DALLAS, Texas - Representatives from numerous economic development groups in the Rio Grande Valley were present at ICSC Red River 2025 in Dallas, Texas. The aim was to bring more restaurants, retailers, and commercial developers to the region.
One of the Valley groups to have a booth at the conference was the Economic Development Corporation of Weslaco. In an exclusive interview with the Rio Grande Guardian, Sandra Charlton, president of EDCW’s board of directors, had positive things to say about the conference.
“This is actually a really great event, where we are able to make more connections,” Charlton said.
“One of my questions when people are walking by the booth, is, have you been to Weslaco? And a lot of people have, and the people that haven't, they want to know more about it.”
Asked what her key selling points are when promoting Weslaco, Charlton said: “A lot of it has to do with being centrally located. We're in the middle of the Valley, so we can draw from all of the different locations along the Valley. We really like the One Region, One Voice (motto) that we've been talking about here with the Rio Grande Valley Partnership.”
Asked to respond to the argument that the Valley’s EDCs should be going after high tech and manufacturing companies, not retail stores that often pay minimum wage, Charlton said:
“We’ve been talking to a lot of industrial clients here, people that are building industrial warehouses. We've got a lot of interest in that. We recently opened our second industrial park in Weslaco, and so that's something that we're really promoting. Even though it's (a) retail (conference), there's also retail distribution centers, and that's what we also try to bring to our industrial park, as well as manufacturing. So even though it says it's a real retail conference, we still are focusing on industrial as well.”
Asked for any wrap-up remarks, Charlton said: “I just think that it's just such an exciting experience to be here. You meet so many people from different places across Texas and other areas around the state and outside of the state as well. And so it's just a really exciting place to be… meeting new people and building connections.”
