The Woodlands is a planned community that is successful economically, though not yet incorporated as either a town or city. It is simply a census-designated place located about 15 miles north of the Houston city limits, off Interstate 45. George Mitchell, of Mitchell Energy & Development, founded The Woodlands as a planned bedroom community/suburb of Houston in 1974. The housing community flourished. It has not been annexed by nearby Houston and legislation in the 2000s has offered the community a chance to incorporate itself as an independent city in 2014. The population stood around 90,000 people in 2009, with many large local businesses, proving that it can exist on its own as well as in the capacity of a bedroom community for the Houston-Sugarland area.

The Lonestar College System is the top employer in The Woodlands and is made up of five high-quality colleges. Its organization is as a publicly-funded, two-year, community college in multiple locations serving the north side of the Greater Houston Area and the included suburbs.

COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Lonestar colleges are located in the towns of North Harris and Cyfair in Harris County, Kingwood in Houston County, Montgomery in Montgomery County, and Tomball in Tomball County.  Each campus offers its own unique, high-quality programming that develops individual students as it increases the power of the workforce with new jobs and advanced technologies. A related Corporate College focuses entirely on business and economic growth.

UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIPS

The colleges join with Texas Universities to offer their community college students addition training that can result in academic degrees beyond the AA or certifications, all the way up to PhDs and post-docs certificates. All this occurs at two teaching centers, one in The Woodlands and one in Harris County.

LONESTAR CORPORATE COLLEGE

The Woodlands is a planned community that was founded by an energy corporation. It is fitting thaty Lonestar also offers a Corporate College with with to train employees and owners of business in the Greater Houston Area. The Woodlands is one of fastest growing suburbs in America and benefits significantly from the work of the Corporate College.

The staff and administration of the Corporate College from a team of Business Training Consultants for medium to large companies in the service are of the college system. Major concentration is given to the following industries:

• Energy
• Manufacturing
• Government
• Transportation

Training and consulting services are also offered in these categories:

• Retail
• Hospitality
• Healthcare
• Nonprofits

The schools in the Lonestar group offers training as diverse as preparing for a Disney Internship to English as a Second Language to Dance to how to handle Substance Abuse in the workplace. An educational system such as this helps to ensure success in the workplace.

Lone Star College System

The following occupational categories are projected to increase most rapidly in job openings in Houston - The Woodlands area:

1. Medical Assistants
2. Network Systems and Data Communications Analysts
3. Special Education Teachers for Preschool, Kindergarten, Elementary, and Middle Schools
4. Physician's Assistants
5. Physicians: Obstetricians and Gynecologists
6. Personal/Home Care Aides
7. Mainstream Kindergarten Teachers
8. Cardiovascular Techs
9. Mainstream Elementary School Teachers
10. Surgical Technologists

These jobs are involved in Healthcare, Education, and Information Technology (IT). The largest job lister for The Woodlands is the sucessfully expanding Lonestar College System, which offers programming in all three as well as being an educational system, so the projections fit with reality. The increases projected for Teachers K-12 fit with the increasing population of The Woodlands as a fast growing suburb of Houston.

Between the center of The Woodslands and the Houston city limits, the following job titles are those most frequently advertised and in the highest demand.

1. Physical Therapists
2. Salespersons
3. Store Managers
4. Assistant Managers
5. Cooks
6. Physical Therapy Assistants
7. Product Demonstrators
8. Sales Representatives
9. Assistant Store Managers
10. Personal Bankers
11. Customer Service Reps
12. Teachers
13. Assistant General Managers
14. Merchandise Associates - retail
15. Occupational Therapists