luis bazan

PHARR, Texas - Pharr Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez says the Pharr International Bridge could be given over exclusively to commercial trucks in the coming years, with passenger vehicles having to use other ports of entry in the Rio Grande Valley.

Hernandez spoke to the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service about the future of the Valley’s busiest bridge for trade during his city’s recent Start of the Produce Season festivities. 

“We will do whatever the population requires. Demand is what drives this,” Hernandez said. “So, if there is absolutely a need for us to be fully commercial, then that's what we will do. If there's still a need to be hybrid for the benefit of all residents, then that’s what we'll do. It is evolving with time.”

Pharr Bridge Director Luis Bazan agreed. He told the Guardian: “These are conversations we've had in the last several years. These are conversations that have either been sparked by the federal government, by CBP, or even from us and having different conversations with different trade partners. You know, we've talked about extending hours of operation. There's a couple of businesses out there that in the past years have talked about going 24 hours. So, the mayor said it best, it's evolving.”

CBP stands for Customs and Border Protection. 

Both Hernandez and Bazan spoke from the podium at the 2023-24 Start of the Produce Season celebrations. The event drew hundreds of people, including elected officials, economic development leaders and those that work in the fresh produce industry. As in other years, bags of fruit and vegetables were available for take away and local eateries had stands so those attending could taste food made from the produce that crosses the Pharr Bridge. 

Here is an audio recording of Mayor Hernandez's speech at the 2023 Start of the Produce Season celebrations.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

PHARR, Texas - Jorge Torres, president and founder of Interlink Trade Services, kicked off IWS2 with a discussion about near-shoring.

IWS2 was the second in a series of productions by the Pharr Bridge Board that focus on the lack of industrial warehouse space in the upper Rio Grande Valley.

The event drew land developers, realtors, economic development leaders, and those in the import-export business.

“So near-shoring means relocating supply chains to diminish the risk from disruptions that are currently impacting the world. Near-shoring makes sense as the pandemic highlighted the weakness of the interconnection and dependence on a fully globalized supply chain,” Torres said.

“Regionalization is the answer, as we've seen, and we're seeing the positive impact of that in the North American region. While many (manufacturing) companies are taking steps to relocate their assembly production facilities, there are also resources or parts and components within the supply chain. Some suppliers are going even further and relocating their operations to be closer to their customers.”

Torres referenced Tesla in his presentation.

“Tesla is opening an operation in Santa Catarina, Monterrey, Mexico. One of the reasons why they decided to open a facility there is because of the accessibility to raw materials. It's much better (for accessing raw materials) than other parts of the world. So that's a key element.”

Torres also spoke about the current trend of Chinese companies moving to Mexico.

“We hear a lot about China. The Chinese are coming. Yes, that's true. Chinese manufacturers are increasingly setting their sights on Mexico for bringing production closer to the American market. This reflects the higher cost of Chinese exports under US tariffs and disruptions to the global supply chain,” Torres said.

Rather than looking for suppliers in other parts of Asia, Torres said, Chinese firms are looking at Mexico.

“Mexico is becoming the new alternative because it offers proximity to the US, lower labor costs and access to preferential treatment under the USMCA, or the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement,” Torres said.

“So yes, we're sort of seeing this. A lot of companies that were making products in China are shipping production to North America including Mexico to take advantage of USMCA in mitigating tariffs.”

Torres cited a report from a consultancy firm that showed “strong evidence that American manufacturers are looking to relocate closer to home.”

“A lot of manufacturers or companies that were making products in Asia, in Vietnam and Cambodia, those countries… because of the supply chain disruptions and the increased cost of transportation, they are deciding to either ship those operations to North America, or (with) any new products or new production, (they are) setting it up in North America.”

Here is an audio recording of Torres’ remarks at IWS2. It includes an introduction to the summit by Luis Bazan, director of the Pharr International Bridge. 

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

MCALLEN, Texas - Pharr Bridge Director Luis Bazan recently spoke at a meeting of TxDOT’s Border Trade Advisory Committee.

In his presentation, Bazan listed some of the improvements happening at the bridge, including construction of a second span. With four more lanes, the new span will effectively double the capacity of the bridge. Bazan said Mexico is already building its half of the second span.

After his presentation, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson asked Bazan to reiterate how much fresh produce the Pharr bridge crosses. The answer: Sixty-five percent of the imported fresh fruit and vegetables consumed in Texas. “That is absolutely phenomenal,” said Nelson, who chaired the BTAC meeting. 

Bazan said the new produce season will kickoff in October. He said Pharr Bridge Board is slated to host an Avocado Festival the same month.

The BTAC meeting was held at the McAllen Convention Center.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

PHARR, Texas – Luis Bazan, director of the Pharr International Bridge, has announced details of Pharr Bridge Board’s 2nd Industrial Warehouse Summit.

The summit takes place Thursday, Aug. 24, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will take place at the Pharr Development & Research Center in W. Dicker Road in south Pharr. 

The title of the event is IWS2. The subheading is: Building a Competitive Border Region for Near-Shoring and Industrial Growth.

In his monthly report to the Pharr Bridge Board, Bazan said the summit is being jointly hosted by the Bridge Board and Pharr Economic Development Corporation. The emcee, he said, will be Jorge Torres, president and founder of Interlink Trade Services.

Explaining the need for the summit, Bazan said: “One of the issues that has come to light here in the last a year or so is that regardless of trade, regardless of the ships and trade, there is still not enough dry warehouse space for industrial capacity to fulfill the needs of trade. So it is it is up to us to bring this to the region, invite our regional partners to ensure that we’re fulfilling that gap.”

Bazan acknowledged that meeting the demand for more warehouse space in the Rio Grande Valley is not going to happen overnight. 

“But this is part of our educational process to bring everybody to the table, from bankers to investors to industrial warehouse developers. And in this case for this next one coming next week on August 24.”

A new feature for IWS2 will be the participation of economic development corporations from other cities.

Editor's Note:  Go to the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service website to read the full story.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

PHARR, Texas - Colleagues like to brag on Pharr Bridge Director of Operations Fred Brouwen that he has been there from the beginning because he was operating the tolls when the first trucks crossed.

But, Pharr Bridge Board Chairman Edgar Delgadillo jokes that he can top that because he saw the bridge being built.

“I was there when my Dad was hauling dirt for the first part of the bridge. I remember sitting on top of the hill,” Delgadillo said, “I must have been 17, 18 years old. My Mom would make lunch for my Dad and the rest of the guys working for my Dad,” Delgadillo told the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service.

“My Dad told us, ‘They said they’re building a bridge.’ We asked, ‘To where?’”  

According to Delgadillo, all you could see was a hill and then the fields.

The Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge measures 3.2 miles in length, making it one of the longest bridges to connect two countries.

Now, decades after watching the first span being built, Delgadillo leads the Pharr Bridge Board as it works on construction of a second span.

“Twenty some years later, I’m here on the Board. I’m chairman, so it is a little personal. Life comes full circle sometimes,” Delgadillo said. “Just to see the new expansion coming up. We’ve worked hard for it.”

Luis Bazan, the Pharr Bridge Director, sat down for his monthly update on bridge matters with the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service. This month’s discussion was longer than normal as Bazan gave plenty of insider information about the construction of a new span, construction of a spur connecting to the new customs facilities on the Reynosa side of the bridge, a possible change in the bridge’s hours of operation, approval of a bond issue for the DAP program, and plans to have an even bigger celebration of the Fresh Produce Season in 2022.

Editor's Note: Go to the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service website to read the full story. 

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

PHARR, Texas - Pharr International Bridge sponsored a webinar recently to discuss what happened to world trade in 2020 and to gaze into the crystal ball.

The host was Ken Roberts, president of WorldCity. Roberts produces an annual book for the City of Pharr called Trade Numbers. The 2020 version analyzes Pharr’s $36.68 billion worth of trade with the world.

Another key speaker on the webinar was Guillermo Malpica Soto, who was one of the lead negotiators for Mexico during negotiations between the United States, Mexico and Canada on crafting NAFTA’s replacement, USMCA.

Luis Bazan, director of the Pharr International Bridge, said Pharr has a great story to tell as it relates to international trade.

“Although the pandemic did affect the nation’s trade, which caused the value of trade nationwide to decrease by about 12 percent, crossings and revenues in Pharr were up for 2020. It is so important we tell that story,” Bazan said.

A lot of investment in infrastructure is being made on the U.S. and Mexican sides of the Pharr International Bridge. Bazan said it is important that the stakeholders that use the bridge are aware of the expansion plans.

“As we continue to develop the infrastructure projects that Mayor Hernandez and the City Commission set out to accomplish, we must ensure the trade community understands the importance of their vision for the Pharr International Bridge and how these projects will position Pharr strategically for future trade, by improving efficiencies and reducing wait times to ultimately service a larger market,” Bazan said.

Co-sponsors of the webinar included Mid Valley Customs Brokers Association, the North American Strategy for Competitiveness, and the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

PHARR, Texas - Reflecting the increased market share the Pharr International Bridge has gained for the import of fruits and vegetables from Mexico, the city’s 92-acre Pharr Produce District is now almost full.

When the park opened a few years ago there were 32 lots available for development. Now, just a handful remain.

This and other information related to the import and export of fresh produce at the Pharr Bridge was relayed by Luis Bazan, a director of the bridge during a recent webinar.

Early in the webinar, Tony Martinez, of Primo Trading Services, LLC, remarked that investments had slowed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Later in the webinar, Bazan agreed but predicted things will rebound.

“It has kind of slowed down due to the economy and the way things are right now. But if you look across the bridge, adjacent to the bridge and Pharr Produce District, that is strictly a cold warehousing district for the City of Pharr,” Bazan said. 

“We started with 32 available lots over a 92-acre tract. And here we are a couple of years later and we are almost at capacity. Yes, some of the construction has stopped for a little bit but that is understandable with the current economic conditions. At the end of the day, things will continue.”

Bazan said it makes sense for cold storage warehouses to be positioned close to his bridge.

“People want to be close to the bridge that they cross through. We are very excited to have these companies here that had been crossing through Pharr for many years and decided to put in the investment and work closer with us.”

The webinar featuring Bazan and Martinez was hosted by Miami, Florida-based WorldCity, Inc., which produced the 2020 Pharr Trade Numbers publication. WorldCity generates more than 10 million datasets with the latest U.S. Census Bureau data. It covers more than 200 nations; over 400 airports, seaports and border crossings; and more than 900 export and 900 import commodities.

Ken Roberts, president of WorldCity, said it is thanks to the City of Pharr that his company analyzes trade numbers by port. Before Pharr made this request all the data was obtained at the customs district level. He also said Pharr was the first client to request a Trade Numbers publication in Spanish.

“As vice chair of the Pharr International Bridge, thank you, Ken, for working with us,” Martinez said. “It truly makes our job so much easier to have you on our side because it is a fact check. You are a name that people trust. When people hear Ken Roberts they know the numbers are there. That means it is valid. It builds confidence in the people we are trying to service.”

Editor's Note: To read the full story, go to www.riograndeguardian.com

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

PHARR TEXAS - The City of Pharr held a groundbreaking ceremony last Thursday for $40 million worth of infrastructure projects at the Pharr International Bridge. 

Funding for the projects has come about thanks to the Donations Acceptance Program, a mechanism by which local funds can go towards federal projects. 

Pharr Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez gave remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony. He said that in addition to the $40 million being spent at the bridge, an additional $500 million was being spent on highway projects in the city.

He said these would benefit not just Pharr, but the Rio Grande Valley, the State of Texas, and the nation. 

In addition to the mayor, state Rep. Sergio Muñoz spoke at the event. As did Pharr Bridge Director Luis Bazan.

Go to The Rio Grande Guardian website to read the full story. 

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

PHARR, Texas - Each week, Pharr International Bridge holds a “virtual” town hall meeting for the international trade community.

The series is called BridgeConnect LIVE. Before the coronavirus pandemic struck, the Pharr International Bridge Board would hold the events in-person once a month. 

Now, because of the threat of COVID-19, the events are held once a week on Facebook. The series is called “The Effects of COVID-19.” 

Session 16 focused on the tomato suspension agreement. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service under the auspices of the United States Department of Agriculture has taken action to prevent the introduction of tomato brown rugose fruit virus into the United States. 

Tomato and pepper production in the United States is worth more than $2.3 billion annually. Required federal government compliance with inspection protocols was one of the main topics of discussion during Pharr BridgeConnect Session 16 on July 23. 

Session 16 was hosted by Pharr Bridge Director Luis Bazan.

The session was conducted in English and Spanish. 

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

PHARR, Texas - Pharr International Bridge held Part 8 of its BridgeConnect LIVE on Thursday, May 28, 2020.

The series is called “The Effects of COVID-19.” The title of Part 8 was: “Decal Transponder Online Procurement System.” The panelists participating in the session included representatives from Pharr International Bridge and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

During Pharr Bridge Connect  Part 8, officials from the Pharr International Bridge and CBP officials offered detailed instructions on how to enroll in the Decal Transponder Online Procurement System. According to officials, the objective is to achieve a 100 percent participation rate in the Decal Transponder Online System. 

Pharr International Bridge Director Luis Bazan opened the Bridge Connect Live session No. 8. 

Most of the discussion was in Spanish. 

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

PHARR, Texas - Pharr Bridge Board hosted Part 7 in its weekly Bridge Connect series on Thursday, May 21.

The subject was “How USMCA will impact manufacturing in Mexico.”

USMCA stands for United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. It is a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement and goes into effect on July 1, 2020.

Presentations were made by Pharr International Bridge, Mid-Valley Customs Brokers Association, Asos. Agents Aduanales Reynosa, InterLink Trade Services, U.S. Customs Brokers Custom Compliance. Woodcrafters HP, INDEX, and Rio South Texas Economic Council.

The discussion was in Spanish. This podcast has the whole event. 

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

PHARR, RGV - Pharr International Bridge is to undergo a $35 million infrastructure improvement program, its director has announced.

Luis Bazan was interviewed by the Rio Grande Guardian at the bridge during an event staged to celebrate the start of the 2019-2020 fresh produce season. 

“We are part of the donations acceptance program which is a CBP program. We now have a signed MOU with GSA and CBP to develop over $35 million of infrastructure inside our land port of entry,” Bazan said.

“We are going to be building some import lanes for trucks, some new exit lanes, but, more importantly as far as the produce industry is concerned, a new dock expansion with a cold inspection facility, and a new agriculture laboratory and training center for future entomologists.”

The above podcasts features interviews with Bazan and Pharr Chamber of Commerce executive director Rebecca Arizmendi. 

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

PHARR, RGV - The start of the 2019-2020 fresh produce season has been celebrated at Pharr International Bridge, which is now in its 25th year of operation.

Pharr International Bridge is the No. 1 port of entry in the nation for the importation of fresh produce. It is also the fourth largest gateway on the U.S.-Mexico border and the 7th fastest growing port in the United States. 

The celebration included speeches by Pharr Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez, Pharr City Commissioner Daniel Chavez, Pharr Bridge Director Luis Bazan, state Sen. Juan Hinojosa, state Rep. Sergio Muñoz, Jr., and Texas International Produce Association President & CEO Dante Galeazzi.

Pharr Chamber of Commerce executive director Rebecca Arizmendi emceed the event. 

The above podcast includes the speeches of the VIPs listed above. 

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.