Official: Donna int'l bridge on track to open ahead of schedule

Official: Donna int'l bridge on track to open ahead of schedule
April 07, 2010 11:03 AM
Martha L. Hernández
The Monitor

DONNA — The Donna International Bridge could be open by early June — ahead of schedule and under budget.

The bridge, which connects Donna to Rio Bravo, will be the first for the U.S. city and the second for Rio Bravo, which includes Nuevo Progreso.

Donna will be the bridge’s sole owner on the U.S. side; the city borrowed $40 million from Bank of America and plans to make back its money from bridge revenues.

The Donna Economic Development Corp. ...

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McAllen economy recognized — again

McAllen economy recognized — again

March 23, 2010 9:56 PM
Sean Gaffney
The Monitor

McALLEN — Greater McAllen has topped another list for economic performance, this time as the only U.S. metro area among the nation’s 100 largest to register net job growth since the onset of the recession.

McAllen area employment grew 0.7 percent...

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McAllen breaks ground on Bicentennial extension

McAllen breaks ground on Bicentennial extension
January 27, 2010 8:36 PM
Nick Pipitone
The Monitor

McALLEN — City officials and contractors broke ground on the long-awaited extension of Bicentennial Boulevard on Wednesday, saying that the 2.2-mile extension from Nolana to Trenton Road will go a long way toward alleviating traffic congestion in the city.

Plans for the extension have been 15 years in the making and have faced several obstacles along the way. City officials now estimate the $5.2 million project should be finished by fall 2012.

“One of our biggest challenges here is mobility,” Mayor Richard Cortez said. “We are a long and narrow city, and getting people from north to south and south to north is very important.”

Cortez said that adding another major four-lane, north-south corridor to the existing Jackson, McColl and Ware roads and 10th and 23rd streets is a good start to addressing the city’s traffic problem.

The extension will be similar to Second Street, with two northbound and two southbound lanes and a hike-and-bike trail along the east side of the corridor, though final landscaping and beautification is not expected until 2012 because of budgetary concerns, City Commissioner Scott Crane said.

But unlike Second Street and other major north-south roadways, the Bicentennial extension will have limited access and traffic lights, Crane said, which will make it a much faster route. The only intersections will be at 4 mile line and Dove Avenue.

“Because it is limited access, it helps...

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McAllen Mayor touts city's sound financial footing in the annual State of the City address

McAllen mayor touts city's sound financial footing in address

By Nick Pipitone The Monitor, Mc Allen, Texas
Publication: The Monitor (McAllen, Texas)
Date: Friday, January 22 2010
NAI Rio Grande Valley

Jan. 22--MCALLEN -- Mayor Richard Cortez said the city is well-positioned to rebound from the recession and touted several completed and future city projects during the annual State of the City address at the McAllen Convention Center Thursday.


In front of a few hundred people -- including some U.S. and Mexican dignitaries -- Cortez said McAllen was on strong financial footing despite the economic malaise of the past two years.

Cortez cited the $226 million in the city's total fund balance at the end of the 2008-2009 fiscal year and a recent study by the Brookings Institute, a Washington, D.C. think tank that reported that the Greater McAllen area was No. 1 in the nation in job growth in the third quarter of 2009.

"Just as we didn't wait around for the recession to begin, we won't wait around for it to end," Cortez said in the large conference room with three large video screens mounted behind him and several elaborate displays showcasing the city's new "green" movement.

But Cortez, who is approaching his fifth year as mayor, also said many of his grandest visions are on hold because of the nationwide credit crunch. Delayed projects include the landing of a much-coveted auto manufacturing plant and the Boeye Reservoir redevelopment, a proposed 67-acre retail and residential complex that was set to be located above the reservoir.

The city has been in negotiations to land an auto manufacturer here for the past several years but has steadfastly refused to divulge any details because of the delicate nature of the talks.

"Yes, we continue to have dialogue with them and we're still in competition with other areas," Cortez said of the negotiations. "But we're hopeful that if we can resolve the differences in what they want and what we're willing to give, we may be fortunate to bring them here."

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H.E.B. to open new store in San Benito, renovate other Valley stores

H.E.B. to open new store in San Benito, renovate other Valley stores

January 06, 2010 6:36 PM
Sean Gaffney
The Monitor
Photo:Nathan Lambrecht


SAN BENITO — Supermarket giant H.E.B. plans to launch a new San Benito store in 2010 as part of a statewide expansion that includes 13 new stores, the San Antonio-based grocer said Wednesday.

H.E. Butt Grocery Co. also expects to renovate 60 existing stores and to build a new distribution center in Temple. The nation’s 12th-largest grocery chain said the expansion and remodeling would create 5,000 jobs across Texas.

While H.E.B. would not disclose a location for its new San Benito store, the grocery company in 2005 bought the 14-acre site of the Resaca Gardens housing project, Arnold Padilla, executive director of the San Benito Public Housing Authority, said Wednesday.

Of the 60 stores to be renovated, some will be in the Rio Grande Valley, but H.E.B. said it’s not certain yet which locations will get makeovers.

H.E.B. has also dropped prices on more than 5,000 items its stores stock. Bruce Courtney, director of research for Kantar Retail, a consulting firm, said grocers like H.E.B. are cutting prices on popular products to...

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Anzalduas International Bridge closed for inauguration today

Anzalduas International Bridge closed for inauguration today

Martha L. Hernández
The Monitor
January 09, 2010 12:19 AM

NEAR GRANJENO — The Rio Grande Valley’s newest international bridge will be temporarily closed starting Sunday afternoon in preparation for a grand opening ceremony the following day, according to federal authorities.

The ceremony comes four weeks after the Dec. 15 “soft” opening of the Anzalduas International Bridge, which links Reynosa and Mission.

In preparation for the bridge’s inauguration, the crossing will be closed to northbound and southbound traffic starting at 4 p.m. Sunday. It is slated to re-open at 4 p.m. Monday.

Local authorities tried in vain to secure President Barack Obama’s attendance for the grand opening. Mexican officials, meanwhile, are hosting their own ceremony on the southern side of the span but have yet to confirm whether Mexican President Felipe Calderon will take part in the occasion.

Obama will be represented at the grand opening by U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, the only Texan in his Cabinet. A former legislative aide to U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen and former chair of the Texas General Services Commission, Kirk serves as the president's principal adviser, negotiator and spokesman on trade issues.

Also attending the event will be U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual, U.S. General Services Administration Acting Administrator Stephen Leeds, U.S. Consul General Michael Barkin, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Executive Director for Mission Support David Morrell and local authorities of Hidalgo, McAllen and Mission.

Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa is the highest-level Mexican official confirmed to attend.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security...

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Rio Grande Valley Region Aims for Strategic Growth with Map Project

Region aims for strategic growth with map project
The Monitor
By: Jared Janes
Nov 29, 2009


UTPA is developing an inventory of the county’s assets for economic development.

Any good strategic plan is grounded in data, says Mike Blum, a commercial real estate broker.

But when the strategic plan is for economic development in a large and diverse county, putting the data together is a monumental task, he said. To get there, they must compile a hard detailed set of facts, figures and resources from wide ranging sources.

But once the data is put together, officials will have a better understanding of what the county needs as it
prepares its strategic plan.

“(The data) will display to everyone who wants to hear about it — we know who we are,” said Blum, a committee member who is helping to draft a list of the county’s assets. “This is what we’re made of.”

A team of eight University of Texas-Pan American researchers are finalizing an asset map they started in April as part of an economic development process.

Asset mapping identifies all the resources in a region, compares them to other areas and provides a base for strategic planning, said Michael Uhrbrock, the project manager who works in the university’s Division of Community Engagement.

The asset map gives community leaders a feel for what they’re working with as they draft a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, he said.

The development strategy acts as a guide to identify investment priorities and funding sources for the overall
economy or a general industry.

Hidalgo County is focusing on growth in the health care industry, including hospitals, research institutions and
manufacturers.

The county judge’s office received a grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to develop the strategic plan, said Brian Kelsey, an Austin-based consultant who is acting as an adviser on the project.

But the critical part of the strategic plan is the asset map, which is essentially an inventory of everything that
can be used for economic development purposes.

Nobody has taken a comprehensive look at all the assets in the county and stored it in one place, Kelsey said. Available in a database format, the asset map serves as a one-stop source for all information about the county.

Asset mapping has been used elsewhere with success.

The closure of Maytag’s corporate headquarters and plant in Newton, Iowa, left more than 1,000 people in the city unemployed, he said. But the city had an asset map that showed the unemployed workers were in demand for industries of the future.

Two months after Maytag’s plant closed, a wind turbine manufacturer said it would produce its blades in the old Maytag facilities.

With Hidalgo County preparing an asset map, the county will be positioned to attract investment as it comes
out of the recession, Kelsey said.

“A lot of regions are finding strategic plans are much more successful when they start off with a base of
knowledge,” he said. “It’s what the asset mapping process is about.”

The county’s asset map will emphasize its ability to attract or grow its health care industry, said Fausto Meza,
an administrator at Doctor’s Hospital at Renaissance and a member of the committee compiling the asset map.

The industry is among the fastest-growing in the nation with a direct impact on many others since all businesses need healthy employees, he said. The industry’s scope extends far beyond hospitals with medical
manufacturers and research institutions all in high demand.

The committee is looking at the county’s skilled labor force, the existing hospitals and places for care and other assets it has in health care. The asset map will help the county develop a plan to grow its health care industry, benefitting the community through jobs and better healthcare resources.

“We’re going to have a product at the end that we can use to make strategic decisions,” he said. “We won’t be able to intelligently do that without the research done first.”

Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government, Edinburg and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4424.

McAllen bus terminal completes $1.7 million renovation

McAllen bus terminal completes $1.7 million renovation

The Monitor

December 06, 2009 7:44 PM

Nick Pipitone

McALLEN — McAllen’s Central Station is in the final stages of a $1.7 million renovation that Transit Director Elizabeth Suarez said will ease traffic congestion that often tied up city buses and cars along 15th Street.

Central Station — which averages 60 bus departures per day — moved its bus loading and unloading area from along 15th Street to a new drop-off location behind the station on Austin Street.

The drop-off location is separated by a gate and divided into two lanes for McAllen Express Transit (MET) bus traffic and passenger vehicle traffic.

Previously, city buses and cars mingled along 15th Street, sometimes backing onto Business 83, Suarez said. This new drop-off point will alleviate much of that traffic, she said, and will allow friends and family to drop off bus patrons to an area covered by new canopies.

“It’s protection for the weather and, for us down here, protection from the sun,” Suarez said. “The idea is if you’re waiting for your ride at 7:30 at night, you also have a safe place to sit.”

Traffic at the new drop-off point on Austin Street will be able to exit westbound onto 16th Street and circle the building if necessary. Before, that wasn’t an option.

Austin is a one-way street directed eastbound and, previously, taxi cabs lined the street behind the station. They would often merge at the intersection with city buses and passenger vehicles.

“Before, it was a bottleneck,” Suarez said. “It was a nightmare.”

Now, taxis line up along 15th Street and are generally out of the way of bus traffic.

“This renovation helps us,” Suarez said. “It was an expansion that was very eagerly anticipated.”

The city transit department began the renovations in January. The project came under budget — it was slated for $2.2 million — and 80 percent of the cost was reimbursed through a Federal Transit Administration grant.

The city is still putting the final touches on the renovation but decided to open up the new drop-off area last week because of the inclement weather.

Central Station has been a boon for the city’s downtown shopping district since opening in 2001 and averages about 3 million visitors per year. The station provides room for 14 private bus companies, in addition to MET buses and Rio Transit, the small Hidalgo County rural transportation system.

More than 15,000 people travel into Mexico from ...

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Edinburg breaks ground on new Boys & Girls Club

Edinburg breaks ground on new Boys & Girls Club

December 02, 2009 10:23 PM
Jared Janes
The Monitor

EDINBURG — Alba Escobedo credits the Boys & Girls Club of Edinburg with where she is today. Escobedo, 21, joined the club when she was 7. It kept her out of trouble while growing up in a neighborhood full of drugs and gangs, gave her scholarships to get through college at the University of Texas-Pan American and kept her in the area with a full-time job as a grants administrator.

“I wouldn’t be here without it,” she said Wednesday at a groundbreaking for the club’s expansive new facility. “Now there’s no limitations for what (younger club members) can do.”

City officials, community leaders and a busload of schoolchildren gathered Wednesday to break ground on an $11.4 million project that will be the face of the city for many drivers heading south on U.S. 281.

The 20-acre plot of land near the intersection of U.S. 281 and Rogers Road will soon feature a full outdoor park with athletic fields, playgrounds and a walking trail.

The interior of the 32,700-square-foot facility — twice as large as the club’s old one on South 18th Avenue — will feature all the traditional club spaces, including a game room, cafeteria and gym.

Mayor Richard Garcia also announced Wednesday that the Edinburg Economic Development Corp. and IDEA Academy are planning new locations nearby.

The muddy groundbreaking on a chilly afternoon will put the Edinburg club close to its goal of opening the new facility by November 2010, the club’s 40th anniversary, said Sabrina Walker, the chief professional officer for the nonprofit. Fundraisers are $500,000 shy of the initial goal they set when they kicked off the capital campaign five years ago.

The club is raising the last of the money by selling sponsorship of square feet in the building, which will serve over 16,000 youth.

The city of Edinburg has contributed $2 million to the project using proceeds left over from when it sold a city-owned hospital in the 1990s.

City Councilman Gene Espinoza said the municipality’s investment shows it wants to improve the quality of life of local residents.

The large park surrounding the club will be..

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San Juan enters second phase of downtown revitalization plan

San Juan enters second phase of downtown revitalization plan

City leaders hope more Basilica voters will “pray and stay”
November 28, 2009 7:09 PM
The Monitor
Nick Pipitone

SAN JUAN — The San Juan Economic Development Corp. kicked off phase two of a downtown revitalization plan Nov. 19 and will focus on public outreach over the next four months in crafting a “cohesive vision” for downtown San Juan.

City leaders said that by creating a pedestrian corridor to the downtown area near Nebraska Street and Business 83, they will be able to attract and retain more of the estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Mexican nationals and visitors who come to see the National Shrine of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle every week.

“Many visitors come via a charter bus so they don’t have a method or means for transportation,” corporation Executive Director Miki McCarthy said. “Our plan is geared toward giving them all the amenities they need for a full visit. They come and pray. We’d like them to pray and stay.”

The city spent $50,000 on a feasibility and infrastructure study in August and identified the infrastructure improvements needed downtown to accommodate future commercial growth.

McCarthy said new water and sewer lines, improved drainage and sidewalk improvements need to be addressed first.

“Once we accomplish those, then we’re talking about aesthetic improvements that would follow,” she said.

McCarthy said the city is envisioning lighting, water features, shaded areas and landscaping that would beatify the downtown area.

The city has invested $120,000 into this second phase of the project — the designing, planning and public outreach stages that will culminate into the creation of the city’s downtown revitalization plan.

The plan will lay out guidelines and regulations for downtown redevelopment, including new construction, building rehabilitation and sidewalk and street improvements.

During the four-month phase, the development corporation will host several forums for business owners and the community to attend in order to provide input for the plan.

At the forums, the city will showcase the different design options provided by civil and engineering firm Edminister, Hinshaw, Russ and Associates Inc., which the city hired as its primary consultant on the project.

“Are we going to preserve our historic structures? Will downtown have more of a Main Street-feel or will it be newer construction? These are all questions we’re considering,” McCarthy said.

She said there will one town hall meeting a month from January through April, and the city will begin advertising them with a billboard downtown and in store front windows in December.

City officials said San Juan residents will also benefit by having more entertainment options downtown—instead of having to leave the city.

“We’d hate to see (downtown) become an old ghost town. There are a lot of buildings that need to be remodeled,” Mayor Pedro Contreras said, using the abandoned San Juan Hotel as an example. “We’re hoping for a huge, positive change in our downtown, bringing in commercial businesses and creating a family environment.”

Along with the engineering firm, CDS Spillette is also consulting the city in the...

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IDEA Schools will have two new sites in the Rio Grande Valley in 2010

IDEA Schools will have two new sites in 2010

November 20, 2009 8:43 PM

Martha L. Hernández

The Monitor

MORE INFO
>> Visit http://www.ideapublicschools.org/ or call (956) 377-8000.

PHARR — Pharr and Alamo will have each an IDEA school open in time for next school year, officials announced Friday.

Both campuses will open in August 2010 starting with kindergarten, sixth and ninth grades. Additional grade levels will be added each year.

In 2006, IDEA Public Schools began an ambitious expansion plan to open 22 new schools across the Rio Grande Valley by 2012. Today, the school system has 12 campuses from Mission to Brownsville, not including the two announced Friday.

IDEA schools are tuition-free and open to all students. All schools are accepting applications for the 2010-11 academic year. Existing campuses are located in the cities of Donna, Brownsville, McAllen/Edinburg, Mission, San Benito and San Juan.

IDEA Public Schools operates a system of public charter schools that focus on college readiness.

In 2009, IDEA College Preparatory in Donna was named the...
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Mexican shoppers made for flood of sales receipts last weekend in McAllen

Mexican shoppers made for flood of sales receipts last weekend in McAllen
November 20, 2009 12:05 AM
The Monitor
Sean Gaffney

McALLEN — While city workers hung holiday lights along the streets, downtown McAllen’s retailers wondered if last week’s rush was a prelude to a jolly season.

Mexican shoppers flooded the McAllen area the weekend of Nov. 14 and 15, clogging bridges and thronging shops. Shopkeepers said sales were at Christmastime highs. With a weak peso and economic malaise threatening to hamper holiday spending, they wonder if it was just a tease.

“Right now, it’s still slow,” said Jesus Medelez, an employee at Fashion 25 near the downtown parking garage. “It was very different two years ago.”

When the economy fell apart and the peso lost value, fewer Mexican nationals crossed bridges and those that did spent less. Losing customers who normally spend at least $1.1 billion in Cameron and Hidalgo counties each year crippled sales at area retailers.

Bridge traffic fell and had been on a slow and steady decline since. At the end of September, traffic was down about 10 percent from a year before, said George Ramon, director of the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge.

More than 15,000 vehicles crossed the Hidalgo bridge, up from an average of 11,500 vehicles in recent weeks.

“I was trying to remember the last time I saw that number. It wasn’t at all this year,” Ramon said. “Merchant and hotel owners and operators should be very pleased as well … those are near Christmas rush holiday numbers.”

Two years ago, about 10 Mexican pesos were worth one American dollar. Now, one American dollar costs 13 pesos. It’s a little better than last November, but still means that Mexican nationals have far less buying power.

Last week, sales spiked at Jakybon Accessories, but owner Juany Garza does not think the blues are over. She doesn’t expect the economy to recover for another year so she’s keeping inventory lean at 1424 Beaumont Ave.

She doesn’t want a repeat of last season, when after Christmas her store was crowded with unsold jewelry and beads.

“I have a lot of problems paying employees and paying the bills,” Garza said.

But with the recession well into a second year, Garza and owners like her said they’ve learned to adjust both their expectations and their costs.

Eli Lizka, owner of Colors Name Brand Clothing, saved money switching phone and electric companies. He’s run sales and he’s cut his inventory at 114 S. Main St.

Last weekend his sales were tremendous, but he didn’t know...

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Mobility authority gives Garza incentive to build border trade corridor

Mobility authority gives Garza incentive to build border trade corridor
November 15, 2009 3:17 PM
Jared Janes
The Monitor

A number of potential projects await new Regional Mobility Authority executive director Godfrey Garza as he starts work this week on his consulting contract.

He’ll need to finish environmental clearance for the full Hidalgo County loop; the mobility authority wants to discuss ways to bring the long-awaited La Joya bypass to fruition and Garza himself is interested in developing a rail strategy for the region. But first thing’s first.

Garza’s top priority is funding an executable finance plan for the Hidalgo County border trade corridor, a spin off from the loop that the mobility authority put together in August when it determined it wouldn’t be able to fund the full project.

If Garza is able to finance at least 90 percent of the 29-mile roadway that connects three international bridges to Expressway 83, he’ll earn $1.1 million over the next three years as the executive director for the mobility authority, an independent government agency that was created in 2005 to manage long-term transportation projects for the county.

Garza, who will continue his work as the manager for the Hidalgo County Drainage District No. 1, was brought on board by the mobility authority because of his record in bringing projects like the county’s levee-wall to life, said mobility authority chair Dennis Burleson. With an investment of two years and more than $12 million on the original loop, the mobility authority’s top priority is the trade corridor, which is the closest to coming together.

“The trade corridor gives South Texas some credibility for the future,” Burleson said. “If the trade corridor is successful, then we can start looking for our next project.”

The mobility authority’s board must decide by mid-February if it wants to pursue an agreement with Hidalgo County Roadbuilders to build the border trade corridor.

Roadbuilders, an association of local engineers and Houston-based road developer Gerry Pate that was hired in 2007 to develop plans for the original loop, submitted a $396 million plan for the trade corridor last month, setting off a 120-day clock for the mobility authority to decide if it wants to agree to the maximum price.

The mobility authority will...

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Shovel-ready building sites in the Rio Grande Valley offer quick road to development

Shovel-ready building sites offer quick road to development

November 13, 2009 11:42 PM

Jared Janes

The Monitor

Photo: Delcia Lopez   dlopez@themonitor.com
Ramiro Garza, executive director of Edinburg Economic Development Corp., is seen recently with a map of the Edinburg North Industrial Park

The industrial park north of town was little more than empty land crawling with ants and snakes when Gerardo “Jerry” Nuñez set up shop there five years ago.

Nuñez, owner of Nu-Co Tool, a toolmaker for 35 categories of manufacturers, rented out his old building and moved into the park off U.S. 281 and Orange Avenue because he saw a chance to grow his business on the open land.

“The space was there and the opportunity of the unknown gets to me,” Nuñez said inside the 23,000-square-foot warehouse he built on the 8-acre plot of empty land he bought from the Edinburg Economic Development Corp. “I wanted to develop it from nothing.”

But in a fast-paced business world where time is money, Nuñez’s willingness to go it alone in an undeveloped area was a rarity.

Economic development officials in the Rio Grande Valley want to ensure they have everything already in place at a few select spots where they hope to land large employers.

By the end of this year, Hidalgo and Cameron counties will have four shovel-ready mega-sites, locations generally reserved for companies that plan to employ 500 or more people.

The designations are an effort by the Rio South Texas Economic Council, a group formed last year to market the region, to make the Valley appealing to large companies looking to set up shop here.

A Sharyland Plantation site for which McAllen and Mission economic development officials are seeking shovel-ready status is near the site the cities have talked about as a possible location for an auto manufacturer.

Hidalgo County’s other site is in the same park that is home to Nuñez’s Nu-Co Tool, next to where Brazilian denim manufacturer Santana Textiles plans to start construction next year.

Securing the shovel-ready designation requires extensive work to produce a thick binder filled with documents that show the site is ready for development, said Ramiro Garza, the executive director of Edinburg’s development corporation. To lure projects the size of Santana, which plans to employ 800 people by 2014, the old plan of building a sales pitch around an empty plot of land is no longer enough.

“When companies are looking for property, they want readily available sites,” Garza said. “They don’t want to wait for everything to be in place.”

SHOVEL-READY
When Austin Consulting certifies the Valley’s sites as shovel-ready, the firm says the locations will be the first in the state to receive the designation.

Most states — including Texas — have not adopted official criteria to designate a site as shovel-ready.

Instead, site location consultants that traditionally helped companies find a place to build provide the certification, placing their own stamp of approval on an area, said Frank Spano, a director with Austin Consulting, the firm hired by the economic council to review the Valley’s sites.

The shovel-ready designation grew out of a desire by companies that wanted to expand and governmental entities looking to land them as a way to speed the process along.

From start to finish, most companies spend nine months deciding where to expand or relocate their operations, Spano said. Having a site ready to go, with the property on the market, utilities extended and the permits in place, gives the company a better picture of what the site offers and how long until it can start operations there.

But getting the designation — since the companies that give them out put their own reputations on the line — isn’t easy.

To receive Austin’s shovel-ready designation, sites start with a comprehensive, 10-page form filled with questions, Spano said. By the time they complete the form’s requirements, the paperwork fills a 3-inch binder — the documents include everything from ownership information, aerial photographs and maps of the location, soil tests and environmental details, right-of way-plans and more.

But Spano said the designation makes the site appealing to companies looking to fast-track the development process.

“Shovel-ready sites are important because companies want to make a decision faster,” Spano said. “They want to have that information on hand. It certainly gives you a leg up on the other site.”

VALLEY SPOTS
The Valley’s failed attempt to attract a Kia Motors Corp. manufacturing plant in 2006 provided the impetus for it to work toward the shovel-ready tags.

Automaker officials who looked at the area wanted to know why the Valley’s prospective site wasn’t certified by a South Carolina-consulting company with extensive experience in automotive site selection, said Pat Townsend, president of the Mission Economic Development Authority.

Kia eventually decided to put the plant in West Point, Ga., but the brief flirtation with the company showed local economic development officials the turnaround that the industry and others like it need.

Townsend said having the information ready is key even if there aren’t immediate prospects for the three subdivided plots off Shary Road that the economic council is designating as shovel-ready.

“We’re doing it with no immediate prospect identified,” he said. “The benefit is if we actually have a prospect identify it as a suitable location, we’re way down the road to answering what the company actually requires.”

The learning experience on what’s needed for the designation also gives local officials a better feel for what they need to compete for a major project, said Keith Patridge, president of the McAllen Economic Development Corp. With all the specific details on the site available, the companies can spend more time learning about the region, the labor force and other key factors in a decision.

Although the economic council is starting with four shovel-ready sites, the plan is to develop a revolving portfolio of sites to attract companies that create 500 jobs or more, Patridge said. The jury is still out on whether the shovel-ready sites help the Valley bring in companies but, with the rather exclusive nature of the process, “it can’t hurt,” Patridge said.

“It’s like another arrow in our quiver we have available to target manufacturers,” Patridge said. “It puts us in a great position to compete.”

FULL PARK
Nuñez is still alone in the industrial park he moved into four years ago.

But with roads and utilities in place in the 160-acre site, it likely won’t be long before he sees a flurry of development around him.

Santana Textiles and two other manufacturers are under contract to build on 70 acres in the park — work the city expects to start next year. And the 25 acres left in the park will soon be designated as shovel-ready.

Nuñez, who builds tools primarily for the automotive industry, said he’s looking to expand on the plot he already owns.

“Five years from now, we’ll see this park full,” he said. “It’s got everything in place to take off.”

Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government, Edinburg and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4424.

Port increases appeal of Hidalgo County sites

Port increases appeal of Hidalgo County sites
November 13, 2009 10:30 PM
Jared Janes

The Monitor

The distance between downtown Houston and the Port of Houston is the same as the distance separating the Port of Brownsville and McAllen.

While Houston’s two assets are viewed as part and parcel of Greater Houston, the Rio Grande Valley has struggled to brand the Brownsville port as part of a larger metroplex, said Eduardo Campirano, the director of the Port of Brownsville. But when it comes to marketing Hidalgo County sites designated as “shovel-ready” for large-scale industrial development, the port can’t be left out of the plans.

“Without a doubt, you have to look at all the assets the Valley has,” Campirano said. “By positioning ourselves as a complimentary aspect, the region obviously benefits.”

The Rio South Texas Economic Council, a group formed last year to market the region, is certifying two Cameron County sites as shovel-ready — one in Brownsville and one in Harlingen.

Easy access to the port will be a selling point for all of the area’s shovel-ready locations, but the port may also have its own ready-to-go site soon, said Gilbert Salinas, vice president of the Brownsville Economic Development Corp. The city is looking to partner with the port to certify a mega-site, a tract of land 500 acres or larger that is used to attract heavy manufacturing that relies on immediate access to a deepwater port.

With the shovel-ready tag already in place for a 73-acre site in a city-owned industrial park, Salinas said, the city plans to apply the expertise accumulated during that process to the certification of the port mega-site.

“We’re already seeing the benefits,” he said of the designation, noting a food processing company from Monterrey, N.L., has already requested space at the industrial park. “From here, we’ll use this as our blueprint for the next site we want to certify at the Port of Brownsville.”

As a regional asset, the port helps all parts of the Valley compete globally by offering a way to export goods using all major transportation modes, Campirano said. Using all the available means of transport helps the area produce an inventory that says “there is nothing the region can’t handle,” he said.

“If we position ourselves, there’s no reason we can’t compete for manufacturing, industrial or any other kind of company that is looking to expand.”

Chinese company to launch maquiladora in Reynosa

Chinese company to launch maquiladora in Reynosa

November 12, 2009 7:45 PM

Sean Gaffney

The Monitor

REYNOSA — HCP Packaging, a global supplier of custom cases for some of the world’s top cosmetic companies, will launch a new maquiladora early next year, the company said recently.

HCP Packaging USA Inc. — a subsidiary of the China-based parent company — expects to open the 60,000-square-foot facility at the Villa Florida Industrial Park in early 2010, adding 130 jobs to Reynosa.

Officials from the company, which supplies cases for lipstick and eye shadow and other cosmetics for Maybelline and L’Oreal among other companies, could not be reached for comment Thursday. A woman at the company’s New Hampshire office said Steve Levine, president and chief executive officer, was in China.

Ralph Garcia, vice president for business recruitment at the McAllen Economic Development Corp., said HCP is shifting production to save on labor costs and be closer to customers. The close proximity to the U.S. will allow the company to keep inventory levels low and costs down.

“One of the primary reasons (for the move) is that some of the management staff had previous experience here in Reynosa and had liked the area,” Garcia said.

With next year’s expansion, HCP will be among a number of manufacturers that have shifted production to Reynosa in recent months. Amid a global downturn in manufacturing, the city’s maquila industry has proven attractive for companies from the United States and within Mexico because of its proximity to the U.S. market.

Kohler Co. is in the process of closing an Arkansas plant to fold the production of stainless steel sinks into its maquila. Steelcase, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based office furniture manufacturer, is expected to open a new factory in early 2010.

South Korea’s LG Electronics said in July that it was creating 1,200 jobs by shifting production of electronics from a plant across the border from California, to its Reynosa facility.

Late last year, the global economic downturn assailed Reynosa’s maquilas, contributing to a 5.3 percent rise in unemployment. Since then, analysts have said the job loss has slowed, and some expect the border town’s manufacturers to begin recovering by 2010.

McAllen awards Bicentennial extension contract

McAllen awards Bicentennial extension contract
November 11, 2009 10:40 PM
Nick Pipitone
The Monitor

McALLEN — City commissioners on Monday awarded the contract for the long-awaited extension of Bicentennial Boulevard to an Edinburg company.

Construction could begin as early as January.

The awarding of the nearly $5.3 million contract to IOC Co. LLC brings the city closer to beginning the 2.2-mile extension of Bicentennial from Nolana to Trenton Road.

Plans for the extension have been 15 years in the making and have faced several obstacles along the way.

City officials say the addition of another north-south corridor in North McAllen will alleviate traffic congestion in the city, especially on 10th and 23rd streets.

“The No. 1 problem cited in our city among constituents in any district is traffic,” City Commissioner Marcus Barrera said. “It will lighten the load for all roads.”

More than a decade ago, city officials originally envisioned extending Bicentennial all the way to University Drive in Edinburg, but they faced opposition from residents there who fought the prospect of a heavily trafficked road running across their property.

The city eventually settled on a four-lane roadway extending to Trenton with an adjacent hike-and-bike trail.

“It’ll probably be very similar to how Second Street is,” Barrera said, referring to the combination of a north-south thoroughfare paralleled by a greenway. “(It will be) a more scenic way when trying to get to work or get the kids to school or get to the airport. It’ll be a boon for everybody.”

The major obstacle in the way of the plan was the crossing of two railroad tracks just north of Nolana and near Bill Schupp Park. The rail lines are owned by Rio Valley Switching Co. and the city had to close two crossings at Highland and Beech avenues earlier this year to offset the planned crossings farther north and continue with the project.

Another obstacle was the irrigation canal and drainage ditch running along Bicentennial. The city worked out an agreement with the irrigation district to convert the open canal into an underground canal on the east side of the extension, City Engineer Yvette Barrera said. The drainage ditch will remain open but will be moved slightly to the east, following the entire length of the extension.

The city also had to negotiate with property owners along the planned path of the extension to buy up the necessary land, a process it completed earlier this year, Yvette Barrera said.

The contractor, IOC, must turn in all construction plans and documents and then set up a pre-construction conference with the city, which Yvette Barrera estimates will take about three weeks. After the conference, the company would have 10 days to start construction.

Along with building the road, the company will lay down the concrete hike-and-bike trail. The landscaping aspect of the greenway will be handled by another company. The city plans to submit a grant application to the state for that part of the project, City Commissioner Marcus Barrera said.

The timing of the contract for the road was “serendipitous” for the city because of how competitive construction bidding is at the moment, he said. That’s in contrast to a few years ago when cost estimates were rising because development was rampant.

“We were able to take advantage of the situation and save the taxpayers millions” of dollars, the city commissioner said.

School bond projects end on time and within budget for McAllen ISD

School bond projects end on time and within budget for McAllen ISD
November 09, 2009 10:16 AM 
Jennifer L. Berghom
The Monitor

McALLEN — It’s finished.

On Oct. 30 the McAllen school district celebrated the grand opening of the last component of its 2005 bond projects, the district operations complex, which also houses the system’s warehouse, central kitchen and transportation building.

The $13.3 million project was the last of several that voters approved in 2005 when the school district sought to sell $97.8 million in bonds to pay for them.

Other projects funded with the bond issue were the construction of five new elementary schools and a middle school, a new gymnasium for Lincoln Middle School, additions for McAllen High and Navarro Elementary schools, a new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system for Memorial High School, and other renovations and improvements.

Final expenses for construction and other work were about $10 million more than originally planned, but the district was able to pay for those extra costs because the money it received from selling bonds accrued more interest than the district was paying on them, said McAllen School Board President Richard Moore.

The completion of the bond project on time and with enough money was the combination of hard work by the community, the school system, the engineering firm contracted to oversee the project and a little “dumb luck,” Moore said.

McAllen taxpayers didn’t originally support spending millions of dollars on new constructions and renovations. They shot down a similar bond request in 2003. Opponents of that bond said they did not trust the district to handle such a large project.

That prompted then-superintendent Yolanda Chapa to visit with community and business leaders to find out what the district needed to do to win the people’s favor.

“She listened to the bad news,” Moore said.

The district also formed a committee of residents from different facets of the community, called the Community Capital Advisory Committee, to assess the needs of the district and compile a report. The language of the bond referendum came from the committee; the board just ratified it, Moore said.

Proponents of the bond also formed a political action group to advertise and promote the proposal when it was placed on the ballot two years after the earlier referendum failed.

After voters approved the bond issue, the advisory committee played an integral role in making sure the project stayed on task, said Moore and former committee members. The committee stopped meeting about a year ago, when the contract to build the maintenance and operations complex was awarded.

“All of the grunt work was done by the committee,” Moore said.

Members of the group met several times over nearly a year to go over plans and make sure the district stuck to what the bond measure authorized, said Mike Blum, who served as the committee’s president.

“There are very few times when a political community is able to do something that has a multi-generational impact,” he said. “I knew going in we could make a difference.”

The district built the elementary schools with identical blueprints to save money on planning and materials, Blum said. The committee also had a Web site residents could access to learn about the bond and where the money was going.

Moore and Blum also credit Jacobs Facilities Inc. — the engineering firm hired to oversee the project — with keeping costs low enough to complete all the projects within the parameters of the referendum.

When bids started coming in for new construction of Thigpen-Zavala and Fields elementary schools, they were about $2 million more than what the district had planned a couple years earlier, Moore said.

But Kevin Hitchcock, a program manager with Jacobs Facilities and former manager of the district’s bond projects, was able to negotiate lower costs for those schools, as well as the other bond items, Moore said.

Though the district was able to complete its bond projects without having to ask for more money, some who were involved in the construction and renovations thought the final price tag was too high, especially for the district operations complex.

“It certainly cost more than it should’ve cost,” said Ruth Skow, president of the McAllen American Federation of Teachers and a former member of the advisory committee. “I feel a lot of angst about the final costs.”

Skow praised Blum for how he was able to organize the committee members, even if they all didn’t always agree.

“I’m glad it’s completed. We did our best to do what the taxpayers approved,” she said. “I was very honored to work on the bond.”

Though the district has completed its checklist of needs addressed with the 2005 bond, it already has begun assessing what might be needed in the future.

Another community advisory committee has been formed, and earlier this year it gave a report to the school board listing repairs, construction and other work the district might want to consider.

The district has not made any decisions on that report or set a timeline for acting on it.

Jennifer L. Berghom covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4462

STC to host symposium reflecting on the Valley's past, present and future

STC to host symposium reflecting on the Valley's past, present and future
Jennifer L. Berghom

The Monitor

McALLEN — South Texas College is hosting a symposium next week that looks at how much the Rio Grane Valley has changed and where it is headed.

The Old Valley/New Valley: Analyzing the Past, Present, and Future of the Lower Rio Grande Valley symposium will be at the college’s Cooper Center Nov. 4 to 7. It will include discussions the Valley’s history from its colonial days to its position as a center of international commerce, said Trinidad Gonzales, an STC history professor and organizer of the event.

The symposium will include panel discussions on issues related to the area’s growth, including population shifts, education and the economy, as well as Hispanic culture, Gonzales said. The healthcare panel listed on previous flyers has been cancelled, he added.

Presenters are expected to show trends reflecting how the Valley has changed from its days as an agrarian society to a growing urban international trade center.

The symposium will also touch on how the Valley is becoming more diverse, with people from other parts of the country, as well as the world, have been moving into the area, Gonzales said.

“We’re at an interesting time. We’re at a turning point,” Gonzales said.

Of note is a session scheduled for Nov. 5 where five experts from both sides of the border will discuss the past, present and future of the Valley’s economy, according to the college.

Gonzales said the idea for the symposium came from a professor from the University of Texas at Austin he was talking to when he attended a conference in that city more than a year ago. Gonzales and the UT professor, José Limón, were discussing how the Valley had grown, especially over the past couple of decades and decided it would be a good idea to bring together experts to reflect on the area’s evolution as well as its future, Gonzales said.

“We decided to shoot for it. We didn’t think we were going to get it,” Gonzales said.

With a $20,000 matching grant from the University of Texas — UT and STC each pitched in $10,000 — Gonzales and his staff spent the next year and a half developing the symposium.

“We shot for the stars but we were also pragmatic,” he said.

Gonzales said he hopes the symposium will attract everyone from policy makers to the average citizen interested in learning about the area’s history and where it is headed.

“Knowledge is important,” he said. “We’re trying to serve our constituency.”

Mercedes-Benz dealership to open in San Juan in mid-2010

Mercedes-Benz dealership to open in San Juan in mid-2010

October 29, 2009 9:49 PM

Nick Pipitone

The Monitor

Picture: San Juan Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Miki McCarthy stands behind Bill Bird, left, Alfonso Cavazos, center, and Ronn Heller at a news conference Thursday at the Basilica Cafe to announce that a Mercedes-Benz dealership will be built in San Juan.

SAN JUAN — City officials and leaders on Thursday announced the arrival of a new Mercedes-Benz dealership in San Juan, hailing the mid-2010 opening of the luxury car vendor as part of the city’s continued economic maturation and expansion.

Mercedes-Benz of San Juan will begin construction on a 30,000-square-foot dealership in December on the north side of Expressway 83 east of Farm-to-Market Road 1426. The owners are projecting $15 million in annual sales, which would generate an estimated $50,000 in local sales taxes each year, city officials said.

The new business will also create 20 full-time jobs paying hourly wages of more than $14, said Bobby Rodriguez, board president of the San Juan Economic Development Corp.

“We’ve been praying and praying as a community to make that transition,” Mayor Pedro Contreras said at a news conference at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle-National Shrine. “For many years our city has been looked upon as a bedroom community, but we’re slowly but surely making that transition into also being considered a city with businesses.”

Mercedes-Benz initially sent owners Ron Heller, Bill Bird and Alfonso Cavazos to McAllen nine months ago to look at the city as a possible location for a new dealership in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. But Heller and Bird — who own a dealership just north of San Antonio in Boerne — liked the location available in San Juan near Expressway 83, and they began to develop a relationship with this city’s economic development corporation.

The duo said their dealership in Boerne did a lot of business with Valley residents who made the drive north, despite there being another Mercedes-Benz dealership in Harlingen. The automaker has been looking to open another branch in the Valley for the past few years because of that demand.

Mercedes-Benz of San Juan will join several other luxury car dealerships in the Lower Valley, most of them in McAllen. Despite the region’s low income level, Bird said there is also “a lot of wealth” in the area to support another luxury dealership.

He and Heller opened their Boerne dealership in 2004 and have since expanded from 27 employees to nearly 100 while selling about 1,800 cars annually.

“We really expect to see the same amount of growth in San Juan,” Heller said. “We know that it’s one of the 20 fastest-growing areas in the country.”

Mayor Pro Tem Lupe Rodriguez remembers visiting Boerne several years ago before the dealership opened, when it was a “very small community” similar to San Juan. He had to drive down a dirt road to get to a golf course in town where he played.

“Go see Boerne now and Boerne is booming,” he said.

Lupe Rodriguez thinks the new dealership, along with the opening of a new Bank of America branch, will help San Juan make the same transition and attract more high-end retailers to the city.

“We had a very aggressive economic development plan when we ran for office, and this is the fruits of our labor,” City Commissioner Armando Garza said.

Garza said economic development like the new dealership will help the city gain more business from many of the wealthy Mexican nationals who come to the city to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle-National Shrine.

The easy access to the dealership from Expressway 83 will also bring in customers from throughout the region and its bigger population centers, like McAllen, Brownsville and Harlingen, he said.

“You’ve got low-income subdivisions all in this area,” Lupe Rodriguez said, referring to the neighborhood surrounding the basilica. “But hopefully that’ll change.”