EDINBURG — The Edinburg Economic Development Corporation is nearing the selection of an executive director.
Following a handful of interviews conducted on Friday and Tuesday, the Edinburg EDC board of directors authorized staff to enter negotiations with one of the applicants. The identity of that applicant was not disclosed.
The board interviewed three candidates who were selected for interviews from six or seven candidates that had economic development experience, according to EDC Board President Veronica Gonzales.
“We were clearly looking for somebody that could hit the ground running, somebody that had good experience, that was professional, that understood the assets in Edinburg,” Gonzales said of the qualities they were looking for in the next executive director, “(Somebody) that was looking at strategically moving us in a forward direction, somebody that understood incentives, someone that is well respected and that understands our community.
“A lot of factors go into play because, of course, you want to put the best face forward for the city,” she said.
The efforts to find an executive director began in July when the Edinburg city council amended the EDC’s bylaws to allow them to operate independently.
For more than two years — since May 2020 — the EDC was required to contract with the city for administrative services and staffing.
Specifically, the two entities had entered into a services agreement with each other through which the city agreed to provide staffing support to the EDC but all that staff reported to the city manager.
But with the decision in July to change the EDC bylaws, the EDC now has to hire its own staff, including an executive director.
The EDC has struggled to find a permanent executive director since 2017 when the city council fired then-EDC Executive Director Gus Garcia.
Former Harlingen City Commissioner Plinio “Joey” Treviño replaced Garcia in 2018 but he was also fired in July 2019.
Following Treviño’s departure, the board appointed two interim executive directors: Ruben Ramirez, an attorney and former candidate for Texas’ 15th Congressional District; and Richard Hinojosa, the interim Edinburg city manager at the time.
After the city hired Ron Garza as its permanent city manager in February 2020, he also took over as interim EDC executive director.
It was shortly after that that the city amended the bylaws and contracted with the EDC to provide staff.
In the EDC’s current search for an executive director, Gonzales said they’re not taking the task lightly.
“It is a process that we met numerous times on because we’re very serious about finding a very strong economic development executive director,” Gonzales said, “and someone, also, that is going to work very well with our city — our council and our mayor, city staff and others — because it really does take a team.”
