Garcia tells Indian investors how McAllen EDC helped Zoho Corporation settle in the city

MCALLEN, Texas – Various economic development organizations from across the Rio Grande Valley recently made a pitch to three investors from India.

McAllen Economic Development Corporation had an advantage: it could point to a successful collaboration with an Indian firm.

McAllen EDC Vice President Ralph Garcia told the story of how Zoho Corporation, a billion-dollar tech company, was recruited to his city.

“They’re a tech company out of India, a billion-dollar business,” Garcia said of Zoho. “They don’t need to be asking for support. But what we did with them was very unique.”

Garcia explained.

“In visiting with them the challenge they were having (is that) they had purchased a site in Austin and were trying to launch that project there. They were having a lot of trouble, especially with recruitment competing with Tesla, Dell, and others, not being able to find that labor pool of people.

“So, they expanded that search and when they did that, they started noticing a lot of people coming from the Rio Grande Valley. Rather than uproot those folks, bring them to Austin and have them go into an economy that’s already challenged with costs, they chose to come here instead.”

Garcia said that was when McAllen “got creative” with Zoho.

“We incubated them the first year in McAllen at no cost to them. We put them in a facility, set them up and they started recruiting and hiring people. Today, they have about 60 employees,” Garcia said,

“They’re still being incubated. But they’re actually purchasing a piece of land here in the city where they’re going to build a technology campus. And for us, that’s exciting.”

But, said Garcia, it took effort on MEDC’s part to make Zoho feel at home.

“It took effort on our part also to understand that it wasn’t just getting the big fish here. It was helping them find a way to be successful in the community. And that was really important to them. They see that relationship. They like the Valley. They like working with the other communities in this room. So, there’s there’s been some good opportunity that’s developed with that.”

Garcia made MEDC’s pitch at an event hosted by the Council for South Texas Economic Progress. COSTEP brought three Indian investors to the Valley, with a morning gathering at the Port of Brownsville and an afternoon gathering at Casa de Palmas in McAllen.

Garcia started his presentation by pointing out that McAllen EDC only focuses on industry.

“We work with industry primarily. That’s our customer base. We’re one of the few EDCs that only focus on industry. And we’ve been doing it for a long time,” Garcia said.

“But we don’t just limit ourselves to our community. We also work internationally. We work in Mexico, so we work with industry that’s looking at setting up operations in Mexico as well.”

Garcia said MEDC actually walks a company through the process of opening a plant in Reynosa, Mexico.

“It’s a little bit of a learning process for them and us truly understanding what they’re trying to accomplish. I think every time we meet with a company, the idea is to first understand what they want to accomplish because sometimes their thought is well, I need to be in Mexico. But it may not make the best sense for them to be in Mexico.”

Since it was formed in 1988, McAllen EDC has worked with more than 866 different companies, Garcia said.

He said the group also helps with business expansion.

“One of the things that we continuously do is visit industry to see where their challenges are, what opportunities there are, that exist for growth, and we work with them to help develop those projects. Because one of the things that we see a lot is projects will leave the community if we’re not on top of it, learning about what their needs are in terms of growth.”

Garcia said MEDC will try to help the company grow even if it benefits one of McAllen’s neighboring communities. “The idea is to keep that industry strong and vibrant in the area,” he said.

Garcia later expanded on his point about McAllen EDC working regionally.

“There are projects that are outside the city of McAllen that we continue to work and sponsor and support. If you look at SpaceX in Brownsville, our organization, actually years ago, participated in incentives with the City of Brownsville to support that investment. We’ve done it with some of our neighboring communities and call centers,” Garcia said.

“It’s all about being creative. How you can work together to attract that investment to the region, because it’s not just one community that’s going to sponsor it. It’s the jobs that are going to be created for the individuals that live in the region. And keeping that talent here and not losing that talent to other communities… is what’s extremely important to us.”

Another aspect of MEDC’s work, Garcia said, is helping companies that are looking for soft landing opportunities.

As for Mexico, Garcia said the region has been economically “tied at the hip” for centuries.

“Mexico plays a key role in our economy here. I tell this to everyone. We depend so heavily on Mexico, whether it’s our retail trade, our medical sector, we give a lot of service to Mexico and vice versa. Same thing with industry. Whenever we’re setting up companies in Mexico, the jobs that they create there also benefit our community because we have individuals that live on this side that work in Mexico every day to support those operations.”

Garcia encouraged the Indian investors to use McAllen EDC as a resource.

“We are here as a resource to you to support you with information, looking at what are the best avenues to follow whether you’re doing business here or in Mexico,” Garcia said.

“And to give you that guidance so that you can be successful and return with your customer and then have that customer be successful in the community and grow.”

---

The post Garcia tells Indian investors how McAllen EDC helped Zoho Corporation settle in the city appeared first on Rio Grande Guardian.