COSTEP CEO Adam Gonzalez to visit Spain in June

MCALLEN, Texas – Adam Gonzalez, CEO of the Council for South Texas Economic Progress, will be visiting Spain later this year as part of a trade delegation organized by the Texas Economic Development Corporation.

The trip to Europe may also include a visit to Italy, Gonzalez said, in an exclusive interview with the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service.

Early last year, Gonzalez visited India with the Texas Economic Development Corporation.

“I’m looking at going to abroad again, to Europe with the Governor’s office of the Texas Economic Development Corporation in June,” Gonzalez said. “We’re actually planning on visiting Spain and possibly Italy, to help attract… meeting with some stakeholders there, and trying to promote the region as an investment destination.”

The Texas Economic Development Corporation is an independently funded and operated 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization responsible for marketing and promoting Texas as a premier business location. It works closely with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and Tourism.

Aaron Demerson is president and CEO of the Texas Economic Development Corporation. He visited with Gonzalez in Mission in January to strategize on economic development and pick up a check from COSTEP.

The Council for South Texas Economic Progress, otherwise known as COSTEP, is a nonprofit corporation that works to bring new industry to the Rio-South Texas region. The region is defined as Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley. 

The Guardian interviewed Gonzalez at the end of a Friends of COSTEP Quarterly Meeting, held at the Cambria Hotel McAllen Convention Center in McAllen. The keynote speaker was Dr. Daniel Covarrubias, director of the Texas Center for Border Enterprise and Economic Development at Texas A&M International University in Laredo. He spoke about the impact of tariffs.

Asked what big projects COSTEP is working on, Gonzalez said: “We’re still working a very large project. It is a long-term project that I keep on talking about because it would be a game changer for the region. It’s in the aerospace industry, but that’s still a few years out.”

Gonzalez said COSTEP is also working on bringing in a company from Canada that does plastic molding. “I just found out today that they’re a lot further along than what I thought in landing that company in the region. So we’re looking forward to that.”

Other than that, COSTEP is continuing to look for opportunities, Gonzalez said.

“Rick has been making the rounds with regards to the site selector conferences that are out there,” Gonzalez said, referencing COSTEP’s economic development director, Rick Carrera.

Asked if there was anything else he would like to say, Gonzalez said: No, other than keep in touch, stay tuned, there’s definitely more to come from COSTEP.”

Editor’s Note: Here is the Guardian’s interview with Adam Gonzalez at the Friends of COSTEP event:

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