Gulf Coast Industrial Boom: High Expectations, but Will Labor Constrain It?

SUGAR LAND--October 23, 2014--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--At the beginning of the third quarter of 2014, Industrial Info was tracking 1,039 capital projects worth more than $245 billion that had begun construction or were planned to begin construction between 2013 and 2018 in the Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast region. This is an increase of more than 40 projects and $11.98 billion in total investment value from the second quarter. The expectations are high!

A substantial amount of this growth in planned project spending occurred in the Greater Houston area, which added $4.22 billion in planned projects during the quarter, as well as in Greater New Orleans, which added $3.2 billion. Planned spending in the Gulf Coast region's most active metropolitan region, Lake Charles, remained relatively flat between quarters, at $70.1 billion in planned spending.

As industrial project activity grows, the area's labor market continues to tighten.