The Laredo Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) is a private non-profit corporation dedicated to the economic and industrial development of Laredo, Texas.
Our organization recently celebrated our 57-year anniversary and we, along with our members, board, and partners have been a part of the development of the Laredo region as the population has grown by a factor of four since 1966.
Today our Port of Entry is ranked No. 1 in the country out of more than 450 sea, air, and land ports, and we are realizing industrial and commercial growth like no other time in our history.
The LEDC is one of only 74 organizations in the country, out of more than 9800, to be accredited by the International Economic Development Council. The LEDC serves as the primary private sector point of contact providing assistance to new and expanding business prospects. We promote and market Laredo, Webb County, and our sister cities of Nuevo Laredo and Columbia as a dynamic region for global trade and market opportunities for targeted industries.
Our organization provides community data and economic indicators for business prospects and investors, site selection services, assistance with and screening for incentives from the City, County, and State, and research information requested by clients. The vision is to continue to be an organization defined by its visionary leadership, recognized for its integrity and contributions toward the economic development and vitality of Los Dos Laredos and the Webb County region.
Before we talk about 2024, let’s take a look at the great things that happened in 2023. The activities over the last year supporting economic development growth in the Laredo region nearly doubled from previous years and is resulting in tremendous growth of investments in speculative developments in new and expanded industrial parks in multiple areas of the city and county. Global supply chain dynamics have changed in the post-pandemic world as near-shoring continues to provide our region the opportunity to capitalize on our favorable location, pro-business climate, young population, workforce advantages, efficient bridge system, and close public private partnerships at all levels.
Global trade and commercial freight volumes associated with record level commercial truck crossings, rail car crossings, and air cargo freight, along with projections forecasting a doubling and tripling of the activity in the next 10 and 30 years, respectively, have provided the basis for an explosion of industrial space construction like our region has ever seen. Just as important as our continued supply chain leadership are the successes and growing interest we are seeing as a result of our diversification efforts in the areas of manufacturing, cold-storage and produce processing centers, health care services and industry, energy, destination retail / hospitality, and quality of life.
The economic development ecosystem in the region continues to exhibit partnerships like no other in the country which includes the City of Laredo Officials along with the Economic Development Department, Webb County officials, Laredo College, TAMIU, Laredo Chamber of Commerce, Workforce Solutions South Texas, and the multitude of private-sector representatives that advocate for the betterment of our community.
Finally, our International Business Assistance Center division, MileOne, continues to thrive and make positive impacts to the entrepreneur and small business community in its downtown location and many programs are specially geared towards female entrepreneurship.
For 2024, we will continue to collaborate with our great partners in economic development, both in the private and public sectors, and support the global trade industry while also putting a lot of time and effort into continued diversification. Some say we are too dependent on global trade, and that’s true to an extent, but I do want to point out a few important things.
First, our trade is highly diversified as it involves moving and processing freight from a large number of sectors. It’s not just automotive parts, engines and vehicles. The products moving through Laredo involve a growing agricultural industry like avocados, tomatoes, and berries, electronics, refrigerators, energy products, industrial equipment, tequila, protein products like pork, beef, and chicken, and dozens more industries.
Secondly, our port is now getting the recognition it deserves as Laredo is now being mentioned frequently by top national media outlets focusing on the positive things happening here. The LEDC is working with more and more national and international business executives as these companies are evaluating their next expansion projects. Traditionally, these companies would immediately look at Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, but we are fielding prospects from these non-local companies that will certainly continue to fill our industrial parks with new facilities and good paying jobs.
The attention we are getting in Austin and Washington, D.C. is leading to an acknowledgement that our global trade expertise is contributing to North American competitiveness leading to less dependence on non-friendly countries. This recognition is leading to very positive discussions about increased funding for even more infrastructure projects that are needed to keep up with the growth.
Specifically, we will continue to be a strong advocate for these projects such as an expansion of IH35 to 6 lanes between Laredo and San Antonio, additional connections between Mines Road and IH35, more international bridges, Bob Bullock Loop overpasses, outer loop development, and many more mobility and safety projects that are needed now and in the future. We intend to keep advocating and promoting Laredo for all the good things that we do and are known for.
The important events that will continue for 2024 are the activities supporting National Economic Development Week in May, our prestigious Pathways for Trade Annual Symposium in September, the economic development industry awards gala in November, trade show participation, and the many other activities supporting infrastructure advocacy and business to business connections.
The LEDC will continue to utilize the Viva Laredo Comprehensive Plan to guide our efforts, continue to collaborate with our economic development partners for growth and diversification, and continue to utilize the wealth of experience from our Board of Directors who together have hundreds of years of collective wisdom and leadership. Our MileOne division has assisted over 1500 entrepreneurs each of the last four years and will continue to pay special attention to supporting female entrepreneurs again in 2024. The LEDC recently converted the organization to a type 501(C)(3) so we are now in position to work on identifying and applying for large grants to expand MileOne to be able to support the creation of even more local businesses and spur growth throughout the city.
Editor's Note: The above guest column was penned by Gene Lindgren, president and CEO of Laredo Economic Development Corporation. The column appears in The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service with the permission of the author. Lindgren can be reached by email via: glindgren@laredoedc.org.
