Aleman: A company in the space industry from the United Arab Emirates wants to invest in Cameron County

BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Ramiro Aleman, director of economic development for Cameron County, is in talks with a company from the United Arab Emirates that wants to set up shop in the Rio Grande Valley.

The company is in the space industry, Aleman told the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service, in an exclusive interview.

“I got a call two days ago from a company from the United Arab Emirates in the space industry that wants to be near Starbase now that it is incorporated. They reached out. So, all this activity is coming in and people are starting to realize and learn what Cameron County is, who we are, what the possibilities are, and they’re interested in investing here.”

Starbase is a newly incorporated city comprising mostly SpaceX employees that work at the company’s Boca Chica rocket launching facility.

The Guardian secured its interview with Aleman following a South Texas Manufacturers Association meeting. The Guardian was keen to learn how a trade mission he organized in Monterrey went.

The Cross Border Industrial Investment Opportunities Seminar took place at the JW Marriott Monterrey Arboleda on May 8.

“It was a very successful event. We were just ecstatic with the number of folks that showed up. We’re excited about the quality of folks that showed up. And we’re excited to continue working together to bring more investment, more opportunities to the county.”

Aleman said he believes it is the first time the cities of Brownsville and Harlingen have worked together on an economic development initiative.

“From my understanding, and I think I have a little bit more experience than the average person on this subject, but Cameron County, Harlingen and Brownsville have really never worked together on these type of marketing initiatives,” Aleman said.

“But now that the county has created its own economic development department, and me, having worked with Brownsville and Harlingen in the past, we were able to organize this event.”

More than 80 potential investors were in the audience, Aleman explained.

“We wanted to spread the word about Cameron County, what’s going on in Brownsville, what is going on Harlingen. And to let them (the potential investors) know that there’s opportunities here in Cameron County. And so, it was a really great event.”

Aleman said he has already had follow-up discussions with some of the companies that attended the event.

“I’ve already had follow-up conversations with two different ones, and that’s just me. Harlingen has probably had for their follow-ups; Brownsville has probably had their follow-ups. But it was a great event where we were able to show how we can work together, breaking down those silos.”

Aleman said companies looking to invest in the region appreciate it when economic development corporations work together.

“We were showing that companies that we could be a unified front, and they really appreciate that. They like to see support our communities supporting each other. And that’s what we’re showing. And it was very successful. I think we’re going to see more things, more marketing efforts, joint marketing efforts.”

Aleman gave a shoutout to Rodolfo Saucedo, managing principal of Monterrey-based Proximity Consulting. 

“Rodolfo used to be the economic development director for Matamoros. He’s now with Proximity Consulting in Monterrey and he was our main contact as far as organizing everything. We really appreciate him for everything he did for this event, and we hope to continue working with Proximity in the future, perhaps in other cities in Mexico, and maybe we can take it internationally, globally. This was certainly a great start.”

Asked why there is particular interest in Cameron County, Aleman said:

“Companies like SpaceX, companies like LNG, companies now like Amazon, that have announced that they’re coming. They’re growing and expanding. People globally are starting to see that.”

Editor’s Note: Here is a video recording of the interview with Aleman:

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