WHAT HAPPENED TO PIASA AT THE NORTH INDUSTRIAL PARK?

(Ed.'s Note: The news reported that the board of the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation was considering entering into a contract with a California-based super developer to have him take over the North Brownsville Industrial Park brought back a flood of memories and glowing press releases by the GBIC and the Brownsville Economic Development Council, its parent corporation. The terms of the contract have not been divulged and we suspect that – like many other BEDC, GBIC productions – the local taxpayers will get screwed again. As usual, the GBIC has said it will not reveal the terms of the binding agreement until after it has been approved by the board. The BEDC's Jason Hilts and his sidekick Gilbert Salinas assured us the park was "poised" to launch Brownsville as the "epicenter" of North America and Latin America. That was four years ago. Today, it remains an empty trailer park used by long-distance haulers to snooze and rest their rigs at no charge. Below is some of the hype spewed by these two fine gents  over the years.)  


New industrial park aims for competitive edge
Brownsville Herald
June 13, 2011 

Construction is complete on the North Brownsville Industrial Park, which will hold its grand opening on Wednesday. 

The park, designed for light to medium industrial operations, took two years and $4.2 million to build, paid for through state sales tax revenues funneled through the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation and nearly $200,000 in federal money from the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. Construction entailed building roads and installing utilities at the site, which is divided into 11 lots and located at Paredes Line Road and the newly constructed SH 550 loop. 

Planning began in 2007. The lots range in size from 2.5 to 10 acres. 

The park is "Class A" certified and "shovel ready," according to Cleveland, Ohio-based site selection firm The Austin Company. "Class A" means the park meets a number of standards related to infrastructure, permitting, zoning, location, etc., while "shovel ready" means a company can move in right away and start building.

The park comprises a 73.5 acre tract, divided into 11 lots that range between 2 to 10 acres in size. This property has earned the coveted "Shovel Ready" seal by an international site selection firm, The Austin Company, which has also qualified Brownsville as a 

The park’s first tenant is PIASA, a food-flavoring and spice-processing company based in Monterrey, Mexico, that signed on after the project was announced in 2007 and bought the first two lots. 

Gilberto Salinas of the Brownsville Economic Development Council, which promotes economic and industrial development of the Brownsville-Matamoros region, said the company will create more than 100 jobs. 

"I think this is an excellent example of leveraging public funds to recruit industry," he said. "Here’s an example of a company that’s going to invest several million dollars in capital investment. They’re going to lay down bricks and mortar and employ people. This is how we create wealth in this region. This is how we get on the map in regard to industry." 

Salinas said BEDC has "some pretty strong leads" on other prospective tenants. Of the 10 or so prospects BEDC is actively courting, three are expressing interest in the new park, he said.

And the BEDC press release:

"Through the hard work, vision, and commitment from the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation (GBIC), plans for the construction of a $4.2 million dollar 73-acre 'class A shovel-ready' industrial park have come to fruition."

Industry cheerleaders like Inbound Logistics applauded the GBIC for diving "directly into the real estate business, acquiring a 73-acre property four miles from the port and contracting with the not-for-profit Brownsville Economic Development Council (BEDC) to market the site's 11 lots.
"This is our first shot at developing land in the greater Brownsville 'borderplex,'" they quoted Gilberto Salinas, the BEDC's vice president.  

"Located at the epicenter of North America and Latin America, the North Brownsville Industrial Park is designed for light to medium industrial operations with the opportunity to suit an array of industrial operations seeking a clean environment, quality labor force, proximity to international hubs, excellent transportation services, and most importantly, a city with a pro-business environment." 

International Business Times
January 18 2012
"We've taken advantage of our truly geographic location, said Jason Hilts, president and CEO of the Brownsville Economic Development Council. He gave an example: We were able to reach out to PIASA and provide them with something that they couldn't really do out of Monterrey – to supply their U.S. customers overnight if need be.

PIASA is a Mexican company that sells spices and seasonings, and Brownsville gave it an opening into the U.S. market. It did the same for the airline AeroMexico, which wanted to provide more flights in and out of Brownsville because of its port access and its proximity to South Padre Island, a popular resort destination.
This past May 27, 2008 , the anchor company to the new industrial park PIASA, a Monterrey company that sells spices and other seasonings, announced plans to break ground on a $6 million plant in Brownsville.
It purchased land at ther industrial site at between $12,500 to $15,000 an acre then.
Later, when local businesses tried to buy land there, they found that just six months after the 11.38 acres were conveyed to the buyer, the remaining 73.5 acres were appraised at $60,265 to $80,398 an acre.
The local daily reported that the park took two years and $4.2 million to build, paid for through state sales tax revenues funneled through the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation and nearly $200,000 in federal money from the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. Construction entailed building roads and installing utilities at the site, which is divided into 11 lots and located at Paredes Line Road and the newly constructed SH 550 loop.

El Rrun-rrun
June 20, 2011
PIASA is a food-flavoring and spice-processing company based in Monterrey, Mexico, that BEDC spokesmen said had signed on after the project was announced in 2007 and bought the first two lots. Gilbert Salinas, the spokesman for the BEDC, said the company will create more than 100 jobs.
The PIASA promises have changed (more grandoise) at every reading. Salinas had said in 2008 that the firm plans to invest more than $1 million in a 52,000-square-foot, top-notch manufacturing facility that will create 81 jobs paying a minimum of $15 per hour.
The firm's website states that that it had , in 2003, "started operations in our new production plant in Apodaca, N. L., Mexico." Later, in "2005, we optimized our spices and chile operations inaugurating another factory in San Luis Potosi."
Local businessman Mario Villarreal, who has extensive business interests in Mexico's maquila industry – was not convinced that PIASA intended to establish a manufacturing facility at the site it acquired at land-rush bargain prices.
"We'll probably see them establishing a warehouse with maybe five or six people working out of the distribution center, if that," he said. "They made the same promises to McAllen and now that they got the GBIC to get the land at a bargain, I don't see them hiring 100 workers when they can get 10 times as many workers in Matamoros or San Luis, Potosi for the same price. It doesn't make economic sense."