Pharr Gateway Forum Connects Texas Industry with Mexico and Global Markets

Bridge expansion, port investments and closer business relationships frame a regional strategy for manufacturing and trade growth.

PHARR, Texas — Manufacturing growth depends on the routes that connect suppliers, production lines and customers. That relationship took center stage October 7 at the inaugural Gateway Forum, where the City of Pharr and the Pharr International Bridge brought together business leaders, transportation officials and representatives from Mexico to discuss how South Texas can strengthen its role in international commerce.

Held at the Pharr Development & Research Center under the theme “Powering the Next Era of Trade, Logistics & Investment,” the forum examined the connections among border crossings, maritime ports, rail, air cargo and industrial development. Interviews with Luis Bazán, Victor Perez, Walker Smith, Andrés Franco and Carlos Canseco illustrated how those connections can support companies operating across Texas and Mexico.

More capacity for cross border production

Jael Durán, director general of INDEX Nacional, brought the priorities of Mexico’s export manufacturing industry to the Gateway Forum, describing the Pharr International Bridge expansion as an investment in the competitiveness of the entire Texas–Mexico production network. She explained that manufacturers operating under just-in-time systems depend on components arriving reliably to keep production moving, particularly in strategic sectors such as automotive, medical devices, semiconductors and aerospace. Durán identified dependable crossings, efficient customs procedures and regulatory certainty as essential to maintaining those operations, while calling for greater North American sourcing to strengthen regional supply chains. Her message connected Pharr’s infrastructure investments with a broader industrial opportunity: closer cooperation among manufacturers, border authorities and business organizations can support more integrated production and create opportunities for suppliers on both sides of the border.

For Luis Bazán, director general of the Pharr International Bridge, the forum’s value begins with bringing the supply chain into the same conversation. Bridge operators, customs brokers, carriers and industry associations each influence how efficiently goods reach their destination.

“We are all part of a supply chain,” Bazán said in the interview. He described the gathering as an opportunity for companies considering Pharr to meet the bridge, economic development, chamber of commerce and city teams that can support their operations and investment plans.

The bridge’s expansion gave those discussions an immediate focus. Bazán said the new span was opening in phases and was expected to be fully open in November, providing 100 percent more bridge capacity. That added capacity is intended to support faster trade and reduce delays as freight demand grows.

The manufacturing connection is substantial. A bridge presentation at the forum reported that approximately three quarters of the value of goods crossing Pharr consists of manufactured or finished goods. Although the crossing is closely associated with fresh produce, its role also extends into the production networks connecting Texas with Mexico’s industrial centers.

Mike Willis, executive director of the South Texas Manufacturers Association, explained during the bridge panel that predictable crossing times matter as much as speed for just-in-time production. He described Texas operations in metal stamping, injection molding, plating, tooling and machining that connect with manufacturing in Mexico. For those businesses, dependable freight movement helps keep materials and components arriving when factories need them.

Turning connectivity into investment

Victor Perez, president and CEO of the Pharr Economic Development Corporation, connected the infrastructure discussion to the decisions facing investors and companies moving goods throughout the United States.

“Time is money,” Perez said, emphasizing the commercial importance of reducing border delays. He described the forum as a way to show businesses what is happening in Pharr and the wider region while learning about their needs and the conditions their partners face in Mexico.

Perez also highlighted Pharr EDC’s role as a central resource for companies seeking information about investment and dry or cold warehouse space. His message complemented Bazán’s emphasis on coordination: companies evaluating a location need both efficient transportation and access to the people who can help them establish or expand an operation.

The transportation panel extended that discussion beyond the bridge itself. Representatives of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Texas Department of Transportation, the Hidalgo County Regional Mobility Authority and the Texas Trucking Association discussed aligning cargo processing, regional highways and local warehouse access with growing freight demand. Their comments underscored why additional crossing capacity must be supported by connections throughout the region.

Ports and rail expand the industrial reach

Walker Smith, port director and CEO of the Port of Harlingen, urged businesses to look at South Texas as a connected region. In his interview, he emphasized that companies do not have to be located beside a maritime port to benefit from its transportation network.

Smith pointed to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway as an underused regional asset that connects South Texas with other U.S. markets. He also outlined a planned 600-acre rail park to be developed in phases and said the port had recently completed a dock rehabilitation costing almost $9 million.

Those investments and plans fit a broader discussion about giving shippers more transportation options. During the rail and ports panel, Sergio “Tito” Lopez, chairman of the Brownsville Navigation District, called for coordinated regional planning. Juan Lerma, director of sales and business development at Rio Valley Switching Company, described how rail, storage and truck deliveries already work together to supply factories in Reynosa, Monterrey and other markets.

Michael Scholz, a cargo business development representative at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, offered another example of that integration: components can arrive from Asia by air, move through Pharr into Mexico for manufacturing, and return to DFW as finished goods for export. His description placed South Texas within a production network linking Mexican factories, Texas transportation services and overseas customers.

Stronger connections with Mexican industry

Andrés Franco, director of COMCE Noreste, emphasized in his interview that imports and exports depend on international bridges and ports. He welcomed the Pharr expansion as infrastructure that can support trade in both directions and described the relationship between the two countries as an interconnected economic system. During the international panel, he explained that COMCE Noreste represents manufacturers and other supply chain participants, including ports, bridges, customs brokers and carriers.

For Texas industry, that perspective places border infrastructure within a wider business relationship. Manufacturers, suppliers and logistics providers on either side rely on the movement of goods and inputs across the same regional network.

Carlos Canseco, director of the Clúster para la Innovación Logística del Estado de Querétaro, known as CILQRO, brought a practical approach to developing those connections. He said the cluster was preparing comparative tests with Querétaro industry to evaluate the Pharr–Reynosa route against other crossings, including Laredo. During the panel, he clarified that the proposed trials were still being finalized.

Canseco stressed the importance of making trade more efficient, predictable and focused on economic results. The proposed testing would give companies measurements they can use when considering Pharr as a logistics option, connecting the forum’s regional ambitions with the operating decisions of Mexican manufacturers.

Building value in South Texas

Keynote speaker Duncan Wood placed those operating priorities within a broader argument for North American competitiveness. He called for investment in border infrastructure, technology, workforce training and land for future industrial development, emphasizing that the surrounding businesses and services make a trade gateway productive.

“The border is not where the American economy ends. It’s where the North American economy connects,” Wood said.

His message reinforced the opportunity outlined throughout the forum: stronger transportation links can help Texas capture more of the economic activity associated with cross-border production. Connecting Pharr’s expanding bridge with regional ports, industrial sites and Mexican business partners can support the suppliers, manufacturers and logistics companies that turn international trade into local investment and employment.