BROOKSHIRE, TX (Covering Katy News) — The stretch of Interstate 10 between Katy and Brookshire that drivers pass every day — home to the companies that make Igloo coolers and Goya foods and Tesla's Megapack battery factory — is now at the center of a 20-year plan to reshape the region's economy.
The Waller County Economic Development Partnership has launched a long-term strategy to turn the corridor into what it calls an inland gateway, a place where goods can move by highway, rail and air from a single location, bringing more companies and more jobs to the area just west of Katy.
WCEDP Executive Director Vince Yokom announced the campaign, called Waller County Forward: The Inland Gateway to the Future of Texas, at the organization's monthly partner meeting in June.
What an 'inland gateway' means for Waller County
The idea is similar to what is often called an inland port — a hub far from the coast where freight is moved, stored and shipped. But Yokom said the partnership deliberately avoided that label because the vision is broader than freight.
"We intentionally stayed away from the term 'inland port' because we don't want to be too freight focused," Yokom said. "We feel the term 'Gateway' (as a marketing strategy) is more suitable, especially with the potential for Highway 36A coming into the county. The term is more flexible and it also opens our marketing campaign in a way that truly expresses our work to diversify the local economic base."
Highway 36A could open a new route through Waller and Fort Bend counties
Highway 36A is a proposed corridor that would run through Fort Bend and Waller counties connecting to routes that will lead to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, home to the largest inland port in the United States. If built, it would become a major new route for the region — and a key piece of the gateway plan's future.
More industrial growth coming to the Katy and Brookshire area
For residents, the strategy means the industrial growth already visible along I-10 is likely to continue. That growth was built on the corridor's existing strengths — its interstate location, rail access and the privately owned Houston Executive Airport in Brookshire— which have attracted major employers in recent years, including Tesla, TMEIC and Elin Energy. They join longtime corporate residents Igloo and Goya in an area that mixes manufacturing plants with logistics and distribution operations.
Two decades of planning built the I-10 industrial corridor
None of it happened by accident, Yokom said. The effort traces back about two decades, when the Houston Executive Airport announced its facility in the area around 2006. The corridor already had rail lines and two major roads. The airport added the missing piece: air.
"What we have done here, we have done on purpose and with purpose," Yokom said.
Behind the scenes, that work included joining Port Houston's Foreign Trade Zone 84, which gives companies a break on import duties; securing tax exemptions on business inventory from Royal ISD and the City of Brookshire; partnering with industrial developers such as Twinwood; and creating an incentive program that encourages developers to build industrial space before a tenant signs on. That program has generated about 13 million square feet of industrial space — roughly the floor area of 225 football fields — according to the partnership.
Katy and Brookshire join coalition to lead the effort
WCEDP Board President Wallace Everitt said the corridor is positioned for its next phase.
"The Waller County Industrial Corridor has emerged as a manufacturing and logistics supercenter," Everitt said. "Now, after decades of preparation and growth, we are poised to become the next great 'inland port.' With air, rail, and interstate capacity in one place, this feature will strengthen our existing industrial base and move Texas forward."
Yokom also announced a coalition formed to coordinate the strategy. The group includes the cities of Brookshire and Katy, local landowners, the Houston Executive Airport, Twinwood and IDV, a new industrial developer in the area.