The Growing Influence of Latino Executives in Dallas-Fort Worth

09/2017 D Magazine

With its booming economy and business-friendly environment, companies—and workers—continue to flock to Texas. Nearly half of all new arrivals to the state are foreign-born, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. The Fed took a look at the economic impact of immigration in its “Gone to Texas” research report, calling it both a cause and consequence of rapid regional growth.

Fifty-eight percent of the state’s immigrants hail from Mexico, followed by Asia and Central and South America. Beyond boosting local employment ranks, Latino immigrants are a growing entrepreneurial force. There are more than 70,000 Latino-owned businesses in North Texas, and they generate an estimated $10.7 billion in annual revenue, according to New York-based Stout Risius Ross Inc.

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Despite fears, Mexico’s manufacturing boom is lifting U.S. workers

08/21/2016 Los Angeles Times

Enrique Zarate, 19, had spent just a year in college when he landed an apprenticeship at a new BMW facility in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. If he performs well, in a year he’ll win a well-paid position, with benefits, working with robots at the company’s newest plant.

Within a decade or so, most of the BMW 3 series cars that Americans buy will probably come from Mexico, built by people like Zarate.

“When you start with such little experience, and get such a big salary, it’s unbelievable,” says Zarate, whose father is a taxi driver and whose mother is a housewife.

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Wal-Mart Sells Mexico Clothing Chain to Liverpool for $1 Billion

08/10/2016 Bloomberg

Photo credit: Bloomberg

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Mexican unit agreed to sell its Suburbia clothing chain to El Puerto de Liverpool SAB, Mexico’s biggest department store chain operator, in a deal valued at 19 billion pesos ($1.03 billion).

The transaction, which involved 119 stores, is subject to regulatory approval, Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB and Liverpool said in statements Wednesday after markets closed. Liverpool will pay 15.7 billion pesos, assume 1.4 billion pesos of debt and distribute an additional 3.3 billion pesos to shareholders after the deal is completed. As part of the deal, Liverpool will also pay rent to Walmex for all 34 store locations where Suburbia stores stand alongside Wal-Mart stores.

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How Do Texans Beat the Heat? With Water From Mexico

08/04/2016 The New York Times

HOUSTON — Anyone who has survived a summer in Texas will tell you the heat has heft. It pushes back when you try to move through it, squeezes sweat from pores you didn’t know you had and leaves your mouth so dry you could strike a match on your tongue.

For relief, natives and pretenders (talking about you, Brooklyn transplants in your boots and bolo ties) reach for an ice-cold Topo Chico, a Mexican sparkling water with an effervescence as aggressive as the summer heat is oppressive.

Avocados From Mexico hires Weber Shandwick to raise its foodservice profile

07/27/2016 PR Week

IRVING, TX: Avocados From Mexico has brought on Weber Shandwick as its foodservice advertising and PR AOR.

Weber started working with Avocados From Mexico, the marketing arm of Mexican Haas Avocado Importers Association and the Association of Growers and Packers of Avocados from Mexico, this month after it was selected in April following an RFP process that began in January. Three other firms pitched for the business, including incumbent Ketchum, Porter Novelli, and Sterling-Rice Group.

Weber is responsible for leading a comprehensive communications program to elevate Avocados From Mexico in the eyes of foodservice decision-makers as the only high-quality avocado available 365 days a year. Weber’s integrated campaign will include new advertising, paid media, earned media, social content, thought leadership, and strategic communications, said Susan Howe, president of the firm’s global consumer marketing practice.

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The Business Community is the Driving Force Behind North America’s Economic Strength

6/29/2016 The Hill

By Earl Anthony Wayne & Jodi Bond

On June 29, President Obama, Prime Minister Trudeau, and President Peña Nieto will meet in Ottawa for a North American Leaders Summit (NALS). While often ignored or criticized, America’s relations with Canada and Mexico touch the daily lives of more U.S. citizens than any other relationships in the world.  Positive, productive relations among neighbors will help generate the well-being and economic growth our citizens seek. What’s more important, we can now justifiably say that the peoples of the three countries are partners in ways that have never before been seen. In Ottawa, North America’s leaders can show the way to a more prosperous continent and seek to partner with the many stakeholders who stand to gain, especially the private sector that created today’s interconnected North American economy.

Despite the critics in the news, the U.S. has tens of millions of North America stakeholders. They range from the businesses and their employees who build and sell across the continent to the civil society groups who champion shared causes, and to the many citizens with family and heritage ties that cross our borders. These citizens have a direct interest in how well North America’s neighbors work together to grow our economies, guard our societies, and protect our shared environment. The work of the three leaders and government teams will be strengthened if they bring these stakeholders closer to the process of defining what Mexico, Canada and the U.S. do together.

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Governor Walker Aims to Strengthen Wisconsin-Mexico Trade

06/13/2016 Office of the Governor Scott Walker

Madison – Governor Scott Walker joined a Wisconsin delegation of representatives from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) on a business development mission to Mexico.

The purpose of the mission is to strengthen trade and investment ties between Wisconsin and Mexico. Mexico is Wisconsin’s second-largest export destination with the state’s exports to Mexico totaling nearly $3 billion in 2015.

“The overall objectives of this business development mission are two-fold,” said Governor Walker. “We want to attract new investment from Mexico into Wisconsin, while also encouraging Mexican companies with a presence in Wisconsin to maintain or expand their investments in the state.”

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