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How executive education retains your best employees + drives success

Investing in People

Photo courtesy of Rice University

Hiring is tough, but retaining great people is even harder. Ask almost any manager what keeps them up at night, and the answer usually comes back to the same thing: How do we keep our best employees growing here instead of looking elsewhere?

One reliable approach has held up across industries. When people see their employer investing in their development, they’re more likely to stay, contribute, and imagine a future with the organization.

The data backs this up. Employees who take part in ongoing training are far less likely to leave, and the effect is especially strong for younger workers. One national survey found that 86% of millennials would stay with an employer that invests in their development. Companies that build a real learning culture see retention jump by 30-50%. The pattern is consistent: When people can learn and advance, they stay.

The ROI of executive education
Professional development signals value, but it also builds capability. When people have access to structured learning, they become better problem-solvers, more adaptable, and more confident leading through change.

That's the focus of Executive Education at Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business. The portfolio is built for the realities of modern leadership: AI and digital transformation courses for teams navigating new technologies, and deeper programs in innovation and strategy for leaders sharpening long-term thinking.

“People, managers, professionals, and executives in all functional areas of business can benefit from this program,” notes Jing Zhou, Mary Gibbs Jones Professor of Management and Psychology at Rice. “We teach the fundamental principles of how to drive innovation and broaden the cognitive space.”

That perspective runs through every offering, from the Rice Advanced Management Program to the Leadership Accelerator and Leading Innovation. Each program gives participants practical tools to think strategically, work across teams and make meaningful change inside their organizations.

Building the leadership pipeline
Leadership development isn’t a perk anymore. It’s a strategic need for any organization that wants to grow and stay competitive.

Employers know this — nearly two-thirds say leadership training is essential to their success — yet employees still report feeling stalled. Reports find 74% of employees feel they aren’t reaching their potential because they lacked meaningful growth opportunities.

Rice Business designs its Executive Education programs to address that gap. The Rice Advanced Management Program, for example, supports leaders preparing for C-suite, board, or enterprise-level roles. Its format — two in-person modules separated by several weeks — gives participants space to test ideas at work, return with questions, and build on what they’ve learned. The structure fits demanding executive schedules while creating room for deeper reflection and richer peer connections.

Just as important, the program helps senior leaders align on strategy and culture. Participants develop a shared language and build stronger relationships, which translates into clearer decision-making, better collaboration, and less burnout across teams.

Houston’s advantage
Houston gives Rice Business Executive Education a distinctive edge. The city’s position in energy, healthcare, logistics, and innovation means participants are learning in the middle of a global business ecosystem. That proximity brings a mix of perspectives you don’t get in more siloed markets, and it pushes leaders to apply ideas to real-world problems in real time.

The expertise runs deep on campus, as well. Participants learn from faculty who are shaping conversations in their fields, not just teaching from a playbook. For many organizations, that outside perspective is a meaningful complement to in-house training — a chance to stretch thinking, challenge assumptions, and broaden leadership capacity.

Rice Business offers multiple paths into that experience, from open-enrollment programs like Leading Organizational Change, Executive Leadership for Women, or Driving Growth through AI and Digital Transformation to fully customized corporate partnerships. Across all formats, the focus is the same: education that is practical, relevant, and built for impact.

Investing in retention and results
When organizations make room for real development, the payoff shows up quickly: higher engagement, stronger leadership pipelines, and lower turnover. It also shapes the culture. People are more willing to take risks, ask better questions, and stay curious when they know learning is part of the job.

As Brent Smith, senior associate dean for Executive Education at Rice Business, explains, “There’s a layer of learning in leadership that’s about helping people adopt a leadership identity — to see themselves as the actual leader for their organization. That’s not an easy transition, but it’s the foundation of lasting success.”

For companies that want to build loyalty, deepen leadership capacity, and stay competitive in a fast-changing environment, investing in people isn’t optional. Rice Business Executive Education offers a clear path to do it well. Learn more here.

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ERCOT approves $9.4B project to improve grid, meet data center demand

power project

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the electric grid for 90 percent of Texans, is undertaking a $9.4 billion project to improve the reliability and efficiency of statewide power distribution. The initiative comes as ERCOT copes with escalating demand for electricity from data centers and cryptocurrency-mining facilities.

The project, approved Dec. 9 by ERCOT’s board, will involve building a 1,109-mile “super highway” of new 765-kilovolt transmission lines. One kilovolt equals 1,000 volts of electricity.

According to the Hoodline Dallas news site, the $9.4 billion project represents the five- to six-year first phase of ERCOT’s Strategic Transmission Expansion Plan (STEP). Hoodline says the plan, whose price tag is nearly $33 billion, calls for 2,468 miles of new 765-kilovolt power lines.

STEP will enable ERCOT to “move power longer distances with fewer losses,” Hoodline reports.

Upgrading the ERCOT grid is a key priority amid continued population growth in Texas, along with the state’s explosion of new data centers and cryptocurrency-mining facilities.

ERCOT says about 11,000 megawatts of new power generation capacity have been added to the ERCOT grid since last winter.

But in a report released ahead of the December board meeting, ERCOT says it received 225 requests this year from large power users to connect to its grid — a 270 percent uptick in the number of megawatts being sought by mega-users since last December. Nearly three-fourths (73 percent) of the requests came from data centers.

Allan Schurr, chief commercial officer of Houston-based Enchanted Rock, a provider of products and services for microgrids and onsite power generation, tells Energy Capital that the quickly expanding data center industry is putting “unprecedented pressure” on ERCOT’s grid.

“While the state has added new generation and transmission capacity, lengthy interconnection timelines and grid-planning limitations mean that supply and transmission are not keeping pace with this rapid expansion,” Schurr says. “This impacts both reliability and affordability.”

For families in Texas, this could result in higher energy bills, he says. Meanwhile, critical facilities like hospitals and grocery stores face a heightened challenge of preventing power outages during extreme weather or at other times when the ERCOT grid is taxed.

“I expect this trend to continue as AI and high-density computing grow, driving higher peak demand and greater grid variability — made even more complex by more renewables, extreme weather and other large energy users, like manufacturers,” Schurr says.

According to the Pew Research Center, data centers accounted for 4 percent of U.S. electricity use in 2024, and power demand from data centers is expected to more than double by 2030. Data centers that support the AI boom make up much of the rising demand.

In September, RBN Energy reported more than 10 massive data-center campuses had been announced in Texas, with dozens more planned. The Lone Star State is already home to roughly 400 data centers.

“Texas easily ranks among the nation’s top states for existing data centers, with only Virginia edging it out in both data-center count and associated power demand,” says RBN Energy.

Federal judge strikes Trump order blocking wind energy development

wind win

In a win for clean energy and wind projects in Texas and throughout the U.S., a federal judge struck down President Donald Trump’s “Day One” executive order that blocked wind energy development on federal lands and waters, the Associated Press reports.

Judge Patti Saris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated Trump’s executive order from Jan. 20, declaring it unlawful and calling it “arbitrary and capricious.”

The challenge was led by a group of state attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C., which was led by New York Attorney General Letitia James. The coalition pushed back against Trump's order , arguing that the administration didn’t have the authority to halt project permitting, and that efforts would critically impact state economies, the energy industry, public health and climate relief efforts.

White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told the Associated Press that wind projects were given unfair treatment during the Biden Administration and cited that the rest of the energy industry suffered from regulations.

According to the American Clean Power Association, wind is the largest source of renewable energy in the U.S. It provides 10 percent of the electricity generated—and growing. Texas leads the nation in wind electricity generation, accounting for 28 percent of the U.S. total in 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Several clean-energy initiatives have been disrupted by recent policy changes, impacting Houston projects.

The Biden era Inflation Reduction Act’s 10-year hydrogen incentive was shortened under Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, prompting ExxonMobil to pause its Baytown low-carbon hydrogen project. That project — and two others in the Houston region — also lost federal support as part of a broader $700 million cancellation tied to DOE cuts.

Meanwhile, Texas House Democrats have urged the administration to restore a $250 million Solar for All grant that would have helped low-income households install solar panels.

Texas launches cryptocurrency reserve with $5 million Bitcoin purchase

Digital Deals

Texas has launched its new cryptocurrency reserve with a $5 million purchase of Bitcoin as the state continues to embrace the volatile and controversial digital currency.

The Texas Comptroller’s Office confirmed the purchase was made last month as a “placeholder investment” while the office works to contract with a cryptocurrency bank to manage its portfolio.

The purchase is one of the first of its kind by a state government, made during a year where the price of Bitcoin has exploded amid the embrace of the digital currency by President Donald Trump’s administration and the rapid expansion of crypto mines in Texas.

“The Texas Legislature passed a bold mandate to create the nation’s first Strategic Bitcoin Reserve,” acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock wrote in a statement. “Our goal for implementation is simple: build a secure reserve that strengthens the state’s balance sheet. Texas is leading the way once again, and we’re proud to do it.”

The purchase represents half of the $10 million the Legislature appropriated for the strategic reserve during this year’s legislative session, but just a sliver of the state’s $338 billion budget.

However, the purchase is still significant, making Texas the first state to fund a strategic cryptocurrency reserve. Arizona and New Hampshire have also passed laws to create similar strategic funds but have not yet purchased cryptocurrency.

Wisconsin and Michigan made pension fund investments in cryptocurrency last year.

The Comptroller’s office purchased the Bitcoin the morning of Nov. 20 when the price of a single bitcoin was $91,336, according to the Comptroller’s office. As of Friday afternoon, Bitcoin was worth slightly less than the price Texas paid, trading for $89,406.

University of Houston energy economist Ed Hirs questioned the state’s investment, pointing to Bitcoin’s volatility. That makes it a bad investment of taxpayer dollars when compared to more common investments in the stock and bond markets, he said.

“The ordinary mix [in investing] is one that goes away from volatility,” Hirs said. “The goal is to not lose to the market. Once the public decides this really has no intrinsic value, then it will be over, and taxpayers will be left holding the bag.”

The price of Bitcoin is down significantly from an all-time high of $126,080 in early October.

Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council, argued the state is making a good investment because the price of Bitcoin has trended upward ever since it first launched in early 2009.

“It’s only a 16-year-old asset, so the volatility, both in the up and down direction, will smooth out over time,” Bratcher said. “We still want it to retain some of those volatility characteristics because that’s how we could see those upward moves that will benefit the state’s finances in the future.”

Bratcher said the timing of the state’s investment was shrewd because he believes it is unlikely to be valued this low again.

The investment comes at a time that the crypto industry has found a home in Texas.

Rural counties have become magnets for crypto mines ever since China banned crypto mining in 2021 and Gov. Greg Abbott declared “Texas is open for crypto business” in a post on social media.

The state is home to at least 27 Bitcoin facilities, according to the Texas Blockchain Council, making it the world’s top crypto mining spot. The two largest crypto mining facilities in the world call Texas home.

The industry has also come under criticism as it expands.

Critics point to the industry’s significant energy usage, with crypto mines in the state consuming 2,717 megawatts of power in 2023, according to the comptroller’s office. That is enough electricity to power roughly 680,000 homes.

Crypto mines use large amounts of electricity to run computers that run constantly to produce cryptocurrencies, which are decentralized digital currencies used as alternatives to government-backed traditional currencies.

A 2023 study by energy research and consulting firm Wood Mackenzie commissioned by The New York Times found that Texans’ electric bills had risen nearly 5%, or $1.8 billion per year, due to the increase in demand on the state power grid created by crypto mines.

Residents living near crypto mines have also complained that the amount of job creation promised by the facilities has not materialized and the noise of their operation is a nuisance.

“Texas should be reinvesting Texan’s tax money in things that truly bolster the economy long term, living wage, access to quality healthcare, world class public schools,” said state Sen. Molly Cook, D-Houston, who voted against the creation of the strategic fund. “Instead it feels like they’re almost gambling our money on something that is known to be really volatile and has not shown to be a tide that raises all boats.”

State Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, who authored the bill that created the fund, said at the time it passed that it will allow Texas to “lead and compete in the digital economy.”

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This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

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