By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
The Del Rio-Acuña Manufacturing & Industrial Expo showcased products crafted and services offered in the two border cities and provided opportunities for education and networking.
The event was held in the Red Oak Ballroom at the Del Rio Civic Center on Tuesday, May 14, and Wednesday, May 15, with exhibitor booths from a range of local manufacturers and service providers.
The expo started with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
During the ceremony, Del Rio Mayor Al Arreola congratulated Del
Rio Economic Development Director Jorge Ramon for planning and organizing the event.
“This is something to educate our young ones and our citizens of Del Rio on some of the things that are being manufactured in Del Rio and Ciudad Acuña and the partnership that we have with both cities,” Arreola said.
He noted representatives of Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, Coah., Mexico, were also in attendance and said the four cities – Del Rio, Ciudad Acuña, Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras – were poised to shine as “the stars” of a coming wave of trade, commerce and progress for the region.
Ramon said he worked on manufacturing and industry expos for 15 years ago in Acuña and thought the event would play equally well in Del Rio. Gabriel Castillo, president of Canacintra Cd. Acuña, a major organization for industry and manufacturers throughout Latin America, said he had been part of these expos previously and mentioned events like this “bring the community together.”
As the expo was being put together, Ramon said more companies heard about it and wanted to participate. He said the expo was expanded to include educational institutions like the local public school district’s CTE (career and technical education) program, Texas Tech University, Southwest Texas Junior College and Sul Ross State University, as well as other regional entities like Middle Rio Grande Workforce, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Laughlin Air Force Base.
Ramon said the expo initially featured 12 vendors, but by the end of planning, it had doubled to 25 vendors. All the companies represented were not only promoting and explaining their individual businesses, products and services, but many were also hiring and offering one-on-one meetings.
Ramon said Acuña currently has 65 manufacturing companies, and out of those companies there are 15 with operations in Del Rio.
Among the companies represented at the expo were Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, a manufacturer of components for a brake system for large commercial vehicles, and Howmet Areospace, which manufacturers components for aircraft and industrial gas turbine engines.
Bendix administrator Francisco Perez said his company has participated in similar expos for years. Adrian Bermea Sr., launch engineer for Howmet, said Howmet, too, has been a long-time participant in manufacturing expos.
Bermea said it was nice to have a slightly different audience in Del Rio, noting Howmet has 50 to 60 employees in its Del Rio location.
Other companies from Del Rio included Julio’s Corn Chips, Jon Hart and SAS (San Antonio Shoes).
Julio’s representatives, including Miguel Garcia, part owner of company and Merland W. Albert, senior vice president of Julio’s, handed out free samples of the popular flavored chips. Albert said Julio’s administrators found out about the expo from Arreola and said the company employs 80 to 100 people.
Owen Reyes, general manager of the Jon Hart location in Del Rio
Manufacturing & Industrial Expo on Tuesday. Jon Hart, which has a manufacturing
operation in Del Rio, creates “high-end leather and canvas travel bags and accessories.”
(Photo by Karen Gleason)
said the company currently employs 44 people and is looking for nine more. He said Jon Hart, a company that makes a wide variety of high-end leather and canvas bags and accessories, opened in Del Rio with 12 employees in the summer of 2021.
Representatives of SAS brought displays of the many different types of shoes made by the company. Rick Knowles, retail administrator for the company, said SAS currently employs about 450 people in its Del Rio location.
Ramon said he hopes the manufacturing expo will continue for years to come. He said the purpose of the event is to educate the public about the manufacturers from both sides of the border.
“A year ago, I thought about bringing (the expo) over to this side and talk about what manufacturers are on the U.S. and Mexico sides. This is to educate the public on what Caterpillar does, what Bendix does. We produce so many products that go all around the world, and so that was the idea to start this,” Ramon said.
