City of Laredo Proclaims National Economic Development Week
Written by admin, May 10, 2022, 0 Comments
Courtesy David Alegria,
Laredo, Texas — The City of Laredo, in partnership with the Laredo Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) and Laredo College Economic Development Center, proclaimed National Economic Development Week from May 9 to May 13, 2022. During this week, communities across North America will celebrate and recognize the contributions made by professional economic developers to create more economically vibrant and livable communities.
The proclamation ceremony took place on Monday, May 9 at City Hall Council Chambers and was read by City leaders including Mayor Pro-tempore, Vidal Rodriguez, and Council Member for District 3, Mercurio Martinez, III, along with the President and CEO of LEDC, Gene Lindgren, and Senior Director of Economic and Resource Development at Laredo College, Michael Gonzalez. Economic Development Week, founded by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) in 2016, aims to increase awareness for local programs that create jobs, advance career opportunities, and improve the quality of life for constituents.
“Great economic development isn’t done in a silo. It requires strong public-private partnerships throughout the community from the City to the school districts, to higher education, to our federal and state partners,” said Teclo Garcia, City of Laredo Economic Development Director.
“We have unity in Laredo, and that’s why recently we’ve helped create – with the private sector – hundreds of new jobs and hundreds of millions in new investments meanwhile significantly dropping the city’s unemployment and poverty rates.”
The LEDC will host various events promoting Economic Development Week such as local shopping, networking opportunities, infrastructure, transportation, and more. The City of Laredo Economic Development Department continues to support and recruit businesses in diverse industries to the number one port in America. In 2021, the unemployment rate dropped to 7.5% while the labor force includes over 116,500 people. The City of Laredo has received various recognitions that makes it stand out from other similar-sized cities, including best city to start a business by wallethub.com and safest big city in Texas by safety.com.
