Rio Grande Valley leaders look ahead to 2024

RANCHO VIEJO, Texas - Three leaders from the lower Rio Grande Valley have been asked how they think 2024 will go for their respective organizations.Eduardo Campirano, port director for Brownsville Navigation District, said: “Obviously, the continued progress of the Port (of Brownsville). The growth and the construction is still ongoing. And, of course, the biggest one of all is going to be the Rio Grande LNG project. That project is underway and is going to be very, very significant. That will probably suck up a lot of the attention over the next year or two or three or four or five or six or seven. It is growing and, of course, we've got projects in addition to that as well. We're looking at a great 2024, another record year.”Brownsville City Manager Helen Ramirez said the City of Brownsville has been awarded almost $180,000 in grant money from the North American Development Bank. It is the first time the City has received money from this bank, she said, pointing out that the City’s matching fund is about ten percent. Ramirez said the funding will be used to help develop a rapid transit system between the Port of Brownsville and the City in order to get cars off the road. “NADBank is allowing us to be more innovative in how we handle road congestion. They're great partners, it was easy to get funded,” Ramirez said. “Right now, part of the scope of work… is to study the best route between the City of Brownsville, the city limits and the Port of Brownsville and all the companies that they're serving. Companies such as Rio Grande Valley LNG, SpaceX, Keppel, Steelcoast. Where can we put some park and rides where the employees are happy, the company is, and the city and the county also wins as well?”Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr., said his city commission colleagues are hoping to end 2023 on a high.“We're hoping to end with a bang and thankful for all of the progress and development that we've had over this past year. Hopefully we're going to start the new year with some very exciting development and, as soon at it happens, you'll know what I'm talking about. I don't want to jinx it. We're looking forward to continuing to work on all of the projects that we've been working on over the last several years. We hope some of them will come to fruition in a very short period of time,” Treviño said.The lower Valley leaders were interviewed at a NADBank listening tour hosted by Estrada Hinojosa and Company and held at Rancho Viejo Country Club. Here is an audio recording of the interviews.Go to www.riograndeguardian.com to read the latest border news stories and watch the latest news videos.