French influence: More than 100 French companies are present in Houston (more than 300 in Texas) and the numbers keep increasing. You will recognize some of the larger ones: Total, Technip, Schlumberger, CGG, Geoservices, Sercel, Suez, Vallourec Mannesmann, Veolia, Arkema, Air Liquide, Rhodia, Calyon, BNP Paribas, Natixis, Société Générale etc.

Competitive wages: Salaries in the Houston region are comparable to those of many major metropolitan areas. This allows employers to remain competitive.

Large workforce: A workforce of 2.5 million in the metropolitan area of 4.8 million means employers will find the diversity of skills, training and education their companies need.

Well-trained workers: Houston workers are better educated than the national average. More than 750,000 Houston adults have a bachelor's or graduate degree, while another 774,000 have an associate's degree or have completed some college.

Highways: Houston is the crossroads for two major interstate highways, with nine other major traffic arteries serving the area. Advanced, Web-based traffic monitoring services help motorists choose the best routes to their destinations and stay informed about real-time driving conditions.

Houston airports: Businesses are connected to the world through the fourth largest airport system in the United States and sixth largest in the world. More than 43 million passengers a year travel through the two major airports of the Houston Airport System: George Bush Intercontinental Airport, William P. Hobby Airport. Twenty seven passenger airlines serve 115 domestic destinations and 50 international destinations from George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Port of Houston: Businesses enjoy acces to world markets and a direct link to 14,000 miles of U.S. intracoastal and inland waterways. As the sixth largest port in the world, the Houston port ranks first in the United States in foreign waterborne commerce and second in total tonnage. The burgeoning pleasure cruise industry provides an excellent point of departure for popular vacation destinations in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Railroads: Houston is one of the nation's busiest rail shipping centers. Ten main lines radiate from Houston, connecting to destinations across the country.

Industrial Space: Houston's 314 million square feet of industrial space is more affordable than space in most major U.S. industrial markets. The inventory of industrial real estate in Houston ranks among the 10 largest in the country.

Incentives: Houston knows how to welcome business. Incentives include property tax abatements, sales tax refunds, enterprise zones, tax increment reinvestment zones, sales tax exemptions, pollution control abatements, industrial revenue bonds, franchise tax refunds, property value limits and job training funds.

Taxes: Houston's tax structure makes it a low cost center for doing business. Another major draw for the region: no personal state income tax.

Aerospace: More than 17,000 engineers, scientists and administrative personnel work at the Johnson Space Center, home of NASA's shuttle and space station operations. JSC is the leading center in design and implementation of the International Space Station, coordinating the efforts of 16 nations.

Technology: Houston companies are world leaders in such dynamic technology sectors as electronics, computers, software, biomedical technology, aerospace and energy.

Services: More than two of every five jobs gained in Houston since 1988 have been in the service sector. More than 30 percent of Houston area jobs are in services.

Energy capital of the world: 3-D "reality rooms" give energy companies in Houston a valuable perspective on the world's hydrocarbon basins. Houston leads virtually every segment of the oil and gas industry. More than 5,000 energy firms do business in the region, while 44 of the nation's 200 largest publicity traded oil and gas exploration and production firms are headquartered in Houston

Biomedicine: Fertile ideas from Houston's renowned scientific community create dozens of business opportunities in biomedicine. Areas of expertise in biotechnology include health care, agriculture, chemistry, environmental science and consumer goods.

Biotechnology: Houston is a center of for-profit operations to market and commercialize results of high-tech research. All of the area's major universities boast technology-transfer programs to take research from the lab to the marketplace.

Software development: Houston has more than 225 companies engaged in software publishing and more than 1,500 providing programming and system design services. Houston is home to some of the world's largest independent software developers.

Health care: Medical facilities in Houston are among the most respected in the world. The 700 acre Texas Medical Center is at the forefront of research and treatment of cancer and heart disease. More than 61,000 persons are employed in 42 institutions, including 12 hospitals, two medical schools, four schools of nursing and schools of dentistry, public health, pharmaceutical and virtually all other health-related careers.

Research: Houston universities lead groundbreaking research in key technologies. Two examples: At Rice University, Nobel Prize winner Richard Smalley heads the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology. At the University of Houston, physicist Paul Chu founded the Texas Center for Superconductivity.