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South Texas Booms

Some people wish for a better tomorrow. In the Rio South Texas region, tomorrow is here.

by Michael Castellon

What’s happening in Rio South Texas these days is nothing less than remarkable. A region once characterized as economically challenged has transformed into one of the nation’s fastest-growing economic areas.

The source of the economic turnaround isn’t a mystery. In recent years, business, education and community leaders have united in an impressive display of collaboration and determination. Their success has created a momentum that few predict will slow any time soon.

The seven-county region, stretching from Laredo to Brownsville, added more than 230,000 people from 2000 to 2006 and added nearly 50,000 jobs over the past five years thanks largely to manufacturing industries. Businesses that span across the Rio Grande River have grown in number and have also helped push the region’s economy even further.

Real estate values in the area have exploded. In McAllen, home values experienced more than a 23 percent spike over the last five years. The city ranked No. 1 among the fastest-growing real estate markets in the nation, according to a recent report by Money magazine.

A primary contributor to the economic shift is the North American Advanced Manufacturing Research & Education Initiative (NAAMREI), a collaboration involving manufacturers’ associations, colleges and universities, industry, government and finance entities in South Texas.

The group supports the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) Project, which is further developing its rapid response manufacturing (RRM) infrastructure in the Rio Grande Valley. The facility is expected to drive economic growth even further while contributing to an ongoing boom in education and work force training.

The current RRM facility is housed on the campus of the University of Texas-Pan American, with a new facility to be built on the 280-acre North American Research and Education World Premiere Park. The park places education, research, development and manufacturing in direct proximity to each other. Phase One of the project wrapped up earlier this year, and subsequent phases are slated for the near future.

The goal is to dramatically reduce manufacturers’ time to market, a key factor in competitive marketplaces.

Jack Lloyd, director of the Rapid Response Manufacturing Center, says the facility is well on its way to meeting these challenges.

“We had a rapid prototyping project come in late Tuesday, and yesterday afternoon (Wednesday) it was ready,” he says. “Serving the customer: what they want, when they want it. That’s the core of rapid response.”

The center is equipped to bring a diverse set of innovative products to market better and faster than the competition. The facility has aided in the manufacturing of medical devices, including one that improves the delivery of radiation treatment. Rapidly evolving cell phone technology and production is also expected to be a mainstay of the center.

Diversification will continue to be key to the area’s economic success. Skilled labor and access to innovation gives manufacturers a strong grip on global competition.

Few experts doubt that the facility will revolutionize the area. The question is how much.

“There’s a solidarity, a sense of a common purpose,” says Blandina Cárdenas, president of the University of Texas-Pan American, one of the collaborating institutions. “We are no longer describing the problem or lamenting the gap. We are doing something about it.”

Economic Impact

The initiative impressed both the Texas Workforce Commission and the U.S. Department of Labor, which collectively distributed $8 million in funding for the project.

“The stars were all aligned when the opportunity for this NAAMREI grant came into being,” says Shirley Reed, president of South Texas College, a partner in the initiative.

The rapid response facility will serve as a beacon to area workers and employers. Specialized training in fields such as green engineering and nanotechnology will be at the forefront of instruction and development. The area already has an extremely robust manufacturing infrastructure. Training workers and offering a modern and innovative facility for corporations to develop, market and deploy innovation will further boost jobs, educational opportunities and the overall economy.

Manufacturing and business centers have already proven to be a big contributor to the area. The McAllen metropolitan area’s jobless rate fell from 25.1 percent in April 1990 to 5.7 percent in April of 2008. The Brownsville-Harlingen area’s unemployment dropped from 16.1 percent in April 1991 to 5.4 percent in April 2008.

Resources Galore

The region’s talent pool is ideal. The area’s population is among the youngest in the nation. Forty percent of the population is younger than 20 years of age. Young, motivated workers are an attractive asset to manufacturers engaged in global competition; and the area is talent-rich. Three universities and four community colleges and technical schools service the area.

“The Valley of 15 years ago was a Valley of lowered expectations,” Cárdenas says. “Today, I think that is gone. There is a sense of the possible. There is a ‘can do’ attitude.”

Wanda Garza, executive officer for Workforce Development and External Affairs at South Texas College, agrees.

“We truly see ourselves as a world-class institution,” she says. “A network is about trust and a common vision. That is what is exciting about this initiative. It has brought the Rio south Texas Region together focused on advanced manufacturing.

“We have a saying: ‘Think globally. Act world-class.’” TR