Some people may hear about the thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of operations jobs that the proposed Rio Grande LNG project is expected to bring and ask themselves “How does that benefit me? I don’t work in that industry.”
Anyone who studies the big picture will see that the proposed Rio Grande LNG project will have a huge and lasting positive impact on the Rio Grande Valley, no matter what business they are in.
As the owner of a sign company, I can envision many opportunities when Rio Grande LNG begins construction.
The project, estimated to cost as much as $17 billion, will inject billions of dollars into our economy and generate tremendous economic growth.
Rio Grande LNG’s financial investment and direct jobs would snowball to reach every sector of our economy.
Companies would need to order signs from my company, and workers would need groceries, clothing, daycare and more for themselves and their families. The list is huge.
The Perryman Group, a Texasbased economic research company, released a study in 2015 that included, among other data, the expected cumulative impact of construction and operations of both the Rio Grande LNG project and the associated Rio Bravo Pipeline.
Total cumulative impact on business activity and tax receipts in the first 25 years is estimated to be an additional $2.7 billion in retail sales, $5.9 billion in personal income and $38 billion in total expenditures, or dollars changing hands, in Cameron County.
Injecting those new dollars into our economy would be a life-changer for many in our economically repressed area.
Albert Escobedo Los Fresnos
