Growth Tabloid

2 / Nogales International October 23, 2009 Special Supplement / Growth 2009GROWTH

Nogales International October 23, 2009 / 3Special Supplement / Growth 2009 GROWTH

When the first railcarshipment of produce fromMexico crossed the Nogales,Ariz., border in 1905, fewtook notice. Life went by at aslow pace then for the fewthousand living in “AmbosNogales”, as the twin citieson the border betweenArizona and Sonora areknown. Even PanchoVillahad not yet come along tobrew serious trouble on thefrontier.

The last big trouble theborder had witnessed wereApache raids at the end of

the previous century. That’swhen courageous local set-tlers and ranchers — toughmen like Art Peck and PeteKitchen — would climb ontothe roofs of their adobehomes to shoot down at theIndians.

Even the women werestrong. It is said that Mrs.Kitchen could hike up herskirts and brandish a riflelike any man… You had to befearless to survive in thisbeautiful yet inhospitableSonora high desert, whereeverything that didn’t sting

or prick would certainly bite.Or, sometimes, shoot you.

Thus, the men and womenwho settled on the border atthe turn of the century wereno ordinary people. Theywere visionaries and coura-geous entrepreneurs who sawthe potential of internationaltrade long before it became abuzz-word in the next centu-ry.

Soon enough, the oncesleepy border towns ofNogales, Ariz., and Nogales,Sonora would become twocities that seldom sleep.

Salute to the new Port ofNogales & its Produce Industry

4 / Nogales International October 23, 2009 Special Supplement / Growth 2009

By Veronica A. KraushaarFOR THE NOGALES INTERNATIONAL

Trains still cross our borders daily, but no longer with fresh produce.

From Sleepy…to SleeplessFew today remember that it

was actually cantaloupes beingshipped in that first producerailcar from Mexico in 1905.Soon, the “West Mexico deal”— as everyone called it — wasofficially launched, bringingfirst trains, then trucks, acrossthe border with fresh producefrom the states of Sinaloa andSonora.

This bounty would becomethe only fresh fruits and veg-etables North Americanscould find during the longwinter months. This was thebeginning of what is today a$7 billion-plus produce-imports industry, and now thelifeblood of this twin-cityregion grown to house over500,000.

Explosion of the“West Mexico deal”

Some of the old time Nogales produce crates and labels.

“In the early days of thebusiness, the main produceitems crossing via rail were thecantaloupes, of course, but alsotomatoes, squash, bell peppers,peas and eggplant.” recallsWilliam (Bill) Sykes, scion ofone of the area’s pioneers,board member of the PimeriaAlta Historical Society, andlong-time Nogales distributor.“The brokers congregated atthe Montezuma Hotel down-town, right along the tracks, towatch the produce beingunloaded and then reloadedinto U.S. railcars.”Sykes is the great-grandson

of local settler CharlesPatterson “CP” Sykes, awealthy visionary from NewYork who saw that the climatein these parts beat the EastCoast winters. In 1872 hedecided to build a hotel alongthe Santa Cruz River in thehamlet of Calabasas, where the

golf course in Rio Ricois today. He also builtthe railroad route east-ward from Rio Rico toBenson.

CP then provisioned a luxu-ry railcar to bring a few dozenof his closest friends fromNew York to experience thehealthy desert climate, smackin the middle of February.They were hooked. CP wasperhaps the area’s first con-summate salesman, and thatenthusiasm still runs in thefamily today.All this was long before pro-

duce distributors had theirown warehouses, which werebuilt along the rail spur run-ning north-sound. Truckscame much later, in the 1950s,and then the multi-dock ware-houses started popping up,transferring loads that arrivedby rail to the more efficient,new American highways.Some of the first companies tobuild warehouses here includ-

ed Child Bros.,Engebrettson Grupe ,Burnand & Co, among

others.Like Bill Sykes, several of

the local families involved inthe early West Mexico deal arestill here and doing approxi-mately the same thing today.Names like Bennen, Gotsis,Harrison, Meyer, Shipley andWilson represented a few thatdecorated the facades of ware-houses in Nogales and north-ward along Highway

Interstate 19 (The previousnorth/south route soonbecame OLD NogalesHighway).They were soon joined by

industry players fromCalifornia, Texas, and ofcourse, Mexico, among othergrowing areas.The ranchers and farmers

from Culiacan, Sinaloa andHermosillo, Sonora also soonrecognized the opportunitiesthat lay just a few hundredmiles away to penetrate theattractive North Americanmarketplace. RenownedMexican families like Batiz,Ley, Leyson, Maldonado,Tarriba and others joined ingrower/shipper partnershipswith U.S. distributors to takeproducts successfully to mar-ket.Today, the produce line-up

coming through Nogales totalsaround 40 different

Nogales International October 23, 2009 / 5Special Supplement / Growth 2009

Charles (“C.P.”) Sykes, apioneer developer here inthe late 1800s, is thegreat-grandfather of pro-duce distributor William(Bill) Sykes.

Several of the localfamilies involved inthe early WestMexico deal are stillhere and doing thesame thing today.

As the Nogales produceindustry reached a certain criti-cal mass in the mid-1940s, theleaders decided to organizethemselves as the West MexicoVegetable DistributorAssociation.This meant thatthe group would get the atten-tion of Washington in itsefforts to secure favorable leg-islation to maintain a workableplaying field to import fruitsand vegetables into the U.S. Astrong organization also meanta more viable presence in agrowing, competitive North-American marketplace.The West Mexico Produce

Association became the FreshProduce Association of theAmericas (FPAA) in the early1990s.Today it boasts more than

100 member companiesinvolved in the growth, harvest,marketing, import, and distri-bution of Mexican produce.Current FPAA president

Jesse Driskill — a local pro-duce veteran himself —explains the evolving industry:“We need to remember that

the produce industry here, thefew companies, all local fami-lies, were already organizingsince the 1917s or so. But thetrue explosion here came afterNAFTA.”Driskill explains that once

the North American FreeTrade Agreement was ratifiedin 1994, the doors of Mexicoflung open and investment inthe country took off. That isalso when many outsiders came

to Nogales to launch produceoperations. He recalls:“Along with the explosive

post-NAFTA growth, we alsosaw the competition amongthe ports (Texas andCalifornia, principally) and thisforced us to spend more timein defensive and lobbyingactivities. In fact, the FPAA, atits members’ behest, continuesto expend much of its resourcesin ensuring continued influ-

ence in Washington. Forexample, we saved importersnearly $1 billion by working toeliminate high duties onMexican tomatoes.”In addition to these lobbying

efforts, the association has astrong public relations pro-gram: one that has beingfocused in changing the wayAmericans think of importedproduce:“There is still a disconnect

between the growing practices

that Mexican growers use andAmericans’ perception ofimported produce, “saysFPAA’s director of communi-cations, Allison Moore. “Wehave taken editors of majorculinary and lifestyle maga-zines, along with nutritionist,

dieticians etc. to tours ranchesin Mexico, and they areamazed at how sophisticatedthe growers are.Not only do these events

allow these folks to networkwith one another to our ben-efit, but then they return andwrite complimentary articlesabout their experiences.”Moore adds that they alsoreach out to public affairs per-sonnel at supermarket chainswho act as “influencers” aboutthis subject.A recent example was given

of a pilot project with a majornational supermarket chain,who posted an 800-number forshoppers to call if they hadquestions about Mexico pro-duce. Over the two week test,the chain received only positivephone calls about the quality ofthe produce. “This showed usthat consumers may not be asconcerned about Mexico pro-duce as we may believe.”The new Country of Origin

Labeling (COOL) law has alsohelped consumers becomemore comfortable with theconcept of imported producein general.Moore also explains that

products, and continues togrow.The winter-season tradesoon became close to year-round supply, as the dealexpanded to other producingstates in Mexico. Activity at

the warehouses startearly at dawn and,during peak season,can go late into the night(thus a community that sel-dom sleeps, for when its play-

ers are not packing, shippingor selling, they are worryingabout it.)

Fresh produce cross-ings through Nogalesnow total over 4 billion

pounds and represent a valueof over $2 billion. It is esti-mated that one third of all

produce consumed in the U.S,now comes from Mexico. Thelone railcar of 1905 has mor-phed into more than 100,000truckloads of produce peryear.


Strength in Numbers

Former FPAA executive director Lee Frankel (L), alongwith then-FPAA Chair Bill Sykes, cuts the ribbon at theopening of the FPAA’ s brand new offices in 2004.

The FPAA savedimporters nearly $1billion by workingto eliminate highduties on Mexicantomatoes.

ago. Truth is, the four lanes atthe Port of Mariposa could nolonger properry process theimpressive volume of trucks —303,000, of which roughly one

third are produce shipments —crossing each year. Delaysaffected the quality of theproducts on arrival and triedthe patience of the U.S.

receivers. A solution needed tobe found, and fast.Driskill, who thought that

the current port of entry situa-tion had become untenable by

the mid-1990s, recalls: “TheFPAA saw that the competitionwas heating up with the borderports, especially with the newand efficient McAllen (Texas)facility. This was our busi-ness. We had to do something,and that is how the port author-ity eventually came to be.”In late 2004, a group of far-

thinking produce industry andarea leaders decided to form anon-profit group called theGreater Nogales and SantaCruz County Port Authority (orGNSCCPA) to address thisissue. Their objective — asambitious as their acronym —was to obtain state and federalsupport to improve the localport facilities and enhance gen-eral economic development inthe region.Partnering with local eco-

without a large market-ing budget, this is a way theFPAA has made an impactwith the public: one that is veryimportant in helping con-sumers understand that strictpractices and inspection guide-lines are in place for importedproduce. “Mostly, people don’trealize all the steps from “seedto fork” entailed in ensuring theproduce they eat is healthy andof the highest quality.”


It is exactly this critical sub-ject of ensuring high-qualityproduce that became a logisti-cal challenge a decade or so

GrowingPains

The current Port: Outgrown for many years now.

nomic and tourism develop-ment organizations, it workeddiligently to get the vision ofan expanded commercial portrealized.“Everyone agreed we neededthis. They key challenge was:‘How are we going to get thefunding?’” notes PA ExecutiveDirector J. B. Manson.

He credits much of the suc-cess of the port authority’sefforts and ultimate success tothe hard work of colleague andfriend Terry Shannon Jr., for-mer PA executive director.Again, these are local, legacyfamilies helping ensure theirfuture. Both Manson’s andShannon’s fathers ran producebrokerages and both are stillinvolved in the business today.In fact, Manson senior, Jim,is an expert in port-relatedissues. “He was involved indeveloping the current port inthe 1970s,” explained his son,“But this time he wasn’t inter-

ested in getting involved. Hesaid it was my turn now.”Moore, who in addition toher role as PR expert for theFPAA is also Treasurer of theport authority, said, “We got towhere we are today because ofthe collective vision and all ofus working in the same direc-tion, with the same goal.”For the normally fiercely-independent produce distribu-tors, this was quite an achieve-ment. “What is really impor-tant is that we never stoppedbelieving and trying, evenwhen we encountered delayafter delay.”

Yet, even long before thedreamy new port designs werethought up; even as the newport approval delays discour-aged many, a few industryleaders proceeded with theirbusiness expansions in theexpectation of the project’seventual reality. One of thesewas Del Campo.A presence in Nogales since1980, the company is ownedby the Ley family of Culiacan.They are also owners of

Mexico’s Casa Ley supermar-kets, now part of Safeway, Inc.The Del Campo owners decid-ed to build one larger facility

when they outgrew their threewarehouses in town.As Jim Cathey, Del Campo’sgeneral manager explains:“Economically and from aquality and customer-serviceaspect, we could no longerfunction that way.” In 2007they unveiled their state-of-theart, 125,000-square-foot facili-ty, currently considered thelargest, one-brand produce dis-tribution warehouse in the area.Cathey, also an offspring ofa pioneering produce familyand one of the longest-servingchairmen of the FPAA, started

in this business around 1977.This loyalty to and belief in theviability of the community iswhat drives families like theMansons, the Shannons; theLeys and Catheys, the manyothers listed above, plus somany others who came beforethem to continue to live andinvest in this area.“The new Port will make ahuge difference. It will justhelp everyone do their jobsbetter both here and across theborder at the maquiladoras.It’s a win all around.” saysCathey.

The new Del Campo headquarters along1-19 features more than 125,000 squarefeet of office and warehouse space.


Everyone agreed weneeded this.The key challengewas: how are wegoing to get thefunding?

The renderings of the newMariposa Port of Entry show-case a marvel of state-of-theart efficiency. The project alsohas enough “green” features toplease any environmentalist. Itwill feature 20 lanes: 12 fornon-commercial traffic andeight for commercial, under a50-percent to 70-percent solarfacility generated by panels onthe parking rooftops.State-of-the-art cameras are

also partly solar-powered. Theroof has rain collection andretention basins designed toprovide the entire facility withwater.On the crossing efficiency

angle there will be four X-raymachines, 50 to 60 usabledock spaces with load- levelersfor convenient truck off-load-ing for inspection; full RFID(electronic ID) capacity, andmuch more.When completed in 2013

and at full capacity, theMariposa Port of Entry will bethe model facility for com-merce into the U.S, capable ofprocessing a projected total of1. 2 million trucks annually.One of the key aspects of

this project is that theCustoms & Border Protection(CBP) agency is working with

the General ServicesAssociation (GSA) to actuallyincrease capacity at the Portduring construction. As every-one who has seen road con-structions projects in the areatie up traffic indefinitely, thisis indeed a revelation. Theplanned phased expansion isdesigned to ensure there are

no crossing interruptions.Beyond clearly enhancing

the local produce industry, theexpanded port facility willhave far-reaching conse-quences for this area overall.Growth in all business and

commercial sectors are project-ed once it’s completed.Importantly, it is expected togenerate relocations to thearea once it grabs the attentionof outside businesses.“The new Port will attract

businesses to our community,

which has a lot to offer interms of low land and housingcosts; a bi-lingual, trainedworkforce, plus a beautiful,low-stress environment inwhich to do business and alsoraise a family. “ notes City ofNogales Mayor OctavioGarcia-Van Borstel, addingthat this project is the largestone in Nogales’ recent history.

“I’d like to commend theGreater Nogales and SantaCruz County Port Authority,the Fresh Produce Associationof the Americas, plus all thestakeholders and communi-ty members who worked so

hard to make this new Portproject possible: one that willalso help other businesses andthe community expand.”The mayor said that the

City of Nogales is planning aspecial outreach program topotential businesses who maywish to relocate to this area.“We’re looking to organize

a coalition of local profession-als who can help businessesfleeing from economically-stagnant areas, or even thosetoo expensive in which to dobusiness, find a better solutionhere in our community.” Thecity’s motto: “You’re amongfriends” is an apt reflection of

the unique warmth of the cul-tural mix and welcoming atti-tude of this border communi-ty.Today, Nogales and Santa

Cruz County residents andvisitors alike are busy makingmany new friends. These arefriendships that, while theymay cross cultural borders, aretruly unified in a goal andvision for the future.(Veronica Kraushaar is presi-

dent of Viva Global Marketing,

LLC, a marketing firm that

relocated from Scottsdale to

Nogales, AZ)

Oportunity: Fromvision to reality


The new Port features attractive “green” design features combined with state-of-the-artcontrol systems.

The plannedphase expansionof the Port willensure there willbe no crossinginterruptions.


Solar energy makes this Port leading edge.


Axel Holmarchives

Pimeria AltaHistoricalSociety

Fresh ProduceAssn. of theAmericas

Nogales PortAuthority

City of Nogales

Members of thelocal produceindustry.

Special thanksto story sources:

Nogales PortAuthority VIPsand Board OfDirectorsCity of Nogales: Mayor Octavio Garcia Von-Borstel

Fresh Produce Association of theAmericas: Allison Moore

Nogales Alliance, Port of the Future, Inc.:Terry Shannon, Jr.

Nogales Community DevelopmentCorporation: Yvone Delgadillo

Nogales-Santa Cruz County Chamber ofCommerce: Olivia Ainza Kramer

Nogales U.S. Custom Brokers Association,Inc.: James B Manson

Santa Cruz County, Arizona: Rudy “Bugs”Molera

Santa Cruz Tourism Council: Fred Johnson

Asociación de Maquiladoras de Sonora: LesHarris

Congressman Raul M. Grijalva

Congressman Ed Pastor

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords

Senator Jon Kyl

Senator John McCain

Former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano(Now U.S. Homeland Secturity Secretary)

Victor Mendez, director of ArizonaDepartment of Transportation

Former Nogales Mayor Marco AntonioLopez Jr., (Now U.S. Customs and BorderProtection Chief of Staff )

Congressman Jim Kolbe (Retired)

U.S. General Services Administration

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

City of Nogales

Santa Cruz County

Thank you foryour support

Chairman: James B Manson

Vice Chairman:Mayor Octavio Garcia-Von Borstel

Secretary: Yvonne Delgadillo

Treasurer: Allison Moore

Officers

Nogales International October 23, 2009 / 15Special Supplement / Growth 2009 GROWTH

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