Fort Bend County outpacing most of U.S. in job creation

Job growth in Fort Bend County is on the rise.

From 2000 to 2011, job creation has increased 78.1 percent behind Houston's energy and oil and gas sectors, making it the second-fastest growing county in the country during that period.

"Our success is by design and not by accident," Lance LaCour, president and CEO of the Katy Area Economic Development Council, said in a press release. "In Katy, our excellent public schools, access to I-10 and proximity to the Energy Corridor are helping drive our business recruitment and growth."

Most of the growth has been on the east side, from Katy to Missouri City. The county has taken advantage of tax abatement incentives and short-term property tax cuts to help business grow and expand, according to Fort Bend County Judge Robert Hebert.

When the recession started in 2008, the county issued three abatements that brought 65 jobs and $8.5 million in capital investment. Over the next three years, it offered 21 abatements, creating 1,685 jobs and $400.5 million in capital investment.

"Our employment in Katy ISD is projected to grow from 138,000 to 164,000 persons by the year 2016," LaCour said in the release. "That is a 19 percent increase, 26,000-person increase in employment from 2011 to 2016."

Since 2003, the KAEDC has helped bring in nearly 10,000 jobs to the area.