WESLACO, Texas - The private sector has a big role to play in helping connect the region’s economic development leaders with potential investors, says Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez.
One way the private sector can help is to pay for trade missions around the globe. Another is for the private sector to help pay for infrastructure. Cortez said business leaders in his county stand ready to do this.
Cortez spoke about economic development, marketing, and energy at a meeting hosted by Hidalgo County’s economic development department. Economic development oranziations from around the Valley were in attendance, with the meeting was held at UT-Rio Grande Valley’s Center for Innovation & Commercialization.
“We need the private sector. You cannot accomplish what we want on an economic development situation without the private sector,” Cortez said. “We’re lucky, in Hidalgo, we have a lot of the private sector already with us. So when you have a project that's a billion or $2 billion we have the people to come up with a billion or $2 billion for the for the infrastructure that's needed. So never forget that we also need to bring in the private sector to be part of us as we're moving forward.”
It takes money to organize trade missions around the globe, Cortez told the economic development groups.
“None of you have all the money in the world. The private sector does. So, when we're planning a trip, we can combine the public sector with the private sector and get them basically to pay for some of that expense and cost. That's a good thing. It keeps the taxpayer from having to pay for those trips.”
Editor’s Note: Here is a video recording of Judge Cortez’s closing remarks at the meeting in Weslaco:
