Edinburg is now the 12th fastest growing city in the nation, Garza tells visiting site selectors

EDINBURG, Texas – Edinburg is now the 12th fastest growing city in the nation, visiting site selectors were told.

Two representatives from Edinburg Economic Development Corporation spoke about the growth of their city at an event hosted by the Council for South Texas Economic Progress. They were Executive Director Raudel Garza and Project Manager Carlos Garza.

After the meeting had ended, the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service secured an exclusive interview with Raudel Garza.

“Edinburg, residential-wise, is growing very, very quickly,” Garza said. “Of course, commercial, and industrial has grown as well. But residential, we are one of the fastest growing communities in the state with a population over 100,000. Actually, we are the 12th fastest in the country, for cities that are over 100,000 people.”

Asked if he could reel off any of the stats that speak to that growth, Garza answered in the affirmative.

“There’s well over 4,500 lots that are under development right now, under review or under construction. So that’s a lot of growth. That’s a lot of residential subdivisions that are coming up,” Garza said.

“On top of that, you know, we’ve had almost $400 million in construction value in the last year. That is something that’s way beyond even the previous years, and we had a great year before. So, we’re just piling it on in terms of growth.”

Another impressive stat is the growth in sales taxes, Garza explained.

“We’re at over $36 million in sales tax and that’s a $1.6 billion retail economy. So, that’s very, very good in terms of growth for Edinburg. And it’s going to continue to grow. The population is going to continue to grow. We hope to continue to add jobs that benefit each and every one of those community members and that the economy keeps on rolling.”

Garza was asked what he puts the growth down to.

“Access to the schools, access to the university, access to better quality of life in terms of parks and the hike and bike trails. Access to entertainment, access to a lot of different restaurants. And, of course, the courthouse is there as well. So, the county courthouse brings in a lot of people. County business is huge.”

In addition, he said, U.S.Border Patrol has their sector headquarters in Edinburg. And the city has a big medical industry presence.

“Medical healthcare is huge, and Edinburg has so many different hospitals that continue to grow. Driscoll is about to open up their new hospital. I heard something in the range of about 1,000 new employees.”

In the main, people like to live close to their work, Garza said. And so, with so many big employers in the city, it stands to reason Edinburg is drawing in the residents.

“With that tremendous growth comes a lot of responsibility in terms of making sure we keep up with the infrastructure and Edinburg City Council is doing a great job,” Garza said.

“Mayor (Ramiro) Garza is doing a great job of doing just that. The city manager is working well with her different departments to make sure that the infrastructure needs are being addressed.”

Asked if he thought he and Carlos Garza got their message across to the site selectors, Raudel Garza said:

“I think we did. I think that the Valley was well represented. COSTEP has done a great job of trying to put people together and bringing people down to take a look at the Valley and this Fam (familiarization) Tour, as they call them, is a good thing for everybody.”

Garza said he knew some of the site selectors from previous events.

“I’m glad that they’re here so that they can see what’s actually happening here and they can kick the tires and feel the dirt. It’s very important for them to understand what’s out here,” Garza said.

“A lot of people listen to and watch the national media and the national media sometimes spins the story a little bit different than what the reality is. And so I was glad to be given an opportunity to address some of those (security) concerns.

Here is a video recording of the Guardian’s interview with Raudel Garza at the COSTEP event:

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Industrial parks

The Guardian asked Raudel Garza about Edinburg’s industrial parks, which were featured in the power point presentation to the site selectors.

“We’ve got several different industrial parks. The Renaissance Industrial Park off the expressway is the older one that’s already filled up. Off of Owassa we also have an industrial area where mostly produce companies and logistics companies have located their processes and buildings. There’s not a whole lot of room there left,” Garza said.

“At North Industrial Park, we have about 25 to 40 acres available right now. We’re negotiating most of those properties. So, by the end of this year, we may not have those. But we do have 600 acres at the airport that we’re going to be master planning and then marketing really, really soon. And on top of that, there’s some other opportunities for us to expand into other areas and build probably additional industrial parks.”

Asked if there was anything else he wanted to add, Raudel Garza said:

“We are investing heavily in infrastructure. The city is investing in a new water tower on the north side of town which will help deliver good water pressure to everybody out there. But also make sure that there’s enough capacity for continued growth. It’s over a million gallons, and the EDC is participating in that to the tune of over $2 million.

“We’re also increasing our capacity in terms of sanitary sewer. The city is expanding the sanitary sewer services into the southeast side of town. A lot of those businesses have been on septic systems. And so now they’re going to have that access to sewer lines and actually be able to expand their businesses without having to pump out on a regular basis. So those are just a few examples of some of the things that we’re doing.

“As far as quality of life, obviously, our city continues to invest in parks and recreation. They’re doing new artificial turf for some of the baseball fields out there for the kids. They’re opening up new parks, they’re working on drainage. The city is doing a wonderful job of keeping up with the growth.”

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