MCALLEN, Texas - Susie Flores, vice president of business recruitment and retention for McAllen Economic Development Corporation, recently gave an update on her group’s work to the South Texas Manufacturers Association. Her report was positive.
Flores said that for fiscal year 2024-2025, McAllen EDC has commitments for 13 projects out of the 27 it has been working on.
“Those 13 projects represent 753,000 square feet of facility absorption for the City of McAllen in the several industrial parks that we have. And the projected number of new jobs that will be created from these 13 commitments will be about 1,000, that you will be seeing in the in the next six to 12 months,” Flores said.
In her remarks, Flores explained that MEDC has been merged with the McAllen Chamber of Commerce. “So now we get to visit and see a lot of our small business community,” she said. “But our target and our mission continues to be industrial.”
Flores said a number of the companies coming into McAllen are in the produce sector.
Josue ‘Josh’ Vasquez, director of workforce development for McAllen Economic Development Corporation. (Photo: RGG/Steve Taylor)
Josue ‘Josh’ Vasquez, MEDC’s director of workforce development, also spoke at the STMA meeting. He referenced a big careers fair the group is hosting in conjunction with Workforce Solutions. It will take place on Feb. 17 at the McAllen Convention Center.
“We are taking a strategic approach to workforce development,” Vasquez said. “We plan to have more than 200 employers present at this job fair, and right now we're anticipating over 1,000 job seekers.”
Editor's Note: Here is a video recording of the remarks of Flores and Vasquez at the STMA meeting:
