WESLACO, Texas – Steve Valdez, executive director of the Economic Development Corporation of Weslaco, says the “stars were aligned” when his organization started to build a new industrial park at the same time Progreso International Bridge was expanding.
In a Zoom conversation with the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service, Valdez spoke about the new Mid Valley International Industrial Park Weslaco EDC is developing. He said the timing could not be better because truck movements at the Progreso bridge will be handled more efficiently due to improvements being made by bridge managers.
“The stars really did align for both of us. When we purchased this property we knew there were expansion plans at the Progreso Bridge but we did not realize we would be building together at the same time,” Perez said, in the Zoom conversation.
“By the time they finish the expansion at the Progreso Bridge… they are doing four commercial lanes, they have got a really nice way of wrapping around the city so that all the truck traffic doesn’t come through downtown Progreso, or Nuevo Progreso in this case, but it wraps around it, and then it crosses over into the United States.”
Valdez continued: “We feel like the Mid Valley, and Weslaco in particular, is going to benefit from that commercial truck traffic. There is a lot of cold storage, a lot of produce that is crossing over that requires cold storage, and so we also see that Progreso is also doing some cold storage facilities and they have land available as well. But, we are working on these projects together. And we have had a great relationship with Marga and the folks over at the Progreso Bridge and it is just exciting to see that. That is really going to be a key to the success that we see here at our International Industrial Park as well. That kind of happened all together, at the same time.”
Valdez said Progreso International Bridge is always among the top five selling points he makes when discussing inward investment with manufacturing, logistics and warehousing companies looking at moving to Weslaco.
About 150 acres are being cleared to make way for nearly $9 million in infrastructure improvements at the Mid Valley International Industrial Park.
The wide-ranging conversation on Zoom also touched upon commercial development on the I-2 frontage, Mid Valley Airport, and Census 2020. Here it is:
Editor’s Note: The interview with Steve Valdez was also turned into a podcast. Click here read the story and listen to listen to the podcast.
