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Harlingen EDC reports business retention, small‑business grants and pipeline projects in FY2024–25
Summary
Orlando Campos presented the Harlingen Economic Development Corporation final report, highlighting 145 trade‑show leads, 30 relocation proposals, support grants (including $312,000 to 107 businesses after March floods), 10 closed projects creating about 453 jobs and a pipeline of 12 active projects.
Orlando Campos, CEO of the Harlingen Economic Development Corporation, presented highlights from the FY2024–25 annual work plan and answered commissioners' questions about metrics and next steps.
Campos said the EDC attended 12 trade shows in the U.S. and Mexico that generated 145 leads and submitted 30 corporate relocation proposals to the governor's office. He reported 88 local company visits to businesses that collectively employ about 7,000 people in Harlingen and described grant programs meant to spur small-business revitalization: a façade program that supported local businesses with $38,000 in EDC funding leveraged into roughly $451,000 of private investment, and the Equip Harlingen program that awarded two businesses $6,000 each to purchase equipment.
Following the March floods, Campos said the EDC and partners launched the Harlingen Strong grant, distributing more than $312,000 to help 107 small businesses recover and reopen. He said the EDC closed 10 projects that are expected to generate approximately 453 new or retained jobs and about $15 million in capital investment and $1.3 million in sales-tax revenue.
Campos also described a pipeline of 12 active projects and initiatives to expand workforce development and entrepreneurship supports, including training partnerships with TSTC and UTRGV and a planned innovation hub; he cautioned that starting an incubator requires significant recurring funding and staff capacity.
One number in the packet—the EDC's reported potential capital investment tied to pipeline projects—was read in the meeting as $5,900,000,000 (five point nine billion dollars). That figure appears in the slide deck provided to commissioners; it was not explained in detail during the presentation and may reflect a packet formatting or transcription error. The city will have an opportunity to examine and verify that pipeline estimate in follow-up.
