A Greater Houston company is ramping up production of fiberglass composite utility poles — and it’s looking to hire hundreds of workers to help get the job done.
Resilient Structures, based in Humble, manufactures poles designed to withstand winds topping 140 mph — the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane. The company is now hiring for a range of full-time positions, and a college degree isn’t required for all of them.
Beryl exposed weaknesses in Houston’s power grid
When Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Texas as a Category 1 storm in 2024, it knocked out power to millions across the Greater Houston area. Downed utility poles were a significant factor in leaving some neighborhoods without electricity for days.
Alisa Madrid, a buyer at Resilient Structures, remembers it well.
“I was here. I was fortunate that I only lost power for 12 hours, but I did have family members who lost power 10 days,” Madrid said.
The storm exposed just how vulnerable the region’s power infrastructure was. Since then, CenterPoint Energy has been replacing thousands of wooden poles with stronger fiberglass ones — many of which are being manufactured at the Humble facility.
Inside production floor
On the production floor, dozens of workers are already busy building the poles. The facility is loud — and according to Resilient Structures, it’s only going to get louder as production scales up.
Rob Krotee, executive vice president of Sales & Marketing at Resilient Structures, says the company is still in the early stages of its hiring push.
“We’ll be hiring at full scale. We’ll probably be over 300 people. So we still have hundreds more jobs that we’ll be hiring here for our Houston facility,” Krotee said.
The open positions span a variety of skill sets.
“A number of different skilled kind of work, whether it’s equipment operators, there’s some technical skilled work in our filament lining, which is unique to our composite poles. So they’re great full-time career opportunities with quite a bit of a runway as we continue to build and grow in support of the utility industry,” Krotee said.
More than just a job
For Madrid, who has worked at Resilient Structures for a few months, the role carries a deeper sense of purpose. She says knowing the poles her team builds could help keep other families powered during future storms makes the work meaningful.
“I think that’s what makes Resilient Structures so special — I’m able to see the direct impact now. And I’m reminded of that daily,” Madrid said.
Job openings are currently available at Resilient Structures’ Humble facility.