I will keep my comments brief. Thank you, everybody, for coming out. Joaquin, como siempre. I have known Joaquin for a number of years. We go way back. To the bankers, and to your clients that are here, investors, rest assured you are in a very good place with the City of Pharr. We back our investors substantially because we believe in them.
The reason we do that is because we look for partnerships. We look for people like Joaquin. He touched on it a little bit. But really what we look for is leadership. And we are talking about this even at the city, under the leadership of our city manager, Andy. So, what we see in investors are great qualities. We look for people who believe in people and their employees, that empower them. That make sure that they know what they need to do for your clients. That they get served well. That they come across with integrity. Because, it does not matter the journey, if you do not have integrity the end result doesn’t matter.
And, I assure you, that one of the best qualities you have, Joaquin, is your integrity, your honesty. You have always been upfront with the City of Pharr. It have seen it discussed with your clients, in private as well. You have never misled them and that speaks volumes for the City of Pharr. We don’t like shenanigans. We like to be upfront with everybody. We want your backers, your bankers to be rest assured that their product is going to be taken care of. And that is why we back you. Because we believe in you wholeheartedly. The commission does and so does the EDC board.
On the investment side, rest assured, the City of Pharr will continue to invest in infrastructure. I-Road will be done very soon. That is the street right behind you. Also, Military Highway is almost completely done already, renovated. Soon the IBTC, which, thank you, Joaquin Spamer. Most people don’t know this but Joaquin Spamer sits on the (Hidalgo County) RMA board, the regional mobility authority, which is breaking ground on the first segment of the toll road, 365, and will be helping us move along the IBTC corridor which moves traffic north and south, outside the city limits. So, you are intimately involved in that. Most people don’t know that but he is involved with that and that is why it is going to get done.
We are investing quite a bit in our port of entry, our bridge. We have a new bridge coming on as well. And all of this is done for the benefit of commerce, for business, for international trade. It is needed. With the pandemic we learned a very valuable lesson in the United States. We need to depend more on ourselves, on this continent. Nothing is more important than for our products to be utilized but also, when we need our medicines, we need our vegetables, we need our fruits, we need our supplies, whether they be diapers or breast milk, whatever it is that we need for our children and for our families, rest assured we get it on this continent.
A big piece of that has to be with people like Joaquin Spamer and your company. We have to have logistics in place. We have to be able to move commerce. We have to have international partnerships with not only Mexico and Central America, Canada as well. We play a very vital role at the City of Pharr because we are the international bridge and we are going to keep expanding to make sure that continues.
So, on behalf of the City of Pharr’s leadership, Commissioner Guajardo is with us, Commissioner Ramiro Caballero as well. We want to thank you on behalf of the EDC board as well, Joaquin, for always believing in Pharr. For always building in Pharr and keep moving the ball forward, sir, with your employees. We are proud of you. Congratulations, sir.
Editor’s Note: The above remarks were delivered by Pharr Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez at a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Queenstown Park cold storage warehouse development in south Pharr. The park is being built on the corner of I-Road and Las Milpas Road in south Pharr by Commodities Integrated Logistics. CIL is owned by businessman Joaquin Spamer, whom Hernandez referenced throughout his remarks. The “Andy” Mayor Hernandez referenced is Pharr City Manager Andy Harvey.
Editor’s Note: Click here to listen to a podcast from the Queenstown Park groundbreaking ceremony.
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