Arturo Leon had never been to the Rio Grande Valley when he came here in 2014 to scout for a place to locate his specialized painting business.

He had already been to southern California, where his father lived after relocating from Mexico. Warehouse space there was hard to find and what was available didn’t meet his needs. Visiting the Valley, Leon liked the cultural fit and immediate proximity to Mexico.

He decided to try South Texas. The Jalisco native’s first business location would be in south Pharr. AB Powder Coating & Sandblasting began operating in 2015. Leon and his family settled in Mission. It was the life of a startup. Leon recalled initially being a virtual one-man company in taking on all facets of the business, from doing the paint work to cleaning the floors to throwing out the trash.

It was the drive of an immigrant to make his mark and be a success in his adopted country. 

“I worked all day, many days,” he recalled. “Success came, little by little, as people here got to know us.”

Hard Work Pays Off

The work Leon’s company does is intricate and detailed. One piece of what AB Powder Coating does is using environmentally friendly painting techniques that utilize heat and an electrostatic process to provide resistant coating on virtually any metal surface. The company also does sandblasting that can clean metal and quickly remove coating from many surfaces.

The work can be subtle but it’s essential in an array of different fields. Leon mentioned the window work done at a recently opened Weslaco restaurant. A glass contractor for the restaurant brought the window units to Leon’s business location and AB Powder Coating did the painting trim work there. The finished products were taken back to Weslaco during the construction process.

Coming off a record sales and revenue year in 2022, Leon is pleased to have made the right decision on where to locate his first U.S. business venture.

“I’m very happy to be here,” he said. “My family and I love the Valley.”

Relocating & Succeeding

Leon’s story is one that’s similar to many Mexican nationals who have come to the Valley for generations to start or expand businesses.

Proximity to two national markets is always a plus. Now more than ever, the Valley is becoming the dynamic economic regional market analysts and political leaders predicted years ago. The region now has vastly better higher educational and training schools and programs to provide industries and small business owners like Leon with the workers they need.

“Mexican investors are very familiar and comfortable investing in the Rio Grande Valley,” said Teclo Garcia, the president of the Mission Economic Development Corporation. “They actively seek these opportunities for a variety of economic reasons. There’s a long history of major Mexican investments and startups in Texas, including the micro businesses we see here in the Valley.”

The United States provides an E-2 Visa for business owners like Leon who wish to start a company in this country and develop and direct its operations. This type of Visa is commonly used by incoming business operators arriving in the United States. It brings with it the added benefit of providing jobs in the United States.

Leon’s AB Coating has made its share of adjustments since he came here eight years ago. He decided to relocate his business to Mercedes last year in seeking a more centralized location in the region. Leon wanted better proximity to customers in Cameron County, specifically those in Brownsville and South Padre Island. Being tucked away in south Pharr limited his visibility, he said, and could make it challenging for his customers to get there.

Today, AB Powder Coating is in the Mercedes Light Industrial Park, right next to Expressway 83.

“We have so much visibility here that we didn’t have in Pharr where we were hidden away,” Leon said. “It’s great to be here, not only for the great location, but to also be in a community that’s growing.”