Texas Border Business
By Roberto Hugo González / Texas Border Business
McALLEN, Texas — The Council for South Texas Economic Progress hosted economic development officials and representatives of the San Luis Potosí Automotive Cluster on June 11, 2026, for a networking breakfast, presentations and a regional economic development panel.
The meeting at the Cambria Hotel in McAllen brought together leaders from Rio South Texas and Mexico to discuss industrial growth, supply chain integration and investment opportunities across the border.
Rio South Texas is a major binational economic and trade corridor connecting cities across Cameron, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Starr, Webb, Willacy and Zapata counties with 10 municipalities in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Participating Texas communities include Laredo, McAllen, Edinburg, Pharr, Harlingen and Brownsville.
Adam Gonzalez, chief executive officer of COSTEP, and members of his team attended the meeting and welcomed the visiting delegation. COSTEP invited regional economic development corporations and strategic partners to participate.
The agenda included presentations by COSTEP and the Cluster Automotriz de San Luis Potosí, an economic development panel, and a presentation on infrastructure and logistics by Jorge Torres, a U.S. customs broker and president of Interlink Trade Services.
The panel included Teclo García, chief executive officer of the Mission Economic Development Corporation; Jaime Ortiz, manager of the City of Laredo’s economic development department; Daniel Garza, business development manager for the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation; and Daniel Rivera, executive director of the Elsa Economic Development Corporation.
Rivera said Elsa offers large areas of undeveloped land while remaining connected to employment centers across Rio South Texas.
“Whether your business lines are at the Port of Brownsville, in Mission or in Weslaco, we work closely together to anticipate and develop workforce, land and infrastructure needs so we can work as a team to grow our region,” Rivera said.
García said Mission’s location and available land near the Anzalduas International Bridge are among its principal assets. He said commercial cargo service in both directions was expected to begin in 2026, with unified inspections planned on the U.S. side.
“This is not a one-city, one-location thing,” García said, noting that a San Luis Potosí manufacturer had expressed interest in using the Port of Harlingen.
Ortiz described the Port of Laredo as a major land connection between Mexico and the United States. He said Laredo has four international bridges, including two serving commercial traffic, and a railway bridge.
“Automotive parts are the number one commodity by value crossing through the Port of Laredo,” Ortiz said.
Garza identified the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, South Texas College and Texas State Technical College as regional workforce resources. He said the U.S. side of the region has a population exceeding 1.5 million and a workforce of more than 400,000, most of it bilingual.
David Ortiz, director of the Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center at UTRGV, said TMAC provides training, certifications and technical assistance for the automotive, aerospace and medical industries.
The gathering was intended to present Rio South Texas’ industrial and logistical capabilities while developing business relationships with the San Luis Potosí automotive sector.
