Hernandez: The Valley’s future must be tied to advanced manufacturing 

WESLACO, Texas – Robots were on the mind of businessman Mike Hernandez last week.

The Texas A&M University System regent had two public speaking roles and on both occasions he mentioned robotics.

One of his speeches was given at the Port of Brownsville. Hernandez was on the bill when Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp announced plans to build a $30 million advanced manufacturing trading center.

The other speech was made in Weslaco, when Hernandez gave the keynote address at a Governor’s Small Business Summit.

Brownsville speech

In his speech at the Port of Brownsville, Hernandez said the new training facility was important because “the jobs in the future are going to come down a lot to… what I have distilled it down to, robotics.”

Hernandez said that no matter what industry you look at, “there is going to be a robotics involvement.”

He said: “So, if that’s the future, we need engineers to be able to design these things (robots). We also need some hands-on people that have IT skills and also can turn a wrench and fix something.”

Hernandez said these are very much new skill sets. 

“It has come about due to all the technology changes and advances that we’ve had. And Texas A&M is here to make sure on the workforce training side that we’re on the cutting edge of that so that our workforce here has the tools and skills that no one else has in the country.”

Another part of the training facility will be geared towards research and development, Hernandez said.

“For companies that are here and future companies that are coming, (it is important) that they know Texas A&M is here to help them with their R&D needs. And with all those things, our hope is to create an economic development boom starting right here at the Port of Brownsville.”

Here is an audio recording of Regent Hernandez’s speech at Texas A&M University System’s event at the Port of Brownsville:

Weslaco speech

Hernandez also mentioned Texas A&M’s advanced manufacturing training facility in his speech in Weslaco. Even though it is being located at the Port of Brownsville, it has big implications for the Mid and Upper Valley, Hernandez argued.

“Texas A&M has a big project going on in the Port of Brownsville. What we’re building there is a huge workforce training center for advanced manufacturing and other skills that are needed for the industries that are going to be coming.

“But beyond that we also have an area to do R&D, research and development and innovation for the companies that are coming into the Port. And why is that important to Weslaco, what is going on at the Port of Brownsville? The future of the Mid and Upper Valley is basically getting into the mass manufacturing business.”

Before, Hernandez said, “it was all about maquilas and people utilizing cheap labor on the other side of the border to assemble things and put them together.”

But, things are changing, Hernandez argued. 

“The future of manufacturing and really most businesses… is that things are going to be made by robots, not by humans. Humans aren’t going to be putting stuff together. So, what’s going to be most important are having people that can work on these robots when they go down because when a robot goes down for a company we’re talking about thousands and thousands of dollars in losses, every minute that robot is down.”

Hernandez continued: “The reason I’m saying this is because the Valley for the last 50 years has been, for lack of a better way of saying it, nothing more than that truck stop. Goods are coming in, the trucks stop here, fill up for gas, buy a hotdog. Same at the Port. Goods come in, ships are unloaded, and reloaded.

“My vision and many other people’s vision for the future of the Valley is that, for example, avocados come in and guacamole goes out. The raw materials come in here. We don’t just fill up the truck and pass it on the way. We use those materials to make stuff.”

Here is an audio recording of Regent Hernandez’s speech at the Governor’s Small Business Summit in Weslaco. He is introduced by UT-Rio Grande Valley’s Associate Vice President for Workforce and Economic Development, Ron Garza:

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