MCALLEN, Texas - Rio Grande Valley entrepreneur and visionary Joaquin Spamer says he has received positive feedback from his proposal that the region’s cities work together to promote economic development.
At a Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Force event in December, the CIL Group founder and president urged EDC leaders to market the Valley as a whole, not their own cities, when attending trade shows abroad. He also urged the EDCs not to duplicate efforts.
The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service caught up with Spamer at the recent 2024 McAllen State of the City Address. Asked for the reaction he’s received to his speech about regional unity, Spamer said:
“I think, very positive. At the end (of the day) it is better to sell a region that has three million people - that’s the Valley, the RGV, and both sides of the border - than selling a small city with 100,000 people. It makes an impact. People love it. I think that's the way to go.”
Spamer said most of the people he has spoken to support his proposal.
“They're supporting the idea. I think we become a lot more attractive. We have the best place for all of them; near-shoring and what we're calling now the RGV Industrial Revolution. I think we are in the best of places, but we need to sell it and we need to sell it correctly. Otherwise, they (potential investors) don’t know who you are.”
Just to be sure, the Guardian asked again. Had Spamer received a positive reaction? He responded:
“They (the Valley’s cities and EDCs) want more business. At the end (of the day) any big industry that we are able to move into the Valley is going to impact the whole Valley. It is not going to be for the benefit of the city of McAllen or the city of Pharr. It is going to be a benefit for the whole region. And I believe everybody looks at it that way.”
Editor's Note: Here is the Guardian's video interview with Spamer:
https://youtu.be/zeuTDclzq2s
Spamer also made the news last year when he said the commissions realtors in the industrial sector were charging in the Valley were too high. Asked about this, Spamer said the market was improving.
“I think it is working. I think we have more players. There are more people moving into industrial real estate. We have more people from different areas of the country looking more into the real estate industry, here in the Valley. I think it's very positive.”
Spamer acknowledged he did receive some pushback.
“I know that some people think that it was a little bit too aggressive on my side, but it had to be said and hopefully we'll be more competitive. We'll have varied product, more industrial sites, more players, more realtors on the industrial scene, and everybody's going to get a benefit,” Spamer said.
“We need to grow out of it. We need to get bigger and we're not going to be bigger if we still do business as we used to do business 30 years ago. We need to move forward. We need to think ahead and I think that we need to change. We need to change the way we do business down here in South Texas.”
A question about Spamer’s proposal that the Valley’s EDCs promote the region rather than their individual cities came up at a recent Rio Grande Valley Partnership review of the @ICSC Red River conference.
Veteran broadcast Ron Whitlock of Ron Whitlock Reports asked the EDC leaders present what they thought of Spamer’s comments.
Steve Valdez, executive director of Weslaco Economic Development Corporation, said he welcomed Spamer’s remarks.
“When Weslaco goes out and promotes itself, we really can't send the message of Weslaco alone without the region. The cry to unite as one voice is something that we have to do because we're a smaller, midsize community in the region. We can't really promote ourselves as one without the numbers of the entire region,” Valdez said.
“So, what Mr. Spamer is saying, for a lot of the EDCs it is really preaching to choir because we understand it already. It's just a matter of taking it to the next level.”
Valdez said almost all the brochures Weslaco EDC sends out show the population within a five, ten, and 30-mile radius of Weslaco.
“We do this to show that Weslaco has access to a million people that can eventually come to the Mid Valley to shop. So, we hear Mr. Spamer, we appreciate his voice and his impact.”
Victor Perez, president of Pharr Economic Development Corporation, agreed with Valdez.
“Just to add an echo a little bit to what Steve just said. Mr. Spamer is a good friend of ours. He is an investor in the city of Pharr. One of the things that Steve said is true, we cannot go out to just promote Pharr. Like I mentioned earlier, I went out to Monterey and I promoted the whole region. And we talked about how we have over a million people in the county,” Perez said.
Daniel Silva, CEO of the RGV Partnership, said he agreed with Spamer’s comments that Valley EDCs should not duplicate their efforts.
“To his point about a duplication of effort, that is important. His comment around how much money do we spend on our (marketing) efforts, if we can coordinate, if we can all decide, okay, we're going to divide (up the work) and conquer as opposed to overlap, that is good,” Silva said.
“I think things have changed a lot over the past ten years. I think the tapestry across the region has been more intertwined between all the cities and the EDCs, because all the major projects that we have are benefiting the entire region. So, to Mr. Spamer’s point, yes, we are coming together. We do need to divide (up the work) and conquer and that's part of the mission behind One Region, One Voice.”
