EDA deputy assistant secretary tours Houston facility that 'will bring thousands of new advanced manufacturing jobs' to the area

On Sept. 28, Texas State Sen. Carol Alvarado helped welcome U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) Deputy Assistant Secretary and COO Dennis Alvordwas, who was in Houston to tour the East End Maker Hub (EEMH).

Originally a single tenant industrial building, the Hub was redeveloped under the administration of UP Community Development and TXRX Labs into a 300,000-square-foot facility to house Houston innovators and manufacturing businesses, according to Houston Daily. 

"#TeamAlvarado joined the Houston-Galveston Area Council & @US_EDA Deputy Assistant Secretary @dennisalvord for a tour of the @HoustonMakerHub. This innovation hub will bring thousands of new advanced manufacturing jobs to the #EastEnd," Texas State Sen. Carol Alvarado (D-Houston) wrote in a Sept. 28 Twitter post.

Opened since June, the EEMH's goal is to create a sustainable Houston workforce and "good-paying jobs," Houston Daily reported.

"My hope is that the high percentage, say in excess of 70 or 80% of the people that work here come from the surrounding neighborhoods which are Hispanic and African American, and they were successful and bringing those individuals to train for these jobs,” Patrick Ezzel, president and CEO at UP Community Development, told Houston Daily. "Secondly, I would see this as being an ongoing vehicle to train individuals that are not college-bound, so they can have good-paying jobs. And for creative individuals to help them have a pathway to create new manufacturing businesses, so that from now into the future this particular economic engine has a big impact on the folks that live in these neighborhoods so that they can earn more money and build more wealth and prosper more."

Houston Chronicle reports that roughly 75% of the 300,000-square-foot manufacturing center at 6501 Navigation Blvd. has been leased.

The Hub is projected to create over 400 local jobs and 200 induced jobs yearly and will contribute approximately $153 million annually to the local economy.

"All of our tenants signed agreements that they will do their best to hire people through the TXRX training programs, get their trainees from the neighborhoods and they'll fill one of the 450 jobs that we expect to create this location," Ezzel said. "But one of the reasons that we did the project as far as UP CDC because our mission is really to build wealth in low and moderate-income neighborhoods. It creates a vehicle so that people can get skilled and move from low-income wages to middle-income jobs."

EEMH states that the hub's mission is to redefine entrepreneurship "by ensuring equitable access to affordable workspace for local manufacturers, fabricators, crafters and innovators."

Houstonians can find more information about training and job opportunities through the Hub at the TXRX Labs website.