Foreign trade zones were sparse in 1965 and those in existence back then had ocean and river connections. There was not a single land port-based foreign trade zone in the mid-1960s. It was 1965 when a group of McAllen business leaders got the idea of establishing a FTZ. These zones allow companies to bring goods onto U.S. soil without paying duty taxes and use parts to manufacture a product that…
The handshake, lunch meetings and traveling where necessary to meet promising prospects are all part of what makes economic development successful. In 2020, some of those elements have been put to the side. It has been a challenge to deal with for economic development professionals. The same is so for the business world they connect with daily. The trips to a company’s headquarters have been replaced with Zoom calls. Longer…
The Port of Brownsville is utilizing record revenue years leading up to COVID-19 to deal with the pandemic’s challenges. The port reported a record $25.4 million in annual revenue in fiscal year 2019. The figure tops the previous record from 2018 with continuous robust growth over the last six years. The port’s performance was recently recognized by Moody’s Investor Service, ranking the Port of Brownsville third among all U.S. ports…
On July 1, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement entered into force, officially replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement. USMCA is the first trade agreement ever to include a full chapter dedicated to small business interests. The modernization of trade with Mexico and Canada under USMCA is designed to benefit U.S. small businesses. It will also ensure more balanced trade. U.S. companies with fewer than 500 employees comprise 65 to 70 percent…
South Texas College’s seventh annual Binational Innovation Conference (INNO) took place Nov. 1. This year’s conference brought together those from industry, education and economic development. Each brought pertinent information with a focus on both innovation and the impact of students on the future workforce. “A New Era of Manufacturing in South Texas and Northern Mexico” centered primarily on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The proposed agreement looks to modernize the 24-year-old…
While the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement, waits for ratification by all three countries involved, indications are that the new trade deal will be good for the South Texas economy, and all along the U.S.-Mexico border. “What was happening under NAFTA, and this was a problem with NAFTA, it opened up plants being able to move to Mexico without any type of restriction…