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PHARR, Texas - Reflecting the increased market share the Pharr International Bridge has gained for the import of fruits and vegetables from Mexico, the city\\u2019s 92-acre Pharr Produce District is now almost full.

When the park opened a few years ago there were 32 lots available for development. Now, just a handful remain.

This and other information related to the import and export of fresh produce at the Pharr Bridge was relayed by Luis Bazan, a director of the bridge during a recent webinar.

Early in the webinar, Tony Martinez, of Primo Trading Services, LLC, remarked that investments had slowed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Later in the webinar, Bazan agreed but predicted things will rebound.

\\u201cIt has kind of slowed down due to the economy and the way things are right now. But if you look across the bridge, adjacent to the bridge and Pharr Produce District, that is strictly a cold warehousing district for the City of Pharr,\\u201d Bazan said.\\xa0

\\u201cWe started with 32 available lots over a 92-acre tract. And here we are a couple of years later and we are almost at capacity. Yes, some of the construction has stopped for a little bit but that is understandable with the current economic conditions. At the end of the day, things will continue.\\u201d

Bazan said it makes sense for cold storage warehouses to be positioned close to his bridge.

\\u201cPeople want to be close to the bridge that they cross through. We are very excited to have these companies here that had been crossing through Pharr for many years and decided to put in the investment and work closer with us.\\u201d

The webinar featuring Bazan and Martinez was hosted by Miami, Florida-based WorldCity, Inc., which produced the 2020 Pharr Trade Numbers publication. WorldCity generates more than 10 million datasets with the latest U.S. Census Bureau data. It covers more than 200 nations; over 400 airports, seaports and border crossings; and more than 900 export and 900 import commodities.

Ken Roberts, president of WorldCity, said it is thanks to the City of Pharr that his company analyzes trade numbers by port. Before Pharr made this request all the data was obtained at the customs district level. He also said Pharr was the first client to request a Trade Numbers publication in Spanish.

\\u201cAs vice chair of the Pharr International Bridge, thank you, Ken, for working with us,\\u201d Martinez said. \\u201cIt truly makes our job so much easier to have you on our side because it is a fact check. You are a name that people trust. When people hear Ken Roberts they know the numbers are there. That means it is valid. It builds confidence in the people we are trying to service.\\u201d

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