The Rio Grande Valley Partnership recently returned from the 2024 International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Las Vegas event, where 8 Economic Development Corporations (EDCs) and cities-Pharr, Edinburg, McAllen, San Juan, Mission, Harlingen, Weslaco, and Brownsville-made history by jointly hosting a booth. This united effort showcased the region’s robust infrastructure, workforce, available land, business opportunities, and support systems, highlighting the RCV as an ideal destination for companies looking to expand or relocate.
The ICSC Las Vegas event was a monumental opportunity for our region to shine,” remarked Daniel Silva, CEO/President of the RCV Partnership. “We established invaluable connections with industry leaders and showcased everything our community has to offer from our diverse culture to our bi-national market and ample commercial opportunities.”
Developers and brokers gained firsthand insight into the Rio Grande Valley’s strengths, including its proximity to Mexico, affordable shovel-ready land, powerful buying power competitive incentives. and expanding-population across four counties.
Fernanda Sanchez, Marketing Director of RCV Partnership, described the impact of their presentation: ‘”Our booth encapsulated the region’s essence. Through vivid graphics, we weave a narrative that showcases our identity and collective offerings. This united presentation enhances our appeal to investors, highlighting the strength and potential that emerges when we combine our resources and talents. Our goal was to unite and show what we offer when we come together, and for our first time, I think we exceeded expectations.”
This is what some of the participants had to say:
Rebecca Olaguibel, Director of Retail and Business Development for the City of McAllen, stated: “Coming together as a region, as a unit is very important because a lot of times developers are looking at an area, their looking at a geography and city limits don’t matter to them. It is great to have this team effort out here.”
Raudel Garza, CEO of Edinburg EDC, commented: “‘It is exciting to see that we are generating a lot of activity at the booth. People love it, people love the graphics and we are just excited to draw more business for the region.”
Cori Pena, CEO of the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC), shared: “As a first – time attendee, I was impressed by the scale and scope of the event, which far exceeded my Initial expectations. The collaboration with the RCV Partnership was particularly beneficial, enabling us to pool our resources and present a unified, compelling narrative about the RGV region. This experience has provided me with valuable insights and lessons that I look forward to bringing back to Brownsville to enhance our economic development initiatives.”
Sandra Charlton, VP Board of Weslaco EDC, noted: “The RCV Partnership did an amazing job organizing and designing the booth. The eye-catching displays helped draw people in and gave us an opportunity to connect with prospective investors interested in the region. Having several cities represented showed a unity that we could promote as a benefit of investing in the region.”‘
Belen Guerrero, Interim Chief Operations Officer at Mission EDC, emphasized: ”Vegas was a huge, united step forward for our brand as a region! it was a display of the collective spirit and quality of life that we have as a region and that we can certainly compete with major metros of the US.”
