EDINBURG, Texas – A groundbreaking ceremony took place in Edinburg on Friday for a new $2 million plant being developed by Siddons-Martin Emergency Group.
The company is known for providing high quality emergency vehicle products and services.
The 12,000 square foot building is being built on Edinburg’s North Industrial Park.
Mark Hanna, of Hanna Development, gave a shoutout to Ernesto Silva of Silva Management Solutions, Gonzalez Engineering & Management, Edinburg Economic Development Corporation and Edinburg Mayor Ramiro Garza.
Hanna said he worked very closely with Jeff Keissler, executive vice-president of Siddons-Martin to have them situated in Edinburg and for them to service the entire region.
“We can talk about the 12,000 square foot building. We can talk about the jobs, the economic impact. But, the biggest thing to me is the parts, the vehicles that are sold, the service that is taking place for all of the emergency management vehicles from across the Valley, across the region,” said Mark Hanna of Hanna Development.
“Literally what takes place here is going to save lives. For that, I would like to give a round of applause to the group at Siddons-Martins.”
Leon Martin, Jr., is president of service at Siddons-Martin. He said: “My mother and father started -he company in 1974. We were a family owned business. We are an employee owned business now. We appreciate the City of Edinburg being part of our family now.”
Pat Siddons, president of sales at Siddons-Martin, said: “We are here because of Shawn Snider.” Siddons said he has know the City of Edinburg fire chief for nearly 25 years. He said he first got to know him when he was a young salesman visiting the Valley.
Siddons said that in recent years Snider would encourage Siddons-Martin to get in touch with Edinburg EDC.
“Finally, a little less than a year ago, I said, absolutely, we are ready. I thank him for getting us here. I thank the economic development corporation for working with us, and Mark Hanna and his group. We are excited to be a part of Edinburg. We can’t wait for this building to be built,” Siddons said.
Mayor Garza picked up on the praise given by Siddons to Snider.
“A lot of people ask me, what is it about Edinburg. Edinburg is just growing. There are so many things that go on. I always say and I have been saying it in different meetings, that it is all about our people and our community,” Garza said.
“Here in Edinburg, everybody is involved in economic development. You heard about Shawn, our (fire) chief, talking about do you need a contact at the EDC. Part of our secret and I should not be sharing it in public, right? Everybody in our community, whether you are a resident, you are a business owner, or you work for the city, or us elected officials, we are always advocating for our community, for opportunities.”
Garza thanked Snider for constantly making a pitch to Siddons-Martin. “In this case I want to thank our fire chief for staying on it. And ensuring that whenever they did expand that it was here in the city of Edinburg,” Garza said.
Mayor Garza concluded his remarks by stating that a “real team effort” helped land Siddons-Martin.
“Consider us. This here is a three acre tract but if you look around there is a lot of land available. We welcome you in to our community. We are open for business,” Garza said.
Editor’s Note: We expect additional commentary from Siddons-Martin Emergency Group. We will add this as soon as we receive it.
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