something, and “I dunno,” did not seem like an option. Yet, the question lingered. Was it gnawing at me because I wanted perhaps to redeem myself with a better response, or that I felt like an idiot for not having considered that question beforehand? I mean come on,

Before some of you start screaming plagiarism, yes, I took the title of this article from the book by David Sedaris. So there, I have properly given credit where credit is due. Back in March, like it was ages ago, when we all set up shop in the makeshift offices of our homes, many of us were introduced to the new and beguiling world of Zoom and other video meeting platforms. However, Zoom was not so new after all, and there were those who, for some time now, were already fully integrated in the world of distributive meetings, smirked at the rest of us, saying, “It is about time you showed up.” Upon discovering this new means of meeting via

The universal greeting of the handshake was not always just a symbolic gesture. Its origins were utilitarian. By extending the hand and showing the open palm, you demonstrated to the person approaching, you were not brandishing a weapon. The same purpose applied for the act of waving at a passerby. However, with the advent of weaponry which could inflict harm from a distance, the handshake evolved into the benign tradition we know of today. That was until COVID-19 came along and a different kind of killer now prevents us from saying hello to each other through physical contact. On March 11, when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global health pandemic, most of us in America thought, “Yeah, yeah,