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EDINBURG — U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-McAllen, announced on Wednesday funding for two projects with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and the city of Edinburg.
“One of the things that I get to do as the congresswoman is look at projects that are going to make a significant impact in our area,” she said. “And the projects are called community funded projects … This is so exciting today, because through the most recent appropriations done in Washington D.C. just last month.”
With UTRGV President Guy Bailey, Edinburg Mayor Ramiro Garza and leadership from both the university and city in attendance, De La Cruz spoke on the allocation of $500,000 to UTRGV for their manufacturing incubator and $1.4 million to the city of Edinburg for a lift station.
The $1.4 million for the lift station is a part of the congresswoman’s focus on infrastructure and building for the future, with water specifically in mind.
“I believe that I’ll be re-elected for the 119th Congress and water will continue to be a priority,” De La Cruz said after the press conference. “The reason why is because water is not only essential to our community and our families, but also to our farmers and ranchers. The citrus industry, the farming industry, is very important to the economy of South Texas, and so water will be something that I continue to not only protect, but to plan for, for the future.”
Ramiro Garza said the project is going to help bring sewer infrastructure to a specific area.
“It’s a basic improvement, but one that it’s been very hard for our community to keep up with,” Ramiro Garza said. “We are one of the fastest growing communities, not only in the Valley, but in Texas and in the country … it’s along Chapman Road, if you’re familiar, just northwest of our city. A lot of you may wonder and I’ve been asked, ‘How come there hasn’t been development along that corridor?’ Well, because of the improvements that are still needed.”
The $500,000 toward UTRGV will help the manufacturing hub at the W.E.R.C Complex just off campus in Edinburg and for a dry room research laboratory on the Edinburg campus.
The W.E.R.C Complex which stands for workforce, economy, research and community, recently garnered around $10 million for the renovation.
“Not only will this project fund industry and attract industry to the region but it also is securing a future for jobs, employment and furthering our economy here,” she said.
Ron Garza, UTRGV associate vice president for Workforce and Economic Development, discussed the impact the federal dollars will have on the university’s manufacturing infrastructure.
The grant will fund the W.E.R.C Complex and manufacturing infrastructure on the Edinburg campus.
“We generally like to put infrastructure closer to the students, right? So the dry room … It’ll be classified as part of our manufacturing incubator, but located on campus, because some of the functions will be split between our two facilities. And a dry room, quite honestly, is just a piece of infrastructure that isn’t in South Texas,” he said.
Describing a dry room as the ones seen in movies, Ron Garza said it is a controlled humidity environment for research.
“A lot of our industry partners, their division for research … they want and need this piece of infrastructure so they can do specific kinds of research,” he said. “That’s actually what it’s for but bottom line, it is for us to help create more jobs. Research produces more jobs. More high paying jobs for our graduates that stay local in the Valley.”
Ron Garza added that the $500,000 will go a long way since the dry room is going to be valued at about $2 million once it is completed.
