McAllen wins $6M federal grant for new 47-acre industrial site

After a whirlwind tour of the GE Aerospace manufacturing plant in McAllen during his first visit to the Rio Grande Valley, the U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard W. Lutnick announced that the city was awarded $6 million from his office to help build a new industrial park on the city’s south side. 

McAllen applied for the grant through the Economic Development Administration to help pay for some infrastructure in exchange for local companies willing to invest $34.5 million and hire nearly 500 workers. The Rio Grande Valley Business Journal obtained the grant application through a recent Texas Public Information request and previously reported on the plans. 

The new industrial park is expected to be located along Farm-to-Market Road 1016, also known as West Military Highway, at the northwest corner of South 10th Street in McAllen. Construction could begin as early as September and end by February 2027. 

The site is about 2.7 miles east of the GE Aerospace manufacturing plant, which operates 24 hours a day with multiple shifts and already employs about 500 workers, more than half of its Texas footprint of 970 workers. It was not immediately clear whether there were specific plans to expand the GE Aerospace site. 

Lutnick, appointed by President Donald Trump, is the former chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services business on Wall Street in New York City. 

The America First Refining oil refinery project in Brownsville tapped Cantor Fitzgerald as its financial advisor to help negotiate its capital investment from Reliance Industries Ltd, a multinational energy giant based in India. Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is a minority stake investor in the America First Refining project, a spokesperson told ProPublica, an online investigative newsroom. 

Lutnick said the federal government’s operating procedure is more business-friendly under Trump. 

“For far too long, our country was told to accept industrial decline. We were told by so-called experts in Washington that the modern American economy meant factories like this [GE Aerospace facility in McAllen] would continue to close, production would move overseas, and America’s economic future, well, it would just be built somewhere else,” Lutnick said. “But President Trump rejected that completely. He believes America can build again and build here. He believes, since we invent, we can produce, we can export, and we can create and export the greatest products in the world. We wanna make it easier to do business in America.” 

Lutnick delivered his remarks alongside McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos, McAllen City Manager Isaac Tawil, Hidalgo County Commissioner Eduardo “Eddie” Cantu and McAllen Economic Development Corporation Chief Operating Officer Ralph Garcia. 

The U.S. Commerce Secretary also lauded the efforts of auto parts manufacturer Valeo’s decision to invest at least $225 million in McAllen for a new plant. 

U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz invited Lutnick to the Rio Grande Valley to visit businesses along the U.S.-Mexico border. 

De La Cruz said that the federal investment will have big returns. 

“It will make more jobs for our young adults, make more economic prosperity for all of us in South Texas,” she said. “That means increases in housing supply, that means more airport visits, that means more small businesses that are able to grow. This has a tremendous regional impact.” 

It was not immediately clear how much the average wage would be for companies inside the industrial park. So far, the park is anchored by at least four different companies as tenants, all of which are active in the cold storage warehouse logistics business, records show.

Lutnick said he was hopeful that as GE Aerospace expands, it may consider the new industrial park as an option. 

“As they keep growing and expanding, they’re gonna need a new plant, and they’re gonna need a new plant right nearby, and the idea is to have the industrial park to say, come on, we set it all up for you; it’s beautiful,” Lutnick said. “[GE Aerospace] is always expanding and growing, adding robots, adding technology. But the idea is to bring more companies to build more factories like this in South Texas.”