< PreviousThe U.S. Army likes the Austin environment. These troops are participating in a pre-deployment training exercise at Fort Hood. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Sarah KirbyNorth Central RegionTexoma RegionDallas CountyCapital RegionAlamo RegionUpper Rio Grande RegionGulf RegionHeart of TexasNortheast Texas RegionCameron CountyTarrant CountySemiconductors & Electronic ComponentsElectronic InstrumentsCommunications Equipment ManufacturingMotor Vehicle Parts ManufacturingMotor Vehicle Body & Trailer ManufacturingAdvanced Technology & Maufacturing Industry Workforce Concentration Map T E X A S E C O N O MI C DE V E L O P M E N T G U I DENorth Central RegionTexoma RegionDallas CountyCapital RegionAlamo RegionUpper Rio Grande RegionGulf RegionHeart of TexasNortheast Texas RegionCameron CountyTarrant Countyreduces fuel consumption and emissions by up to 30 percent, saving more than 6,000 gallons of diesel fuel annually. In another transportation-related development, Houston-based P97 Networks in February of this year joined forces with Accenture to make Accenture a partner for connecting automobile manufacturers and merchants with P97’s PetroZone platform, which enables digital payments and purchase off erings for fuels and other products from mobile devices or connected cars. Another notable move involves Baswood Corp., which relocated to Allen from California in June 2018. The company delivers technology-based wastewater and biosolids management solutions for industrial and municipal wastewater streams. The city of Garland added two manufacturers in 2018, Kirchhoff Automotive and Quest Window Systems. Kirchhoff plans to expand its existing Garland operation from 94,000 to 115,000 square feet and invest $20 million in the acquisition and installation of new advanced machinery and equipment. The expansion comes in response to new vehicle models under development and production by the company’s major customers. As part of the expansion, the Garland plant will keep all of its nearly 200 employees who manufacture parts for all models of SUVs produced by Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac. Garland also approved a Photo courtesy of JSW SteelT E X A S E C O N O MI C DE V E L O P M E N T G U I DE deal with Quest Window Systems of Canada to open the company’s fi rst U.S. manufacturing and distribution facility. Known for its advanced window wall system used in high-rise residential buildings, Quest plans to invest more than $12 million in machinery and equipment and employ more than 300 new full-time people with an anticipated annual payroll of about $12 million. It’s no surprise that expectations regarding future business conditions in Texas remained positive early this year. The Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey noted that indexes of future general business activity and future company outlook rose to 17.7 and 26.7, respectively, in February. 148 T E X A S E C O N O MI C DE V E L O P M E N T G U I DEybersecurity isn’t a new industry anymore, it’s a vital component of any corporation’s operations. As hackers and cybercriminals up their game and find new ways to breach systems and networks, companies are investing in new ways to stop them. And a lot of the groundbreaking work in this important area is happening in Texas.“Texas has the right mix of talent, capital sources, research universities and large customers to fuel the thriving cybersecurity ecosystem,” says Mike Bousquet, CEO and Founder of Groove.id Inc. “Some of the ecosystem resources include investors like Silverton Partners & Live Oak Venture Partners, accelerator programs like Capital Factory, and the recently opened Army Futures Command.”Texas is working to combat cyber criminals with education programs and bringing leading companies to the area.by KEITH LORIACC Y B E R S E C U RI T Y150 T E X A S E C O N O MI C DE V E L O P M E N T G U I DEExpanding Presences Lockheed Martin will launch a new cyber arm in San Antonio that is expected to create 100 jobs over the next two years, taking 15,000 square feet inside Port San Antonio’s Project Tech building. The giant defense contractor says it’s hoping to capitalize on the area’s strong military market.World class cybersecurity company CNF Technologies announced at the begging of 2019 that it is expanding operations to Port San Antonio, adding its second facility in the area.“Everybody that has a computer on their desk has to worry about an adversary exploiting vulnerabilities,” says Fred Ramirez, CNF Technologies’ principal. “We have a spectrum of services that we provide, such as reverse engineering, certification accreditation and penetration testing. And our personnel is also co-located with our clients as they monitor the military’s largest networks.”Early in 2019, Cybersecurity company New Knowledge, which protects corporations from covert, coordinated disinformation campaigns, raised $11 million in a Series A funding round led by existing investor GGV Capital.Jonathon Morgan, CEO of the Austin-based company, says it will use the funding to establish itself as the leader in disinformation defense and expand its sales and marketing reach.Early Detection of BreachesAustin-based Infocyte is a cybersecurity company that is investing heavily in products for incident response investigations. The company recently announced Activity Trace, a new feature that helps incident responders with root cause analysis, triage, and threat remediation. “Incident response is what happens when a hidden/unknown breach is discovered,” says Ross Clurman, Infocyte’s vice president of marketing. “In some cases, the breach itself won’t be discovered, but rather an indication of compromise will reveal itself.”Infocyte also announced a partnership with Check Point Software that will provide proactive detection for cloud, data center and endpoint environments.Educating MattersAfter the success of its debut in 2018, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced in February that the state would once again take part in The Girls Go CyberStart Initiative, designed to encourage young women to become involved in the field of cybersecurity.Furthermore, a new companion program in 2019 called Cyber FastTrack will allow both male and female college level students to participate in a separate competition. Those who excel in both the CyberStart Game and CyberStart Essentials (an online course that extends the learning of CyberStart Game) will be eligible to win $2.5 million in scholarships for advanced cybersecurity training.Texas A&M University-San Antonio is collaborating with Facebook on the Facebook Cyber Security University Program, which offers top training in cybersecurity. University president Cynthia Teniente-Matson says it’s the kind of innovative course and innovative thinking that A&M-San Antonio is committed to developing.UT is launched its own Cyber Academy Defense Certificate Program in March, with its goal to prepare students for careers in cybersecurity and satisfy the demand for trained professionals in the field.Meanwhile, Sam Houston High School in San Antonio will begin offering P-TECH (Pathways in Technology Early College High School) in cybersecurity this fall. The four- to six-year program helps students earn a high school diploma, an industry-recognized associate degree, and gain relevant work experience in cybersecurity. 152 T E X A S E C O N O MI C DE V E L O P M E N T G U I DEhe business of keeping people well is very healthy in Texas.Health care and biotechnology companies throughout the state are at the forefront of new treatments and state-of-the-art services that are designed to heal people affected by various diseases and ailments.More than just a business hotbed, Texas is also home to many doctors and professionals who are devoted to making life easier, and better, through innovative methods that are changing how care is approached and patients are treated.Among those organizations is Medical Innovation Collaborative, a non-profit established in 2018 with the intent to bridge the gap between invention and commerce, lab and market. “The ultimate goal of the Medical Innovation Collaborative is to foster a new ecosystem for bioscience discovery in North Texas, where there is a dynamic life science community ready to advance and transform the future of healthcare,” says CEO Harold Strong. “Globally competitive startups are forming in and around world-class medical schools and hospitals, biomedical companies, and laboratories for research, development, and testing.”Helping Alzheimer’s PatientsAlzeca is headquartered in Houston and is developing MRI imaging for detection and potential monitoring of Alzheimer’s Disease. Co-Founder Ananth Annapragada, Ph.D., heads an advanced imaging center at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston and serves on the faculty of Texas companies are at the forefront of breakthroughs and new technology.by KEITH LORIATH E A L T H C A R E & B I O T E C HTheIs InDoctorT E X A S E C O N O MI C DE V E L O P M E N T G U I DE 153the Baylor College of Medicine. According to Alzeca, positron emission tomography (PET) is used in Alzheimer’s research and some clinical development work. “Alzeca is focused on developing targeted imaging agents for the early detection of Alzheimer’s. As such, we do not have a direct role in the treatment of Alzheimer’s, but do play an important and essential role in diagnosing Alzheimer’s 15 to 20 years before any clinical symptoms appear,” says CEO Carlo Medici. “Alzheimer’s disease has been a minefield for recent drug development, marked by a series of clinical trials whose failures suggest that therapeutic interventions will need to be directed earlier in the disease process. How much earlier? Well, before the onset of dementia —in fact, ideally before any symptoms manifest at all.”Breakthroughs in Neurological TreatmentClarity Chair is a new product that helps people with neurological symptoms that was developed by Dr. Mary Ann Block, DO, PA of The Block Center, based in Fort Worth.“It helps with focus, listening, behavior, remembering, sleep, attention, ability to speak and communicate, coordination and more,” Block says.She notes a study involving a small group of adults with long-term traumatic brain injury who tried Clarity Chair where symptoms were resolved in 62 percent of participants, and improved for 82 percent.“Clarity Chair works by exposing the participant to five different sensory inputs at one time,” Block says. “Studies now indicate that the more senses used, the faster and better the treatment will work. Advanced multi-sensory stimulation then takes place during treatment sessions to challenge and reset the interaction, laying new sensory pathways and eliminating old unproductive ones. Any obstacles or dysfunction between the brain Next >