Backward Integration Supply Chain Analysis of the Greater Brownsville-Texas / Matamoros-Tamualipas Region
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The United Brownsville Coordinating Board is requesting Statements of Qualifications (SoQ) for the preparation of a "Backward Integration Supply Chain Analysis (BISCA)" for the Brownsville, Texas - Matamoros, Tamaulipas economic region. Interested firms should submit five (5) copies of their SoQ, along with an electronic version in PDF format, by no later than 5:00 p.m., Friday, February 20, 2015.
All hard copy SoQ (along with PDF version) should be marked "United Brownsville Supply Chain Analysis" and be delivered to:
United Brownsville Coordinating Board
2390 Central Blvd., Suite X, Brownsville, Texas 78520
Attn: Mike Gonzalez, Executive Director mikeg@unitedbrownsville.com
BISCA OBJECTIVE:
The primary goal of this project will be to develop a foundation to create a competitive binational advanced manufacturing cluster that can create higher wage jobs by completing a backward integration supply chain analysis of the greater Brownsville-Matamoros region.
This analysis will identify opportunities, identify constraints, and develop strategies for import substitution of manufacturer's supply chains with products manufactured locally in the project region.
INTRODUCTION:
Brownsville, Texas is the largest city (181,860 population) within an area of south Texas known as the Rio Grande Valley "RGV" (1,303,782 population). The Brownsville/RGV region has faced decades of structural unemployment that has led to a number of critically negative economic performance indicators including: per capita earnings of 62 percent the national average, an unemployment rate of 9.9 percent compared to 6.1 for Texas, and household poverty rates persistently over 30 percent.
Driving these negative indicators is regional employment growth dominated by low-skill/low-wage non-exporting industries while growth in high-skill/high-wage exporting industries has been stagnating or in decline. Jobs at exporting firms have largely been dependent upon industrial clusters based on the traditional U.SjMexico border maquiladora (assembly plants) model that is becoming increasingly irrelevant in a globally competitive context.
Facing this stark future, the Brownsville community came together to create the Imagine Brownsville Comprehensive Plan (IBCP) - a comprehensive community-planning effort to define a new economic vision for the future of our region. Winner of the American Planning Association's 2009 Comprehensive Planning Award, the IBCP was delivered to and adopted by the Brownsville City Commission on Tuesday, July 21, 2009.
The United Brownsville Coordinating Board was created to develop the cross-sector collaboration needed for the successful implementation of initiatives highlighted within the IBCP. Working as a backbone organization, United Brownsville builds the framework for regional analysis and action by assembling local leaders in government, business, and academia. United Brownsville's charter members include: City of Brownsville, Port of Brownsville, University of Texas at Brownsville, Brownsville Public Utilities Board, Texas Southmost College, Brownsville Greater Incentives Corporation, Brownsville Independent School District, and Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation.
The IBCP clearly documented that the long-term prosperity of our region requires evolving our non-exporting dominated, pass-through, economy to one driven by investment and innovation by leveraging the established advanced manufacturing capacity in the neighboring city of Matamoros, Mexico.
