International expansion of business into the US

SBA,I'm a graduate of a US university and hold a Petroleum Engineering degree which is like another feather in my cap. My family business is based in India and is involved in the O&G Industry all over the world as we manufacture and export certain oil well drilling chemical products. We do have a good list of US clients that have been doing business with us for quite a long time now and we continue catering our services to them.Of course, I would like to open a branch office in the US and more precisely in Houston, Texas. There are a lot of local companies that are involved in the same business as we are but this situation exists in every field of interest.From a manufacturers point of view, not a lot of the US companies manufacture the chemicals in the US unlike what we do in India and that itself gives us a small bit of an advantage over the local markets. We have our own facilities in India to meet up with the requirements, expectations and manufacturing of various drilling chemical products.The downside is transporting these chemicals internationally which hinders with the delivery schedule, shipping continuous quantities, discrepancies in local authorities at shipping ports and NO stocking facility in the US as a backup plan to serve our customers when it comes to shortage of products. We are also talking about IMPORTING such products into the US when and if we have an official branch office in the US.To cater our US clients efficiently, we want to have a warehouse facility along with a blending plant to mix various powdered and non-hazardous chemicals together as per the requirements of the local US companies. Nevertheless, while opening a branch office in the US as a Non-US resident/alien, will the process be the same as a startup company or are there different procedures to be followed to open a branch office in Texas?Also, to run the branch office in the US, I will be appointed as the main person to handle the company for the first couple of years and I believe to do so, the US will grant me a work visa? Since we are talking about opening a branch office in Texas, how does "create jobs for americans" work? How many people would have to be hired to comply with the stipulations put in front of us by the government? Since its Texas, we know that companies have to pay minimum taxes and whether this is liable to foreign companies as well? Is our vision suitable for developing a good business plan? With this in mind, how much investment would be involved in setting up and running a branch office in Texas?Please take some time out and try to guide me as to what specific procedures, laws and regulations must be incorporated while executing such a plan because everything that I have read on the internet is different from what I have just posted.