Every year, MXLAN celebrates the vibrant culture formed by the blending of South Texas and Mexico. However, after the music and food fade, what lingers for many is the reality of our region’s evolving economic climate.
In addition to the festivities, MXLAN hosts a highly anticipated economic summit that brings together small and large businesses, along with education and workforce leaders, to speak about the region’s issues, solutions, and future.
The MXLAN Economic Summit is set to take place on March 6th, with a panel schedule and headlined by journalist John Quiñones. He will speak on ethics in the AI Era and how businesses can navigate the evolving world.
“It’s the second time that the EDC is hosting,” said Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Suarez, who serves as the CEO of both the McAllen Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corporation. “We’re excited about the opportunity to bring industry and small business together to talk about what is in front of us immediately. We are starting to see the implementation of AI and how it is affecting our workforce. How do we keep our workforce actively engaged and ready?”
As AI and automation become a larger part of the economic discourse, the summit will address topics such as ethics and examine how the RGV and its education and workforce leaders can keep up with the breakneck pace of change.
The intersection of industry trends and education is exactly where Suarez wants the summit to meet.
“For us, there’s no better way to have a cultural celebration than to really have a conversation about innovation, engineering, professional talent, and to continue to challenge ourselves to grow in those areas,” Suarez said. “Who we are doesn’t end with our music and our food.”
Dr. Joanne Wang of Vanderbilt University, Associate Dean and Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships & Associate Professor of the Practice of Engineering Management, will also speak.
“We’ve invited education stakeholders to the table,” Suarez said. “We’ve invited STC and UTRGV. Economic Development Organizations have to lead that engagement because we’re specialized in the fact that we’re exposed to what the industries are doing, who is here, and who is coming. In McAllen, we have the opportunity to really set the table.”
Albert Trevino of the Texas Workforce Commission and Aaron Demerson, CEO of Texas Economic Development Corporation, will also speak at the summit.
“We really wanted to speak to the industry where they are at. It’s big on AI and automation. We have two or three companies considering moving or expanding in McAllen. When we speak to them, it’s not just land or space. Yes, that is part of it, but they are engaged with how the workforce is ready. ‘Are there apprenticeship programs? Are there CTE programs in the high schools?’ Those are the questions they are asking.”
A significant part of the summit will be industry leaders who continue to drive economic growth on both sides of the Rio Grande.
“We have really leaned on our industry partners,” Suarez said. “Over the last 30 to 40 years McAllen EDC has been at the forefront of industrial relationships. There are over 300 maquiladoras in Reynosa that employ about 120,000 people on those campuses. As we’re trying to create manufacturing opportunities on this side of the border, we understand that there is a real need. Who better to lean on than the people that are actually doing it.”
Suarez emphasized the importance of the economic summit in MXLAN’s schedule.
“It’s easy, it’s our cultural pride to talk about the Valley and the 956 culture,” she said. “For those of us that are raised here, we have similar stories. A lot of us have immigrant families, and we’re proud of our culture. We’re first or second-generation Americans, and we really have lived the American Dream – going to college, getting an education, getting to live in our professional careers. To grow, to raise our families in the Valley.
That is what MXLAN does. The motto is ‘these are our roots, we are the flowers’, but it’s not just culture and art that are essential to what we are.
What good is celebrating our culture and our art if we’re not really leaning into our history,” Suarez said. “If you look at who we are and where we came from, our roots are math and science. That’s important to know that that’s in us. When we let people outside of our region define who we are, that’s not real.”
