PHARR, Texas - Jose Carlos Camou, president of CIL Fresh, says he is excited about the business opportunities created through the opening of CIL Fresh Pharr Perishables Distribution Center in Pharr, Texas.
The $33 million, 142,000 square-foot facility is located on the corner of Las Milpas and S. Veterans Road. It has 69 bays and can handle 83 trucks at any one time. The facility also means employment for 150 workers.
“We are so excited. We are very happy to have all of this,” Camou told the RGG Business Journal, at a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“We have high goals to achieve because of the size of this warehouse. One hundred and forty-two square feet of space. But with a customer like Robinson Fresh the goals are very doable. Four hundred and fifty-plus trucks. This is how many trucks we can load and unload every day.”
Camou said CIL Fresh has a cold storage operation in Weslaco, but needed to expand capacity in the Rio Grande Valley in order to cater for the needs of a Robinson Fresh.
“Robinson has been in our area for something like 20 years but in a smaller way. This is the first big operation they have developed in the Valley, with a place named for them. They are one of the biggest companies in fresh produce.”
The ribbon-cutting ceremony attracted between 400 and 500 visitors. Many were in the import-export industry but there was also many elected officials and VIPs. Camou gave credit to his business partner, Joaquin Spamer for bringing in all the VIPs.
“I was Joaquin’s customer way back in 2000. We became partners in 2004. He is the expert at bringing in the VIPs.”
Spamer’s company, CIL Capital built the new distribution center.
Speaking from the podium, Spamer said CIL has been working on the distribution center project for four years.
“We thought Robinson's growth was being impacted by the lack of infrastructure that we had in Weslaco and wanted to get a better facility to help Robinson's growth in South Texas,” Spamer said. “We were working in a 45,000 square foot facility, and it wasn't big enough. So, we decided to move to this new facility.
“It has 148,000 square feet. We have 69 doors and I think we're going to be able to sustain the growth that CR Robinson and their clients demand.”
Spamer continued: “We want to make sure that we as a group, on the CIL Capital side and the CIL Fresh side, will always be there to accommodate any kinds of needs and growth that are customers, CR Robinson might have. It is a pleasure working with them. It has not been easy. It's taken a bit of time to put this together, but we're very proud… thank you all for coming.”
Astrid Salazar, director of government and international relations at CIL, was emcee for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. She said:
“Today is more than the opening of a facility, it represents continued investment in RioPlex, stronger supply chains across North America and what strong partnerships across Texas can accomplish. We are honored to be joined by distinguished leaders, partners, clients and friends from across the region and our binational community.”
Among the VIPs present were: Aaron Demerson, president and CEO of Texas Economic Development Corporation, Pharr City Manager Jonathan B. Flores, Todd Bernitt, vice president of managed services for Robinson Fresh, Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez, State Rep. Terry Canales, Pharr Economic Development Corporation President Victor Perez, Paco Sanchez, president and CEO, of the Rio Grande Valley Partnership, the Most Reverend Eugenio Andrés Lira Rugarcía, Bishop of Matamoros–Reynosa, and Tejanoi singer and congressional candidate Bobby Pulido.
