Cowen: Brownsville is the No. 1 city in Texas for job growth

Hi, good afternoon everyone. My name is John Cowen and I am the Mayor of city of Brownsville. 

I just wanted to come by and thank you all for your great leadership to the State of Texas and particularly to Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley. I was elected a year ago and right when I got elected Governor Abbott came down to McAllen and we had a regional meeting about economic development. Forty seven mayors came together. Governor Abbott said, the future of the state of Texas is in the Rio Grande Valley. 

By 2050, the Rio Grande Valley is going to double in population to over 3 million people. We’re about 1.5 right now. The City of Brownsville is currently the number one city in the state of Texas for job growth. And obviously with growth comes growing pains, and obviously transportation does create those issues for us. 

I currently serve as the vice chair of the Rio Grande Valley MPO. And we work hand-in-hand with TxDOT. Just want to commend TxDOT Pharr District Engineer Pete Alvarez for his hard work and dedication. We have a great team. 

Just want to highlight some projects we’re working on in Brownsville. The East Loop is a $185 million project that goes from the Port of Brownsville to our Veterans Bridge. Currently the Port of Brownsville has $22 billion of projects going on there. Some of the biggest energy products in the United States are happening there. Eight thousand construction jobs over the next five to seven years. 

SpaceX is obviously blowing up – not literally- out there but they are doing a great job in fostering economic development. A $3 billion investment, obviously with the announcement of their headquarters moving from California to Starbase right outside Brownsville is such a huge thing for us. They are the most valuable aerospace company in the world at $210 billion. They need help as well expanding State Highway 4 and we are working at the MPO on that. I just want to highlight that as well. 

But again, I just want to say thank you for your leadership. I just want to highlight what’s going on in the Valley and Brownsville and we’re here to work together with TxDOT. So thank you very much.

Editor’s Note: The above commentary was provided by Brownsville Mayor John Cowen, Jr., during the open comment period at a Texas Transportation Commission meeting held in Austin on July 30, 2024.

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