Ubiquity VP: There is a heart of service in the Rio Grande Valley
by Ashley Helmer, on Apr 10, 2024 8:00:00 AM
From Rio Grande Guardian on March 24, 2024, Steve Taylor reports: MISSION, Texas – The thing that really struck a chord with Mark Montgomery when he first landed in the Rio Grande Valley was the friendliness of its people.
Ubiquity’s vice president for North American operations remarked on this during a speech he gave at a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony for his company’s new call center in Mission.
“They say that first impressions are the most important. And I mentioned that Ralph made a great impression on me. When I come into a new community I evaluate everything and everyone. And so from the airport staff, to the hotel, to the Uber drivers, restaurants, gas attendants, convenience stores, it doesn’t matter. I am going to evaluate everybody. And what I found here, you should all be very, very proud. There’s a heart of service in this community and every step along the way, I was impressed. And I mean that sincerely. This is just a community that truly has a heart of service,” Montgomery said.
“I brought my staff down from Omaha, they have reiterated the same thing, man, what a great community, what a great people to work with. And so we thank you for that. We thank you for your investments in helping to bring businesses in, but truly welcoming them and providing the resources that we need to be successful. South Texas hospitality is a real thing. I didn’t know it before. I know it now. So thank you so much.”
The “Ralph” Montgomery referenced was Ralph Garcia, vice president of McAllen Economic Development Corporation. Garcia was the first person to greet Montgomery when he flew in to McAllen. Unfortunately for McAllen, the city did not have the office space Ubiquity was looking for. But Garcia was happy to tell Montgomery about Mission.
With the help of Mission Economic Development Corporation, Ubiquity found the site it was looking for at 4101 South Shary Road in Mission. It invested $4 million to retrofit the two buildings there.
Ubiquity has also already hired 75 employees and is actively looking for 55 more before the summer’s end. Montgomery said Ubiquity will add hundreds more as its establishes its presence in South Texas.
In his remarks from the podium, Montgomery also gave a shoutout to Sam Pruitt of Site Selection Group for steering him towards the Rio Grande Valley.
“They are a great organization and are based out of Dallas,” Montgomery said of Site Selection Group. “They left the breadcrumb trails that brought us to the Valley. Their information, their data, their insights is what drew me to the Valley and caused me to want to come and investigate what the opportunity was.”
