MCALLEN, Texas - KURV 710 News Talk recently asked McAllen Economic Development Corporation President & CEO Keith Patridge if he would elaborate on remarks he first made in the Rio Grand Guardian International News Service.
“You made some comments that caught my attention. Some very pertinent remarks this week, I believe at one of the EDC’s many symposiums,” said KURV presenter Tim Sullivan.
“And this is Valley-centric… (you spoke about) not only the necessity, but the urgency, the need of the Valley to work together as one region when it comes to economic development. Can you reiterate those remarks?”
Patridge responded: “Absolutely. When you look at the areas that are very effective and that are growing very quickly, they tend to be, in most cases, one primary city surrounded by smaller suburbs. The Valley is unique because we have a lot of cities that are actually not that far apart in size.
“I think in Hidalgo County we have, what, 32 municipalities, something like that. And then when you add those that are in Brownsville, Starr County and Willacy, you have a lot of municipal entities and they all tend to be doing the same thing which really kind of gives a disjointed, not organized or focused development.
“And I think that's really partially why we have… our development has been slower than what it should have been. And so we have had, in the 36 years that I have been working here, we've tried a lot of these regional efforts. And they have, for the most part, failed. And a lot of it has to do with everyone wanting to know what their portion of the pie is.”
Patridge said a regional economic development organization “really should be focused on bringing people into the region, not necessarily picking winners and losers among communities.”
If that happens, Sullivan said, everyone will prosper.
“Absolutely,” Patridge replied. “It also saves a lot of money. Because when you start looking at a trip to China or a trip to Europe, to really be effective, those are very costly. And there are a lot of cities in the Valley that can't afford it. It is just not in their budget. And, the ones who can, it doesn’t make sense for each one of them to come in.”
Patridge pointed out that McAllen EDC has made a lot of trips overseas.
“We've been going to China for a long time. We went to Japan. We have 23 Japanese companies now that are located in McAllen or Reynosa and they have their own chamber of commerce. They have their own Saturday school. All of those have developed but that was costly.”
Patridge was quick to point out that MEDC has always had the support of the political and business leadership in McAllen when it came to making such long trips.
"When we go there (China, Japan, etc.), they have no idea where McAllen is. They want to know about the region and the regional support they will need to be successful here. And so when they look, they're looking at a much larger region where the city limit signs are. They don't care.”
Patridge said he gives kudos to the Rio Grande Valley Partnership and the Council for South Texas Economic Progress for thinking regionally.
“What I'm afraid of is, if we don't really start looking at how we combine our efforts, and we identify what we need to be doing, each one of us with an area responsibility, we could see it fail again. I'm just encouraging them not to do so.”
