Carrera: When I present to potential investors and site selectors, there’s one particular slide that ‘blows them away’

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EDCOUCH, Texas – When Rick Carrera, COSTEP’s economic development director, says that when he gives a power point presentation to site selectors and potential investors, there is one slide that “blows them away.”

That slide is about the size of the population of the Rio South Texas region. Carrera’s slide shows that the population in the seven counties north of the Rio Grande/Bravo is close to 1.7 million. The ten municipios to the south of the river have a population of more than 1.9 million.

“This is the one that blows them away,” Carrera said, pointing to the slide in question. “That is because a lot of people don’t know that these are the populations we’re dealing with here in Rio South Texas.”

Carrera gave his latest power point presentation at the recent 2025 Delta Area Summit hosted by Elsa Economic Development Corporation. The event was held in the technology building at Edcouch-Elsa ISD.

“In most areas of the United States, there’s been some growth (in population). But our growth has been substantial,” Carrera said. “So, when we put these numbers in front of them, all of a sudden, they start comprehending like, well, wait a minute, there’s obviously something going on down there. This region is not a one-horse town. There is some critical mass that we’re working with here. Let’s take a look at this.”

COSTEP stands for the Council for South Texas Economic Progress. At the Delta Area Summit, Carrera gave an in-depth presentation on what COSTEP does and how it operates as a regional economic development organization that works to bring manufacturing companies to the Rio Grande Valley and Laredo.

“When I go to conferences, it’s all about lead generation. I want to talk to people who have firsthand knowledge of companies that are looking to relocate or to expand,” Carrera said. “For to me, it’s how do we get the best bang for our buck. I’m a very Point A to Point B kind of guy and you’ve got to create relationships with a lot of these people.”

Carrera said COSTEP brings the ten municipios south of the Valley and Laredo into the mix because in some places they are better known than the cities in South Texas.

“We leverage the ten municipios that are across from us here in the Rio Grande Valley, because believe it or not, some people know Reynosa, Tamaulipas, and Matamoros, Tamaulipas, better than they know McAllen. That is because they are manufacturing powerhouses in northern Mexico,” Carrera said.

“We do this to draw attention to the area. We’re trying to get people to know who we are and where we’re at. Like Daniel mentioned, sometimes it’s hard to get people to understand where the Rio Grande Valley is.”

The “Daniel” Carrera was referring to was Daniel Rivera, executive director of Elsa EDC. Rivera was emcee for the summit.

Carrera said COSTEP works with site selectors are that are dealing with industrial clients, such as manufacturing companies.

“We are part of the Texas Economic Development Corporation. We’re an investor in that group. So, we tout the prowess of, the key facts about, Texas, if at all possible. A lot of them (site selectors) are familiar with Texas. They’re just not familiar with us,” Carrera said.

“So, we’re pushing the region as much as possible. The key takeaway here is where we’re located, because a lot of people don’t understand. Okay, we are in South Texas, but technically speaking, we’re right smack dab in the middle of the North American continent, and we have connectivity throughout the entire continent.”

One of the ways COSTEP promotes the Rio South Texas region is by organization Fam Tours. Fam stands for familiarization.

“We’ll get between three and seven site selectors come down on each tour and they tour the area. We’ll get them in front of a lot of key people because most of them have never been to the area before. We want to create an awareness, to show them what’s going on here,” Carrera said.

“These are very data driven people, right? They’ve already looked at all the data. They want to come down here, put their feet on the ground and see what’s behind the data.”

One of the great assets the region has, Carrera said, is the Port of Brownsville.

“When I mention the Port of Brownsville, all of a sudden, their eyes light up. It’s like, okay, we’re looking to make our way down there soon because the maritime connectivity is huge for us,” Carrera said.

“So, one of the bigger hooks that I use to get people here, to draw them in and grow interest in the region is the Port of Brownsville.”

Another thing that makes Carrera’s job easier is being able to highlight the logos of all the Fortune 500 companies that are based in Reynosa and Matamoros.

“All of a sudden things start to change. And they’re like, wait a minute, we had no idea that LG had an operation down there, or Caterpillar, or Bissell, or Black and Decker,” Carrera said. “Once you kind of throw that in there, all of a sudden, it begins to generate ideas. They’re like, wait a minute, if these companies are being successful down there, there must be something going on, and we need to look into this.”

Carrera said he thinks the threat of tariffs and the way the issue has stagnated investment decisions could be receding. He is hopeful that is the case.

“I am getting a lot of calls from companies, because they kind of see light at the end of the tunnel in terms of what’s going to happen with tariffs. But nothing’s been set in stone just yet,” Carrera said.

“But earlier this year, I got calls from site selectors saying, hey, we’ve got something, we are interested in your region, but we’re putting the brakes on it because we just don’t know what’s going to happen with tariffs.”

Carrera continued:

“I go to a lot of conferences and of the site selectors I’ve spoken to, the common theme seems to be… I’m not saying that we all know exactly what’s going happen, but, right now, there’s a general feeling that they are kind of seeing how all the chips are going to lay out. So, I’m getting some more interest in the area now.”

An incredible, outstanding opportunity

Carrera said the number one issue manufacturing companies want to know about is workforce availability.

“When I talk to different people, not just site selectors, but the people who work economic development from all parts of the country, and the number one issue that they’re having right now is workforce. I mean, that’s just across the board. They’re just having a hard time finding the people to actually fill the jobs that are there.”

That being said, Carrera feels the Rio South Texas region has a “tremendous” opportunity to secure new investment because of its demographic profile.

“Statistically speaking, we’re one of the youngest regions the United States. I think the average age here is like 28.5 or 29 somewhere around there. And if you look at the sheer number of youths here and the available workforce. I mean, it’s incredible. It’s outstanding,” Carrera said.

“And then you look at the available property and the fact that we’re a burgeoning region, we’re sitting, I think, at the beginning of a really, really good growth period here. I think eventually companies will make it down here. Our job is to make sure we get the best companies to come down here because I do really believe there are people here that would really jump at the chance to have a good opportunity. And we’re doing our best to make sure we get those opportunities here.”

Carrera said site selectors and manufacturing companies often want one point of contact in the Valley. He said that is where COSTEP comes in.

“They often say, ‘We need a single point of contact. Can you be the guy?’ And we will say, sure, what’s going on, or what’s the issue? And they will say, ‘Look, we’re interested in South Texas. Nothing against the 30 something different economic development organizations you have there. We just don’t have the time to entertain a meeting with everyone’,” Carrera said.

“So, they come meet with us, we take them around, we drive around. We show them the whole area. We figure out what their needs are, and once they decide where within the region they want to be, then we’ll introduce them to the economic development organization that pertains to that particular property, that location.”

Carrera continued: “So that’s the role that we play. We’re that single point of contact for the region. And we don’t play favorites. Everything’s open game. Everybody’s fair game. It’s all about what’s best for the client or what’s best for the company. And, once again, for us it’s the available property and the available workforce here, tremendous, tremendous assets. On top of that, a large percentage of that workforce is bilingual. So, it’s a really, really good, strong combination that we’re bringing to the table.”

Editor’s Note: Here is a video recording of Rick Carrera’s presentation at the 2025 Delta Area Summit: