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MISSION, Texas - The Council for South Texas Economic Progress is close to landing two big manufacturing firms, one in the food industry and the other in aerospace.

COSTEP cannot reveal many details just yet but CEO Adam Gonzalez has confirmed that, if South Texas wins out, one of the companies would be making a $50 million investment and the other anywhere between half billion dollars and 1.5 billion.\\xa0

Gonzalez gave the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service an exclusive and wide-ranging audio interview.

\\u201cWe are working on some projects, of course, because that's our main focus - to bring industry and bring new businesses here to the region that create well paying jobs for our residents,\\u201d Gonzalez said.

\\u201cAnd, since we work regionally from Laredo to Brownsville, we feature a vast array of assets that are at our disposal.\\u201d

Gonzalez said his colleague, Rick Carrera, is working with the two companies. Carrera is director of economic development for COSTEP.

\\u201cOne of them is a pretty large investment, $50 million investment. The other one could potentially be starting at a half a billion dollar investment up to $1.5 billion investment,\\u201d Gonzalez said.

\\u201cI can't divulge a whole lot. You know how this works. But, we are getting some traction, we are getting some leverage. We appreciate the support from all the EDOs in the region that have given us their support in order for us to do our job. And, we welcome any other opportunities to collaborate, regionally.\\u201d

EDO stands for economic development organization.

The Guardian asked Gonzalez whether he could confirm that both prospective companies are manufacturers.\\xa0

\\u201cYes, they are,\\u201d Gonzalez replied. \\u201cOne is in the food industry and the other, all I can say, is in the aerospace industry. So that's about as much as I can give out at this point. But, you\\u2019ll start hearing about it in the near future or even sooner.\\u201d

So COSTEP is close to landing one or both projects, Gonzalez was asked.

\\u201cYes, we are. We're close,\\u201d Gonzalez confirmed.

On its website, COSTEP says it is \\u201cadvancing regional prosperity through the addition of a strategic framework for economic development.\\u201d This framework, the website says, is \\u201cdata-driven and market-validated, with a strong emphasis on job creation and building a regional talent pipeline, all working toward the goal of creating a virtuous circle of education and employment to drive sustainable economic growth and prosperity for the region and its citizens.\\u201d

Editor's Note: Go to the Rio Grande Guardian website to read the full story.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.