As mayor, I work to ensure that economic opportunity is available to everyone. Fortunately, our dynamic and ever-growing city Houston offers plenty of ways to earn a living. We see that in our unemployment rate of 3.2%, the lowest since 1981.

The City of Houston has a department whose mission is to share those job opportunities far and wide. It is even part of its name.

The Office of Business Opportunity partners with organizations across the city, state, and the country to develop and carry out programs that improve job skills, support start-up entrepreneurs and help contractors compete for contracts with the city for services, supplies and more.

Two programs stand out: Turnaround Houston! and the Lift-Off Houston Business Plan Competition.

Since 2016, Turnaround Houston! resource fairs have helped hundreds of Houstonians improve their lives by overcoming barriers to employment. Resources include job training programs, access to social services and connections to “second-chance” employers. Even things as simple as a haircut and business attire for a job interview are available, understanding the importance of a first impression to a potential employer.

This year, Turnaround Houston! expanded with the introduction of the Turnaround Houston Entrepreneurial Program, which provides previously incarcerated individuals skills and resources to start their own businesses and provide for their families. In April, 13 individuals graduated from the first group. For more information, visit www.turnaroundhouston.org

June marks the start of the Liftoff Houston Business Plan Competition. Business owners operating for less than one year will learn how to write business plans that will help them jump start their businesses. Then, in November, after several months of coaching, preparation, and refining a business plan, nine business owners will be selected from several hundred to compete in three categories: Product, Service and, Innovation. The winner of each category wins a $10,000 prize. Think Houston Shark Tank!

Deidre Mathis was one of three winners in the 2017 competition. I met her last year at the opening of her Wanderstay Hotel in the Museum District, which she started with the help of the $10,000 grand prize from the Liftoff competition. Since winning Liftoff, she was coined the first Woman of Color to open a US based hostel and has been interviewed by Forbes Magazine, USA TODAY, and Conde Nast Traveler. This year, she was awarded a Tory Burch Fellowship, earned Startup of the Year by Wanderful Network, and was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year by the Urban League Young Professional Organization. She shared with me that her experience with the program and OBO helped her fix the holes in her business plan and open her hotel.

Now in its seventh year, the competitions have given business owners opportunities to open enterprises like Wanderstay Hotel to a healthy bakery to a crowd funding site for education. They have provided Houstonians with new services, created jobs and expanded Houston’s economy.

For more information, visit www.liftoffhouston.com. For more on the Office of Business Opportunity, visit: www.houstontx.gov/obo/

I have learned that if you take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves, and work hard toward obtaining your dreams, then you can achieve them. I encourage all Houstonians to pursue their dreams by exploring the opportunities mentioned above and the many others offered by the City of Houston and other organizations across this great city.