By Martha L. Hernandez, The Monitor
The Monitor
McALLEN — Research can go on for years before a product becomes marketable.
That’s not how it worked with FibeRio Technologies’ nanofibers.
University of Texas-Pan American professors Karen Lozano and Kamal Sarkar researched the technology in 2008.
In September 2009, they found an investor.
“We started official business in August of 2010 and sold the first machine in December of last year,” said Edward Peno, chief operating officer of FibeRio, which is incubating at the University of Texas-Pan American’s Rapid Response Manufacturing Center.
That speedy transfer from concept to consumption is what local leaders envision with the proposed McAllen Research and Education Park for the Rio South Texas region.
“It is about taking our community to the next level,” said Keith Patridge, president of the McAllen Economic Development Corp.
The proposed park, to be situated on 400 acres near the McAllen Foreign Trade Zone south of Ware Road and next to South Texas College, is a public-private project meant to bring minds from industry and higher education together.
“The people that are really going to benefit from this project are … our children and grandchildren,” McAllen City Commissioner John Ingram said. “This project will prepare our economy for the 21st century and beyond.”
Planners envision the park as pedestrian-friendly, with open spaces, research facilities and amenities within walking distance. The goal is to blend the park — bound on the west by the Sharyland residential area and on the north by a future golf park — into the surrounding community.
“The driving force behind the park is a subcommittee made up of affiliates of the North American Advanced Manufacturing Research and Education Initiative,” according to the NAAMREI website. “Sixty business, education, economic development, industry and government partners form the initiative, which is focused on transforming the region into a world leader for advanced and rapid response manufacturing.”
A preview was presented last week to local stakeholders at the McAllen Chamber of Commerce, but the master plan — which is being drawn up by Austin-based Broaddus Planning — won’t be ready until fall.
U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, got the House to approve a $300,000 grant for the master plan, but the park’s proponents do not know how its construction will be financed — or what the final price tag will be.
They do have the land, though.
McAllen’s EDC has taken the lead in obtaining private sector involvement. MEDC secured commitments for public and private land. Eighty acres was donated by the city, 255 by Hunt Properties and 71 by Verde Development.
“When will we start looking at building things?” Patridge said. “That will be later: That will be at the end of the year or the first part of next year.”
Ingram framed the research park as a possible way to keep local talent from seeking jobs outside the Valley.
“Think about all the money spent raising kids from the time (they’re) small to the time they get out of college,” Ingram said. “It’s hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
If “we had a facility like this,” he said, “that could create jobs … (and) instead of losing that investment to Dallas, Houston, Chicago and other parts of the world, we keep them right here and give them a good job.”
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Martha L. Hernández covers health, business and general assignments for The Monitor and El Nuevo Heraldo. She can be reached at (956) 683-4846.
WHAT’S IN STORE?:
See the draft plan for the research park.