Mission within a year will have direct access to a full-service, cross-border international bridge.

The city, anticipating new opportunities in international trade, has hired an economic development executive with expertise in that field. Teclo Garcia is the new chief executive officer for the Mission Economic Development Corporation. He comes to the job after a three-year stint as Laredo’s economic development director in dealing with the Mexican business community and international trade on a daily basis.

Garcia began his new job in late October and is already eyeing the opportunities ahead with the expansion of the Anzalduas International Bridge underway. The bridge is located just south of Mission and will transition from a basic vehicular, non-commercial span to one with the added facilities that will enable it to be a fully functioning commercial bridge that can handle heavy truck traffic.

“We’re being provided with an opportunity we didn’t have before,” Garcia said. “We have to be ready to pounce on those opportunities and understand where we are.”

For Garcia, his new role is a return to the Mission EDC. He formerly worked as director of strategic planning and program development for the EDC. He is now leading the organization and working with the board that hired him to set the strategies and plans that will create investment opportunities and generate job growth for Mission.

From Journalism To Economic Development

Garcia’s career has taken him from military service in the Air Force to a lengthy career as a journalist to years of working in municipal government and economic development. 

He is a South Texas native from Kenedy who has spent the majority of the last 25 years living in the Rio Grande Valley. Garcia believes his stint in Laredo where he worked to bring major investments and projects that led to job growth there will serve him well in Mission. He realizes the volume of trade he saw in Laredo cannot be replicated in Mission but knows there is a growth to be had in that area for the city. 

“No city in the Valley is at the level of Laredo,” Garcia said of international trade. “We’ll do it here as how it pertains to Mission and this market.”

The $85 million expansion of the Anzalduas bridge will be a key component in generating new opportunities for the city. A groundbreaking was celebrated in late October at the 13-year-old bridge that marked the imminent building of inspection booths, docks, parking and the equipment needed to transform the bridge into an international commercial land port. The Anzalduas project is expected to be completed in late 2023. 

Garcia said the city is working closely with Killam Development, which is developing a major industrial park adjacent to Anzalduas as new opportunities in manufacturing, logistics, cold storage and distribution facilities emerge with the bridge’s expansion. The city of McAllen owns the Anzalduas bridge and operates the span in partnership with Mission, Hidalgo and Granjeno.

First-Class Facility

Garcia lists enhancing the local workforce and working with small businesses in the city among his key goals in addition to the international trade opportunities.

A 55,000-square-foot Center for Education and Economic Development provides the Mission EDC a spacious facility to hold meetings and workshops to boost business development and expertise. The EDC offices are located at the center, which once housed a Kmart. The former retail space today serves as office and meeting space for entrepreneurs, professional services, nonprofit organizations, and federal and state offices.

In his first job with the EDC, Garcia organized several meetings and events at the center, including social media workshops for small businesses and celebrations to honor successful local businesses and companies. He looks forward to hosting similar events next year as the EDC’s new plans and goals unfold.

“It’s a valuable asset,” Garcia said of the CEED center. “The vast majority (of EDCs) don’t have a facility like this one. It’s a challenge to manage and operate it, but we’re glad to have it for what it can do for the city and the residents and businesses in our community.”