Matamoros and Brownsville move in sync as cross-border industrial corridor takes shape

MATAMOROS — For decades, Brownsville and Matamoros have been linked by trade, labor, and family ties. Yet their economies often grew on separate tracks — Matamoros driven by maquiladora manufacturing, Brownsville by logistics, energy, and aerospace. Now, a combination of nearshoring, new infrastructure, and cross-border coordination is turning those long-standing connections into a deliberate industrial strategy.

That new alignment — one that mirrors the long-standing collaboration between McAllen and Reynosa — is reshaping how this stretch of the border competes for global investment.

McAllen–Reynosa has long set the standard for binational coordination, with more than 150 maquiladoras and one of the densest cross-border logistics networks in North America. Brownsville and Matamoros, by contrast, developed in parallel for decades — until nearshoring pressures began pulling their industries, ports, and supply chains toward integration.

“Confidence in companies established in Matamoros continues to grow. There are expansions, new projects, and developing supply chains,” said Macario Farías, president of the National Chamber of the Transformation Industry (CANACINTRA Matamoros). “On this border, we have a qualified workforce and companies that deliver, which generates certainty to attract global investment.”

Business and civic leaders underscored this momentum during the 2025 CANACINTRA Matamoros International Business Summit, which was held in Brownsville earlier this month. 

Farías described the region as undergoing “the greatest industrial transformation of recent decades.”

Bridging a historical gap

Unlike McAllen and Reynosa — which built joint supplier networks and workforce pipelines over the past two decades — Brownsville and Matamoros long developed on separate tracks. Brownsville’s port-centered economy focused on logistics, energy, and now aerospace, while Matamoros specialized in export manufacturing.

That separation, leaders say, is ending.

“Brownsville is a city of two nations, two cultures, but one single community,” said Tino Villarreal, city commissioner. “We are growing in investment, infrastructure, and jobs like never before.”

Villarreal pointed to SpaceX’s 4,300 jobs, projected to reach 8,000 by 2026, along with new housing and industrial development that extend the city’s economic reach toward the river.

Two master-planned communities — Madeira and Rose Development — will bring more than 7,000 homes, and 750 acres of industrial parkland are under development near the Port of Brownsville, which already links the region to global trade routes.

From parallel economies to shared strategy

The focus now, said Guillermo Lash de la Fuente, vice president of the border region for CANACINTRA National, is shifting from competition to coordination.

“The challenge now isn’t attracting companies,” Lash said. “It’s building regional value chains that connect both sides of the border. We don’t just want manufacturing contracts; we want strategic partners that bring technology, shared investment, and sustainable industrial development.”

Joaquín Spamer, president of RioPlex, said Brownsville and Matamoros are learning to operate as a single ecosystem.

“What happens in Matamoros impacts Brownsville and vice versa,” Spamer said. 

Aligning for the nearshoring wave

Griselda Muñoz, deputy director of business recruitment at the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation (GBIC), said the region’s strategy now targets aerospace and energy suppliers that can serve both sides of the river — a direct response to the growing binational supply chain anchored by SpaceX and LNG operations.

“We don’t promote just Brownsville,” Muñoz said. “We promote the entire region as a high-value industrial destination.”

At the Port of Brownsville, Guillermo Rico, business development director, said the port’s scale and connectivity make it central to that effort.

“The Port of Brownsville doesn’t operate in millions — it operates in billions of dollars, connecting Mexican manufacturing with international markets,” he said.

One region, one industrial future

Farías called this phase of cooperation the beginning of a new model for border development — one grounded in joint planning and shared identity.

“Working hand in hand between business organizations and U.S. agencies is key to advancing projects firmly and jointly,” he said.

Muñoz added: “The border is not something that prevents us from crossing — this is a success story still being written.”

Spamer echoed that sentiment:

“Our regional identity must grow,” he said. “We are larger than many states in Mexico and the U.S. As a region of more than 3.5 million people within an hour and a half of each other, we are the only one positioned to grow with these new opportunities — powered by the economic engine of the city of Brownsville and the Port of Brownsville.”