A possible new name with which to market North Tamaulipas and the RGV: The Region 1 Metroplex

5 months ago 141

MISSION, Texas – A new marketing name for the North Tamaulipas/Rio Grande Valley region could be The Region One Metroplex.

Why Region? Because the word region has the same meaning in English and Spanish. Why 1? Because South Texas/North Tamaulipas is the No. 1 region for international trade between the United States and Mexico.

The name was discussed by industrial developers, empresarios, business leaders, bankers, and economic development officials at a private meeting co-hosted by the Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Force and the CEO Group led by entrepreneur Joaquin Spamer. The meeting was held at La Fogata in Mission on March 20.

Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez, who set up the prosperity task force and the CEO Group, said the meeting was called to discuss the best way to promote the region abroad.

Interviewed at the conclusion of the meeting, Cortez told the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service:

“We are trying to come up with a solution as to how to market our area. Everybody at the meeting agreed that the best way to market our area is to market the whole region as one and be able to have a good solid message where people will know where we are and who we are, how to find us and what we offer,” Cortez said.

Cortez said the meeting was very productive.

“I think it was a very good meeting because we had the right people there. We had economic development organizations from different cities. We had business owners, industrial park owners, bankers, governments. So I think we’re well on our way to hopefully being able to properly market our region.”

Cortez was asked if the 50-plus power brokers at the meeting had come up with a brand name with which to market the region.

“No. No, we’re not there yet. We’re thinking of Region One Metroplex. But there was also discussion of keeping the name RGV. We’ve been known as the Rio Grande Valley for many, many years. And I think I kind of agree with that. We have been the RGV for a long time and I think we ought to consider continuing to use it,” Cortez said.

But, using the term RGV or Rio Grande Valley does not embrace the northern Tamaulipas cities of Reynosa and Matamoros.

Cortez acknowledged this.

“That’s the challenge. That’s what we’re going to have to do. I’m going to let an artistic person or someone better than I figure that out. I think we tell them what we’re trying to accomplish and hopefully they will find the right slogan or the right term to use,” Cortez said.

The marketing departments of South Texas College and UT-Rio Grande Valley will help in the branding exercise, Spamer told the Guardian.

Every table at the private meeting had a card printed by the Hidalgo County Property Task Force. On the card was a QR code. Participants were asked to scan the code with their smart phones. A Google Forms page then popped up titled Region 1 Metroplex. It had the logos of the Prosperity Task Force, COSTEP, and the Rio Grande Valley Partnership. The form asked for the participant’s name, company organization, and email address. It listed seven questions:

Do you consider it is important to have a unified identity for the entire region?

Do you believe that a regional branding would strengthen the region’s presence and competitiveness nationally and internationally?

What name would you suggest for a regional branding that represents both sides of the border?

What is your annual marketing budget for economic promotion?

Are you willing to align your marketing efforts with this regional initiative?

Are you willing to use the new branding proposal?

Would you be willing to use a regional calendar to enhance the coordination of marketing efforts for participation in events and trade missions?

The page also invited comments.

Cortez said the replies would be collated and discussed at the next meeting of the power brokers.

Asked what the next steps for the group are, Cortez said:

“The next steps are to continue with this effort of trying to identify how we’re going to brand ourselves and then what are the steps we need to do to go out and tell people who we are, where we are, and how we can help them in business.”

Cortez added: “The number one objective of all of us is to bring investment to this area and for that investment in turn to provide the jobs that our people need.”

What the power brokers at the meeting had to say

Raudel Garza, executive director of Edinburg Economic Development Corporation:

“I’ve been involved in economic development here in the Rio Grande Valley for a long time. And we have had regional efforts in the past. But this is the first time that I’ve seen the private sector really step up and kind of take a lead on giving us direction.

“It’s important for them to be a partner with the public sector and so I’m excited with what’s going on and I’m excited with the trajectory that we’re going on. I’m looking forward to the next meeting, putting people together so that we can put this action plan into the implementation phase.”

Asked if the stakeholders had come up with a name with which to market the region, Garza said:

“No decision was made on that but the wheels are turning, if you will, and so people are talking about different names and different ways of bringing our identity more in focus, so that people can relate to where we are. It’s important to include not only South Texas but also northern Mexico. So, we’re getting there. We’re getting there.”

Ricardo Solis, president of South Texas College:

“We were laser focused on developing the Valley and finding the appropriate industry to be able to attract. And by gathering all the private sector leaders here, that was a major achievement today.

“The private sector leaders compete with each other in many areas. But now… we’ve always known this but we’re now putting it in writing… that the private sector is uniting to work together with the public sector and the nonprofit sector to continue doing the proper economic development that is needed here in the Valley.”

Jim Collins, chairman of Rioco Partners:

“I think we all are trying to unite to promote one region. It was a very productive meeting.”

Adam Gonzalez, CEO of the Council for South Texas Economic Progress (COSTEP):

“As was said in the in the meeting today, we have an identity crisis in the region. And what we mean by that is that we need to create a specific brand or regional brand that we can all pitch, that we can all advertise under, so that we’re not… COSTEP has the Rio South Texas motto, the Valley Partnership has the One Region, One Voice motto. We need to come together and have one individual identity for our region that we all pitch.”

Asked if North Tamaulipas should be considered part of the region, Gonzalez said:

“From a COSTEP perspective, northern Tamaulipas is an asset, a big advantage in the binational dynamic that we have. So we have always promoted both sides of the border, the seven counties that we have on the U.S. side and the ten municipos on the Mexico side. Because a win for those municipos is a win for us as well.”

Gonzalez added: “I think this meeting has been a great step towards a regional effort. And we look forward to more to come on this.”

Michael Fallek, president of Castle Hospitality:

“It was a wonderfully productive meeting. I think it’s an excellent idea to get all the power brokers in the region united, be it private enterprise and the government entities. United so that we can form a group that has more of a power structure. United with funding behind it to create a vision and a presence in the region, in the state, and throughout the nation and the world. Near-shoring is happening and it’s important that the Valley gets our fair share.”

William Dietrich, interim port director for Brownsville Navigation District:

“It was definitely a very productive meeting. It was a different mindset. It’s understanding that regionally we have a lot to offer, if we put all of our assets together. Understanding the transnational aspect, the binational aspect of what we bring to the table will definitely attract corporations down here. It is something that should have happened a long time ago, but this is definitely the first step.”

Asked how the Port of Brownsville ties into this, Dietrich said:

“The Port of Brownsville is named the Port of Brownsville but it is the Rio Grande Valley’s port. I really want everyone to understand that when they make their pitches to large companies, add us into that mix and say, hey, we do have this asset here. Not too many places have that asset. I’m sure people in the Midwest would really want to be able to say that they have a deep water port in their region. We have it here. We have multimodal transportation and great connections with Mexico. We do that every day. So we can be an asset to them (economic development organizations) and help them get over the line when they’re trying to sell this region to Mexico. Lean on us. Say, hey, we have this port here. Brag about us. This is a selling point that can be used to bring in high tech industry or industry in general.”

Arturo Gomez, deputy port director of operations for Brownsville Navigation District:

“I really appreciate Joaquin Spamer’s leadership on trying to get both sides of the border working together. I think it’s important. It is basically the only way to compete with other parts of, not only of the country, but the world. We must all realize, we’re not competing against other regions in the United States. We’re competing against Vietnam, we’re competing against the Philippines. All these countries that are taking advantage of the exodus of companies that are leaving China and going to other regions of the world. It’s important that we work as a team and I think Mr. Spammer is a great promoter of this effort. He deserves our praise.”

Editor’s Note: Daniel Silva, president and CEO of the Rio Grande Valley Partnership, was also at the private meeting at La Fogata. We will have his analysis of how best to market the region in our next edition.

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