BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Brownsville Mayor John Cowen, Jr., predicts the South Texas-Northern Tamaulipas region will become the number one trade corridor and economic generator in the world.
Cowen made his prediction during an opening keynote discussion at a YTexas regional conference held at The Livery Venue in Brownsville.
Interviewed by YTexas CEO Ed Curtis, Cowen was asked how the role of mayor would evolve.
Cowen answered: “The role of mayor is to really be a connector. Expanding on this concept of regionalism, and considering things from a financial perspective as well, the future for Brownsville, for this region, is really binational. This corridor will eventually be the No. 1 trade corridor and economic generator in the world. We have all the assets to be able to get there.”
Cowen said for this to happen all the mayors would have to work together.
“We have to learn from each other, learn how to deal with growth using technology. I am part of a cohort at Bloomberg Harvard with 47 mayors from across the world. I just finished a nine-month program with them, and it is just really learning from each other. We are all kind of dealing with similar issues and sharing best practices, how to maximize public-private partnerships and doing more with less.”
Cowen said there is always incredible demand on city staff and infrastructure.
“It is also about telling our story too, at a local, state, national, and international level. I have to be the conduit for information and for hope and inspiration. That has a really tremendous impact on how people view Brownsville and our region.”
Asked if he would like to make any closing remarks, Cowen said:
“I want to thank everyone for being here. If this is your first time here, soak it in. Welcome to historic downtown Brownsville. We are in the middle of a revitalization. I would say, 15 years ago, you wouldn't have wanted to come down here. It wasn't much to look at. Now, every building, the landlord is working on renovating it, or it has already been renovated, like this gorgeous space (The Livery Venue) that’s been fully restored. This is the story of Brownsville. Like Cori (President and CEO of Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation) said earlier, this is our time to shine. And I'm just very blessed to be part of this journey.”
Earlier, Cowen had run through some of the numbers that speak to the city’s growth.
“Brownsville was recently ranked the number one area in the United States for economic development,” he said. “That is historic. Being from Brownsville, I always knew that this place had so much potential”
Cowen pointed out his famous family lineage. The Cowens have been in Brownsville for seven generations, he said.
“My third great grandfather built the first house here, in the 1830s. And now, 200 years later, we're building the largest rocket in the history of mankind in our backyard. It really shows the trajectory we're on, that we're going from a community that was really a cross-border town, a logistics hub, and we're unlocking the potential. We're unlocking the potential of our workforce, of all the strategic assets that we have in place.”
Cowen said Brownsville must be one of the few cities in the world that has seven modes of international transportation.
“That’s an amazing thing. We have the biggest port in the United States, by land mass, with over 40,000 acres. And we've been sitting on all these assets for generations and making progress but incremental progress. Now the secret is out of the box, right - people know we have a great workforce, we have great educational partners, we can execute at a high level.”
By way of an example, Cowen cited SpaceX and NextDecade’s liquefied natural gas export terminal at the Port of Brownsville.
“When you look at companies like SpaceX, they have over 4,000 employees, and they're able to hire 70% locally. right. And if you look at companies like Rio Grande LNG, they are building one of the largest LNG facilities in the world. And they’re hiring close to 80% locally. That shows that we have talent.”
Cowen said that for generations, Brownsville was one of the biggest exporters of talent.
“There weren't opportunities here to stay and have a career and keep your family here. Now, we're reversing that trend. One of the stats I'm most proud of is, for every person that leaves Brownsville, three people are moving back down. So we are reversing the cycle of brain drain, right? And I think that's going to increase the vibrancy of our community. It keeps families together; it gives hope and opportunity for our people.”
Cowen said reversing the brain drain would become contagious.
“You’re seeing a snowball effect. I would say we have $40 to $50 billions of projects right now. This is a massive thing that is happening, right? To put it in perspective, in the City of Brownsville, all property is valued at $11 billion. That’s the value of our city. So that's five times (the growth) in about a couple years. In terms of investment, it’s an amazing, amazing thing.”
Editor's Note: The above news story is the first in a two-part series on Brownsville Mayor John Cowen Jr.'s remarks at the regional conference YTexas held at The Livery Venue in downtown Brownsville. Part Two will be posted in our next edition.
