PHARR ANNOUNCES $52 MILLION INVESTMENT
Tue, 2016-04-05 20:54
News Staff
PHARR — Pharr Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez and Pharr Economic Development officials announced last Thursday the economic investment of three businesses that will spur commercial activity and employment in the City of Pharr. The investment totals $52 million, will have an economic impact of $117 million, and will produce approximately 177 new jobs. According to a 2016 report by the Center for North American Studies at Texas A&M University, produce imports from Mexico are a "major source of economic activity in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas." The report, entitled Economic Impacts of Increased U.S. Imports of Fresh Produce from Mexico by 2023, and published in February 2016, projects that "over the next five to seven years, produce imports from Mexico are expected to grow," with the majority of this growth coming into the United States through Texas. The report estimates that "U.S. fresh produce imports from Mexico via truck will increase to 569,650 truckloads, or 32 percent above 2015 levels by 2023."
With Pharr at the forefront of international commerce through recent strides made to encourage growth in the agricultural trade industry, the three companies' investment in Pharr is a positive step in the right direction. The three businesses, Evergreen Cold Storage, Interenlace Group's Project IMAS Fresh, and Spring Valley Produce. Evergreen Cold Storage will be expanding, relocating and/ or consolidating operations to south Pharr; while Interenlace Group's Project IMAS Fresh and Spring Valley Produce will be establishing and building new facilities in Pharr. All three companies see the significance to be strategically located near the Pharr International Bridge.