Texas Nabs Mitsubishi Subsidiary HQ from New York

Another corporate headquarters is calling Texas home after Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has officially settled into its offices in southwest Houston. Texas Governor Greg Abbott was on hand to formally welcome the new employees last week.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Japanese parent company based in Tokyo with offices throughout the world. The outfit manufactures and distributes aircraft parts, machine tools and energy equipment. The Houston office is reported to contain roughly 60 employees, according to the Associated Press. An additional 1,200 Texans are employed by the company elsewhere throughout the state.

The Office of Governor Greg Abbott told the AP that no state funds were used to assist with the relocation.

“In Texas, free enterprise flourishes thanks to our low taxes, reasonable regulations and right-to-work laws, and I look forward to Texas’ continued growth as a North American hub for global trade and investment,” the Governor said in an emailed statement.

Mitsubishi’s move to Houston began in April in a bid to keep in close proximity to the nerve center of the North American oil and gas industry – a gesture that may offer some comfort to those affected by the sustained crude price slump beginning in 2014. With a favorable tax system, affordable cost-of-living and vibrant transportation hub, the Bayou City should expect to see more corporate relocations in the years ahead. The Greater Houston Partnership found in 2015 that the city ranked third in the nation, behind New York and Chicago, for Fortune 500 Company headquarter locations.

Texas/Japanese relations are expected to continue to develop after a Memorandum of Understanding was entered into with the Aichi Prefectural Government of Japan in April, according to Governor Abbott’s office.

“Texas’ culture of innovation and world-class business climate have already encouraged a number of Aichi companies to invest in the Lone Star State, and I am confident today’s agreement will create new opportunities for economic exchange,” Governor Abbott said in a statement.

Aichi is home to a number of manufacturers and brands known across the world, to include Toyota, Makita, Sony and Brother Industries.

Logan Churchwell is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. You can follow him on Twitter @LCChurchwell.