Rio Grande Valley leaders underscore education’s role in boosting region’s economy

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Educating the Rio Grande Valley’s population will be crucial in the coming years as the area works to meet the needs of new companies moving to the growing region, local leaders said during a Thursday panel in Brownsville.

The event, hosted by The Texas Tribune at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, highlighted the region’s above average public school ratings and UTRGV’s growing stature in higher education. Speakers also discussed the need to draw more high quality jobs to the region in order to give that educated population more opportunities to pursue their chosen career closer to home.

“We are producing a high quality workforce that can do tremendous things, we just need the opportunity to keep them here,” said Guy Bailey, UTRGV’s president.

LJ Francis, who represents much of the Valley region on the State Board of Education, Andrea Figueroa Benton, director of community relations at NextDecade, and Gilberto Salinas, executive director of the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, joined Bailey and moderator and Tribune Editor-In-Chief Matthew Watkins in for the hour-long conversation.

NextDecade is a Houston-based, publicly traded company currently constructing a 1,000-acre liquefied natural gas export plant outside Port Isabel. The project has been touted by local officials for the tax revenue and high paying jobs it is expected to bring to the region. Figueroa Benton said the company funds scholarships, holds open houses and visits schools to teach students about the liquefied natural gas industry because “we want to nurture that workforce.”

The NextDecade plant is just one of several large companies increasing their footprints in the Valley, including SpaceX near Brownsville. Demand for health care workers has also increased significantly. These companies bring with them a need for more engineers and graduates with other degrees in STEM fields.

Bailey touted growth in his university’s medical school and constant efforts to retool the curriculum in order to meet the needs of companies seeking a highly educated workforce while remaining affordable.

“If you’re looking for the best bang for your buck in higher education, we’re it,” Bailey said.

The university has seen enrollment grow by 26% since it joined the University of Texas system in 2015. Speakers pointed to a strong pipeline of students graduating from local high schools who have helped to drive that enrollment.

Francis said the region’s school districts should be the envy of the rest of the state, noting that nearly 30% of its high poverty schools have an A rating, nearly double the state average for high poverty schools. Francis attributed that achievement to the collaboration between the region’s school districts, universities and companies.

“Educators here are so committed. Their approach to collaboration is so unique, and I wish the entire state would follow in my district’s footsteps,” Francis said.

As its population and schools continue to grow, Salinas said the region must keep recruiting companies and educating its residents to fill new jobs that require a large, educated workforce.

Access to jobs in fields like liquefied natural gas, manufacturing and space exploration “is not a given,” Salinas added. “Our workforce has to go through some training to qualify for these high value jobs.”

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