Garcia: NASCO Network’s meetings in Mexico City were highly productive

5 months ago 145

MISSION, Texas – Teclo Garcia, CEO of Mission Economic Development Corporation, says a recent NASCO Network event in Mexico City was highly productive.

NASCO, which stands for North American Strategy for Competitiveness, is a tri-national network that been at the forefront of promoting collaboration among North American governments, businesses, and educational institutions for 30 years.

“Thank you NASCO Network for leading a series of important and productive tri-lateral meetings on trade and foreign investment in Mexico City. The in-person sessions included discussions with diplomats and key personnel from Mexico, Canada, the U.S., and several other private and public sector groups at the Canadian Embassy,” said Garcia, in a posting on LinkedIn.

“Spearheaded by NASCO’s Rachel Connell, our diverse delegation heard from U.S. Department of State and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials specializing on USMCA regulations and policy and border infrastructure. They also heard from us. Additionally, we met with a key federal senator’s chief of staff and team to align our efforts to improve commercial border crossings and took a meeting at the Foreign Ministry.”

Garcia said the meetings were significant “because of USMCA, because near-shoring is practically unabated and because Texas’ and the Rio Grande Valley’s economies are so intertwined with Mexico they are greatly impacted by these issues.”

To learn more about his visit to Mexico City and his EDC’s membership of NASCO, the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service secured an exclusive interview with Garcia.

“Mission EDC is a member of NASCO and this trip to Mexico City was specifically to get in front of folks like the embassies there and the experts who are handling the implementation and guidelines of USMCA,” Garcia told the Guardian.

“And, also, to network with some of the other groups like us, throughout North America. At this meeting, in particular at the Canadian Embassy, they had folks from Alberta, from Toronto, there a lot of folks in Mexico, from the private sector, folks involved in international trade.”

Garcia said although there were two days of meetings, the primary day comprised meetings at the Canadian Embassy, at the Mexican Foreign Ministry and a meeting at at the Mexican Senate office building with a team representing a senator heavily involved with trade.

Asked what he personally achieved by attending the NASCO event, Garcia said: “I got to understand that we’re not the only ones who have challenges regarding USMCA and the movement of materials and parts and labor, etc., between the three countries. And we have work to do yet on those issues with regards to getting stuff expedited across borders.

“Also, I was able to meet and have a really good conversation with the U.S. State Department person based in Mexico, the person in charge of border infrastructure. And so we talked about the challenges that we have and how we might have further discussions and the dialogue on trying to improve some of those. CBP (Customs & Border Protection) also had a team there as well, and we talked to them. Now, they obviously work in Mexico, they don’t make decisions from D.C. But if it’s on their radar, that is a good thing.”

Asked if there was any special message he wanted to get across at the meetings, Garcia said: “Number one was don’t believe what you hear or and see in the mainstream media. It’s not that those reports from the border are incorrect. There are challenges as you and I from here know. There are a lot of migratory challenges. There’s politics involved. So that’s all accurate.

“However, those things do not impede trade. Near-shoring is happening unabated in Mexico and Mission, McAllen, Brownsville, Laredo, El Paso, we are all open for business. And we continue to handle what near-shoring in Mexico and Canada is throwing at us.

“So, while there might be some migratory challenges, and I don’t dismiss them, there are very difficult situations for immigrants here… if we focus on trade, and that’s what we do, we’re going gangbusters on that. So, I wanted to make sure they understood that.”

Garcia said he believes he and a representative from Laredo were the only border representatives to attend the NASCO meetings in Mexico City. “We were carrying that flag, and I was making sure to mention (what is happening from our perspective),” Garcia said.

Asked if he wanted to give a shoutout to NASCO Network, Garcia said:

“NASCO is a great group. Tiffany, the CEO and president of NASCO, is great. Rachel Connell was present. She is great also. She kind of spearheaded this particular meeting. They are both very knowledgeable, they understand these issues, and they have a ton of connections, not just in Mexico, but in Canada and Washington D.C. And we were able to use them for leverage… I mean, who gets into the Mexican Senate building by just making an appointment? And so they were very helpful. To get industry leaders and political and diplomatic leaders in one place was excellent.”

Garcia added: “It was a very productive trip. It was very good.”

About NASCO Network

“NASCO connects. We connect North America. We connect people, businesses, ideas, information, efforts, and organizations. We inform and involve,” the group states.

“And, if you engage with NASCO, your people, your businesses, your ideas, your information, your organizations, and your efforts connect to us and through us. It is a powerful, continental, information sharing network in multiple layers and directions. It is a valuable, proven business development tool. And it is working.”

Tiffany Melvin has led NASCO for 27 of its 30 years – first as the executive director of NASCO, and then as its president. Rachel Connell is the group’s vice president.

As far as South Texas connections to NASCO go, IBC Bank Executive Vice President Gerald Schwebel of Laredo is its secretary. Board members include Luis Bazan of the Pharr International Bridge, Andre Carrasco of South Webb Industrial Park in Laredo, Teclo Garcia of Mission EDC, and Gene Lindgren of Laredo Economic Development Corporation.

NASCO was founded in 1994 in North Texas as the “I-35 Corridor Coalition” by a group of local elected officials and private industry partners concerned about the recently ratified North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its impact on congestion in the region.

In time it expanded its focus on trucking to include every mode of transportation, sea and inland ports, supply chains and logistics, environmental issues caused by freight movement, energy opportunities throughout North America, and, eventually, how to solve the workforce skills gap – a crisis facing every North American company and economy.

Today, NASCO is the only truly grassroots, tri-national membership organization focused on the North American supply chain and logistics, energy, and the environment, and closing the skilled workforce gap.

The group has members from across the continent – provinces, states, cities, counties, global corporations, SMEs, small mom and pop shops, every mode of transportation, seaports, inland ports, energy and environment entities, colleges, graduate schools, high school independent school districts, and community colleges and technical schools, chambers of commerce, economic development corporations, industry associations and corridor coalitions.

“We have a vast, diverse, energized, very high-level membership that is dedicated to North American competitiveness in the global marketplace,” the group states.

“Our efforts do not stem from a need for accolades or recognition. We work hard because we love our continent, we see the huge potential before us as North Americans – to live on the greatest continent on earth with free democracies and abundant resources – and we want to do our part in moving all of us forward. It sounds corny, but it’s true. And, because of that, over the past 25 years we have earned a reputation as a highly credible, highly effective, trustworthy organization.”

NASCO adds: “We believe a globally competitive North America – with efficient and secure supply chains and border crossings, a versatile and skilled workforce, and a clean, healthy climate – may only be achieved through hard work, cooperation at every level of government, academia, and industry, and by accomplishing small successes every single day. They lead to big successes over time.”

NASCO will celebrate its 30th Anniversary with the 2024 NASCO Continental Reunion. It takes place April 28-30, 2024, at the JW Marriott Monterrey Valle, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Click here to register.

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