UTRGV marks facility enhancements with $2.4 million EDA grant

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EDINBURG, Texas – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley held a groundbreaking ceremony for their recently unveiled Workforce Economy Research and Community (WERC) Complex.

Teased as “new facility improvements” in a press release, the announcement of the complex was made in conjunction with the receipt of a $2.4 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). The grant will fund part of the $8.9 million project, with UTRGV providing an additional $6 million. The remaining $500,000 will come from funds secured by U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz in this year’s appropriations bill for the college.

The WERC Complex will not be a new construction, but a renovation of the university’s current Community Engagement and Student Services (CESS) office. Construction has been master-planned and involves completely gutting and transforming the 126,000-square-foot building. Of that space, approximately 15,000 square feet will be dedicated to classrooms; 10,000 square feet for a manufacturing incubator and commercialization activities; and 10,000 square feet to research and development laboratories specifying in manufacturing and prototyping. The complex will also include an environmentally controlled dry room, a high security area for government contract work, and office space for the Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center. The goal is to be a one-stop shop for businesses and students to research, design, and manufacture products – from start to finish – for market consumption.

Jorge Ayala, regional director for EDA’s Austin Regional Office, spoke at the ceremony. As a director overseeing five states, Ayala congratulated UTRGV and noted the highly competitive field in which the college has once again prevailed in being granted funds.

“UTRGV, as a university, obviously has a large reach and impact in the region and community,” said Ayala. “And this is actually the third investment we’ve had with UTRGV. We’ve helped with eBridge in Brownsville. We’ve helped with the CIC [Center for Innovation and Commercialization] building in Weslaco. And so, now this project here in Edinburg really helps UTRGV cover the entire Valley from Brownsville to McAllen with services and facilities that can serve small business and entrepreneurs.”

Ayala also praised the university for its efforts to go beyond the classroom and into the community.

“I applaud UTRGV for their efforts,” said Ayala. “They’re a big part of doing economic development. You know, a university can decide to teach kids and graduate them and be done with it. They don’t have to do all this other stuff. But it takes real vision, real leadership to say ‘you know, what? We can really help drive economic development.’ If they really make it part of their DNA – of who they are and what they do – projects like this can make a huge impact.”

Ron Garza, UTRGV’s associate vice president for workforce and economic development, spearheaded the project and was the principal investigator for the grant. He detailed the administrative shuffling that would occur internally as well as the infrastructure changes that would revamp the center and draw in entrepreneurs and businesses.

“What this does that’s new and different is it takes all that service that we do and it’s also going to add significant square footage for R&D [research and development] laboratories,” said Garza. “We have some on our campuses, but we don’t have enough volume specifically for industry. We have a lot of industry partners … They’re all asking for the physical space for research commercialization. This will be that space.”

He added, “All that’s designed to do is to bring companies that aren’t in the Rio Grande Valley. Bring them here, recruit them to do research and design, and then create high-wage jobs for the entire community, but especially for our UTRGV graduates.”

Garza estimates that in the first three years of operation, the WERC Complex will create around 100 jobs, generate $3.8 million in labor income, and produce $13 million in regional economic output. He also highlighted the university’s addition of nearly 100 certification and endorsement programs, ranging from robotics to real estate, many of which will utilize the new complex.

Garza also explained the 12-to-24-month process an entrepreneur or business will go through from concept to execution at WERC. He cautioned city and economic development corporation leaders in attendance that this is the window of time they all have to work together to keep businesses here in the Rio Grande Valley.

“It’s our collective job – especially our EDC partners, which we work day in and day out with – to land them here,” said Garza. “We don’t want them just to come research and then leave … We have a captive audience with this critical piece of infrastructure that for about 12 to 24 months, our job is to sell the Valley and make them understand why they should produce high-wage jobs here to obviously create that pipeline for our students.”

While recruiting business is always part of any EDC plan, Ayala says focus should also be on fostering the talent already here.

“Sometimes communities can get kind of over-infatuated with the big company – trying to attract some big, multi-million dollar company to come to their community – but, all those multi-million dollar companies started as a small business,” said Ayala. “Somewhere along the way, some entrepreneur had a great idea. And, if you can grow them here, they’re much more likely to stay here than if you try to bring them from somewhere else.”

Can Saygin, UTRGV senior vice president of research and dean of the graduate college, agrees and says the WERC complex will give students and local entrepreneurs resources to innovate and create for the benefit of the region.

“South Texas – the Valley – shouldn’t be a place where we’re invited to join proposals and things just because we’re HSI [Hispanic-Serving Institution], we’re close to the border,” said Saygin. “No, we should be known for technology. That makes us unique.”

Saygin said that the Valley’s greatest export has been human capital. He said as leaders continue to build the infrastructure needed to support the pipeline between higher education and the workforce, we will see more graduates stay in the area. He even hinted at some projects currently in the works that will be exciting for the region.

“So, when that happens, we’re going to have a variety of different workforce opportunities in here,” said Saygin. “And, not only in here. We have so many other things happening – and I’m looking at [McAllen EDC President and CEO] Keith [Patridge], and he knows what I’m talking about – so, we’re going to grow this network.”

The ceremony ended with video messages from U.S. Reps. Monica De La Cruz and Vicente Gonzalez being played and messages from U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz being read – all congratulating the university on their achievement.

“This is a big day, really, for the entire Rio Grande Valley,” said UTRGV President Guy Bailey. “One of the commitments we made in 2015 – really in 2014 – as we were planning the university, is that we would be engaged in our communities … and I think this project today is probably the best illustration of that… this is really about community engagement. This is about job creation. It’s about research. Most of all, it’s about our students.”

Construction for the WERC Complex is expected to be complete by the summer of 2015.