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STC to open a Center for Apprenticeships at the Mission CEED building
Article by: Rio Grande Guardian
MISSION, Texas – South Texas College will open a “Center for Apprenticeships” in Mission, Texas, says the city’s economic development leader.
Teclo Garcia, CEO of Mission Economic Development Corporation, provided brief details in an exclusive video interview with the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service. He said the official announcement would be made later this month.
STC’s new center will be based at Mission EDC’S Center for Education & Economic Development, Garcia said. There, it will join UT-Rio Grande Valley, which opened a fully-manned small business help desk earlier this year. Mission EDC is also based in the CEED building.
“UTRGV has their small business development center office here that’s manned by a couple of folks, and they have appointments with local businesses and they try to counsel them and help them get to where they need to go, by going through a process,” Garcia said.
“STC will open their office, their Center for Apprenticeships, here in the building. And that goes seamlessly with the small businesses that we have here, trying to feed them skilled students and employees. And they’re looking to do, as well, a lot of certifications out of this office. So we welcome them. We’re super happy to get them. We’ll make that announcement formally in November but, that (news) is already out there. STC is going to be here.”
The Guardian secured its wide-ranging video interview with Garcia at a press conference that was held recently to announce the return of Mission EDC’s popular Ruby Red Ventures program.
In his interview, Garcia spoke about Ruby Red, retail development along I-2, efforts to get a spur to seamlessly connect I-2 to Bryan Road, and industrial development on the Killam land near Anzalduas International Bridge.
Retail development
On the retail development front, Garcia said the arrival of Burlington was very popular. “We had 100 people in line when it opened,” he said.
Burlington is a “first-to-Mission” store, Garcia said, explaining that while the department store has a presence in McAllen, being in Mission will be easier to get to for residents living in western Hidalgo County.
“Mission just isn’t Mission. Mission is connected to Palmview, Palmhurst, Peñitas, all the way to La Joya. And that’s about 80,000 to 100,000 people. Mission has 90,000-plus and there’s another 90,000 just west of us. This is the closest point for them.”
Garcia said Dunkin’, which was formerly called Dunkin Donuts, is on the way, along with Olive Garden. And, Garcia revealed, Mission has two new hotels that will break ground in December.
“Walmart just did a $3.5 million renovation. Target did a $3.5 million renovation. And we’ve got some other places that we’re going to be ready to announce here in next couple of months,” Garcia said.
“Oh, and I forgot to mention, Harbor Freight Tools is also opening in Mission, So, we’ve got some things on the way, we really do. It’s exciting. We want to do more.”
To further boost retail development, Garcia said he and his team will be attending two important trade shows in February and May of 2024. “We just met with two (retail stores) that I cannot disclose in my office that want to be in Mission. So, we’re excited about that.”
I-2/Bryan Road spur
Garcia said the City of Mission, working with RGV Metropolitan Planning Organization, has taken the lead in having a spur built to seamlessly connect I-2 to Bryan Road. Bryan Road connects to Anzalduas International Bridge.
“We’ve had conversations with Alex Meade, the TxDOT commissioner who was here today. We’re doing everything we can to expedite that as much as possible. It’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t open the same time that the bridge opens (to fully loaded trucks), but it will open soon thereafter. The main thing is that there is connectivity there. Could it be better? Yes. And that’s what this is going to provide us. But, yes, we’re working on that.”
Industrial development
Garcia said Killam Development has just about completed the infrastructure for its new business park next to Anzalduas International Bridge.
“Of course, they have the majority of that leased out already, or sold. So we’re excited about some of the enterprises that are going to move in there. We’ve got some other possibilities that could happen around the other side of the bridge. We’re working with McAllen also in a partnership to try to recruit more to that area. So we’ll see what happens there. But yes, there’s at least half a dozen projects that we are working on for that area that could provide hundreds of jobs.”
Asked if the new industrial development can be attributed to the current near-shorting phenomenon, Garcia said: “Yes, just about all of it. It is all connected to that.”
Garcia said he just met with a development company from Laredo that is buying a big tract of land on Bryan Road, simply because Anzalduas will soon be opening up to fully loaded trucks. “They want to be part of that,” he said.
Garcia added: “We’ve got another group from Laredo that wants to buy another amount of acreage in the Killam area as well. So we know our message is resonating. But, people just on their own are seeing what can happen with the bridge.”
Here is the video interview: https://youtu.be/XgDGGwqRp4k?feature=shared
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