Investment Overview

Weslaco is a city in Hidalgo County, located at the southern tip of Texas in the Rio Grande Valley near the Mexican border, across the Rio Grande from the city of Nuevo Progreso, Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas. The City is part of the McAllen–Edinburg–Mission and Reynosa–McAllen metropolitan areas. The focal point of economic activity has shifted from agriculture to international trade, healthcare, retail and tourism since the ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994. In Hidalgo County, cross-border cargo and vehicular traffic have increased 345% and 36.4% respectively since the beginning of the 1990s, from 228,133 to 1,015,554 cargo trucks in 2008 and from 10.92 million to 14.9 million automobiles. US/Mexico trade crossing the international bridge in Hidalgo County increased from $5.0 billion in 1994, pre-NAFTA, to $12.56 billion in 2000 and $19.9 billion in 2006. From 1995 to 2006 the Rio Grande Valley share of NAFTA trade increased 168% from $11.1 billion to $31.6 billion. It is estimated that there are 40 million visits per year from Mexican citizens coming to Texas for vacations and shopping trips. These people contribute greatly to the retail sales volume that occurs in Weslaco and the surrounding communities.