Argentinean city hopes to follow Allen’s footsteps

While the town of Berazategui, Argentina is a full continent removed from Allen, the hopes and goals of its government differ very little from those found closer to home.

This week, representatives from the Argentinean city visited Allen for insight into the burgeoning high tech and service industries, along with advice on how to bring those businesses to their city.

Steven Mon Dragon, president of consulting firm InParks Design, was hired to help the government of Berazategui find a suitable model to follow in inviting new business to the city.

“We liked the Allen model because it started from scratch. It was small and controllable,” Mon Dragon said. “They have managed to create an environment that has exploded in technology, and we believed that in the area where Berazeutegi is, we can create a model such as Allen in the strategic location that we’re in.”

While Berazategui is known as the “city of glass” for its rich glassmaking industry, Mayor Juan Jose Mussi said the city is ready to put more of its land and resources toward the cutting-edge industries.

“We’ve got the manpower. We’ve got the knowledge. We want to put people to work,” he said. “What we don’t want to do is focus on a lot of heavy machinery or heavy manufacturing. We want to move towards the service industry.”

During their three-day trip, the representatives attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Cabela’s retail location near Stacy Road and U.S. Highway 75 and toured various other major development projects in Allen like Watters’ Creek.

The group was also given a crash-course in Allen’s economic development process at the Allen Economic Development Corporation office near U.S. 75 and N. Allen Drive.

“We wanted them to see all the resources that we have and some of the infrastructure that’s needed to pull off some of these projects,” said Robert Winningham, executive director for the AEDC. “They don’t have an economic development corporation in their community, so from us they got a firsthand picture of how an EDC actually works, how it’s created and how it ultimately serves at the pleasure of the city council.”

Mussi said that while Berazategui is similar to Allen in its readiness to help build businesses, the extensive planning processes and zoning regulations in place stand in contrast to the less organized, more “free” approach found in Argentina.

“While our towns are very humble and maybe not as well off as some of the communities here, we take with us the impression that while you may not have a lot of money, you can still have coordination, organization and planning,” Mussi said.

During the visit, both cities discussed the possibility of establishing a “sister city” relationship, helping each other’s economic development across continents.

“Maybe there’s some businesses in Argentina that would want to do business here, or vice versa,” Winningham said. “It’s something we want to continue to explore with them.”

Mussi said while Berazategui grew to 15,000 small and medium businesses from 2004 to 2010, the city is still in need of funding through investments.

“They have a large labor pool, a young labor pool with the capacity to do call-center-type work or software programming,” Mon Dragon said. “I think maybe that is one of their most lucrative resources that can be taken advantage of in the area.”

“Everyone here has been very gracious and very hospitable,” Mussi said. “But we see now that we have a lot of work ahead of us. We do have hope that change can happen. It’s not an impossible feat. It’s just going to have to start somewhere.”

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