The Rio Grande Valley is at the forefront of international trade, making it a desirable location for many manufacturing and corporate companies. With direct access to over nine ports of entry, neighborhood water ports capable of transporting millions of tons of cargo and with available public and commercial airports, businesses have many options to international routes when it comes to locating in South Texas.
Alamo is a prime commercial location for your business. Contact the Alamo EDC for an incentive that your company can benefit from.
Rio Valley Switching
With direct access to railroads, corporations and manufacturing companies have alternatives that can save them money and provide a faster means of transporting goods. Rio Valley Switching is a South Texas railroad that interchanges with Union Pacific Railroad in Harlingen and extends westward 55 miles through Weslaco, Alamo, Mission, Edinburg and McAllen. Rio Valley Switching offers many comprehensive services, including:
- Warehouse and Transloading
- Railcar Storage Solutions
- Special Switching
- Rail Connections
- Public Tracks and Docks
- Track Construction
Union Pacific Corporation
As a subsidiary of Union Pacific Corporation headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, Union Pacific Railroad has a local terminal and switching yard in Harlingen. Union Pacific consists of various freight carriers, including FedEx National LTL, Bulldog Express Inc., Watkins Motor Lines, Con-Way Freight-Southern and Southwestern Motor Transport.
Flight
There are four major imports located throughout the Rio Grande Valley, including one major international airport in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico near the U.S.-Mexico border. With international trade and business booming, direct and available flights are crucial to companies looking to expand their market or outsource production. These airports include:
- Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport
- Valley International Airport
- South Texas International Airport
- McAllen Miller International Airport
Seaports
Texas is the leading state for Foreign Trade Zone activities. With international trading, companies located in the Rio Grande Valley have several ports, allowing businesses to reach an international market.
Port of Brownsville
Ranking second in the United States in foreign trade for the value of exports, the largest land-owning public port authority in the nation – the Port of Brownsville – reported a total of exported goods valued at $3.2 billion in 2015 alone. The value of imports received totaled more than $3.3 billion, contributing to the success of the Rio Grande Valley Foreign Trade Zone.
Port of Harlingen
In 2014 alone, the Port of Harlingen handled 615,174 tons of waterborne commodities such as sand/cement, liquid fertilizer, sugar and liquid bulk products like gasoline and diesel. The Port of Harlingen serves U.S. markets to the Great Lakes with over 1,300 miles of protected waterways with a shallow draft barge.
Port Isabel-San Benito Navigation District
This navigation district was formed in 1929 to lower the transportation costs of the agricultural interests of San Benito and the marine interests of Port Isabel and the rest of the Rio Grande Valley. The Port is at the southernmost tip of Texas and serves Mexico and Central and South America.
Bridges to Mexico
International trade has assisted in making the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area the fifth largest metropolitan statistical area in Texas, surpassing El Paso, Killeen-Temple and Beaumont-Port Arthur. This is possible thanks to the following:
- Veterans International Bridge
- Gateway International Bridge
- Brownsville and Matamoros International Bridge
- Free Trade International Bridge at Los Indios
- Progresso-Nuevo Progresso International Bridge
- Pharr International Bridge
- McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge
- Anzalduas International Bridge
- Los Ebanos Ferry
- Rio Grande City-Camargo International Bridge
- Roma-Ciudad Miguel Aleman International Bridge
- Donna/Rio Bravo International Bridge
Be at the Heart of it All
There are so many opportunities for businesses to target, market, import and export goods in the Rio Grande Valley. With so much growth, your business can find the perfect location directly in the heart of it all. With such a close proximity to Mexico and with higher education opportunities available, skilled and bilingual workforces are abundant.
The average daily traffic count of 119,480 in Alamo and over 400 acres available for warehousing, distributing or corporate needs only further proves that this is the place to do business. Alamo is minutes away from McAllen, Edinburg and less than an hour away from one of the largest tourist destinations in the country, South Padre Island.
Your chance to be a part of the fifth largest MSA in Texas is only a phone call away. The Alamo EDC has incentives to meet your business or corporate needs. With plenty of land available and the many direct routes to international business in the Valley, your company can find success. For more information about the Alamo EDC’s business empowerment initiatives, reach out to us at 956.787.6622.