Today, Mayor Sylvester Turner sent a letter to Tesla CEO Elon Musk inviting him to bring SpaceX and his company’s headquarters and manufacturing facility to Houston.
This comes after Musk recently tweeted his frustration with the regulatory environment in California by threatening to move manufacturing and headquarter operations to Texas or Nevada. With Houston’s strengths in manufacturing, energy transition, and aerospace, the region presents a strong value proposition. Mayor Turner’s invitation allows Musk to consider a unique opportunity to consolidate Tesla and SpaceX operations in Houston.
“Houston is the Energy Capital of the World and is known as Space City for a reason. Moving Tesla and SpaceX to our city makes perfect sense,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “We are unique in that we can offer Elon Musk a single solution for his operations. Moving the companies to Houston would be a huge boon to our local economy. We have a diverse and skilled talent base powered by a workforce of nearly 3.5 million. We went from a cotton, rice and rail hub to the Energy Capital of the World, to a global center for bio-medical breakthroughs and we’re now entering a new frontier in becoming home to imagination and innovation. Tesla and SpaceX fit in to our vision for Houston’s economic future.”
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Houston successfully kept mission critical operations of more than 60% open while providing smart guidance to safely minimize the spread of the virus. Houston recently began the process of safely re-opening the rest of the economy, while continuing to provide guidelines for both essential and non-essential companies in the region.
Houston is home to more than 8,200 companies in tech-related industries and more than 500 venture-backed startups, contributing to a $28.1 billion economic impact on the Houston economy.
You can read Mayor Turner’s letter to Elon Musk below:
