Texas Border Business
We have received several reports showing how the Valley economy is getting better. The first report about this came from Alex Mead, Chief Executive Officer for Mission Economic Development Corporation. He was informing Texas Border Business that Mission had surpassed the one hundred million dollars mark in construction during 2013.
Julian Alvarez, Rio Grande Valley Partnership CEO announced that Harlingen, McAllen, Edinburg, and Brownsville all broke the $100 million mark in permitted construction activity as well.
From Edinburg we hear quite a bit of good news. They are doing great in sales, attracting new and large businesses and their sales totals have been very attractive.
Harlingen just announced the grand opening of a new Sam’s Club, which means an increase in tax revenue for the city.
The City of Hidalgo, as we announced, will have soon a Walmart. According to Mayor Martin Cepeda, they worked diligently to get it here. Mayor Cepeda and the city council have worked very hard to attract more business to the city of Hidalgo; that is a very important port of entry from Mexico.
As I write this, the peso is at $12.60 per one dollar and it appears that people love it the way it is because we have seen an increase in visitors from Mexico.
In this issue, you will also find a very important and in depth economic analysis titled “The Changing Retail Market in the Rio Grande Valley” prepared and written by our distinguished Guest Writer Mike Blum. He is the managing partner of NAI Rio Grande Valley, a global real estate company.
In his report Mike mentions how the Valley has changed in a very fast way. He is reminds us that JC Penny opened new stores in Mission, Edinburg, and Weslaco. Costco opened in Pharr, while Sam’s built its 2nd store in North McAllen. Burlington Coats added stores in Edinburg, Weslaco, and Harlingen. Academy expanded in McAllen, Edinburg, and Weslaco. The Bass Pro Shop in Harlingen continues to attract other retailers to the area, including Sam’s Club that recently opened. La Paloma Power Plant, a 690 megawatt natural gas-fired plant is to be constructed beginning in 2014 on the eastern edge of Harlingen.
This is a must read report, it also came with interesting charts that tell the story.
This month’s Exclusive story is on Jose A. Mulet, a successful aviation professional that has performed very well. The article is titled “Aviation Executive Loves His Profession’s Constant Innovation”.
Mulet is the Director of Terminal Facilities at Valley International Airport (VIA) in Harlingen, Texas. He was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and feels very fortunate that his parents were college graduates and that they motivated him, his brother, and sister to pursue a college education. You will enjoy reading his story and learning how he has been able to grow with each institution and company he worked for.
Enjoy this issue that has grown to 40 pages as of this month. TBB
