Analysis by Crossborder Group Finds Tijuana #1 City in North America for Medical Device Manufacturing Employment

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Recently released research by Crossborder Group on the medical device industry shows that Tijuana, Baja California, has the highest amount of medical device manufacturing employment in North America, with over 30,000 employees in this city alone.

In a new briefing paper prepared for the Tijuana Economic Development Corporation (DEITAC), “Tijuana: North America’s Medical Device Manufacturing Capital”, Crossborder Group compared medical device cluster employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for key U.S. counties and States,  along with late-2010  employment data from 38 companies in Tijuana surveyed by Crossborder, and regional data from Canada. The result: Tijuana’s medical device manufacturing employment was larger than that of the number two region (the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area) by more than 7,000 employees.

           

“We knew that putting Tijuana up as a leader in North America for such an important technology sector would create some controversy,” states Kenn Morris, President of Crossborder Group, in charge of the study. “But the reality is that it’s based on data and independent facts…

Crossborder Insights: After Recession Pitstop, Is Mexico’s Auto Industry Racing Ahead?

New data from several major automotive manufacturers signals a recovery, and a shift toward expansion and increased foreign direct investment into Mexico’s automotive industry.

Mexico Automotive Brief - Download PDF Here

Mexico’s automotive sector experienced a steep decline in production and investment in 2009 due to the global economic downturn.  In fact, by January of 2009, production of cars and light trucks had fallen to less than half of January 2008’s levels — a trend which continued throughout most of 2009.  However, several major OEM’s have recently announced plans for production or supplier expansions in Mexico over next few years.

Research and analysis conducted by Crossborder Group (in PDF at right) shows that

Client News: Major Industrial Supplier Chooses Crossborder Group for Mexico Market Research

We’re proud to announce that one of the world’s largest manufacturer of miniature ball bearings — and a major supplier of cooling fans, precision motors and electrical component — has retained Crossborder Group for a country-wide analysis of Mexico’s manufacturing markets, and new sales opportunities.  While not new to the Mexican market, this California-headquartered subsidiary of a major Asian company has contracted Crossborder to provide a state-by-state review of key manufacturing sectors (including both maquiladora/IMMEX and domestic manufacturers), regional industrial insights and strategic guidance, as well as survey-based feedback from potential customers companies in order to facilitate their growth in Mexico.

Our Two Pesos: Reflecting on the Opportunity for Stronger North American Competitiveness

While most elected (and wanting-to-be-elected) officials in Washington D.C. and some US States continue to portray illegal immigration as virtually the only topic of interest we potentially share when it comes to talking about Mexico and our border region (we’re thinking of you, Arizona, and California gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner’s Prop 187-style ads), the new 2010 World Competitiveness Yearbook was released today by the Switzerland-based IMD School of Business. The most striking news from this annual study: the US has dropped from the leading to the third-ranking position (behind Singapore and Hong Kong). While not necessarily surprising to many, certainly the news was big enough for BusinessWeek to headline their story: “Asia Gains, U.S. Drops in Competitiveness” (in case you didn’t get the point).

This news comes on the same day that Presidents Obama and Calderon are meeting in Washington D.C., talking about some of the very issues that are critical to increasing North American competitiveness, and growing jobs (and wealth) in our region…[read more]

Crossborder Insights: Mexico’s Export Growth & Market Dependence on the US

On February 12, 2010, President Felipe Calderón of Mexico met with Prince Andrew of the United Kingdom to both reiterate Mexico’s interest in stronger trade and investment relationships with the UK, as well as to restate an ongoing Mexican goal of reducing their “dependence” on the United States as an export market.

In Mexico, the trade relationship with the U.S. is, by many, considered a mixed blessing: while NAFTA and the increasing integration with the U.S. economy has attracted significant foreign investment, created stronger commercial relations (and job growth), and has likely helped infrastructure modernization – it has come at the cost of Mexico being highly dependent on U.S.’ economic health. In 2008, President Calderón himself repeated the old phrase: “When the US catches a cold, Mexico gets pneumonia.”

The benefit and weakness of this relationship can be seen in Mexico’s trade data – the most recent of which covers January-November of 2009. CrossborderBusiness.com has analyzed this data, and provides a few brief observations about Mexico’s export trends in our new Crossborder Insights briefing…

Our Two-Pesos: Low Prospects for Free Trade Agreements Given High Unemployment

It’s a hard, practical reality that the American public — not necessarily just the Administration — will likely find it hard to swallow public efforts to promote FTAs (viewed mainly as a potential “job loser”), until unemployment hits somewhere in the 6-8% range.

Updates to CrossborderTours Website & New, 2010 E-Brochure

It took a lot longer than expected…, but we just updated our www.CrossborderTours.com website, and have also launched a new e-brochure, outlining our business educational tours much better than in the past.   Way back in 1997, Crossborder started offering guided educational visits to Baja California to help people better understand maquiladora manufacturing, Ports of Entry infrastructure, consumer market changes, health care, immigration, the environment — and, frankly, a whole host of issues that Crossborder Group had done research and consulting on.  Our first client:  Dr. Don Booth of Chapman University — a great educator, colleague and friend that is still a client 13 years on….

Over the years, it’s led to what we now call “CrossborderTours” — our business unit that is focused on providing these services for universities, non-profits, and corporate clients. In fact,  to-date we’ve taken nearly 3,000 students, professors, business people and government representatives on trips since we started.  In 2007, we expanded to other areas of Mexico (such as Guadalajara, Monterrey, Queretaro and Mexico City) and in 2009 added business and industrial areas of the United States — an expansion that allows us to show off some great, globally competitive companies and regions that are growing in the US.

We’re already starting off the year with two upcoming tours:  we’ll be bringing the Southern California Leadership Network (affiliated with the LA Chamber of Commerce) and SDSU’s Executive MBA program down in March and April of this year (two wonderful, returning clients), and will be announcing some new program options later in 2010.  We’ll keep you posted!

Download the new, 2010 CrossborderTours e-brochure here… (900kb, PDF): 2010-CrossborderTours-EBrochure

Cover from New CrossborderTours E-Brochure