MISSION, Texas – Mission Pro Tem Ruben Plata has congratulated Rodco Steel Distributors on their $9.5 million expansion project.
The company, owned by the Rodriguez family, opened its first plant in Mission in 2017. Now, it has just broken ground on its second project, located on the southwest corner of I-2 and Conway Avenue.
“We really we want to thank you, Mr. (Omar) Rodriguez from the bottom of our heart, and to the family for investing in Mission. We know you have other choices, but I know you made the right decision. You chose one of the best locations here on the expressway and Conway,” Plata said, at a groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility.
“The job creation, the sales tax and so many things are going to be beneficial to all of us here.”
Plata is a banker by trade. He joked about the large number of bankers that had assembled for the groundbreaking. “You know nothing moves without the bankers. You do need them, right? So thank you for working and providing such a good competition.”
Plata said Mission is a community that has grown in all aspects, industrial, commercial and residential. “This is a community that is growing. We have the tools, we have the land, we have the personnel. Anything that you need to make the growth.”
Plata especially predicted growth in south Mission, mainly due to the planned expansion of Anzalduas International Bridge.
“That is coming in south Mission. I mean there is so much construction coming. There is so much coming to the city of Mission and the whole (Rio Grande) Valley. So thank you for joining us. Please know that our city staff is always here to help in whatever we can.”
Enrique Garza, president of EB Merit Construction also spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony. Garza’s company is the general contractor for the Rodco expansion project.
Garza said the journey the Rodriguez brothers, Omar and Enrique, had been on has not been easy. However, he predicted a beautiful arrival.
“It’s going to turn out really beautiful,” Garza said. “This is going to be a very beautiful building. You know, one time I was driving by and I saw the Rodco building and I stopped and I said, I have got to meet the people who have this building because a lot of people do not spent the money to make such a beautiful building as that is.”
Garza said the success of the Rodriguez family is down to hard work “Their success comes from all of the hard work they put in. Anytime I call he (Omar Rodriguez) answers. No matter where he’s at, he answers.”
The new building is probably going to be 60 feet tall, Garza said.
“It’s going to have a lot of glass. There are two 43,000 square foot buildings one which will have 15,000 square foot of office space, which they already have a lot of interest in and LOIs (letters of intent), which we really can’t discuss,” Garza said.
“The building in the back will be a 43,000 square foot new facility where they’re going to be manufacturing metal doors, which is a new part of Rodco. So, they are really expanding.”
Another aspect of the project, Garza said, is the construction of the fourth Harbor Freight Tools facility in Hidalgo County.
“So, part of this that has not been discussed is Harbor Freight. That will be 16,000 square foot and it will bring 25 to 30 full-time, good-paying jobs and be another addition to the wonderful city of Mission.”
Garza thanked the City of Mission for making it easy to work there.
“We have quite a few projects going on in the City of Mission,” Garza said. “This is just ten acres of the development that the Rodriguez family is working on. There are another ten acres behind us that they plan on also developing and building into 200,000 square feet of industrial building. And you know if it’s anything like what we’re looking at here, it’s probably going to be the most beautiful industrial building in the Valley.”
Garza concluded his remarks by again talking about the beauty of the design work.
“You know, it surprised me how elegant and nice the actual construction and the design is. And I told Omar, are you sure you’re building it to look like that? He said yes we are and I said okay. You know, onward. But it really brings a nice vision, just like the (first) Rodco building, as you’re driving through Mission. You know, it’s beautiful.”
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