Rio Grande Valley leaders discuss challenges and misconceptions facing region

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

---

Rio Grande Valley business and community leaders gathered in Edinburg on Wednesday to discuss all the things the rest of the state and the country gets wrong about their region.

The event, featuring panels hosted by The Texas Tribune at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance, highlighted the area’s role in helping power Texas’ recent economic growth along with the political and economic headwinds that are challenging the region.

“There’s a conception about our area and what happens here,” Edinburg Mayor Ramiro Garza Jr. said. “A lot of people don't understand or realize how much we contribute to the state economy, to the national economy.”

The two sets of panelists across the hour-and-a-half event set out to define the region’s contributions and point to lessons the rest of the country can learn from it.

Bob Anderson, vice president of supply chain and operations for Alps Alpine North America, and Nick Rhodes, president and CEO of local home builder Rhodes Enterprises, spoke to the Valley’s unique relationship with Mexico that has allowed each of their businesses to thrive in the first panel, which was moderated by Texas Tribune Rio Grande Valley reporter Berenice Garcia.

“We have an abundance of what we need and affordability compared to other regions,” Anderson said.

In the following panel, Garza, Mario Reyna, executive director of RioPlex, and Julia Coronado, president of MacroPolicy Perspectives LLC and a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Academic Advisory Council, discussed the conditions that have helped the region’s economy thrive. Moderated by Texas Tribune Editor-In-Chief Matthew Watkins, the group also noted policy shifts that are creating new economic uncertainty.

Much of the Rio Grande Valley’s economic growth in recent years can be attributed to its close proximity to Mexico, which generates significant economic development in the region through its position as the nation’s largest trading partner, panelists said. The region has been able to meet its steady population growth through the construction of new schools, transportation infrastructure and housing, leaving the region poised for more growth in the future, Reyna said.

The Valley also has challenges it must continue to meet in order to support that growth, speakers said, noting the need for additional transportation infrastructure and water infrastructure.

That same relationship with Mexico now leaves it at risk of experiencing more significant economic impacts from President Donald Trump’s trade war, his crackdown on immigration and his cuts to federal funding to education and the medical field, Coronado said.

“The RGV is not necessarily dramatically experiencing something different from the rest of the economy,” Coronado said. “The whole economy is growing at about half the rate it was last year, reflecting these three challenges, but the RGV has been at the center of those tailwinds to growth and is now at the center of the frictions that are hitting the economy.”

Both Anderson and Rhodes noted those impacts on their businesses.

While tariffs have largely not impacted the cost of materials to build homes, the federal crackdown on immigration is beginning to strain the construction industry’s labor market, Rhodes said.

“It’s sad that people are living in fear to come to work, but we haven’t seen the direct economic effect of it yet in our business,” Rhodes said. “I can tell you if they continue to up the presence, it will come.”

Alps Alpine manufactures components for electronics and relies heavily on cross-border trade to move its product from manufacturing sites in Mexico to distribution sites in the Valley. The corporation is working to move additional manufacturing from other parts of the world to Mexico in order to take advantage of tariff exemptions between the U.S., Anderson said. This may actually provide a boost to the company’s footprint in the Valley in the long run, Anderson added.

“It’s great for us in this region,” Anderson said. “More manufacturing means more jobs, more revenue, more opportunities for employees to come live in a warm, beautiful area.”

---

More all-star speakers confirmed for The Texas Tribune Festival, Nov. 13–15! This year’s lineup just got even more exciting with the addition of State Rep. Caroline Fairly, R-Amarillo; former United States Attorney General Eric Holder; Abby Phillip, anchor of “CNN NewsNight”; Aaron Reitz, 2026 Republican candidate for Texas Attorney General; and State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin. Get your tickets today!

TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.