Howdy WHA Members!
Most of y’all have already heard, but if you missed it, Jennifer Boggs has moved on from WHA and is now with the Greater Houston Builders Association (GHBA). I am thankful for Jennifer’s time, almost three and a half years, with us here at the West Houston Association. During this time, Jennifer has been essential in the execution in over two-dozen major association events, critical to the day-to-day operations of WHA, instrumental in the revamping of the Rising Leaders program and the two highly successful Topgolf fundraisers, as well as actively engaged with WHA members in committee meetings and managing membership. Ryann and I will be taking on this work until we bring in a new staff member after the first of the year.
Continuing with this theme of change, on November 1st we brought in Ric Campo, Chairman of the Port of Houston Authority to speak about the relationship between PortHouston and the greater West Houston Region. This is a topic that WHA has not traditionally focused on, but with increasing distribution centers opening along the I-10 corridor and manufacturing along the 290 corridor, the port will continue to become more important to West Houston in the years ahead.
Another major change is that the Board of Directors voted to expand the WHA footprint from 610 to Sealy. Recognizing the need to think more about redevelopment with aging infrastructure in older parts of the West Houston region, the map was expanded a few miles east to 610. At the same time there is continued greenfield development to the west moving beyond Brookshire and into Austin County. With all this in mind, we will be publishing an updated Development Map in Fall of 2023. The board also elected a few new officers and committee leaders at the November Meeting. These were announced at our award celebration on December 1st. A full write-up of the event will be forthcoming online and via social media, it will also be in the January newsletter.
Before 2023 starts however, we still have a few Committees wrapping up this year. On December 5th the Regional Mobility committee is meeting with City of Houston Council Member Mary Nan Huffman to discuss some of her transportation priorities in the region. On December 6th, the Parks, Recreation, and Open Spaces committee is holding a social for members to better get to know one another. Other meetings include Flood Control & Drainage on December 12th, Sustainable Infrastructure on December 13th, Education & Workforce on December 14th, and Quality Planned Development on December 15th. If you would like to be added to the email list or calendar invites for any committee, please let us know.
Thank you for your support of the West Houston Association and working to improve quality of life for the 2,000,000+ people who live, work, and play across the Greater West Houston region!