Published in the El Paso Times on February 12, 2024
By Veronica Escobar, César Blanco, Ricardo Samaniego, Oscar Leeser
During the first half of the 20th century, El Paso was a leading American city. Our community could boast about having the tallest concrete building in the world (the Anson Mills Building), the finest theatre between Dallas and Los Angeles (the Plaza Theatre), the second oldest bowl game as part of the Southwest Sun Carnival, the highest building between the United States and Buenos Aires (the Hilton Hotel), and the state’s only mining college, Texas College of Mines, was rapidly growing.
El Paso incomes were high, as was community pride.
But in the latter part of the 20th Century, El Paso had changed course, with low-wage jobs putting us in a tragic race to the bottom. What came as a result was a brain drain that we are still trying to reverse today.
It takes a multi-faceted approach to reverse that trend, but a fundamental component is high-wage jobs and keeping our talent in El Paso.
UTEP’s advanced manufacturing and aerospace engineering department and its collaborative work with the community represent El Paso’s next era in ambitious economic development and is key to a more prosperous future for everyone in our community.
El Paso is on its way to being a major player in the defense industry’s supply chain. If we can bring together our manufacturing base, the brilliant engineering students and graduates from UTEP, all supported by our federal, state, and local organizations, we can forge an economy built on great jobs and innovation.
This transformational horizon, the brainchild of UTEP professors Dr. Ahsan Choudhuri and Dr. Ryan Wicker, has resulted in an economic map to prosperity that is embraced by Congresswoman Escobar, State Sen. César J. Blanco and the state delegation, the county of El Paso, the city of El Paso, the El Paso Community College, Western Technical College, the El Paso Chamber, and our community’s leading business and civic leaders.
Beyond the community embrace, the county of El Paso and UTEP are transforming the Fabens Airport into the Tech One Campus — a premier aerospace research and testing facility. The city of El Paso’s partnership with UTEP includes the Advanced Manufacturing District. The first facility, the Innovation Factory, recently opened and features companies maturing advanced manufacturing technologies.
Not only is this initiative supported at the local level, but the federal government is also supporting the initiative as UTEP was recently awarded a $40 million Build Back Better grant to support UTEP’s efforts in advanced manufacturing and aerospace. And this month UTEP was selected as one of 10 awardees of the National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines grant, making our community eligible for up to $160 million over 10 years if we are successful in meeting our benchmarks along the way.
These federal dollars represent an investment that will put our goals on overdrive. The collaboration created by these ambitious El Pasoans at UTEP will put El Paso on the map and ensure we are nationally competitive in the 21st-century emerging sectors of aerospace, defense, and advanced manufacturing.
At the state level, the Texas Legislature and the El Paso state delegation are committed to advancing the aerospace and advanced manufacturing industry. During the 88th Legislative Session, the Texas Legislature demonstrated its commitment to advancing the aerospace and advanced manufacturing industry by establishing the Texas Space Commission and the Texas Aerospace Consortium at the state level. These initiatives aim to identify research opportunities, secure funding, and promote workforce training and economic development, thereby strengthening Texas's competitive position in space-related fields.
UTEP stands to benefit significantly from these efforts by actively participating in the consortium. As West Texas emerges as a leader in space exploration, UTEP can contribute critical perspectives to the consortium's discussions. By showcasing our local initiatives and their impact on advancing aerospace and advanced manufacturing locally, UTEP can effectively advocate for increased funding and support for our endeavors.
This is an exciting time for our community. Betting on ourselves — our talent, our ingenuity, and our ability to work together to make big things happen — is a bet on a more prosperous future. El Paso deserves nothing less. And it could not be possible without the dedicated leaders at UTEP.
This column was coauthored by U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, State Sen. César J. Blanco, El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego, and El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser.
