My name is David A. Stedman and I am CEO of Laredo Economic Development Corporation.
We are a public-private partnership that is promoting the Laredo region, which I believe is poised to be the next Texas Metroplex. We are blessed in terms of infrastructure, with four interstates and two loops for a city of about 350,000. I don't know how many cities around that size have that kind of infrastructure.
We have four international bridges currently. We have a presidential permit for a fifth International Bridge.
We have two international rail bridges so we can go north and south from Laredo at the same time. We have a world class airport that boasts two 8,100 linear foot runways, so you can land any plane in the world at the Laredo airport. We're also the only airport that has Mexican and US Customs. So, we have a lot of freight forwarding and logistics that are transported by air, by road and by rail.
Somewhere around 20 to 30,000 trucks per day come through Laredo. It is the number one port by volume in the Western Hemisphere. It's the number one land port in the world. So Brownsville is blessed with water, and you're dredging right now to accommodate the Panama Canal ships. The only water we have in Laredo is the Rio Grande. But we are also blessed to be sitting on four aquifers. So, we have plenty of water. We lead Texas. We have natural gas production. So, we have power and water.
And with power and water you can have data, you can have AI and you can have advanced manufacturing. So although the port has been our primary driver of economic development and we're happy with that, we’re now working to diversify and grow the Laredo economy. And we're happy to do that in conjunction with our partners in the region. We welcome discussion and your perspective.
Editor’s Note: The above commentary was provided by David A. Stedman, CEO of Laredo Economic Development Corporation, at a YTexas Regional Conference in Brownsville on April 29, 2026. He spoke at a breakouot session titled, "Infrastructure, Economics and Energy at the Heart of America’s Supply Chain." The above were Stedman's opening remarks.
