RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas - The work of Starr County Industrial Foundation (SCIF) will not be complete until Rio Grande City and Roma seamlessly converge along US 83.
This is the opinion of the group’s president, Rose Benavidez. Speaking at a Rio Grande Valley Partnership “Commercialization & Investment Tour” event held Dec. 14 at South Texas College’s Starr County Campus, Benavidez won huge applause when she ushered this one line:
“Our work will not be done until there is no difference between Rio Grande City and Roma.”
Benavidez predicted the 12 to 14 miles between Starr County’s largest two cities would be filled with development in the not too distant future.
“If we have an opportunity, five years from now, ten years from now, to revisit this community, I can almost guarantee you those 14 or 12 miles that are left between Rio Grande City and Roma will be obsolete,” Benavidez said.
“There will be no difference in those boundaries because the growth of these (two) communities that you are seeing are absolutely converging in that area. The opportunity is here.”
Benavidez pointed out that SCIF will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2024. She said if one looks back about 30 years, Starr County was very different. Its unemployment level back then was 56 percent. Today it is 7.2 percent. The improvements in the quality of life have been amazing, she said.
Benavidez paid tribute to the partnerships SCIF has forged, with institutions such as South Texas College, Rio Grande City Economic Development Corporation and Roma Economic Development Corporation.
“One of the things that we know is very clear is the fact that these partnerships are what has helped us get to the point we are now. And I won’t go back 50 years because Dalinda is right, those numbers might end up scaring you. But I will go back 30 years for you,” Benavidez said.
The “Dalinda” Benavidez was referring to was Dalinda Guillen, executive director of Rio Grande City EDC. Guillen’s power point presentation at the RGVP event came before that of Benavidez.
“We are living in a moment where this community and this county is experiencing not a renaissance but a resurgence,” Benavidez said.
“We are now finding the ability to be able to talk about having billions of dollars of investment in an area that 30 years ago had 56 percent unemployment. Dalinda showed you, we are at 7.2 percent today. It is extraordinary. The changes are extraordinary.”
Benavidez ran through more statistics to prove her point. In many ways her presentation mirrored that of South Texas College economics professor Kevin Peek at a Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Force/Futuro RGV event a couple of weeks earlier. Peek urged the audience to ignore “snapshot” rankings and instead look at trends. And the trends, Peek said, showed improvement in all manner of economic development data for the RGV.
“Thirty years ago we had 63 percent of our children living in poverty. Thirty years later we now have 68 percent of our children attending some sort of higher education,” Benavidez said, at the RGVP event.
“That did not happen by accident. It is absolutely an effort that has been designed by every single resident, partner and collaborator in this conspiracy of making Starr County the place for people to invest, the place for people to work, and the place for people to open their businesses.”
Benavidez thanked the RGVP for helping to spread the word about the “great things” happening in Starr County. She said the growth and improved prosperity flies under the radar far too often.
“I just wanted you all to be reminded that as a team there is nothing this community cannot do. We are going to look at opportunities in retail, opportunities in industrial. We are going to look at opportunities in the medical field. We are going to look at opportunities for all those services that we know our residents deserve,” Benavidez said.
Benavidez said Starr County is playing catch-up when compared to other parts of the Valley. However, she said, “there is no denying that we will be there and we are getting there quicker and faster because we have an amazing team working together. Public officials that are leaders, economic development experts that are using their expertise to recruit and to expand.”
More importantly, she said, “we have a community that believes in the work that we are doing and is helping us make sure that it continues.”
