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A forum Thursday focusing on the Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Force proved to be an exercise in positivity: panelists were positive about how the region has grown economically in the past two decades, positive about how it’s growing now and positive about being able to leverage that growth successfully.
The task force aims to address poverty in the county.
Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez described the economic need locally as a two-pronged effort.
On the one hand, he said, the region has to foster the creation of human capital, while on the other creating industries and careers where that human capital has a role locally.
“To have results, we can’t just talk about it,” Cortez said. “We have to have action.”
Cortez described some of that action as the professionals in the room and the data they’ve gathered.
The group had assembled a diverse and influential group of representatives from various local entities. There were economists, higher education heads, bureaucrats, marketing gurus and business people.
Cortez described those individuals working together to leverage the region’s assets as an imperative.
“The future is gonna be very competitive,” he said. “We’re gonna be competing with all other areas of the United States, and even the world. So if we want to better ourselves and our family and our people, then we have no choice but to do this.”
In one of the morning’s more data-driven presentations, South Texas College economist Kevin Peek outlined local growth over the past 25 years and growth happening now.
“The true story of our area has been one of unprecedented, unmatched, phenomenal economic growth and development — and I would challenge anyone to argue that based on empirical evidence and leading economic indicators,” he said.
According to Peek, from 2001 to 2022, the high school graduation rate in the area rose from 78% to 90%, just slightly above the statewide average. About a third of the region’s youth between the ages of 18 and 24 have a bachelor’s degree while 42% have at least some kind of college education.
The cost of living in McAllen is 14% lower than the state average and 21% lower than the national average while housing is 45% more affordable than average across the country.
Mean hourly wages remain about ten dollars less in the county compared to the United States, although unemployment has fallen from 21.3% in 1998 to 6.4% in 2023. It also has fallen in Starr and Cameron counties.
From 2000 to 2020, Peek said, the county’s gross domestic product has increased from $14.5 billion to $20.9 billion — a 44% increase that he says represents increased investment.
He included automotive, aerospace, data and customer contact centers, the medical field and advanced manufacturing as areas the area can look to for more growth.
“Obviously the most important strategy is education,” he said. “Education. And fortunately what we’ve seen is that the educational institutions in our area have been tremendously proactive.”
Peek called marketing and binational cooperation with Mexico as other ways to continue spurring economic growth in the area.
