With low utilities and no state income tax, companies can set up shop in any part of the Valley with confidence that they will have one of the largest and youngest work-forces in the world at their doorstep. On this side, Customs brokers, construction companies, legal and accounting services, government agencies, realtors and other support companies well-versed in international business are available to help companies set up and get the wheels of production turning quickly.

McAllen is the site of the third World Trade Center in Texas. And sandwiched between other major industrial centers like Houston and Dallas to the north and Monterrey and Saltillo to the south, the Valley is the ideal location to conduct international business.

Unemployment remains relatively high for the area, which translates into a ready and willing labor force. Companies are moving in daily and the sooner they get here, the better they are situated to take advantage of all the region has to offer.

Eleven technical schools in Reynosa alone should dispel any concerns about the trainability of the Mexican workforce. And on this side, South Texas Community College in McAllen and Texas State Technical College in Harlingen offer specialized courses in welding, electrical, computer maintenance technology, drafting and design, plastics, and even an alternative fuel program.

A $25 million Engineering School Complex and Rio Grande Center for Manufacturing at the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg is a testament to the state's commitment to getting South Texas college students ready for demand at all levels of design, manufacturing, and management that free trade continues to bring.

And the University of Texas-Brownsville has a Science and Engineering Technology Building, to serve both UTB and Texas Southmost College. Designed with help from a wide spectrum of industrial and educational leaders, it addresses the long-range needs of the industries that drive the Valley's economic prosperity.

The maquiladora, or twin plant, concept of manufacturing - with labor-intensive work done in Mexico where labor is cheaper, and support facilities on the U.S. side, has been growing steadily for about 20 years now. Of the more than 30 maquila centers from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific, Brownsville/Matamoros is the third-largest center by number of employees in the nation, with more than 59,000 workers. Its Foreign Trade Zone is the largest general purpose trade zone in the United States.

McAllen/ Reynosa is closing fast with about 53,000 workers. The McAllen metropolitan statistical area has eight industrial parks, two foreign trade zones and several commercial enterprise zones. The Foreign Trade Zone includes more than 200,000 square feet of city-owned warehouses and air-conditioned office space and is monitored by the U.S. Customs Service.

And Harlingen, with access to Mexico over the Free Trade Bridge, isn't far behind. Fruit of the Loom's textile plant, which created 1,700 jobs in Harlingen in 1989, continues to expand its operation in Harlingen and Miguel Aleman, Mexico. The Pharr/Reynosa International Bridge provides access to the Reynosa Industrial Park, Airport and the Autopista which is the fastest route to Monterrey.

In 1995, a venture built a 250,000 square foot cold storage facility in Harlingen with a storage capacity of 40 million pounds, or 1,000 truck loads. Other services the firm offers include blast freezing, custom freezing and custom repack. A new tool and die firm has also moved into the Harlingen area. They are among the businesses that have access to Mexico through the Free Trade Bridge south of Harlingen-San Benito.

Retail

Retail businesses are mushrooming across the Valley at an ever-increasing rate. Expressway 83 between McAllen and Pharr overlooks several shopping centers that include Home Depot, Circuit City, Target, Builder's Square, Mervyn's, and Sam's Club. Harlingen's retail space continues to grow in both shopping centers and malls. The downtown area deserves special recognition for the successful revitalization efforts designed to attract shoppers to downtown Harlingen's Jackson Street District.

Likewise, several nation-wide sit-down restaurants have put the Valley on their maps in recent years such as the Olive Garden, The Black-Eyed Pea, Applebee's, Tony Roma's, Jason's Deli and Outback Steakhouse.

Tourism

Ecotourism is also a big draw for the Valley as birders flock to South Texas to check off up to hundreds of species on their "Seen" lists. Sport fisherman and hunters, especially whitewing dove hunters, come to the Valley in flocks. (See Outdoors.)

But the biggest tourist boost comes from the many thousands of "Winter Texans," retired Midwesterners, for the most part, who travel to the Valley to live for five months out of the year and provide an enormous economic boom to local merchants. Most occupy the more than 500 RV and trailer parks with more than 68,000 spaces scattered up and down the Valley. Many of the larger parks have full-time recreation directors and square dancing is at the top of the recreation list.

Other Stand-Bys

Finally, several hundred shrimp boats and many commercial fishing boats are based along the coast from the Port of Brownsville to Port Isabel to Port Mansfield. They, along with shrimp farmers who grow shrimp in ponds, produce tons of the pink crustaceans that grace angler's hooks and dinner plates across the continent. (See Agriculture.)

See Also: Valley economic development organizations, Valley Chambers of Commerce, Valley Agriculture, Real Estate.