In a recent article by Community Impact News it was reported:

Much of the Greater Houston area is experiencing an economic slowdown due to cheaper oil, but some areas—including the Sugar Land and Missouri City area—are faring better than others.

In September, oil prices dropped to $41.60 per barrel, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, compared to $86.87 per barrel in September 2014.

Despite job losses in the oil and gas industry, Jeff Wiley, president of the Greater Fort Bend Economic Development Council, said the Sugar Land and Missouri City area is faring well. He said significant investments in the health care and retail industries as well as a growing tax base, are factors that continue to promote economic stability in Fort Bend County.

“We have a very diversified economy,” he said. Despite the downturn in the industry, both cities are seeing steady increases in sales and use tax revenue.

Sugar Land and Missouri City are poised to resist the larger effects of the downturn in the oil and gas industry, Wiley said. In fact, Schlumberger and Nalco Champion, two of the largest energy firms in the county, are growing locally.

“[The cities’ financial stability] has really been as a result of these two successful corporate relocations,” he said.

Declining Sales Tax: Mining, Quarrying & OilIn October, Schlumberger—a Houston-based oil field services company—announced plans to relocate its headquarters from the Galleria area to its Sugar Land campus. The move is expected to create more than 500 new jobs and $200 million in capital investment, according to Sugar Land city officials.

Last year, Nalco Champion—an Ecolab special chemistry program that assists with oil and gas operations—confirmed it would expand its Sugar Land campus by constructing a 133,500-square-foot headquarters in Sugar Land.

Wiley said as many as 800 to 1,000 people would move back to the area for the jobs created by Nalco Champion and Schlumberger.

“We’ll start to see employment increase from [the relocations],” he said.

Fort Bend County has also benefited from growing tax bases as a result of new development projects, particularly housing construction.

“Generally speaking, we have a high-growth county,” Wiley said. “Master-planned communities are still attracting people.”

Fort Bend County has 14 master-planned communities, which is more than any other county in the state of Texas.

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