BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Higher education institutions in the Rio Grande Valley can help secure major federal grants to build the skilled workforce required for billions of dollars in new industrial developments at the Port of Brownsville, but only if they are brought into the planning loop early.
That was the key takeaway delivered by Dr. Jianzhi (James) Li, inaugural director of the Institute for Advanced Manufacturing at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, during a binational delegation visit to the Port of Brownsville.
The meeting was hosted by the Council for South Texas Economic Progress (COSTEP), which brought its recently established Binational Higher Education Advisory Council to the port to review upcoming industrial initiatives.
"I think the Port of Brownsville is doing an amazing job," Li said during the meeting. "I just want to add, with these levels of economic development going on in our region, we need to be informed a little bit more on time, because there are funding opportunities from the Department of Energy, DOD, even the National Science Foundation that actually look at programs that connect higher ed and technical colleges with research... supporting those companies who are considering coming here."
Li, who holds a President’s Endowed Professorship at UTRGV, emphasized that early notice is critical for faculty members aiming to secure federal funding aligned with major regional job expansions.
"The sooner we have this information, the better," Li told port officials. "I know you have NDAs and this and that, but we can do something to address that. The sooner we get the information, the better that we can motivate our faculty members to submit large grant applications to support your effort here."
Li’s comments came after Carlos H. Garza, business development associate with the Port of Brownsville, detailed a multi-billion-dollar wave of industrial and energy projects expected to generate over 14,000 direct jobs over the next decade.
Leading the presentation was the Saronic project, a major marine industrial buildout designed to pair high-tech software automation with heavy vessel manufacturing.
"What does that mean for our region? That means 10,000 new direct high-wage jobs at full build-out," Garza said. "We're not just going to build vessels. We're going to build a career pipeline where a welder, an electrician, and a material handler has the exact same process as a software engineer. This project is focused on making sure that we are changing not just the economy, but the wealth of the people here in the Rio Grande Valley region."
Garza outlined the projected workforce ramp-up for the Saronic project:
In addition to Saronic, Garza highlighted two other landmark developments at the navigation district:
"Our focus is going to be on local workforce development through partnerships, through community colleges, through the universities, making sure the community is equipped to fill the 14,000 new jobs we will be producing in the next ten years," Garza said.
During the panel discussion, economic development and higher education leaders stressed the necessity of obtaining granular job descriptions to build targeted training programs.
Adam Gonzalez, CEO of COSTEP, pressed port officials on when job descriptions could be shared with higher education systems so institutions can align their curricula with upcoming employer needs.
Guillermo Rico-Leal, director of business development and marketing for the Port of Brownsville, noted that nondisclosure agreements restrict details during active site selection negotiations, but affirmed that information is shared once projects are formally announced.
"Once the project is announced, like Saronic, America’s First Refinery, we're working with them to get that information and then work with all the schools," Rico-Leal said.
Rico-Leal pointed to the construction of NextDecade's Rio Grande LNG facility at the port as a successful model for regional recruitment.
"Three years ago, I was afraid of who was going to build Rio Grande LNG," Rico-Leal said. "Now they have 7,000 construction workers, and the best part is more than 70 percent of those workers are regional. We export a lot of talent... what we are trying to do is train our people, give opportunities to youth coming out of high school, and bring back people from the Valley who left because they didn't have opportunities here."
Ron Garza, senior associate vice president for workforce and economic development at UTRGV, agreed that the LNG project demonstrated the value of proactive community collaboration.
"With LNG specifically, that's a great example of creating that sense of urgency and building the workforce to meet the demand," Ron Garza said. "They did a real good job; they took a lot of ownership in saying, 'This is our timeline.' It takes a lot of intentionality to get from zero to 3,000, or even 500."
The meeting concluded with regional leaders agreeing to bolster collaboration between binational higher education institutions, economic development corporations, and industrial developers across Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, and Willacy counties.
