Upcoming forum to focus on regional business development efforts – Rio Grande Guardian
Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez and Alex Meade, a commissioner on the Texas Transportation Commission, will speak at “Building the Valley – Uniting for the RGV Regional Growth.”
MCALLEN, Texas – A networking event is to be held Feb. 13 to explore the role partnerships, collaboration and best practices play in driving economic development success in the Rio Grande Valley.
The event will take place on Thursday, Feb. 13 from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Embassy Suites by Hilton on the McAllen Convention Center campus.
The program is titled: “Building the Valley – Uniting for the RGV Regional Growth.” It is hosted by the Institute for Leadership in Capital Projects (I-LinCP), a non-profit organization currently serving the Texas region to better the capital projects industry, along with Rio Grande Valley Partnership, South Texas Facility Partnership (STFP), UT-Rio Grande Valley, and D. Wilson Construction.
Brian Godinez, CEO of ERO Architects and South Texas Facility Partnership, said event will highlight the “significant impact” organizations like TxDOT, the Valley Partnership, COSTEP, RioPlex, UTRGV and local area EDCs are having on the RGV region and how they are advancing development opportunities.
Godinez said there are two reasons he has put the program together.
“One is we wanted to introduce a very powerful and important networking group (I-LinCP) that provides great information about capital projects that are current throughout the state of Texas,” Godinez said. “They wanted to be here in the Rio Grande Valley, to have a presence here. So, I decided to take it on and bring them down here, invite them and help them put together an inaugural event to introduce them to the architects, engineers, contractors, developers, real estate brokers, investors, bankers, financiers, in this region, and have a presence.
“Number two (reason is) I’ve been wanting to put together an informational event that focuses on what’s going on with our regional business development efforts, not only by our economic development corporations but also real estate developers. For the first time, having all these panelists together in one room, I get to spend 45 minutes with them to ask: ‘Tell me specifically what you all do to promote our region and what are you doing and what’s different about your organizations.’
“So, secondly, it’s to provide a lot of insight, best practices, and challenges that we deal with in terms of economic development and construction in general in our region.”
Opening remarks will be provided by Carol Warkoczewski, founder and CEO of I-LinCP, the Honorable Richard Cortez, Hidalgo County Judge, and Alex Meade, Texas Transportation Commissioner. F
Following the opening remarks are three panels featuring “Partnerships Driving Regional Growth”with Godinez as panel moderator, along with panelists Daniel Silva, CEO of the Valley Partnership, Adam Gonzalez, CEO of COSTEP, and Mario Reyna, coordinator for Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Force and RioPlex.
“I think it will be cool to have Daniel, Adam and Mario on that panel. They will be together on a panel for the first time.”
Godinez continued: “I think the kickoff of having Richard Cortez speak about the prosperity group, what they’re doing with that prosperity group and CEO group and the development of RioPlex and how it plays into the RGV Partnership is important,” Godinez said. “We decided what was important was to talk about the value of regionalism, collaboration, and cooperation. Everybody working together with a common vision, a common message to promote, and, also, bring in investment and create economic prosperity in our region.”
Cortez will be focusing on workforce development and the talent pool, trying to get those people that live in poverty into good-paying jobs, Godinez said.
“Alex (Meade) is going to focus on consensus building,” Godinez said. “He’s going to talk about how TXDOT has lots of money available but in some cases, it takes a while for action to occur because he’s got to get consensus built. What a mayor wants versus what a county judge wants…It’s a challenge to get everybody on the same page to be able to enjoy these millions of dollars available to us in our region.”
Godinez said this will be followed by a panel titled “UTRGV’s Role in Shaping the Future”with Laura Lara, associate vice president for planning and construction, and UTRGV and James Rodriguez, director of facilities planning and management-SOM at UTRGV.
The final panel discussion will be titled “Design & Build Industry in the RGV and its $20B Economic Impact,”Godinez said.Josue Reyes, CEO of D. Wilson Construction, will be the moderator with the panel comprising Rose Benavidez, president of Starr County Industrial Foundation, Victor Perez, president of Pharr Economic Development Corporation and Gilberto Salinas, CEO, of the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation.
Godinez said the three economic development directors will focus on what is coming up in economic development activity. “Who’s looking at us, who’s watching us and how does all that play in construction and the role of construction,” Godinez said.
“Construction is a $20 billion dollar industry in the Valley. Exactly how do the architects, engineers, and construction folks get a chance to be involved in that particular sector? A lot of us are not aware of that sector,” Godinez said.
UTRGV will focus on their role in economic development.
“UTRGV’s got their healthcare segment, and it’s got their athletics building and growing, and they’re going to talk about all the projects they have coming up over the next five years in the Valley,” Godinez said. “How is that going to be important for the construction industry, etc.”
The event will take place on Thursday, Feb. 13 from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Embassy Suites by Hilton on the McAllen Convention Center campus.
This article was originally published by a riograndeguardian.com . Read the Original article here. .