Will Memories of Hurricane Harvey Scare Business Away From Houston?

In recent years, Houston’s economy has weathered oil busts and flooding, buoyed in large part by the increasing diversity of its employers.But now, the nation’s fourth-largest city has been confronted with a challenge that could overpower its economic prowess — a perception that it’s prone to catastrophic flooding that regularly grinds business to a halt.Economic development experts are worried the devastation wrought by Harvey could be a tipping point for businesses, whose leaders increasingly weigh factors far beyond available office space and cheap land when they decide where to bring jobs.And that prized economic diversity? It could become a double-edged sword as the region not only rebuilds, but tries to recruit a broad range of employers to carry southeast Texas’ economy decades into the future.  Continue reading...