Skip to main content

The Fundamentals for Reopening Houston Safely

Published Apr 29, 2020 by Sophia Guevara

H_GHP_Medical Center_Metro_2_2019

Texas has started the gradual process of reopening the economy with the announcement this week of Governor Abbott’s Report to Open Texas. To prepare for the region’s reopening, the Greater Houston Partnership convened over 80 Houston regional business and community leaders through a series of working group meetings between April 23rd and 27th to define how Houston can reopen the economy safely, sustainably and successfully. The working group members represented businesses both large and small, from across the region and spanning key industry sectors.

Eight working groups were organized:

  • High Touch / Customer Facing: Restaurant/food services, Retail, Entertainment
  • Industrial: Energy, Power, Construction, Manufacturing
  • Office Workers / Knowledge Workers: IT/Information, Finance Accounting, Legal, Investment, Professional Services
  • Health Care
  • Logistics / Transportation: Trucking, Rail, Port, Transit, Warehouse
  • Small Business
  • Education: K-12, Higher Education
  • Social Services/Child Care/Faith Community

Before the groups met, the Partnership surveyed business owners to gauge their needs to reopen. Key results are available here.

The key takeaways from the Reopen Houston Safely working groups were:

  1. Set a Balanced Tone: A phased increase in economic activity must be balanced with public health considerations.
    • Throughout this crisis, state, local and business leaders have been led by public health considerations, and it is clear those considerations are still paramount.
    • The State’s announcement of the formation of a statewide testing and tracing program is encouraging. As local public health authorities begin standing up an enhanced testing and tracing program, it is important for the state to provide a coordinated framework and support.
  2. Recognize Houston’s Economic Diversity: Houston will reopen safely across industries, business size, and risk profiles of work environments through strategies appropriate to each sector.
    • May 1st will mark the start of a gradual reopening.
    • Essential Businesses have continued operations throughout this crisis and have learned how to implement necessary measures to protect their employees and customers.
    • Small Businesses and other employers granted permission from the state to reopen may begin to return to work, however, many will monitor the performance of other industry members, COVID-19 infection rate reductions and improvements in testing, before returning to work.
    • It is unlikely that Office / Knowledge workers, particularly those who operate in Industrial or Essential Businesses, will return to work in the first phase of reopening, because they are productive at home.
  3. Acknowledge the Role of Business: Now that Phase One of the State’s reopening plan has been announced, there is urgency within the business community to adopt Work Safe measures and building employee and consumer confidence.
    • The business community understands that working safe is critical to ensuring employees’ and consumers’ confidence as Houston reopens.
    • Across all working groups, employers expressed a responsibility to enact safeguards, including those related to sanitation, PPE, and to support testing, tracing and isolation.
    • There is an opportunity for Essential Businesses who have operated safely, sustainably and successfully to provide key learnings for high touch businesses, small businesses, education and social services regarding accessing supply chains to procure resources needed to comply with official safeguards. Much of that coordination is ongoing.
    • There is an incredible motivation for the Houston regional business community to “get it right” and reopen safely so that the economy can continue to recover.
  4. Make Coordination a Priority: Between all stakeholders, working group members identified the importance of speaking with a unified, clear and consistent public voice.
    • As Houston works to build employee and consumer confidence, a unified, clear and consistent public voice will help the economy recover safely. The Partnership is committed to working on behalf of the business community and other stakeholders to develop resources for businesses and to provide policy recommendations focused on the steps needed to reopen Houston.
  5. Consider Access and Equity: Working groups considered access and equity for all Houstonians and prioritized considerations related to vulnerable populations.
    • While Social Services have operated during this crisis, their budgets and fundraising efforts have been stressed while the community’s needs for their services have increased.
    • Most employers’ decision to return employees to work will be impacted by access to child care and education. Reopening child care will occur in phases, and educators must address challenges related to parents’ and teachers’ safety, PPE and sanitation supplies, and social distancing.
    • In Higher Education, the transition from online to in-person classes will be gradual and will focus on COVID-19 risk and vulnerable populations.
    • In Transportation, employers recognized that employees not only need to work safe but also travel between work safely. As Houston reopens, COVID-19 mitigation measures must address increases in public transit ridership.
  6. Prepare for the Long Term: Working group members recognize the “new normal” in which Houston will operate until a vaccine is available.
    • A successful Phase One of reopening will reduce infections, maintain Essential operations, drive small businesses’ return to work, and ensure consumer and employee confidence.

Related News

Membership

Partnership Members Making News - March

3/17/25
The Greater Houston Partnership celebrates our members making important announcements and sharing news about their operations and impact in our region. Learn more about some of those announcements over the last month below.  Business Moves (breaking ground, expansion, business’ moving to Houston) Axiom Space is designing a commercial space station to replace the International Space Station, and North Carolina-based Red Hat Inc. will partner for Axiom Space’s Data Center Unit-1 (AxDCU-1), which is set to launch this spring to the International Space Station. Houston-based restaurant group, Goode Company, has set an opening date for the newest location of its Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina concept this spring, which will be located in the River Oaks Shopping Center. Griffin Partners, in partnership with Peakline Real Estate Funds, expects to break ground on Griffin 288/West Airport at 2218 Airport Blvd. in May. H-E-B is breaking ground in the city of Montgomery with a 127,186-square-foot store in August. NRG has reached a deal to buy six power-generation facilities from The Woodlands-based Rockland Capital LLC for $560 million, reinforcing their position as a leading generator in Texas. Rice University is preparing to break ground on the new Moody Center Complex for Student Life this spring, offering a new facility where students and the broader community can gather for events, performances and multicultural celebrations. Weaver has opened three offices in India this year and will open its fourth location in the country this month. Education BakerRipley is expanding its “Head Start” and “Early Head Start” programs in Fort Bend County, opening two new centers in the Missouri City area within the last year. Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce partners with local community colleges to apply for a state-funded grant intended to expand workforce training programs particularly in cybersecurity and tech training. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo plans to award more than $14.7 million to a total of 644 graduating high school seniors from the region. Rice University has established the Stinebaugh Family Financial Literacy Program after receiving a $3 million gift, focusing on financial planning and investing and will be open to both undergraduate and graduate students. Energy Transition  CenterPoint has surpassed a 50 percent completion milestone of its resiliency efforts, having installed 14,200 storm-resilient poles and more than 2,000 automated reliability devices, cleared 2,200 miles of vegetation and moved more than 280 miles of power lines underground. Chevron announced it is partnering with Massachusetts-based GE Vernova (NYSE: GEV) and activist investor Engine No. 1 to develop four gigawatts of natural gas-fired power plants to directly power data centers around the country. Health Care UTHealth is preparing to open the school's new $299 million research tower. The 10-story building broke ground in 2023 and is scheduled to be complete in 2026, with students set to move in that fall. Innovation  Houston Methodist Cypress is set to open a 570,000 square feet facility, concentrating on many technological innovations that Houston Methodist has been adding to its other hospitals in the Houston area to meet local care needs and expand capacity. Transportation  Sugar Land City Council approved a contract with River North Transit LLC for a microtransit pilot program, an on-demand ride share service offering affordable transportation in a limited service area.   If you are a member and want us to help communicate news about your organization, please send a press release or information about the announcement to member.engagement@houston.org and we will share it with our content team for possible inclusion in an upcoming roundup. Learn more about Partnership membership.
Read More
Public Policy

Deep Dive: Texas Lawmakers' Plans for Water Infrastructure Funding

3/14/25
Texas lawmakers are moving forward with securing the state's long-term water future with sweeping new legislation aimed at increasing water availability and funding critical infrastructure improvements. Senate Bill 7 (SB 7) lays out a comprehensive framework to address these challenges, reinforcing the state’s commitment to sustainable water solutions. The Partnership joins Texas 2036, a leading voice in the statewide coalition, in supporting this critical initiative. Filed by Sen. Charles Perry in early March, SB 7 represents one of the most anticipated policy measures of the legislative session. Here's a look at the proposed legislation in both chambers. What’s in the Bill? Sen. Perry was emphatic about the need for Texas to deliver a solution. “Water scarcity is no longer a distant threat,” the senator said in his Thursday press release announcing the bill's filing. “It’s here, and it’s already disrupting the lives of Texans across the state. From West and South Texas, where agriculture is being strangled, to communities struggling to keep up with economic and industrial growth, the lack of water has become the biggest limiting factor for our state’s future.” For decades, Sen. Perry has been a leading voice on this issue. SB 7 is the culmination of decades of work that saw its first taste of victory in 2023 with the creation of the Texas Water Fund. In SB 7, the plan includes three key components: expanded authority for the Texas Water Development Board to deliver funding for water projects, enhanced legislative oversight through the restructured Texas Water Fund Advisory Committee, and improved reporting and accountability measures. What are ‘Sweeping Changes’? SB 7 is targeting the following initiatives to bring new water resources across the Lone Star State: Creates the Texas Water Fund Advisory Committee to provide oversight of all Texas Water Fund activities Requires the Texas Water Development Board (TWBD) to submit a biennial progress report to the Legislature regarding projects financed with Texas Water Fund money Creates the Office of Water Supply Conveyance Coordination to optimize water supply infrastructure construction for regional and statewide interconnection and interoperability Protects non-saline groundwater reserves in the state’s rapidly depleting freshwater aquifers Preserves local control over surface water rights Authorizes TWDB’s state water bank program to purchase out-of-state water for importation to meet the needs of Texans across the state Expands both project eligibility for financing from the New Water Supply for Texas Fund and the available methods of financing Prioritizes wastewater treatment projects in rural communities and small cities for financial assistance Adds the Flood Infrastructure Fund to the Texas Water Fund structure, allowing flood projects to be financed using the funding stream constitutionally dedicated by Senate Joint Resolution 66. Click here to download the one-pager outlining the goals for SB 7 and Senate Joint Resolution 66. What is in the House Bill? There are many similarities between SB 7 and House Bill 16 (HB 16) by Representative Cody Harris. The latter is broader in scope, with differences in approach to water infrastructure development, financial allocations, legislative oversight, and reporting measures. Here are several highlights from HB 16: Expands funding for produced water treatment projects, excluding those identified for oil and gas exploration Emphasizes prioritization of rural populations (less than 150,000) and projects with significant progress on state/federal permitting Allows funding transfers for the economically distressed areas program account and ensures funding for public water awareness, water conservation, and water loss mitigation Slightly modifies the makeup of Texas Water Fund Advisory Committee—including a seat for Texas Department of Emergency Management Expands the duties of the committee to conduct regular reviews of historically underutilized businesses participation, annual reports on statewide supply expansion, and direct oversight of state water project funding Requires regular reports to the legislature with updates on project delivery, completed infrastructure repairs and economic benefits of funded projects What’s Next? HB 16 has already been referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources. SB 7 will likely be referred to the Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs, which Sen. Perry chairs. One version of the bill must pass the legislative process. If the House or Senate makes significant modifications after the first chamber's approval, a Conference Committee may be convened to reconcile the differences and finalize a unified version. The Partnership will continue to provide updates as the bill advances.  
Read More

Related Events

Membership

30th Annual Golf Classic

The Greater Houston Partnership is excited to announce the 30th Annual Golf Classic, a milestone celebration of one of our most cherished events. Reserve your spot to join us at Memorial Park…

Learn More
Learn More
Executive Partners