From restaurants, to real estate and even renewable energy, Mexican business men and women are bringing their products to the U.S.
There’s so many of them making the move, that they established the first ever Brownsville-South Padre Island chapter of the “Associacion de Empresarios Mexicanos" or AEM (Mexican Business Association).
Fernando Hernandez attended the chapter's inauguration meeting to establish a network for his wind turbine and solar panel business, American Made Solar and Wind.
"Solar energy is a trend that is growing all over the world so right now, I see a big market in Texas and Brownsville,” Hernandez said, “especially because there is a lot of businesses moving into the area, so they have the need to save energy."
Chapter President Marcos Saldivar said like Hernandez, many entrepreneurs realize there is opportunity here in the U.S.
The association's goal is to help business men and women make the transition and establish successful businesses on this side of the border.
"There's an immigration process they have to go through, there's a legal process that they have to go through when they invest money, there's a legal process that they go through (and other issues like) where are they going to live (and) buy a home," Saldivar said.
National Board Chair of AEM Edurardo Bravo, was a special guest at the chapter's inauguration He said every day there's about $1 billion worth of products exchanged between the U.S. and Mexico.
"Mexican business (owners) are investing, are creating jobs and are paying taxes,” Bravo said.
Bravo adds the violence in Mexico is one of the factors that business owners are looking for new markets.
"Unfortunately, in Mexico, that's their reality,” he said.
However, he's hopeful these ongoing partnerships are a sign of a booming future.
"More and more this block of Mexico, Canada and United States is going to be the future to compete with the Asian countries," Bravo said.
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