Texas Border Business
By Roberto Hugo González / Texas Border Business
HARLINGEN, Texas — Brownsville’s expanding defense and aerospace industries are creating new demands for workforce, transportation and utility infrastructure as major companies and their suppliers increase operations in South Texas, said Jerry Briones, executive vice president of the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation.
Briones spoke during the Capital Projects and Infrastructure panel at the “Powering Texas & Regional Growth: Infrastructure + Workforce Exchange,” where regional leaders examined the infrastructure and workforce needs tied to major investments across the Rio Grande Valley.
Beverly Loftus of the Harlingen Economic Development Corporation, who moderated the panel, framed the discussion around the region’s ability to accommodate major industrial projects. She pointed to Saronic Technologies’ $3.2 billion defense manufacturing investment at the Port of Brownsville, SpaceX expansion, LNG development and the supplier networks associated with those projects.
“They’re looking at us as a region,” Loftus said, explaining that companies considering investments want to know whether South Texas has sufficient power, water and workforce to support their operations.
Briones said workforce capacity has become an important factor in Brownsville’s ability to attract defense and aerospace companies. Brownsville and its regional partners organized workforce roundtables with educational and training institutions, including South Texas College and Texas State Technical College, to demonstrate the area’s ability to prepare workers for new industries.
Those efforts helped demonstrate regional workforce readiness while Brownsville competed for Saronic Technologies and other defense-related projects, Briones said.
He also pointed to SpaceX’s continuing expansion. Briones said the company has more than 6,000 employees and is moving toward approximately 8,000 by the end of the year.
That expansion is bringing additional suppliers to the area, he said. Briones described tier-one suppliers, including CNC machining operations, adding equipment and preparing new facilities. One operation, he said, is planning a roughly 300,000-square-foot facility expected to employ about 500 people in a new 730-acre industrial park.
The growth requires coordination beyond recruiting companies, Briones said. Economic development officials are working with the Brownsville Public Utilities Board and city planners to address power, water, transportation and other infrastructure requirements associated with industrial development.
Transportation is also becoming increasingly important. Briones acknowledged growing congestion and the need to expand major corridors, including Highway 48, as industrial activity increases around Brownsville and the Port of Brownsville.
He also added that the workforce should be viewed regionally rather than by individual city or county boundaries. Workers commute among communities in Cameron, Hidalgo, Willacy and Starr counties, creating an interconnected labor market of approximately 1.3 million people.
That regional workforce, he said, strengthens South Texas’ ability to compete for industrial projects requiring hundreds or thousands of employees.
Looking ahead, Briones called for continued coordination among economic development organizations, utilities, educational institutions and government leaders. He said regional leaders will also be “aggressively” engaging policymakers in Austin to align priorities as infrastructure and industrial projects advance.
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