The Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation board of directors on July 26 unanimously appointed Constanza Miner, business development director for GBIC and the city of Brownsville, as interim CEO and executive director of the economic development organization effective immediately.
Brownsville Deputy City Manager Helen Ramirez, who also served as GBIC chief, stepped down from that role at the request of the city commission to immediately become interim city manager with the departure of former city manager Noel Bernal, who took a job in Colorado.
Ramirez, originally scheduled to become interim on Aug. 1, said she’s confident Miner will perform well as GBIC interim head, praising her work as part of the GBIC team since Ramirez came on board as CEO/executive director in February 2021.
“She’ll do an excellent job as interim,” Ramirez said. “GBIC will continue to be strong and effective as it accelerates economic development.”
GBIC is a “Type A” economic development corporation that promotes investment and regional and international partnerships toward job creation, training, innovation, business development and manufacturing.
Ramirez cited GBIC’s progress over the past year and a half in attracting businesses to the 73-acre North Brownsville Industrial Park, facilitating a SpaceX lease with the Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport, and last month selecting a master planner — World Trade Center Industrial — with which to enter negotiations toward development of the city’s 729-acre I-169 North Corridor Industrial Park.
John Cowen, Brownsville city commissioner and GBIC chairman, said Miner is the logical choice for interim since she was involved with the latter process from the beginning. The city and GBIC will conduct national searches to fill both positions, he said.
“At GBIC we moved to authorize getting proposals for search firms, and we’ll start that process as soon as we can and go out for a nationwide search,” Cowen said. “In the meantime GBIC is on sound footing and we’re well positioned to carry all our projects forward. I don’t think we’ll miss a beat with Connie in the interim role.”
He expressed gratitude for Ramirez’s leadership of GBIC and wished her well as interim city manager.
Miner joined the city in 2015 and has served in a number of capacities including planning and development services director, and retail and redevelopment manager. She said she’s honored to be chosen to lead GBIC through this period and that her goal is “to ensure a smooth transition for our stakeholders, partners and staff.”
