Texas Border Business
MCALLEN, Texas – The Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Force is expressing its support of the name “RioPlex” to initiate a region wide marketing campaign aimed at attracting new investment in South Texas and Northern Mexico.
The unveiling of the name came during a breakfast meeting on Wednesday, June 19, 2024, at the McAllen Country Club with more than 60 business leaders as well as elected officials and other community leaders.
“In order to be attractive to outside investment and economic growth, we must sell ourselves as a region instead of competing with one another as municipal entities,” said Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez, who founded the Prosperity Task Force. “This is a significant first step in that process.”
The challenge in adopting a region wide name was to include both the U.S. and Mexican side of the border – a major selling point of this region as a gateway to Latin American markets. That challenge excluded the name “Rio Grande Valley” because the well-known moniker refers only to the U.S. side of the border.
By highlighting South Texas and Northern Mexico, the RioPlex region can show potential investors a market of more than 3.5 million people. The latest U.S. Census shows the four counties of the Rio Grande Valley have a population of about 1.3 million people.
The RioPlex region includes the presence of companies headquartered in 20 different countries; has seven international airports; and 13 international bridges.
Wednesday’s presentation included information about the economic transformation of the region over the past decade as well as recommendations for the type of industry that the RioPlex should consider pursuing.
