McAllen courts car maker

McALLEN - City and business leaders were tight-lipped Wednesday about the identity of an auto manufacturer considering locating a plant here.

McAllen Mayor Richard Cortez called an afternoon news conference to announce city officials had met with high-level executives from an auto corporation and that McAllen is in competition with another location in another state.

He was ambiguous on all other details.

"It's a competitive situation," Cortez said. "Hopefully, we'll put together an incentive package to draw them here."

The news conference was called following a meeting between Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas and members of the media Wednesday morning, in which the judge said an announcement involving an auto manufacturer and the city of McAllen was forthcoming.

"Hopefully, this staves off the rumors," Cortez said of the afternoon news conference.

The mayor declined to take any questions following his announcement.

Keith Patridge, president and chief executive officer of the McAllen Economic Development Corp., said officials had decided to stay silent on the talks, following their failed attempt to attract a Kia Motors Corp. manufacturing plant in 2006. The South Korean automaker's first North American plant, which former development corporation president Mike Allen had touted to the media as potentially bound for McAllen, ended up locating in West Point, Ga.

"The reason it hurt is they knew there were a few telephone calls made (to the news media)," Patridge said. "(News media attention) creates a big problem, in many cases, with the legal issues with plant locations and relocations.

"Many times it would involve a plant closure somewhere. ... All you need is a worker to pick up the paper and read their plant's moving to Mexico (for him to quit his job prematurely)."

According to a Kia spokesman, the plant located to the Georgia site because of its proximity to an Alabama assembly plant owned by Hyundai Corp., the parent company of Kia.

Following the disintegration of those discussions with Kia, though, critics pointed to the lack of skilled labor in the Rio Grande Valley as a handicap in attracting auto manufacturers to the region.

McAllen officials have been working on drawing one of the major automakers here since 1992, when they went into talks with Kia for the first time. Over the next 14 years, they made overtures to other corporations, which Patridge declined to name.

"I can't say. The talks never got very far," he said. "But we learned a lot."

Now, coming off the failed 2006 effort, McAllen officials said they felt they have a stronger case than in years past.

Cortez pointed to new engineering programs at South Texas College and the University of Texas-Pan American; Patridge talked up the large number of auto parts manufacturers in Reynosa.

"Without (UTPA and STC) and the quality of life here, we wouldn't even be in competition," Cortez said.

If the auto manufacturer with whom the city is in talks does locate a plant here, it could have significant implications for the regional economy, as an entry-level full-time worker would earn $42,500 per year, the mayor said.

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James Osborne covers McAllen and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4428.