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McAllen Chamber of Commerce Sees Benefits of Casa McAllen, Its Trade and Tourism Office in Monterrey, Mexico

When the Anzalduas International Bridge opens in 2009‚ it will create a third Rio Grande tourism and trade route to the McAllen metro area‚ saving time for shoppers‚ tourists and trucks as they bypass downtown Reynosa‚ Mexico.

But the bridge is hardly McAllen’s first effort to beef up Mexican-Texan ties.

In 1994‚ the McAllen Chamber of Commerce opened a trade and tourism office in Monterrey‚ Mexico‚ shortly after passage of the NAFTA agreement. Today‚ Casa McAllen – as the office managed by Silvia Garza is called – arranges high-profile business meetings‚ participates in trade exhibitions and sends Mexican consumers to McAllen with hordes of coupons.

“It was the Chamber’s effort to grow McAllen in terms of tying it into the Monterrey market‚” says Chamber CEO Steve Ahlenius‚ explaining why that metro market of 4 million people made an obvious choice. “It’s the epicenter of business activity for the whole country of Mexico.”

Casa McAllen resides in Cintermex‚ Latin America’s largest exhibition hall with more than a million square feet of convention and permanent office space.

The Chamber’s lease entitles it to enviable booth space rates and a setting at a vibrant business crossroads.

“I call it the mall for business‚” Ahlenius says. “It’s been an ongoing success for McAllen.”

Story by Gary Perilloux

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