7 Houston energy-focused businesses among Time's best midsize companies 2025

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CenterPoint is one of 13 Houston companies on Time's list. Photo via centerpoint.com

Seven Houston-based businesses focused on the energy industry appear on Time magazine and Statista’s new ranking of the country’s best midsize companies.

Time and Statista ranked companies based on employee satisfaction, revenue growth, and transparency about sustainability. All 500 companies on the list have annual revenue from $100 million to $10 billion.

The Houston energy-focused companies on the list are:

No. 141 MRC Global. Score: 85.84
No. 176 National Oilwell Varco. Score: 84.50
No. 266 Nabor Industries. Score: 81.59
No. 296 Archrock. Score: 80.17
No. 327 Superior Energy Services. Score: 79.38
No. 359 CenterPoint Energy. Score: 78.02
No. 461 Oceaneering. Score: 73.87

In total, 13 Houston-based businesses appear, with Houston engineering firm KBR topping the Texas businesses that made the list. KBR earned the No. 30 spot, earning a score of 91.53 out of 100. It is joined by these other Houston companies:

No. 168 Comfort Systems USA. Score: 84.72
No. 175 Crown Castle. Score: 84.51
No. 234 Kirby. Score: 82.48
No. 332 Insperity. Score: 79.15
No. 485 Skyward Specialty Insurance. Score: 73.15

Additional Texas companies on the list include:

No. 95 Austin-based Natera. Score: 87.26
No. 199 Plano-based Tyler Technologies. Score: 86.49
No. 139 McKinney-based Globe Life. Score: 85.88
No. 140 Dallas-based Trinity Industries. Score: 85.87
No. 149 Southlake-based Sabre. Score: 85.58
No. 223 Dallas-based Brinker International. Score: 82.87
No. 226 Irving-based Darling Ingredients. Score: 82.86
No. 256 Dallas-based Copart. Score: 81.78
No. 276 Coppell-based Brink’s. Score: 80.90
No. 279 Dallas-based Topgolf. Score: 80.79
No. 294 Richardson-based Lennox. Score: 80.22
No. 308 Dallas-based Primoris Services. Score: 79.96
No. 322 Dallas-based Wingstop Restaurants. Score: 79.49
No. 335 Fort Worth-based Omnicell. Score: 78.95
No. 337 Plano-based Cinemark. Score: 78.91
No. 345 Dallas-based Dave & Buster’s. Score: 78.64
No. 349 Dallas-based ATI. Score: 78.44
No. 385 Frisco-based Addus HomeCare. Score: 76.86
No. 414 New Braunfels-based Rush Enterprises. Score: 75.75
No. 431 Dallas-based Comerica Bank. Score: 75.20
No. 439 Austin-based Q2 Software. Score: 74.85
No. 458 San Antonio-based Frost Bank. Score: 73.94
No. 475 Fort Worth-based FirstCash. Score: 73.39
No. 498 Irving-based Nexstar Broadcasting Group. Score: 72.71

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This article originally appeared on our sister site, InnovationMap.

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Harris County commissioners approved a plan that seeks to address issues of ecology, infrastructure, economy, community and culture. Photo via Getty Images.

Harris County looks to future with new Climate Justice Plan

progress plan

Harris County commissioners approved a five-point Climate Justice Plan last month with a 3-1 vote by Harris County commissioners. The plan was created by the Office of County Administration’s Office of Sustainability and the nonprofit Coalition for Environment, Equity and Resilience.

“Climate action planning that centers on justice has the potential to spark innovative thinking and transformative actions that will lead to meaningful and just transitions in communities, policies, funding mechanisms, and implementation strategies,” the 59-page report reads.

The plan seeks to address issues relating to ecology, infrastructure, economy, community and culture. Here’s a breakdown:

Ecology

The plan will work towards clean air, water, and soil efforts that support the health of the environment, renewable energy that reduces greenhouse gases and pollution, and conservation and protection of our natural resources. Some action items include:

Increasing resources for local government agencies
Developing a free native seed bank at all libraries
Identifying partners and funding streams to reduce the costs of solar power for area households
Producing renewable energy on large tracts of land
Expanding tree planting by 20 percent
Providing tree maintenance and restoration efforts
Incentivizing gray water systems and filtration to conserve fresh water

Economy

In terms of the economy, the Climate Justice Plan wants the basic needs of the community met and wants to also incentivize resilience, sustainability, and climate solutions, and recycling and reuse methods. Specific actions include:

Quantifying the rising costs associated with climate change
Expanding resources and partnering with organizations to support programs that provide food, utility, housing, and direct cash assistance
Supporting a coalition of area non-profit organizations and county offices to strengthen social service support infrastructure
Supporting home repair, solar installation, and weatherization programs
Identify methods to expand free and efficient recycling and composting services
Creating a climate tax levied on greenhouse gas emissions to develop a climate fund to offset the impacts of pollution

Infrastructure

As Houston has been prone to hurricanes and flooding damage, the infrastructure portion of the plan aims to protect the region from risks through preventative floodplain and watershed management. Highlights include:

Investing in generators and solar power, plus battery backup and bidirectional EV charging for all county libraries
Providing more heating and cooling centers with charging stations
Coordinating and deploying community microgrids, especially in neighborhoods prone to losing power
Seeking partnerships and funding for low- or no-cost water purifiers for areas with the highest needs
Protecting the electric grid through regular maintenance and upgrading, and advocating for greater accountability and responsiveness among appointed officials
Developing regulations to require resilient power line infrastructure to prevent outages and failures in new developments

Community and Culture

Housing, a strong economy and access to affordable and healthy food will be achieved under the community aspect of the plan. Under culture, the plan seeks to share knowledge and build trust. Key goals include:

Developing a campaign to promote the use of the Harris County 311 system to identify critical community concerns
Supporting the development of a Community Housing Plan that ensures stable and safe housing
Advocating for revisions to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster funding to account for renters’ losses and unmet housing needs
Developing and funding a whole-home program for repairs, weatherization, and solar energy
Developing culturally relevant public relations campaigns to increase knowledge of health, environment and biodiversity across generations

Read the full plan here.

Greentown Labs and Evonik have launched the Greentown Go Make 2025 accelerator to support startups developing sustainable technologies for the personal care industry. Photo via Evonik.us

Greentown Labs, Evonik launch accelerator to boost sustainability in personal care products

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Greentown Labs and its corporate partner, Germany-based chemicals company Evonik, are calling for submissions to a new program geared at accelerating more sustainable personal care products.

The Greentown Go Make 2025 accelerator, which is based in both Greentown's Houston and Boston-area locations and open to companies from around the world, as launched applications now through January 23.

"Designed to accelerate startup-corporate partnerships to advance climatetech, this Greentown Go program is focused on increasing sustainability within the personal-care industry through the development, introduction, and commercialization of technologies that reduce products’ manufacturing-related emissions and end-of-life environmental impact," reads a news release from Greentown.

"More specifically, Go Make 2025 is interested in biodegradable polymers and sustainable specialty chemicals for personal care. Further details on the technology areas of interest can be found in the request for applications."

The selected companies will have access to Greentown's facilities and receive mentorship, networking opportunities, educational workshops, and structured programming. The startups will also have partnership opportunities with the program's corporate partner Evonik.

“The Greentown Go program represents an exciting opportunity for startups to showcase their groundbreaking solutions in sustainable chemistry,” Anil Saxena, vice president of RD&I at Evonik, says in the release. “At Evonik, innovation and sustainability are not just buzzwords; they are fundamental to our strategic growth. We are eager to identify and collaborate with companies that share our commitment to creating a more sustainable future.”

The global personal care market — which includes products across hygiene, cosmetics and beautification, cleaning, and grooming — represents 0.5 to 1.5 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions, per Greentown's release. Evonik announced its sustainability-focused game plan in September, focusing on bio-based solutions, the energy transition, and the circular economy.

“The building blocks of the personal-care industry are ripe for climatetech innovation, and there’s no better partner for harnessing this opportunity than Evonik, a global leader in specialty chemicals,” adds Aisling Carlson, senior vice president of partnerships at Greentown. “Greentown Go has a strong track record of fostering meaningful startup-corporate partnerships, and we look forward to working with Evonik and a set of groundbreaking entrepreneurs in this program.”

Fervo Energy received $100 million loan for its Utah Cape Station project. Photo via fervoenergy.com

Houston company secures $100M for 'world’s largest geothermal energy plant'

loan guarenteed

Houston-based geothermal energy company Fervo Energy has secured a $100 million bridge loan for the first phase of its ongoing project in Utah.

The loan came from an affiliate of Irvington, New York-based X-Caliber Rural Capital. Proceeds will support construction of Fervo’s Cape Station project, which is being touted as the world’s largest geothermal energy plant.

The first phase of Cape Station, which is on track to generate 90 megawatts of renewable energy, is expected to be completed in June 2026. Ultimately, the plant is supposed to supply 400 megawatts of clean energy by 2028 for customers in California.

“Helping this significant project advance and grow in rural America is a true testament to how investing in communities and businesses not only has local influence, but can have a global, long-lasting impact by promoting sustainability and stimulating rural economies,” Jordan Blanchard, co-founder of X-Caliber Rural Capital, says in a news release.

X-Caliber Rural Capital is an affiliate of commercial real estate financing company X-Caliber Capital Holdings.

Fervo says its drilling operations Utah’s Cape Station show a 70 percent reduction in drilling times, paving the way for advancement of its geothermal energy system.

Tim Latimer, co-founder and CEO of Fervo, says his company’s drilling advancements, purchase deals, transmission rights, permit approvals, and equipment acquisitions make Fervo “an ideal candidate” for debt financing. In May, Latimer joined the Houston Innovators Podcast to discuss the company's growth and latest project.

With a new office in downtown Houston, Fervo recently signed up one of the country’s largest utilities as a new customer and expanded its collaboration with Google.

To date, Fervo has raised $531 million in venture capital funding, per Crunchbase data.

Houston artists have created unique carbon-absorbing art. "Future's Past" by Emily Ding in partnership with UXD tells the story of the Mellie Esperson building. Photo courtesy of Dario DeLeon

Artist collective brings carbon-absorbing murals to Houston

seeing green

Anthony Rose, the CEO of creative agency United By Design, is on a mission to brighten Houston’s urban spaces and improve the city’s air quality one carbon-absorbing mural at a time.

Rose originally founded United By Design, or UXD, in 2019 to connect muralists like himself and commercial businesses seeking to beautify their spaces and form brand identities. After creating vibrant murals for Lockhart Elementary School, the Houston Astros, and Smoothie King, Rose expanded UXD’s vision to include environmental sustainability in their artistic collaborations in 2022.

“This city’s vibrant art scene and growing focus on sustainability makes it an ideal location for our projects,” Rose says. “We’re not just creating eco-friendly murals, we’re reimagining how art can actively contribute to environmental solutions.”

In search of ecologically-conscious paints, Rose formed a partnership with Spain-based, natural paint company Graphenstone. Rose says he was drawn to the company’s eponymous Graphenstone coating because of its nontoxic ingredients and exclusively uses the product for UXD’s carbon-absorbing murals.

For 713 Day, UXD created carbon-absorbing mural "(HUE)STON HARMONY" in collaboration with Downtown Houston+ and local artist David Maldonado. Photo courtesy of Egidio Narvaez

The Graphenstone coating consists of a limestone base which goes through a process called photocatalysis, during which carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is absorbed into the surface, and is then sealed in with graphene, a thin layer of carbon atoms. The murals absorb carbon dioxide throughout the coat’s drying process which typically takes 30 days.

“Each of our murals absorbs about 1600 grams of CO2 during that curing process which is the equivalent daily absorption of about 33 growing trees,” Rose explains.

UXD’s largest carbon-absorbing mural to date is a floor-to-ceiling panorama in downtown Houston’s historic Mellie Esperson building, home to the company’s new creative hub. Painted by Houston-born artist Emily Ding, the mural is a tribute to the establishment’s namesake: an innovative, early 20th century entrepreneur who constructed the opulent building.

Rose says UXD plans to expand their carbon-absorbing murals project in collaboration with more local artists and establishments, while creating an artist-in-residency program themed around sustainability. Though Rose acknowledges in the grand scheme of carbon pollution these murals are not a silver bullet, he says the non-toxic paints are encouraging conversations about how artists can be conservation-minded.

“We’re trying to figure out how art as a messaging tool can help break down scientific data, a language not many people practice daily, can break down barriers and help bridge the gap to a more intuitive knowledge of sustainability,” Rose says. “We’re bringing the community together, helping them feel empowered, and giving them actionable information to help them live more sustainable lives.”

"Between Land and Sky" by artist David Maldonado was UXD's first carbon-absorbing painting. Photo courtesy of Dario DeLeon and Tommy Valdez

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This article originally ran on InnovationMap.

The first Alto EVs have hit the road in Houston. Photo via Alto

Texas ride-hailing app grows Houston fleet with EV additions

rolling out

Your next Alto ride might be electric. The Dallas-based car service has rolled out electric vehicles in Houston.

Alto, founded in Dallas in 2018 and launched in Houston in 2020, elevates ridesharing with its own fleet of company-owned, clearly branded SUVs driven by its staff of drivers. The company previously announced its plans to evolve its fleet into being completely electric, and the first EVs have hit the road, according to a company email.

"Our EV additions to the Houston fleet mark an important moment in our commitment to significantly reduce Alto's environmental impact," reads the email sent on September 5.

The new cars offer similar features to its existing fleet, including legroom, phone chargers, water bottles for riders, and more. Plus, the new cars — Kia EV9 — boast a quieter ride.

Alto has consistently grown in its Texas markets — which include Houston and Dallas — over the years, including expanding into Houston's suburbs.

Will Coleman, CEO of Alto, previously wrote in a guest column for InnovationMap that his priorities for starting the company included safety — but also sustainability. For years, Alto has been expressing interest in introducing EVs, with plans of having a completely electric fleet.

"This EV vision is one example of how a rideshare company can build a better and more accountable industry, and these steps also give Houstonians a more responsible and sustainable transportation solution," Coleman writes.

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Houston battery recycling company secures $32M in financing

fresh funding

Houston-based Ace Green Recycling has raised $32 million in private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing to support its future plans for growth.

The battery recycling technology company secured the financing with Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. II, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company that Ace previously announced it plans to merge with. Once the merger is completed, Ace will become a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "AGXI."

Ace says the financing will be used to complete the merger and scale the company.

“This investment accelerates our mission to redefine battery recycling at a global scale,” Ace CEO Nischay Chadha said in a news release. “At Ace, we are deploying Greenlead® and LithiumFirst™ as a new standard–fully electrified, Scope 1 emissions-free solutions designed to replace legacy processes and unlock a cleaner supply chain for critical materials. We believe that the future of electrification depends on how efficiently and sustainably we recover these resources, and this milestone brings us meaningfully closer to that future.”

Ace says the funding will also be primarily used to fund capital expenditures related to the development of its planned flagship recycling facility, located outside of Beaumont, Texas. According to a February investor presentation, the facility is expected to launch in 2027. It will recycle lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries.

Ace agreed to a 15-year battery material supply agreement with Miami-based OM Commodities last year, in which OM Commodities would supply Ace with at least 30,000 metric tons of lead scrap to be recycled annually. Switzerland-based Glencore plc agreed to a 15-year offtake agreement to purchase up to 100 percent of ACE’s products from four of its planned lead-acid and lithium-ion battery recycling parks back in 2022.

Ace also reported that the funding will be put toward "supporting the expansion of operations and to fund the purchase of other companies," in the release.

Houston AI startup rolls out platform to reshape oil and gas workflows

AI for energy

Houston-based Collide is looking to solve AI issues in the energy industry from within.

Co-founded by former oil roughneck Collin McLelland, the company has developed AI software for operators and field teams, shaped by firsthand oilfield experience. Its AI-native platform “retrieves and synthesizes data from authoritative sources to deliver accurate, cited, and energy-focused insights to oil and gas professionals,” according to the company.

“Oil and gas has a graveyard full of technology that was technically impressive and operationally useless,” McLelland tells Energy Capital. “The reason is almost always the same: the people who built it didn't understand what they were actually solving for. When you're an outsider, you see workflows and try to automate them. When you're an insider, you understand why those workflows exist—the regulatory constraints, the physical realities, the liability concerns, the trust dynamics between operators and service companies.”

Collide’s large language model, known as RIGGS, performed well in recent benchmarking results when taking a standardized petroleum engineering (SPE) exam, the company reports. The exam assesses understanding from conceptual terminology to complex mathematical problem-solving.

According to Collide, RIGGS achieved a score of 67.5 percent on a 40-question subset of the SPE petroleum engineering exam, outperforming other large language models like Grok 4 (62.5 percent), Claude Sonnet 4.5 (52.5 percent) and GPT 5.1 (4 percent).

RIGGS completed the test in 15 minutes, while Grok took two hours. Collide hopes over the next few months, RIGGS will receive a score between 75 percent to 80 percent accuracy.

The software could potentially help oil and gas companies produce accurate outputs and automate trivial workflows, which can open up valuable time for engineers and teams to work on other pressing matters, according to McLelland.

“Collide exists because we sat in those seats — we were the engineers, the operators, the field guys,” he says. ”RIGGS scoring higher on the PE exam versus the frontier labs isn't a party trick. It's evidence that the model understands petroleum engineering the way a petroleum engineer does, because it was built by people who do.”

RIGGS was trained on Collide’s Spindletop hardware and is supported by a vast library of information, as well as a reasoning engine and validation layer that uses logic to solve problems.

“Longer term, we see RIGGS as the intelligence layer that sits underneath every operator's workflow — not a chatbot you open in a browser, but something embedded in the tools engineers already use,” McLelland says. “The goal is to give every engineer the knowledge and pattern recognition of a 30-year veteran, on demand."

According to McLelland, Collide is already building toward reservoir analysis and production optimization, automated regulatory compliance (Railroad Commission filings, W-10s, G-10s), workover report generation, and engineering decision support in the field for near-term use cases. In March, Collide and Texas-based oil and gas operator Winn Resources announced a collaboration to automate the time-intensive process of filing monthly W-10 and G-10 forms with the Texas Railroad Commission, completing what’s normally a multi-hour task in under 30 minutes. Collide reports that Winn’s infrastructure now automates regulatory filings and provides real-time visibility into data gaps, which has reduced processing time by over 95 percent.

“Before Collide, I'd spend hours manually keying in filings,” Buck Crum, director of operations, said in a news release. “(In March), we had 50 wells to file and I was done in 20 minutes. It does the majority of the heavy lifting while keeping me in control. That human-in-the-loop approach saves meaningful time and gives us greater confidence in our compliance and reporting.”

Collide was originally launched by Houston media organization Digital Wildcatters as “a professional network and digital community for technical discussions and knowledge sharing.” After raising $5 million in seed funding led by Houston’s Mercury Fund last year, the company said it would shift its focus to rolling out its enterprise-level, AI-enabled solution.

Oxy officially announces CEO transition, names successor

new leader

Houston-based Occidental (Oxy) has officially announced its longtime CEO's retirement and her successor.

Oxy shared last week that Vicki Hollub will retire June 1. Reuters first reported Hollub's plan to retire in March, but a firm date had not been set. Hollub will remain on Oxy's board of directors.

Richard Jackson, who currently serves as Oxy's COO, will replace Hollub in the CEO role.

“It has been a privilege to lead Occidental and work alongside such a talented team for more than 40 years," Hollub shared in a news release. "Following the recently completed decade-long transformation of the company, we now have the best portfolio and the best technical expertise in Occidental’s history. With this strong foundation in place, a clear path forward and a leader like Richard, who has the experience and vision to elevate Occidental, now is the right time for this transition. “I look forward to supporting Richard and the Board through my continued role as a director.”

Hollub has held the top leadership position at Oxy since 2016 and has been with the energy giant for more than 40 years. Before being named CEO, she served as COO and senior executive vice president at the company. She led strategic acquisitions of Anadarko Petroleum in 2019 and CrownRock in 2024, and was the first woman selected to lead a major U.S. oil and gas company.

Hollub also played a key role in leading Oxy's future as a "carbon management company."

Jackson has been with Oxy since 2003. He has held numerous leadership positions, including president of U.S. onshore oil and gas, president of low carbon integrated technologies, general manager of the Permian Delaware Basin and enhanced oil recovery oil and gas, vice president of investor relations, and vice president of drilling Americas.

He was instrumental in launching Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, which focuses DAC, carbon sequestration and low-carbon fuels through businesses like 1PointFive, TerraLithium and others, according to the company. He also serves on the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative’s Climate Investment Board and the American Petroleum Institute’s Upstream Committee. He holds a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M University.

Jackson was named COO of Oxy in October 2025. In his new role as CEO, he will also join the board of directors, effective June 1.

“I am grateful to be appointed President and CEO of Occidental and excited about the opportunity to execute from the strong position and capabilities that we built under Vicki’s leadership,” Jackson added in the release. “It means a lot to me personally to be a part of our Occidental team. I am committed to delivering value from our significant and high-quality resource base. We have a tremendous opportunity to focus on organic improvement and execution to deliver meaningful value for our employees, shareholders and partners.”

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