| |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Brownsville/Matamoros has more than 55,000 maquiladora workers. Its Foreign Trade Zone is the largest general purpose trade zone in the United States. McAllen/Reynosa has about 77,000 workers. The McAllen area has eight industrial parks, two foreign trade zones and several commercial enterprise zones.
McAllen is the site of the third World Trade Center in Texas. Located between such major industrial centers as Houston and Dallas to the north and Monterrey and Saltillo to the south, the Rio Grande Valley is the ideal location from which to conduct international business. Despite the strong economy, unemployment remains relatively high, providing an abundant labor force. Companies start up daily, drawn by all the region has to offer. Any concerns about the trainability of the Mexican labor force should be dispelled by the presence of 11 technical schools in Reynosa alone. To the north, South Texas College in McAllen and Texas State Technical College in Harlingen offer specialized courses in welding, electrical, computer maintenance technology, drafting and design, plastics and even an alternative fuel program. South Texas college students are being prepared for jobs at all levels of design, manufacturing and management at the $25 million Engineering School Complex and Rio Grande Center for Manufacturing at the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg and The University of Texas-Brownsville’s Science and Engineering Technology Building. The latter serves both UTB and Texas Southmost and addresses long-range needs of Valley industries. TOURISM The $13 million Schlitterbahn Beach Waterpark on South Padre Island is the first Schlitterbahn venture outside of New Braunfels, TX. More than 150 construction jobs were generated by the project, and the park provides hundreds of summer jobs. Ecotourism is also a big draw. The World Birding Center is a $20 million development based on a joint partnership between the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, The Parks and Wildlife Foundation, nine Rio Grande Valley communities and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Sports fishing and hunting, especially for whitewing dove, are also popular. Winter Texans remain the largest tourist group. These annual tourists travel to the Valley to live for up to six months out of the year, providing an enormous economic bounty to local merchants. Many of them live in the more than 500 RV and trailer parks scattered up and down the Valley, which provide a total of 68,000 spaces.
The Regional Academic Health Center (RAHC) in Harlingen is an upper level medical school. The initial RAHC academic facility was constructed and equipped by the University of Texas with a state appropriation of $25 million. At full development, the facility should employ around 250 full-time employees with an annual payroll of $5.5 million. The total operating budget is estimated to reach $9 million by 2005. Direct economic impact during the development phase (1999- 2005) is estimated at $27 million. TRANSPORTATION RETAIL Expressway 83 between McAllen and Pharr overlooks several shopping centers that include such national retail stores as Home Depot, Circuit City, Target, Mervyn’s and Sam’s Club. Harlingen’s retail space continues to expand in both its shopping centers and malls. The downtown area has revitalized itself and attracted new shoppers through the restoration of its historic Jackson Street District. OTHER
STANDBYS
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
With
low utility costs and no state income tax, companies can set up
shop in any part of the Valley with access to one of the largest
and youngest workforces in the world. On the United States side,
Customs brokers, construction companies, legal and accounting services,
government agencies, realtors and other support companies well versed
in international business are available to help companies set up
and begin production. 
HEALTH
CARE
