Economic Development Organizations Highlight Value of COSTEP’s New Industrial Data System

Representatives from multiple Economic Development Corporations (EDCs) across the Rio South Texas Region praised the launch of the new Industrial Data System presented by COSTEP, Consejo para el Progreso Económico del Sur de Texas, describing it as a strategic tool to strengthen investment attraction and industrial development across the binational region.

Following the presentation delivered by Adam Gonzales, CEO of COSTEP, at South Texas College in McAllen, executives from several EDCs agreed that the platform’s consolidated data will support their work by enabling more strategic decisions and providing relevant information to companies evaluating expansion into the region.

For Steven M. Valdez, Executive Director of Weslaco EDC, the platform represents a foundational step toward building stronger industrial intelligence infrastructure.

“We appreciate COSTEP taking the first step in collecting this information. This data helps companies understand the support systems and supply chain ecosystem available to them in the region,” Valdez said.

Jeffrey Salcedo, Business Development Manager at Edinburg EDC, emphasized that the platform offers sophisticated insight for the full economic development ecosystem.

“This is a sophisticated tool for the entire ecosystem, providing data that would otherwise be difficult to obtain. It enables us to map opportunities and helps investors better understand the strengths of our region,” Salcedo stated.

For René Xavier González, of CODEM, consolidating information across the region strengthens the ability to attract larger and more strategic investment projects.

“Consolidating this information allows us to attract investment tied to specific projects and scale those opportunities to a much higher level,” he said.

April Castaneda, Executive Director of the Donna Economic Development Corporation, noted that the data provides valuable insight to identify companies with potential to expand operations across the border.

“This is the solid data we need to identify which companies we can attract from Mexico—especially with the expansion of the Donna international bridge, which will enable commercial truck crossings,” Castaneda explained.

Teclo García, CEO of Mission Economic Development Corporation, highlighted the importance of the system for regional talent and workforce development.

“This information is extremely valuable and useful to us as we build the talent pipeline needed to support new companies entering the region,” García said.

Experts in data processing and emerging technologies also pointed to the system’s potential to promote smarter decision-making with direct economic impact.

“This platform enables data-driven decisions that benefit everyone. It shows that COSTEP truly cares about the region as a whole,” said Andy García, CEO of Allied Consulting Group.

What the data shows: a deeply integrated binational manufacturing base

According to the figures shared during the briefing, the Industrial Data System currently identifies 315 registered manufacturing companies operating in the binational region. Of these:

• 267 companies (84.8%) are located in northern Tamaulipas
• 48 companies (15.2%) operate in the Rio South Texas Region

The distribution underscores the deep integration between Mexico’s maquiladora manufacturing base and the industrial, logistics, and supplier ecosystem developing on the Texas side of the border.

The system also highlights the breadth of manufacturing specialization across the region. Based on an analysis of 382 company–sector relationship records, several segments stand out as dominant across the binational supply chain:

• Metalworking / Tooling — 109 companies
• Electrical / Electronics — 104 companies
• Plastics / Injection Molding / Molds — 75 companies
• Paper / Packaging / Cardboard — 27 companies
• Textiles / Clothing / Footwear — 18 companies

The Industrial Data System was developed to provide verified industrial intelligence that helps economic developers, investors, and corporate decision-makers better understand where manufacturing is concentrated, how supply chains are evolving, and where expansion opportunities exist across the Rio South Texas binational corridor.