Travis Woods, founder of Gulf Coast Industrial Group (GCIG), recently shared a developing, eye-opening industrial phenomenon: the need for 54,000 people to move into the Gulf Coast area to fill jobs being created by numerous new projects.
GCIG makes industrial growth forecast
Travis Woods, founder of Gulf Coast Industrial Group (GCIG)
“One hundred and seventy one billion dollars’ worth of projects are breaking loose in Texas’ Golden Triangle, as well as in Lake Charles and Cameron, Louisiana,” Woods said. “We need a way to bring contractors into our front door to sit and listen to what we’ve got.”
When asked what qualifications a new hire must possess to be considered for one of these positions, Woods said one hiring authority responded, “They need to be able to walk and chew bubble gum, pass a drug test, and show up.”
“She said, ‘Would you happen to have 15 to 20 people you could recommend personally? We don’t have time to go through 4,000 resumes,’” Woods said.
Woods put out the word among his social, professional and church contacts, and provided the company with his personal referrals. “So they’re going to take these 15 to 20 people to Houston and start training them. In approximately 10 months, the company will have more trailers and have a place for these new recruits to reside.”
During his presentation at the annual Southwest Insulation Contractors Association Conference held in Houston, Woods, whose organization aims to help match qualified contractors for industry jobs, shared another example of the tremendous growth occurring throughout the region.
“I went through a plant in California and said, ‘Well, okay, I love this place, but why am I here?’” Woods said.
His host enthusiastically replied: “We’re moving to Beaumont, Texas!”
“They locked down about 1300 acres with the intention of building a solar farm,” Woods said
Woods pinpointed several companies who are currently or about to embark on major petrochemical and energy projects.
“OCI Methanol is investing $5 billion and just released $1.5 billion on what they call, “The Deep Blue Project” — a blue ammonia project right here in Beaumont,” Woods said. “They’re breaking ground right now, so it’s a good time to get in.”
Jefferson Refinery, Woods said, bought the former Independent Refining Company near Winnie, Texas, which, upon completion, will process approximately 30,000 bbl of crude oil per day.
“And ExxonMobil just put a big, $6 billion project online,” Woods continued. “How about this: This is going to be the largest refinery in the northern hemisphere. Motiva was 600,000 b/d. Now, Exxon will produce 650,000 b/d. So we look for Motiva to probably kick it into high gear.”
“And how about Scout Clean Energy out of Boulder, Colorado?” Woods asked. “Scout is going to build 100 wind turbines south of Winnie.”
Further, he said, Talos Energy has embarked upon a $3 billion carbon capture project, in conjunction with Chevron.
“ExxonMobil said, ‘Carbon capture will spend, in the next 30 years, $4 trillion.’ That’s trillion, with a T. I’m just getting used to saying billion!” Woods said. “It’s just tremendous, what is happening.”
Additionally, Air Products in Texas City, Woods continued, has launched “a big $4.5 billion plant.
“They’re building pipeline all the way to Geismar, Louisiana, where they’re building another facility,” Woods said. “They’re going to capture that carbon, put it in those pipelines and store it because there are a couple of people out there who intend to turn the carbon into a burnable fuel. But while they’re storing it, the federal government is giving a tax credit per 100 pounds that they store. So why are these guys spending almost $10 billion on Air Products? Because they’re getting about 60-70% back on a tax credit!”
Woods said he encourages anyone interested in benefitting from this $171 billion investment — regardless of what industry they may be in — to “think outside the box.”
“If you can’t get inside a plant, think about what’s going on outside of that plant,” he said. “Folks are moving to town and when they get here, they’ll need gasoline, clothes, food and trucks.”
“A wave is coming,” Woods concluded. “A perfect storm.”
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