Electrician, welder and a builder are just a few of the jobs people can get in the manufacturing business.
Joel Gonzalez graduated from the manufacturing program at South Texas College.
He now owns his own motorcycle business.
At El Super Guapo Kustoms, Gonzalez repairs motorcycles and even makes them from scratch.
"We've been very blessed with a lot of clients so we're doing good," said Gonzalez.
It's businesses like this that Mario Reyna the dean of Business and Technology at South Texas College said could help bring in revenue.
Reyna said of all the jobs in the McAllen Metropolitan Statistical Area, only three percent are involved in manufacturing, and that's something the community wants to change.
"If you bring manufacturing industry into our area that is going to create additional jobs to create to support the manufacturing process," said Reyna.
Jobs that were once thought of as blue collar are now the so called gold colar.
With only an Associates degree or certificate, manufacturing employees can make a pretty penny.
"Most of those jobs are going to pay way beyond 50 thousand dollars," said Reyna.
And the industry is looking up.
"I mean I know there was a little bit of a time when people were starting to notice a little bit of stalling in it, but you see people talking about more machines are being bought by companies …how people are getting jobs now, so it seems like it's growing back up again," said Gonzalez.
Reyna said the more people that get into the manufacturing field, the more the Rio Grande Valley economy will grow.
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