A Rio Grande Valley business leader says Tesla's future plant in Monterrey has South Texas and the Mexico region competing with other parts of the state for commerce, and jobs as a whole.

Tesla already has a plant in Austin, which means new vehicles manufactured in Nuevo León will have to ship through ports of entry on the border to cities like Laredo. This gives the RGV more incentive to increase infrastructure, Mission Economic Development Corporation CEO Teclo Garcia said. 

"It's a great opportunity for Mexico and the U.S., especially Texas," Garcia said. "These trades equal bridge crossings. And also production and, or, distribution facilities on this side of Texas, which means jobs."

According to Mexico's foreign ministry, the new plant is expected to assemble about one million electronic vehicles per year. That means if Laredo ports get busy or backed up, the Valley may be an alternative route.

"It's a great boom for the area, we wanna be able to look at a company like Tesla and say 'OK, you're using Laredo as your primary bridge and there's plenty of business there.... but here's another way you can get in and out of Mexico," Garcia said. "We need to compete as bigger regions. Monterrey, San Antonio and the Valley. We have to compete against China and other parts of Asia, the Middle East as a region, and this is one way we can do it."

As of now, $25 million in federal grant money is going towards upgrades to the Anzalduas International Bridge.