Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses of all sizes in nearly every sector are facing financial hardship brought on by the crisis. As the economy gradually reopens, local and state orders with restrictions on business operations have presented challenges for business continuity, especially for small to medium sized-enterprises. While legislators have made record emergency funds available through federally-backed…
NEW TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS HUMANS TO SUPERVISE AND REMOTELY ASSIST ROBOTS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD Plus One Robotics, a leader in developing artificial intelligence (AI) and sensor technology that allows industrial robots to learn and adapt in fast-paced dynamic environments, has helped change the world since first establishing its operations on the Port campus in 2018….
The coronavirus pandemic has shocked U.S. construction into needing to adopt new technologies to maintain social distancing and monitor jobsites remotely. Those adaptations, some construction leaders say, should have been adopted in the first place, before the pandemic forced contractors to implement them. The outbreak has also forced more connection between the site and office, as most…
Mayor Sylvester Turner announced today that the City of Houston has committed to purchasing 100% renewable energy through a renewed partnership with NRG Energy as the City’s retail electric provider. As part of the contract renewal, the City will power all municipal operations with renewable energy and realize $65 million in savings over the seven-year…
Even though the U.S. unemployment rate is at a level not seen since the Great Depression, the construction industry’s labor woes aren’t close to ending, according to panelists at a recent Associated General Contractors of America webinar. In most jurisdictions, projects are coming back on line, and construction managers are struggling to fill jobs. There…
Associated General Contractors of America’s New “Culture of CARE” Program is Designed to Help Firms Create More Welcoming Workplace Environments The Associated General Contractors of America is launching a new, nationwide program designed to help expand the diversity of the industry by making job sites more inclusive. The new program, called Culture of CARE (commit, attract, retain and empower), is designed to…
A brief FAQ for firms
At AIA Conference 2018, eight resolutions were passed by the members in attendance.
May 2020
Since its inception, the South Central Texas Regional Certification Agency’s mission has been to make things as easy and efficient as possible for small, minority and women-owned businesses, and even in the midst of a pandemic, that mission has remained the same. SCTRCA, a 501c3 nonprofit, was founded in 1998 following the model of its…
Container activity at Port Houston, the largest container port on the United States Gulf Coast, began slowing in late March as expected as the coronavirus outbreak continued to threaten countries across the globe, including the U.S. Port Houston handled a total of 248,280 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) in March, a drop of 11 percent compared to…
On the heels of a four-year long court battle, the Thirteenth Court of Appeals of Texas has ruled in favor of Texas Central, holding that it is both a railroad company and interurban electric railway. This legal process stems from landowners along the proposed route in Leon County who argued that the Texas Central project…
“This is one of those moments where we have to acknowledge how small our world really is,” said Carlos Aguilar, CEO of Texas Central High-Speed Rail. “Our engineering partner is in Italy, our operations partner is in Spain and our technology provider is in Japan. Our financial partners are in those countries, as well as…
Classifying Worker Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 Worker risk of occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, during an outbreak may depend in part on the industry type and need for contact within 6 feet of people known to have, or suspected of having, COVID-19. OSHA has divided job tasks into four risk exposure levels,…
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued interim enforcement guidance to help combat supply shortages of disposable N95 filtering face piece respirators (N95 FFRs). The action marks the department’s latest step to ensure the availability of respirators and follows President Donald J. Trump’s Memorandum on Making General Use Respirators Available. Due…
Scratching your head attempting to figure out how to obtain your building permit when the Permitting Center is closed to walk-ins during epidemic? You are not alone. Our toll-free line has been ringing with questions from Architects to Contractors. Questions like the following: Can you tell me if the City of San Antonio is still…
An alliance of Texas oil and natural gas trade associations, along with nearly 40 Texas energy companies, today announced they have formed a coalition to work together on environmental progress. Focused on industry-led solutions to minimize flaring and methane emissions, the Texas Methane and Flaring Coalition (the Coalition) will collectively identify and promote operational and…
The City of Fort Worth is teaming up with PeopleFund to launch the Business Resiliency Microloan Program, which is prepared to provide at least $850,000 to eligible businesses in Fort Worth who are being impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. These loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll or accounts payable, or cover other…
A chance Facebook friendship between an Atlanta-based physician and a digital transformation expert from ExxonMobil could help unlock a wave of medical masks that health care workers need to help treat patients with COVID-19. Justin Sink, a digital transformation and innovation advisor at ExxonMobil, saw a March 19 Facebook post from his friend Dr. Susan…
Reducing methane emissions in oil and gas operations is an important way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Advances in technology can help detect and identify the sources, and improve the ability to respond quickly. But there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. That’s why ExxonMobil is leading testing for the most promising next-generation methane detection technologies at 1,000 sites in Texas and…
