ADVERTISEABOUT USSUBMIT A STORYSUBSCRIBETERMS OF USEPRIVACY POLICY
Visit our family of Brands

4 Houston energy & chemical giants boast best corporate culture, says Forbes

Where to Work

LYB joins BP, NRG Energy and Chevron Phillips Chemical on the list. Photo via lyondellbasell.com

Four Houston energy and chemical giants have just landed on Forbes' new ranking of "America's Best Employers for Company Culture." The report highlights six more Houston-area companies for their inspiring company culture.

Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista to survey over 218,000 workers at companies with at least 1,000 employees throughout the U.S, and relied on data from the past three years of employee surveys (with an emphasis on the most recent data and recommendations from current employees). Companies don't pay to be included, Forbes additionally noted.

Among the final list of 600 U.S. companies, 30 Texas employers were praised for providing "a unifying company culture that inspires a sense of purpose and loyalty among employees."

The Houston employers in the energy and chemical sector are:

  • No. 325 – BP
  • No. 492 – Chevron Phillips Chemical
  • No. 558 – NRG Energy
  • No. 593 – LyondellBassell

According to the report's research, employers with a successful company culture don't rely on "surface-level perks" such as free lunches, wellness apps, and flex days to inspire employee engagement. Instead, employers that focused on conflict resolution and coaching their managers saw a reduction in employee burnout and an increase in "perceptions of fairness and leadership care."

"In fact, the researchers noted that when 'senior leaders changed how they led — how they ran meetings, gave feedback, made decisions and responded to challenge — trust scores rose by an average of 26 percent,'" the report said.

The six other Houston-area companies that earned national acclaim for their company culture are:

  • No. 15 — Houston Methodist
  • No. 47 — MD Anderson
  • No. 220 – Stewart Info Services
  • No. 332 – Baylor College of Medicine
  • No. 525 – Insperity
  • No. 586 – Waste Management

Other Texas employers with great company culture:

Elsewhere in Texas, 15 North Texas companies and five Central Texas companies were included on Forbes' list of employers with the best company culture.

The three Austin-area companies that earned spots on the list include Austin Community College District (No. 56), Round Rock-based Dell Technologies (No. 207), and Keller Williams Realty (No. 352).

The two San Antonio-based companies that made the cut are beloved Texas grocery chain H-E-B (No. 445), and municipal electric utility company CPS Energy (No. 551).

The 15 Dallas-Fort Worth-based companies that made the list include:

  • No. 58 – The Container Store, Coppell
  • No. 73 – Lewisville Independent School District, Lewisville
  • No. 117 – Southwest Airlines, Dallas
  • No. 123 –Topgolf, Dallas
  • No. 170 – McKesson, Irving
  • No. 190 – Kimberly-Clark, Irving
  • No. 245 – Jacobs Solutions,Dallas
  • No. 312 – Brinker International, Coppell
  • No. 350 – Texas Health Resources, Arlington
  • No. 482 – Toyota North America, Plano
  • No. 562 – Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), Dallas
  • No. 567 – AT&T, Dallas
  • No. 569 – Energy Transfer, Dallas
  • No. 591 – American Airlines Group, Fort Worth
  • No. 597 – Aimbridge Hospitality, Plano
---

A version of this article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Houston is the epicenter of energy and power resilience. Photo courtesy of HETI

Key takeaways from HETI's Resilient Power Fueling Houston's Economy event

The View From HETI

Recently, the Resilient Power Fueling Houston’s Growing Economy workshop hosted by The Greater Houston Partnership’s Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI) brought together more than 80 industry, civic and innovation leaders in Houston to examine the region’s ability to meet rising demand with resilient power leadership.

The overarching message was clear: Houston is the epicenter of energy and power resilience and the “all of the above” strategy continues to position Houston well for the mission of continued economic growth for the region.

Morning highlights

Keynote speakers and panelists throughout the morning sessions highlighted that Houston’s ability to collaborate is creating real opportunities in a time of significant complexity and uncertainty in the power landscape. Discussions also focused on strategic approaches to resilience in both generation and transmission to serve growing power demand and drive economic growth over the near-term and long-term.

A successful near-term strategy highlighted in the workshop is the innovative business partnership to provide resilience for H-E-B’s retail operations with Enchanted Rock’s bridge-to-grid power solutions. The impact of growing sources of power demand was explored, including the decarbonization of industry and increasing digitization, and the essential collaborations between the energy and tech sectors to drive effective long-term power resilience and economic growth were discussed.

Notable quotes

“Public-private collaborations are the key to solve long-term power resilience problems with the technical expertise and investment capital of corporations and a right-sized local government approach” – Angela Blanchard, Chief Resilience Officer, City of Houston

"The risks and challenges in terms of our net zero power goals require both urgency and long-term focus to drive standardization across the system with speed.” – Sverre Brandsberg-Dahl, General Manager & Head of Product, Microsoft Cloud for Energy

Afternoon highlights

Afternoon sessions focused on complexities and challenges in the current power landscape, as well as policy enablers, investment trends, and innovations driving growth in Houston’s power sector. Stakeholder engagement, supply chain, permitting, and policy emerged from these discussions as key enablers for power and infrastructure investment, innovation, and project advancement.

Advancing and accelerating power and infrastructure projects will require focusing on the critical needs of land, power, and permits. Public-private investment partnerships, along with redesigned regulatory architecture and redirected government incentives, can enable and accelerate innovation and emerging technologies within the power sector.

Notable quotes

“Broad based stakeholder engagement on the ground – early and often – is necessary for the build-out of large-scale power infrastructure.” – Al Vickers, Chief Operating Officer, Grid United

“Learning curves are essential to cost curves, iterative improvement is paramount to project execution.” – Mary Dhillon, Strategy Lead, Fervo Energy

“Show us good unit economics, and we will find the capital for those power and infrastructure projects.” – Michael Johnson, Vice Chairman, Energy Transition Investment Banking, J.P. Morgan

Houston’s resilient power leadership demonstrated through a unique “all of the above” approach with a broad range of investments and collaborations across sectors is creating sustained value for businesses and development opportunities for communities. The insights shared in this workshop reinforce the critical need for resilience of the power sector to meet growing demand for continued economic prosperity in the Houston region.

As the world moves toward a future of significant power demand growth, the power sector should prioritize integrated strategies, stakeholder engagement, supply chain, permitting, and policy as key enablers for innovation, investment, and collaboration.

———

This article originally ran on the Greater Houston Partnership's Houston Energy Transition Initiative blog. HETI exists to support Houston's future as an energy leader. Power resilience is a strategic imperative for the Greater Houston Partnership, and power management continues to be a key workstream for HETI. To learn more about HETI's work in power management and resilience, connect with us at contactheti@houston.org. And for more information about HETI, EnergyCapitalHTX's presenting sponsor, visit htxenergytransition.org.

David Hudson has been named CEO of Elemental Recycling. Photo via LinkedIn

Houston recycling company names new CEO

mover and shaker

A Houston company that turns recycled plastics into high-purity graphene and hydrogen has named its new leader.

David Hudson has been named CEO of Elemental Recycling. The company, founded in 2019, is an investment of Freestone, a portfolio company of Tailwater Capital. He succeeds Tom Samuels, former CEO and board chair of the company.

"With over two decades of proven expertise in driving strategic growth and profitability across the recycling, waste management, sustainability, and decarbonization sectors, David brings a wealth of experience that makes him the ideal leader to take the reins and guide Elemental into its next phase of innovation and growth," Samuels says in a news release. "I am excited about the possibilities that lie ahead for the company under David's leadership. His proven track record and passion for driving positive change make him the perfect steward for the next chapter of Elemental's journey."

Hudson has over 20 years of experience within sustainability across industries. He founded and led Circulus Holdings, a company that turned post-consumer plastics into resins for commercial and industrial use. In that role, he raised almost half a billion dollars in investments, per the news release. He also held leadership roles at Ara Partners, Avangard Innovative, Recology, and Strategic Materials.

"I am grateful for the opportunity to join this exceptional team and contribute to the continued success of Elemental," Hudson says in the release. "Tom's leadership, along with the vision of founders Ron Presswood and Ian Bishop, has positioned the company to become a driving force in the recycling, sustainability, decarbonization, and advanced materials sectors.

"Elemental boasts an exceptional team, and I am eager to collaborate with each member as we navigate the path ahead," he continues. "I am confident that, together, we will grow the Company into a major player in the graphene and hydrogen production spaces and continue to advance Elemental's mission of sustainability."

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Texas City ammonia plant acquired by Yara in $1.3 billion deal

Ammonia Acquisition

Yara North America, a subsidiary of Norwegian fertilizer and ammonia producer Yara International, has agreed to buy an ammonia production plant in Texas City for $1.3 billion.

The seller is GCA Holdings, an affiliate of Texas City-based chemical manufacturer Gulf Coast Ammonia, which is owned by private equity firms Lotus Infrastructure Partners and MB Energy.

The Texas City plant, with an eventual annual capacity of 1.3 million metric tons, is expected to start full production by the end of this year. Yara says the ammonia produced by the plant will serve its own fertilizer production system and its key customers.

During a recent call with analysts and investors, Magnus Ankarstrand, executive vice president and CFO of Yara International, said the plant holds the potential to become one of the company’s most profitable plants. The $1.3 billion purchase price, he added, “is a very attractive entry ticket to ammonia production in the U.S. at a very attractive cost.”

The Texas City plant will add to Yara’s holdings in the Lone Star State, as Yara is the majority owner of an ammonia, hydrogen and nitrogen production plant in Freeport.

Construction of the ammonia plant began in 2020, but technical and infrastructure issues delayed the project. On its website, Gulf Coast Ammonia says the plant represented a $600 million investment.

“Gulf Coast Ammonia is a world-class asset that required disciplined execution across development, financing, construction, and commercial structuring,” Philipp Pletka, managing director of Lotus Infrastructure Partners, says in a news release.

Trexlertown, Pennsylvania-based Air Products, which owns and operates the country’s largest hydrogen pipeline network, will continue to supply hydrogen and nitrogen for the plant under a long-term deal with Yara, according to the release.

However, the news comes two days after Yara International announced that it would no longer be purchasing ammonia assets in the Louisiana Clean Energy Complex (LCEC) from Air Products. In a separate release, Yara said it planned to reallocate funds toward "alternative mature U.S. ammonia investment opportunities with more competitive returns."

Houston hypersonic engine company lands $91M to accelerate production

Clean Speed

Houston-based Venus Aerospace has closed a $91 million Series B round and plans to scale the production of its hypersonic engine.

The round was led by Houston-based Mercury Fund with participation from Lockheed Martin Ventures, MESH, PEAK6, Draper Associates, Starboard Star Venture Capital, Green Sands Equity and other investors, according to a news release.

The investment comes about a year after Venus completed the first U.S. flight test of its high-thrust rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE). The engine is expected to enable vehicles to travel four to six times the speed of sound from a conventional runway and is about 15 percent more efficient than traditional alternatives, according to the company.

Venus Aerospace says the latest round of funding will allow it to move the RDRE from demonstration to deployment and meet customer requirements for the near-term defense and space industries. The company says that the reusable RDRE is designed with a "common propulsion architecture" that can work for multiple industries and mission types.

“This financing marks an important step in moving Venus from breakthrough demonstration to scaled capability,” Sassie Duggleby, co-founder and CEO, said in the news release. “Our customers need propulsion systems that go farther, can be produced reliably and are built on supply chains they can trust. We are advancing that capability with American engineering and manufacturing talent to strengthen U.S. defense, expand space access and support the future of high-speed flight.”

Venus Aerospace raised a $20 million Series A in 2022, led by Wyoming-based Prime Movers Lab. At the time, the company said it would put the funding toward three main technologies: a next-generation rocket engine, aircraft shape and leading-edge cooling system.

The company also picked up an investment from Lockheed Martin Ventures, the investment arm of aerospace and defense contractor Lockheed Martin, in November 2025—in addition to funding from other investors over the years.

“Since our initial investment, Venus has progressed very quickly in its technology development," Chris Moran, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures, added in the release. "Our reinvestment in Venus recognizes Venus’ accomplishments to date and focus on speed to manufacture, cost management and reduction of supply chain constraints. Venus is working effectively to position its propulsion system for the production scale required by defense programs.”

"Venus is exactly the kind of company Houston capital should be backing," Blair Garrou, co-founder and managing partner at Mercury Fund, added in the release. "It combines multiple frontier technologies, domestic manufacturing and clear commercial and national security relevance. We believe this team is positioned to lead an important new chapter in defense and space, and we are proud to support a company building breakthrough technology here in Texas."

Venus Aerospace and Houston clean tech startup Vaulted Deep were also named to the World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneers community earlier this summer.

---

This article first appeared on InnovationMap.com.

14 climatech startups join Greentown Houston in first half of 2026

green team

Climatech incubator Greentown Labs reports that 14 startups have joined its Houston community so far this year.

The companies are among 30 new startups to have joined Greentown Houston and Greentown Boston in 2026. Four of the companies are headquartered in Houston.

The startups are working on a range of "hydrogen-powered heavy-duty transport to AI-driven grid interconnection," according to Greentown.

The local startups that joined Greentown Houston include:

  • Houston-based Focis AI, which transforms industrial laser scans into structured asset intelligence to automatically identify, classify and map components in refineries and plants
  • Houston-based Iron Lattice, which develops next-generation memory technology for AI and high-performance computing that improves energy efficiency, endurance and scalability while remaining compatible with existing semiconductor manufacturing
  • Houston-based Orbital Arc, which is developing a new ion engine designed to improve the efficiency and scalability of spacecraft propulsion from low Earth orbit to deep space
  • Houston-based Sustain Energy LLC, which delivers cleaner, lower-cost fuel to industrial customers in pipeline-absent, underserved markets, cutting their energy costs and emissions with no infrastructure investment on their end

Other startups from around the world joined the Houston incubator in the same time period, including:

  • Ankara-based AIS Field, which develops robotic, AI-assisted non-destructive inspection systems, including submersible tank and boiler crawlers
  • San Francisco-based Armada AI, which builds rapidly deployable modular and edge data centers that run on local, stranded, or renewable power
  • San Francisco-based Armeta, which turns complex engineering drawings and legacy documentation into structured, usable data
  • Pittsburgh-based Atlas Robotics, which develops a Physical AI platform that powers autonomous material-handling robots and AI-guided forklifts
  • Ghana-based Cocoa Potash, which transforms high-emissions agricultural waste from cocoa, coconut, and palm-nut into organic potash, fertilizer and renewable energy
  • Israel-based Criaterra, which produces low-carbon, cement-free building materials
  • Italy-based ETAK, which manufactures modular reactors that convert solid waste into clean syngas
  • Kenya-based FelixFusion, which uses its Felix platform to model every grid connection point, including capacity, upgrade costs, and constraints
  • San Diego-based Gemini Energy, which builds next-generation fuel cells for data-center power
  • Tokyo-based Hibot, which develops robotic systems for inspecting and maintaining infrastructure in hazardous, hard-to-access environments
  • Austin-based Sheetak, which designs and manufactures thermoelectric coolers, generators, and assemblies for solid-state cooling and energy harvesting
  • The Netherlands-based ToPerform, which makes AI-powered, non-intrusive fouling sensors that monitor pipelines around the clock and predict the optimal cleaning time

Another 16 startups joined Greentown's Boston incubator. See the full list of new members here.

More than 100 startups joined Greentown last year, according to an end-of-year reflection shared by Greentown CEO Georgina Campbell Flatter. Read more about them here.

View All Listings