A vision for one shared home in the Delta Region for workforce training, dual credit, and entrepreneurship — anchored right here in Edcouch-Elsa.
Presented to the Edcouch‑Elsa ISD Board of Trustees · July 30, 2026
A partnership between the City of Elsa, the Elsa EDC, and Edcouch‑Elsa ISD
Daniel Rivera, Executive Director, Elsa EDC
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Not starting from zero
The pieces are already here. They just need one foundation to grow from.
Between this district, the City, and the EDC, real programs are already running. They’re not ideas — they’re already happening. They just don’t share one address yet.
This building doesn’t start these partnerships. It gives them a foundation to grow from.
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The workforce ceiling
Gateway jobs exist here. The ladder to climb them is missing.
Adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher
Our community sits roughly 23 points below the national rate.
Source: Elsa EDC 5-Year Strategic Plan baseline (2026); U.S. Census / Esri.
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher
Area
Share of adults
Our area
14.5%
United States
about 38%
Local job postings that are entry-level, no experience required90%
The first jobs are already here. What’s missing is the next rung.
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The paradox we live with
Jobs here are growing fast. Our people are still leaving.
City jobs
Up 33.4% in five years — about three times the national rate.
Source: Lightcast 2025 via Elsa EDC 5-Year Plan. 2020 figure derived from the reported +33.4% change.
City jobs
Year
Jobs
2020
about 1,290
2025
1,724
City population
Down 8.2% over the decade — and projected flat to 2030.
Source: U.S. Census via Elsa EDC 5-Year Plan. 2010 figure derived from the reported −8.2% change.
City population
Year
Population
2010
about 6,200
2020
5,688
Construction employment here runs 4.38× the national concentration. The work is already here — the training to move up in it isn’t.
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This isn’t only about a diploma path
A lot of our small business owners never went down the traditional education road. They still need to learn.
Plenty of Main Street entrepreneurs here didn’t take the college or CTE path — and they still need real, practical skills. Not a four-year commitment. Just the next thing they need to keep their doors open and grow.
Using AI toolsBookkeepingSocial media marketingPricing & marginsGetting onlineHiring & payroll
A front door for entrepreneurs, not just future graduates — the owner who already opened their doors and needs help now.
This is the “E” in RISE — entrepreneurship support built alongside workforce training, not separate from it.
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What this building becomes
A signal — for our community, and for this region.
A building like this doesn’t just hold programs. It becomes the place people already know to look toward.
For our community
The place you go when you’re starting a business, building a skill, or trying to do better — one address everybody knows, instead of ten different answers.
For the region
Proof the Delta area isn’t just growing — it’s building permanent, sustainable programs, with a real home base for its economy.
Why this matters right now
The Valley is being rebuilt — right now, an hour from this room.
SpaceX Starbase photo
Space · Boca Chica
SpaceX Starbase
~8,000 jobs
Projected headcount within about 18 months, up from roughly 4,200 today.
Rio Grande LNG photo
Energy · Port of Brownsville
Rio Grande LNG
$18.4B
NextDecade’s export terminal, with a further $12B expansion phase announced. A second terminal, Texas LNG, is moving too.
Refinery photo
Refining · Port of Brownsville
America First Refining
500 jobs
240+ acres at the port, announced March 2026.
Proposed
This is energy and aerospace money that will outlive all of us in this room.
And it isn’t only oil and rockets
Advanced manufacturing and tech are landing here too.
Saronic / Port Alpha photo
AI shipbuilding · Port of Brownsville
Saronic “Port Alpha”
$3.2B
10,000+ jobs over ten years on 600+ acres. Cameron County approved a $211M incentive in June 2026.
Proposed · site not final
Valeo plant photo
Advanced manufacturing · McAllen
Valeo
$225M
Largest industrial investment in Hidalgo County history. 337,000 sq ft building the computers inside GM vehicles; up to 500 high-skill jobs.
Zoho campus photo
Technology · Edinburg
Zoho Corporation
1,050 acres
A global software company building a campus north of Edinburg, plus the historic Echo Hotel downtown.
Saronic’s agreement requires partnerships with local schools and a 35% local-hire target. RISE is how we hold up our end of a deal like that.
And it’s the kind of growth that needs trained people
Manufacturing returns more than twice the regional jobs of warehousing or retail.
Regional jobs created per $1 billion invested, by sector
It’s why every EDC in this region is chasing manufacturing — and why trained workers, not land, are the real constraint.
One building. One address. A shared home for the partners already doing this work — serving Elsa, Edcouch, La Villa, Monte Alto, and San Carlos.
UTRGV logo
University partnership & workforce development
SBDC logo
Small business counseling & training
South Texas College logo
Dual credit & workforce credentials
Workforce Solutions logo
Training & industry certifications
Plus Leadership Elsa and entrepreneurship education — all under one roof, in one place people can actually find.
One idea already on the table
This building shaped generations of Edcouch-Elsa students. We think it could do that again.
As we’ve thought through where RISE could live, the former high school keeps coming up — central, already known, already loved. It already carries a historical marker site designation, and we’d want to honor that: capturing and telling the stories of what this campus meant to this community, while putting its space back to work for the people who come next.
Homage to the past, resources leveraged for the future — with the Edcouch-Elsa name at the center of it. We’re not asking you to hand over keys tonight. We’re asking you to start the conversation with us.
Edcouch-Elsa High School sign — photo
This has real momentum behind it
Regional partners are already stepping up.
Elsa EDC has applied for a $500,000 USDA Rural Business Development Grant toward this vision, with signed letters of support already in hand. This isn’t a wish — it’s a project regional partners are already backing.
LRGVDC
Regional economic development coordination
Letter of support signed
UTRGV SBDC
Business counseling & workforce development
Letter of support signed
Workforce Solutions RGV
Training & industry credentials
Letter of support signed
South Texas College
26-year EEISD dual credit partner
Committed partner
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What we’re asking for tonight
Not a vote. Just your support for the vision.
We’re not here to ask the Board to approve a transfer or make a final decision tonight. We’re asking for your support as we keep exploring what a partnership here could look like — and for the chance to come back with a formal proposal once the details are further along.
Tonight’s ask
Support this vision, and let us keep working together — as partners — on what comes next.
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Thank you
Edcouch-Elsa’s legacy, building the Delta Region’s future — together.
With your support, we keep building this out the right way — the same way this partnership has always worked.
Daniel Rivera
Executive Director, Elsa Economic Development Corporation
