Gonzalez: The RGV probably has 30 strategic plans. We really only need one.

PHARR, Texas – The CEO for the Council for South Texas Economic Progress says there needs to be one strategic plan for the Rio South Texas region, not the 30 to 40 that currently exist.

Adam Gonzalez spoke about need for regional cooperation during a panel discussion at RGV StartUp Week. The discussion took place at the Pharr Global Business Hub and his fellow panelist was Ron Garza, associate vice president for workforce and economic development at UT-Rio Grande Valley. The moderator was Daniel Rivera, executive director of Elsa Economic Development Corporation.

COSTEP defines the Rio South Texas region as the Rio Grande Valley, along with Laredo and ten municipios on the Mexican side of the South Texas border.

“We have over 40 some economic development organizations in our region, and I think 30 some are in the Valley area. We are making a lot of noise, and it’s attracting industry. It’s attracting industry in the region, but we are all doing it under their own strategic plan,” Gonzalez said, referring to the various EDCs.

“Let’s take Brownsville, McAllen, Mission, Pharr, Laredo. They all have their own strategic plan as a community to try to attract industry to that community. Because it’s those tax dollars that fund these economic development organizations. So, they’re more concerned about their own community,” Gonzalez said.

“But I think we should start looking a little bit broader and say, hey, why don’t we promote ourselves as a region and try to attract, you know… what lands in McAllen benefits Brownsville, benefits all the other cities around it, the same with Pharr.”

Gonzalez said a regional strategic plan is the missing piece.

“I think that’s part of the thing that we’re missing. We should come together as a region, have some sort of strategic plan. I’m not saying, bring in somebody from the outside and just create a plan, but try to collaborate with each one of the plans that already exists in each community, because each community is trying to leverage their assets,” Gonzalez said.

“If we bring all those together, then we’ll know that the right hand is talking to the left hand at the same time, and we’re able to produce new leads for the region and good companies.”

Gonzalez gave a hypothetical example.

“If Weslaco doesn’t have the assets for a particular company, they should be willing to share with the rest of the region. That lead could potentially land here. If it doesn’t land in McAllen or Weslaco or Harlingen, we want it to land somewhere in the RGV,” Gonzalez said.

“So that’s where I think we’re missing a little bit. But I think we’re doing great things because we’re creating a lot of noise. We’re getting a lot of interest, things that we didn’t get before, like calls, inquiries on our website, about the region. We’re not having to wait; these companies are coming to us.”

UTRGV’s Garza responded to Gonzalez’s remarks. He said five or ten years ago the Valley’s EDCs were too eager to give tax incentives, just to land a new company.

“Five, ten years ago, pretty much a community would do whatever it took to land that company, right? And sometimes, admittedly, they got a little too aggressive with giving up incentives or tax abatements or whatever. I think that is pretty much done,” Garza said.

“I don’t think we truly understood our value in terms of assets in the communities. So now I see all those EDCs being much more strategic about not giving up that industrial space, or not giving up that plot of land until that right company fits there. So, they’re passing up on what might be nominal opportunities to create more, higher paying, sustainable jobs. That was not the case just 5, 10, years ago. So that really proves to us, that every economic development practitioner sees the value in what the value is now.”

Garza added: “We kind of almost inadvertently devalued ourselves by doing that. Now, I think all the practitioners know that this place is just as valuable as any other place in the state and across the nation. So, it’s a big fundamental shift. And now I think we’re seeing the fruit of that, because the companies that are coming, they know they can’t pit us against each other, right? It’s becoming more strategic.”

Editor’s Note: Here is a video recording of the highlights of the remarks given by Ron Garza and Adam Gonzalez at RGV StartUp Week:

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