Sugar Land Becomes Home Sweet Home for Companies Across the Globe

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Info Resources; Sugar Land, Texas). Just outside of Houston, the growing city of Sugar Land, Texas has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a sugar plantation in 1859, and its later evolution into the company town for the Imperial Sugar Corporation. While the sugar plant is now closed and the fields of sugar cane are but a distant memory, the city, which was incorporated in 1959, has not only managed to survive, but has indeed thrived. Already having reinvented itself as a secure bedroom community known for great schools and attractive neighborhoods, the once tiny hamlet has managed to yet once again transform itself into the location of choice for a growing list of multinational companies.

Just as Steven Spielberg selected Sugar Land as the setting for his 1974 directorial debut with the movie “The Sugarland Express” (memo to Mr. Spielberg: as the natives will adamantly inform you, it is Sugar Land, two words please, not one!), an impressive roster of global industries have chosen the city for a variety of operations ranging from corporate headquarters to light manufacturing. All coexisting peacefully with the city’s impressive housing selection, thanks to careful planning and controlled growth. Not content to rest on its laurels after ranking second among the "hottest" places to live within the state of Texas and 46th in the United States for 2005 according to Money magazine, Sugar Land is now honing is reputation as a “must consider” on corporate site selection lists around the world.

A drive down West Airport Boulevard within the Sugar Land Business Park, a 902-acre, mixed-use, deed-restricted business park, offers visual evidence of the city’s growing prominence in the world marketplace. Cookware manufacturer Tramontina (Brazil) has a large distribution complex in the city. Having already undergone a massive 290,000 square-foot expansion since first being built in 1986, the Sugar Land site joins the company’s other “overseas” operations, which include locations in Dubai, Germany, Honduras and France.

A bit further down the road leads to a recent capital investment from Japan’s Yokogawa Electric Corporation. The company’s U.S. division, the Yokogawa Corporation of America (Atlanta, Georgia), a manufacturer of flowmeters, analyzers, transmitters, controllers, recorders, data acquisition, portable test instruments and meters, completed construction last year on a 100,000 square-foot facility. Moved from a previous location in Houston, the Sugar Land site is home to the company’s Industrial Automation business sector.

The Sugar Land of today has not forgotten its roots nor does it miss an opportunity for future growth. A perfect example of the city’s ability to recognize and examine all of its economic possibilities is that while scores of shuttered plants dot the nation’s landscape in various stages of decay, there are now advanced discussions underway on transforming the former sugar factory into the anchor for an upscale retail and housing development. How sweet it is.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a Marketing Information Service company that has been doing business for over 23 years. IIR is respected as the leader in providing comprehensive market intelligence pertaining to the industrial processing, heavy manufacturing, and energy-related industries throughout the world.