McAllen Economic Development Corporation

Bill would clear the way for overweight Mexican produce trucks

Each year, just before they reach the U.S. border, thousands of truck drivers hauling produce from western Mexico to southern Texas stop in the city of Reynosa to lighten their loads.

Mexico allows heavier trucks on its roads than Texas does. To avoid being charged a fine — which averages about $110 — when they reach Texas, drivers routinely drop off a few pallets of bell peppers, avocados, tomatoes or watermelons to be picked up by lighter trucks before crossing one of Hidalgo County’s international bridges, according to Keith Patridge, president of the McAllen Economic DevelopmentCorporation, which promotes commerce in both McAllen and Reynosa.

The transfer can be costly. “In a 100-degree day, if you’re out jostling produce around, it reduces the quality of the product,” Patridge said.

State Rep. Sergio Muñoz Jr., D-Mission, wants to put an end to those detours. He has filed legislation that would allow trucks to pay an $80 fee in exchange for crossing the border overweight. With the construction of a highway in Mexico that the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts will spark a surge in refrigerated trucks passing through Hidalgo County, he says the region needs to be prepared and that House Bill474 will help.

“It’s just a huge amount of economic development that’s going to occur with the increased traffic,” he said. “It’s not going to be only for South Texas, but it’s going to be increased commerce for the state.”

Mexican officials are finishing the Mazatlán-Matamoros Corridor, a highway that will provide a direct route between Mexico’s western growing regions and South Texas. The road is expected to accelerate a shift of Mexican produce trucks entering the United States to Hidalgo County from Nogales, Ariz., for quicker access to East Coast markets.

“For the Mexican produce industry, it’s a no-brainer,” said Richard Sanchez, Munoz’s chief of staff. “They’re going to save about six hours’ travel time coming through South Texas.”

Muñoz’s bill would direct money from the $80 fees to pay for road maintenance related to damage from the heavier trucks. The Texas Department of Transportation already oversees three corridors for overweight trucks in other parts of the state; this new one would be the first to apply only to produce trucks. Arizona has a similar system for overweight trucks crossing the border near Nogales.

John McClung, who oversees border issues for the Texas International Produce Association, said vegetable and fruit sellers are willing to pay the fee to avoid unloading cargo before reaching one of the cold storage facilities in and around McAllen, Hidalgo County’s largest city. The produce typically id unloaded at those warehouses and prepared for redistribution around the country. More facilities are being built in the county to prepare for increased produce truck traffic.

“It is just that first few miles in the U.S. that is the concern,” McClung said.

Some lawmakers initially wondered whether an $80 fee was too low. TxDOT officials told a House committee that the fee would cover the costs of road repair.

Muñoz’s bill passed the House on Thursday without debate. Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, has filed a companion bill in the Senate.

Carlos Zambito, the marketing director of the McAllen Produce Terminal Market, where hundreds of trucks transfer produce daily, sa

id the measure wo
uld mean fewer trucks passing through the area.

And if truck drivers are able to skip a detour, the measure also could lead to fresher produce at thousands of grocery stores.

“In perishables,” Zambito said, “every hour counts.”

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/Bill-would-clear-the-way-for-overweight-Mexican-4439560.php#ixzz2RE9A0iGI

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Creating a new University of Texas institution in South Texas is a top legislative priority for The University of Texas System. The new university would merge the existing University of Texas at Brownsville and the University of Texas-Pan American and also include a new school of medicine. It would be one of the top two Hispanic-serving institutions in the United States and would create exciting educational and economic opportunities for the entire Rio Grande Valley and State of Texas.

• The main academic campuses of the new university will be in Brownsville and Edinburg. The goal is to build a “university of the 21st century” that uses blended and online learning and new and highly technologically equipped classrooms.

• While academic campuses will be in Brownsville and Edinburg, the new university will also have a strong and visible presence in Harlingen and McAllen.

• The new university will be immediately competitive with current UT emerging research universities by merging assets. For example, the new university’s student population would be 28,000; research expenditures would top $11 million; and the university would have an endowment of $70.5 million. This compares to a student population at the University of Texas at San Antonio of 31,000; research expenditures of $30.4 million; and an endowment of $81.8 million.

• A school of medicine will immediately enhance the status of the university in terms of research, philanthropy and the ability to attract new faculty, research funding and additional economic development to the region.

• The initial cost to the state of Texas of the merger of the two institutions should be zero, as the UT System and the two existing campuses have committed to absorb all costs in the creation and transition. The UT System expects to save as much as $6 million a year through administrative efficiencies and other cost-saving methods that will eliminate redundancies.

• Accreditation for the university by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools will be sought in early 2014 and is expected to be granted by 2015.

• A huge benefit of creating a new university is eligibility for participation in the Permanent University Fund (PUF) if the Texas Legislature approves the bill by a two-thirds majority in both chambers. Adding a new university to those currently eligible for PUF will have no impact on funding available for the Texas A&M University System and minimal impact on existing UT institutions. 

• Because UT Brownsville and UT Pan American are not currently eligible for PUF, they now receive assistance from the Higher Education Assistance Fund (HEAF). A new, PUF-eligible university will no longer be eligible for HEAF, freeing up more revenue for other Texas institutions benefiting from that fund.

• The school of medicine will be developed initially through the use of facilities at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, including four buildings that are part of UTHSC – San Antonio’s Regional Academic Health Center (RAHC) in Harlingen, Edinburg and Brownsville. Today, roughly 100 medical students receive part of their medical education at the RAHC and between 30 and 35 graduate medical residents study and work at hospitals across the Valley each year. Following graduation, 66 percent of those residents remain in the Valley to practice medicine.

• Plans to establish a stand-alone medical school in South Texas, authorized by statute in 2009, were already underway prior to the proposal to create a new university. A prior request for state appropriations of $30 million a year- $10 million of which represents recurring existing appropriations -to support the medical school still stands. The UT System Board of Regents has committed $10 million a year for the next decade to help establish the medical school. An additional request of $20 million for the biennium ($10 million a year) will also go before the Legislature. These funds will go toward the recruitment of a founding dean for the medical school, associate deans, department chairs and other key faculty members. The money will also be used to recruit a director and faculty of a diabetes and obesity research center or institute based in South Texas.

• In Texas, there are 165 doctors for every 100,000 residents. Our state lags far behind the national average of 240 doctors for every 100,000 residents. But in the 12 counties that make up the Rio Grande Valley,there are only 124 doctors for every 100,000 residents.

• With the new school of medicine, UT plans to increase graduate medical residents to 150 per year and place them in hospitals in Brownsville, Edinburg, Harlingen and McAllen. Education in the new medical school will include opportunities for innovation and creativity, including a project through the UT System’s Transformation in Medical Education (TIME) program, an effort to create integrated undergraduate and medical degrees in a holistic curriculum. This approach could allow students to complete their undergraduate and medical degrees in six or seven years, rather than the traditional eight.

• An economic analysis has projected that the new university and school of medicine in South Texas will account for 7,000 new high-paying jobs in the Rio Grande Valley.

Source:http://www.utb.edu/president/Emails/documents/South-Texas-University-Key-Points-FINAL-1-24-13.pdf

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AUSTIN – A report released this week by the Brookings Institution is the latest to highlight the Lone Star State’s strong jobs climate, finding that Texas leads the nation in job creation with Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Dallas and McAllen creating more jobs now than before the recession. According to the report, Austin saw the highest percentage increase in jobs of any city in the nation.

“Texas continues to set a national example for job growth, and I’m proud the Lone Star State is home to six out of the 14 cities that have more jobs now than before the recession,” Gov. Perry said. “Our low taxes, predictable regulations, fair courts, skilled workforce and low cost of living have made Texas the best state in the nation to live, work, raise a family and run a business.”

McAllen

Story from The Nueces County Record Star

Click HERE to view the March 2013 Metro Monitor by Brookings

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Albuquerque Business First

By: Gary Gerew

Analysts say manufacturing in the U.S. probably kept expanding in March as business investment and consumer spending improved, according to forecasts made prior to the issuing of an activity report today.

A reading of 54 for the Institute for Supply Management’s factory index is the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey after the prior month’s 54.2, which was the highest since June 2011, according to Bloomberg News. A level greater than 50 signals growth. The Tempe, Arizona-based ISM’s figures are due at 10 a.m. New York time. Estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from 51.6 to 55.

The economy is getting a bigger boost from production gains amid stronger capital spending, progress in the housing industry and resilient consumer demand. Further strides in manufacturing may depend on how companies respond to automatic cuts in federal spending that began last month, according to Bloomberg.

“We’re seeing growth in housing plus the trickle-down into all the associated industries,” Tom Simons, an economist at Jefferies LLC, told Bloomberg. “Businesses aren’t overly concerned about the budget cuts,” though “there could be some months of weakness,” he said.

505.348.8323 | ggerew@bizjournals.com

Complete Article by Albuquerque Business First

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MEDC Staff & Index Reynosa Members

McAllen- After 26 years it comes as no surprise that the 26^th annual MEDC/Index Reynosa Maquila Picnic was a huge success! Over 1,500 people attended the picnic and enjoyed the big celebration.

This tradition began in 1988 as a small get together at Hidalgo’s Lake Texano where MEDC Employees cleaned the park and barbecued for a few dozen guests. This tradition has grown exponentially and blossomed into so much more than just a barbecue  The picnic is something McAllen Economic Development and Index Reynosa enjoy doing for all the Maquila managers in the area. There are rides, rounds of miniature golf, arcade games, fun characters and face painting to entertain the kids. There is also lots of food, cakes, drinks, beer and door prizes for the attendees to enjoy with their families.

The event was held Saturday, March 23, 2013, at the Zone Action Park. MEDC staff and Index Reynosa members work very hard to have the event entirely funded by donations. This would not have been possible without the help of our generous sponsors whom we would like to give a big “Thank You!”

Corporate Sponsorship
Ginther Group, Grupo Rio San Juan, ProLogis, Ridge Property Trust

Gold
4Front Engineered Solutions, BSN Medical Inc., D. Wilson Construction, Grupo Nuevo Santander, Grupo Prodensa, Hunt Valley Development, Martin & Drought, P.C., Shepard Walton Kind Ins. Group, Torres, Cantu & Aliseda, P.C., Technologia de Plasticos

Silver
American Industries, Atlas Electrical & Air Conditioning Services, Inc., Banco Base, Brunswick Bowling, Cacheaux, Cavazos & Newton, CBRE, CR Card Reynosa, DanHil de Mexico/DanHil Containers, Dr. John Gerling- Orthodontist, Emerson Climate Technologies, Frost National Bank, IBC Bank, INFASA/Metal Industries Inc., Lawson Commercial Realty, Inc., Maquila Reynosa Magazine, NIBCO, Parker & Company, Raba Kister Consultants Inc., SEKO Logistics, Small Parts, The Warren Group Architects, Inc., Velvec Corporation, Verde Realty

Other
CL Scales and Systems. LLC

Door Prize Sponsors
Albea Reynosa, Am-Mex Products, Averitt Express, Banco Base, Bissell, Brunswick Bowling Division, Bullard Construction, Corning Cable Systems, Courtyard Marriott Airport, DanHil Containers, Delphi Delco Electronics, Eaton Controls, Emerson Network Power, Emerson Tool Co, Fansteel Intercast, Farleys and Sathers (Dulces Famosos), Gateway Printing, Homewood Suites Hotel, Inner Power & Pilates Studio, Interlink Trade Services, Kohler Reynosa, Kuehne & Nagel, Landis & Gyr, Maverick Electronics, Office Furniture USA, Panasonic Electronic Devices Corp., Parker & Company, Renaissance Casa de Palmas, Sam’s club, Springhill Suites, Standard Motor Products, Stanley Black & Decker Reynosa, Staybridge Suites, Sustaita Forwarding LLC, Tenneco Inc., Tutco de Mexico, UETA Duty Free Hidalgo, UPS Forwarding, UTI Logistics, Valley Metro Security, Wells Vehicle Electronics

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Texas’ Largest City Retail Markets

Ranked by Retail Sales

1. Houston     $35,354,740
2. San Antonio     $17,184,282
3. Dallas     $14,302,985
4. Austin     $10,813,562
5. Fort Worth     $6,972,843
6. El Paso     $6,273,122
7. Plano     $5,051,826
8. Arlington     $4,337,696
9. Lubbock     $3,712,894
10. Corpus Christi     $3,510,956
11. Amarillo     $3,045,808
12. Irving     $2,614,418
13. McAllen     $2,543,238
14. Laredo     $2,322,058
15. Grapevine     $2,145,316
16. Midland     $2,116,391
17. Tyler     $1,982,494
18. Odessa     $1,919,992
19. Frisco     $1,907,790
20. Beaumont     $1,738,145
21. Round Rock     $1,733,754
22. McKinney     $1,676,749
23. Lewisville     $1,636,204
24. Garland     $1,620,307
25. Longview     $1,580,033
26. Waco     $1,576,559
27. Abilene     $1,529,864
28. Denton     $1,497,635
29. Kileen     $1,473,472
30. Brownsville     $1,458,260
31. Grand Prarie     $1,456,927
32. Conroe     $1,402,045
33. Richardson     $1,384,651
34. Carrollton     $1,372,928
35. Mesquite     $1,355,313
36. Pasadena     $1,298,308
37. San Angelo     $1,266,224
38. San Marcos     $1,232,234
39. Witchita Falls     $1,217,493
40. Victoria     $1,199,065
41. Sugar Land     $1,162,431
42. New Braunfels     $1,061,042
43. College Station     $1,058,569
44. Hurst     $1,050,033
45. Georgetown     $1,004,335
46. Temple     $962,012
47. Pearland     $961,964
48. Baytown     $961,613
49. Sherman     $961,613
50. Harlingen     $913,931

Texas State     $264,247,639

Source: 2012 Texas Retail Survey

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McAllen- The third and final group of Winter Texans were welcomed last week to tour the industrial area of McAllen via bicycle. Members of the Victoria Palms RV Park arrived at the McAllen Foreign Trade Zone bright and early Wednesday morning. They were treated to hot coffee, bananas and delicious pastries courtesy of the Courtyard by Marriott group. Liz Domnick, Business Development Specialist, answered a few questions the participants had before biking to South Texas College, followed by Panasonic and Building AA inside the Foreign Trade Zone.

While visiting South Texas College, the Winter Texans toured several of the areas of the college including the new Festo Lab where they learned how technology is helping companies’ efficiency with manufacturing. The tour also included the HVAC area, the general mechanic shop, Ford mechanic shop and Diesel Mechanic learning area.

The next part of the trip was at the Panasonic plant. The Winter Texans learned about the refurbishing and logistics aspects of the local operation. Dan Ingersol, General Manager of Panasonic, explained that anytime someone purchases an item at Walmart or any other retail store and return it because they claim it is broken, the item is shipped to this Panasonic plant where it is inspected and repaired.

During the final part of the trip, Winter Texans traveled back to the Foreign Trade Zone and over to Building AA. Sandy Barbosa, general manager of the McAllen Foreign Trade Zone showed the Winter Texans the warehouse and explained 3^rd Party Logistics. Through 3^rd party logistics, companies have the ability to be flexible and lease only the amount of space they truly need. They are also not forced to hire employees and take on that cost. The McAllen Foreign Trade Zone staff of forklift drivers and warehouse personnel manage the inventory for each of the companies and handle their inbound and outbound products.

This year McAllen Economic Development had three successful bike tours with three different Winter Texan parks. The goal of the bike tours is to educate our northern friends so that they may travel back up north and share the success of our community with industrial companies looking to potentially relocate to our area.

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U.S./MEXICO BORDER MANUFACTURING: KEEP YOUR OPTIONS OPEN

Advantage #2: Contract Manufacturing

Expanding or relocating into the U.S./Mexico border offers a large selection of competitive advantages for companies looking to stay ahead of the competition. Likewise, those selections are also presented in different packages, with different amounts of investments in machinery, and/or labor.

Contract Manufacturing, is a popular choice among companies looking to test the efficiency of this international model.
Under a contract manufacturing operation, a company and the contracted entity will define the terms under which a product will be produced. The distribution of responsibilities or contributions between both parties may include:

CLIENT
• Existing supply chain or assistance identifying new sources of raw materials
• Equipment/Tooling
• Start-up Procedures
• Manufacturing process
• Volume/Price commitment
• Delivery schedules

CONTRACTED ENTITY
• Up-to-date regulatory compliances
• The sourcing of direct/indirect labor
• Customs accounts & traffic procurement
• Production & quality control
• Finished goods to spec requirements
• Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) management
• Established distribution & logistics services/sources

This option represents a smaller capital investment than the traditional “Maquiladora” or manufacturing plant setup. Depending on the chosen location of the contracted services, U.S. or Mexico, this may also allow companies to bridge any cultural gaps and minimize the learning curve of doing business in Mexico.

http://www.mcallenedc.org/contract-manufacturing.php

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MEXICO: BETTER MANUFACTURING OPTION THAN ASIA

Lower Cost of Shipping; Reduced Time to Market

Recent events and manufacturing trends have shown Asian countries to be losing popularity as manufacturing destinations. Meanwhile, Mexico has been rising as the preferred choice for manufacturers world-wide.
Factors like the increased cost of shipping from Asia to the U.S. versus the lower-cost distribution options Mexico provides have proven to capture the attention of manufacturing companies looking to not only remain competitive in today’s market, but grow at a profitable pace.

Reduced Time to Market

Mexico is a direct southern neighbor to the United States, the largest consumer market in the world. This becomes a key consideration of the supply chain where companies manufacturing in Mexico don’t need as much lead time for the product to reach the market.

In the case of the McAllen, Texas / Reynosa, Mexico international metropolitan area operations reduce their inventory costs by operating under a truly efficient speed to market model. Many existing operations may have two days’ worth of inventory, or in certain cases, hours’ worth of inventory, sourcing raw materials from the U.S. or Mexico. Companies purchase what they need, when they need it. A healthy number of reliable local suppliers provide these daily, even hourly deliveries. With this efficient and consistent delivery of materials, companies do not incur significant storage costs, nor have funds tied up on inventory.

However, if an operation is importing from Asia, delivery can take up to 3-6 weeks, forcing operations to order a larger inventory to meet forecasted customer demands. This results in additional storage costs and inventory that may not meet changing market demands.

Manufacturers or suppliers that are already located in McAllen / Reynosa are able to ship the same day, and get it delivered to their clients’ plants seamlessly.

Likewise, the days of sitting on large quantities of finished goods are a thing of the past. The minute the product order is received, it is built and shipped. Many of the companies in this international metropolitan area build to order.

manufacturing-in-mexico.php

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February 25, 2013 | McAllen, TX – FibeRio, the developer and manufacturer of ground breaking Forcespinning® nanofiber production systems, today announced it has completed a $13M capital raise led by two global strategic investors – SABIC Ventures B.V., Saudi Basic Industries Corporation’s corporate venture capital arm, and Aster Capital Partners, sponsored by Solvay, Schneider Electric, Alstom and the European investment fund. The funding will be used to accelerate the company’s commercial growth, introduce larger scale production systems to the market and execute on a growing pipeline of orders and global opportunities with industry leading customers.

“The support of two of the leading, knowledgeable strategic investors in this space, SABIC and Aster Capital, is a strong validation of the uniqueness of our Forcespinning technology and will help the company accelerate our growth, open new markets and enable new applications for all of our customers” commented Ellery Buchanan, CEO of FibeRio. “This collaboration will greatly accelerate our vision of the Forcespinning process becoming the world’s leading, cost effective process to produce nanofibers at scale never before achieved.”

Forcespinning is a disruptive, platform technology which enables leading manufacturers to produce nanofibers on a truly commercial scale in a cost effective way using a wide range of polymers and an environmentally sensitive process. Forcespinning is the only fine fiber production system capable of both melt and solution spinning from lab scale to full industrial scale production. Unlike electrospinning, Forcespinning does not require materials to contain certain dielectric properties for processing which limits the materials that can be produced into fiber. Nanofiber applications are used in a variety of markets including filtration, nonwovens, battery separators, textiles, biomedical and conductive applications.

Hans Kolnaar of SABIC Ventures commented “FibeRio’s unique processing technology not only increases our market reach, but offers SABIC an opportunity to move further down the value chain with innovative fibers for our customers.”

“We view the cost effective production of nanofibers at scale as a key technological focus for the nonwovens marketplace for a wide variety of applications in the filtration, energy, medical, hygiene and textiles markets. Thanks to our sponsor, Solvay, we were able to validate that FibeRio has a unique breakthrough technology to accelerate nanofiber growth for all levels of production. We are excited to partner with a company that will be driving the deployment of nanofibers for the foreseeable future” commented Pascal Siegwart and Todd Dauphinais, partners at Aster Capital in a joint statement.

The combined breadth of resins represented by SABIC and Aster cover everything from commodity polymers such as polypropylene and nylon to high performance materials including fluoropolymers, polysulfones, polyethylene imines, and liquid crystal polymers among others. A number of these materials have never been made into nanofibers before and can offer materials performance advantages to FibeRio Forcespinning equipment customers. FibeRio, SABIC and Solvay will all benefit through the integration of a wide range of resins with Forcespinning technology.

FibeRio’s existing shareholders also participated in this financing round, including the University of Texas System – UT Horizon Fund, the University of Texas – Pan American, the State of Texas, Silverton Partners and Cottonwood Technology Fund I. As part of this financing, James Wilson, of SABIC’s Innovative Plastics Strategic Business Unit, and Todd Dauphinais of Aster Capital will join the FibeRio board of directors.

About FibeRio
FibeRio Technology Corporation provides the technology and capital equipment to transform the materials market through the unlimited availability of cost effective nanofibers. Founded in 2009, the company has already delivered several large scale industrial Forcespinning units to industry leading customers across the globe. The company is headquartered in its manufacturing facility in McAllen, TX. For more information, please visit www.fiberiotech.com or call 956-207-5448.

About SABIC Ventures
SABIC Ventures is the global corporate venture capital arm of SABIC, based in the Netherlands. Its primary goal is to seek out innovative technologies and businesses consistent with the company’s global strategy. Its investment focus includes functional materials, alternative feed stocks for chemicals and materials and alternative energy technologies. SABIC Ventures invests directly in seed stage, early stage and late stage companies.

For more information, please visit www.sabic.com/ventures

About SABIC
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) ranks among the world’s top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world’s market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.

SABIC recorded a net profit of SR 29.24 billion (US$ 7.80 billion) in 2011. Sales revenues for 2011 totaled SR 189.90 billion (US$ 50.64 billion). Total assets stood at SR 332.78 billion (US$ 88.74 billion) at the end of 2011.

SABIC’s businesses are grouped into Chemicals, Polymers, Performance Chemicals, Fertilizers, Metals and Innovative Plastics. SABIC has significant research resources with 16 dedicated Technology & Innovation facilities in Saudi Arabia, the USA, the Netherlands, Spain, Japan, India and South Korea. The company operates in more than 40 countries across the world with around 40,000 employees worldwide.

SABIC manufactures on a global scale in Saudi Arabia, the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Headquartered in Riyadh, SABIC was founded in 1976 when the Saudi Arabian Government decided to use the hydrocarbon gases associated with its oil production as the principal feedstock for production of chemicals, polymers and fertilizers. The Saudi Arabian Government owns 70 percent of SABIC shares with the remaining 30 percent held by private investors in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

For more information, please visit www.sabic.com

About Aster Capital
Aster Capital is a leading energy and environment technologies focused venture capital firm sponsored by Schneider Electric, Alstom and Solvay, global leaders in the energy and chemicals industries, and the European investment fund through the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme. They have jointly invested in Aster’s second $135 million investment fund. With a total of $200 million under management, Aster aims to proactively leverage the expertise of these sponsors to support its portfolio companies in their further development. Aster Capital has offices in Paris, San Francisco, Shanghai, Tel Aviv and Tokyo.

For more information, please visit www.aster.com

[For interviews or custom quotes, contact Kial Gramley at kgramley@fiberiotech.com 

or call 956-207-5448 ext. 12]

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