Few would argue the key to any country’s success hinges on the availability of jobs. As the largest petrochemical complex in the U.S. and the second largest in the world, the 52-mile Houston Ship Channel is responsible “either directly or indirectly,” said Todd Monette, for more than 1 million jobs in Texas, as well as a $178.5 billion statewide impact.
According to Monette, chairman of the board of East Harris County Manufacturers Association (EHCMA), the channel “really does drive the economy in Houston.”
Representing more than 130 facilities in East Houston, EHCMA’s 90-member companies employ more than 30,000 workers; the group’s $12 billion economic aggregate impacts the area through taxes, payrolls, purchases and capital expenditures.
Accentuating EHCMA’s dedication to providing “the quality skilled workers needed” to support jobs generated by EHCMA’s combined industries, including the Houston Ship Channel, Monette said career outreach is being conducted in the schools to students as young as fourth graders.
“Every month, we meet with 10,000 to 15,000 students, teachers and parents, educating them about the opportunities in our industry,” he told a group of nearly 50 educators attending Texas Chemical Council’s Science Teachers and Industry Workshop held recently in Houston.
Careers in the petrochemical industry, ranging from highly technical positions like engineers and lab technicians to pipefitters and welders, are and will be available to dedicated students, said Monette, who is also the manager of Houston’s LyondellBasell refinery.
“We’re right in the middle of a manufacturing renaissance that’s driving the economy of our country,” he said.
The emergence in 2008 of shale and its accompanying technologies, Monette said, has been a huge driver of that renaissance of economic growth, providing more jobs in the U.S. energy sector.
“I had mainly worked in refineries, but every chemical plant I worked at was essentially either starting to think about how to shut down, or how to streamline,” Monette said.
“We’ve always been able to find oil, but what has happened is a technology change. We’d been drilling for oil vertically with gas as a by-product. Then technology started to shift,” he explained. “We ended up with a technology shift that allows us to drill horizontally.
“Not only is the volume going up, but costs to produce oil and gas are going down, which leads to a pretty significant economic picture.”
The resulting profit, Monette said, has been a surge in employment opportunities that will continue well into the next 30 or more years.
“What has shale done for us?” Monette queried, continuing his analysis. “We’re competing with Saudi Arabia in terms of being able to take ethane that comes out of the ground and turning it into chemicals we use in our everyday products. Ultimately, our competitive position was changed by technology. It’s a big deal!”
Monette stressed this development is not specific to the Gulf Coast region.
“There’s a huge amount of work going on across our whole country. You literally see pipelines converting. Where you used to push products out of the Gulf Coast, we’re now bringing oil into the Gulf Coast — mainly crude oil. You see gas pipelines that were going out that are now reversing and taking gas everywhere across the country,” he said.
“This investment story is not just about our chemical plants and our refineries,” Monette concluded. “There’s a whole logistical platform that’s being developed that’s going to be a sustainable picture for a long, long time.”
For more information, visit www.ehcma.org or www.txchemcouncil.org.
