Arizona Is Open for Business — And I Am Betting Everything on It

Arizona Cross-border Investment

The investors who win the next decade will not be the ones who chased the loudest markets. They will be the ones who saw Arizona early.

I have spent my career at the intersection of government, trade, and economic development. As a former mayor of a border city, former Director of the Arizona Department of Commerce, and former Chief of Staff at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, I have watched capital flow in and out of this region for decades. And I can tell you with conviction: we are living through a once-in-a-generation window for Arizona investment.

That is exactly why I launched Intermestic Capital as the investment arm of Intermestic Partners, the cross-border advisory firm I founded in 2011.

Why Arizona. Why Now.

Arizona sits at the center of three converging forces that most investors are still underestimating.

1. The USMCA Dividend

The U.S.Mexico.Canada Agreement has quietly made Arizona one of the most strategically valuable corridors in North America. Cross-border trade through Arizona generates billions annually, and manufacturers are actively relocating supply chains to take advantage of integrated production networks between the U.S. and Mexico. Nogales, Douglas, and Yuma are not just border towns. They are economic gateways.

2. The Semiconductor and Critical Minerals Surge

TSMC and Intel are already planting flags in Phoenix. The semiconductor nearshoring wave is real, and Arizona is at its epicenter. What most analysts miss is the upstream opportunity: critical minerals processing. Intermestic Capital is actively advancing the Cobalt Processing Project in Yuma, positioning Arizona as a key node in the global clean energy supply chain.

3. The 40 Million

Approximately 40 million Mexican-connected residents live in the United States. I am one of them. This community represents one of the most underserved and underestimated economic forces in American history. Their purchasing power, their entrepreneurial energy, and their cross-border relationships are not a footnote. They are a market thesis.

Where Intermestic Capital Is Deploying

We are not waiting for the market to catch up. Our current portfolio priorities include:

• SouthBridge Nogales: A 200-hectare industrial development at the border, purpose-built for nearshoring and cross-border logistics.

• Cobalt Processing Project in Yuma: Capturing the critical minerals opportunity that the energy transition is creating right now, and positioning Arizona as a domestic processing hub that reduces dependency on foreign supply chains.

• The Cross-Border Venture Bridge: Through Intermestic Capital, I am building a structured initiative with three connected pillars. First, we are actively channeling investment capital from Mexico and LATAM into Arizona technology companies and startups, with a priority focus on those aligned to the semiconductor and advanced manufacturing ecosystem already taking shape in the Phoenix metro. Second, we are identifying and recruiting high-potential startups from Mexico and LATAM to incubate and scale inside Arizona, bringing cross-border founders into one of the most dynamic innovation corridors in the country. Third, we are developing a skilled worker pipeline from Mexico and LATAM designed to meet the talent demands that Arizona's explosive technology and semiconductor growth is already creating. Capital, companies, and talent. All flowing through the same corridor. All building the same Arizona.

Every project is designed to generate returns and create economic opportunity. My work connecting over 1 million low-income families to high-speed internet taught me that the best investments solve real problems.

Our Arizona projects are built on the same principle.

Arizona shares nearly 400 miles of border with Mexico, and bilateral trade between the two countries exceeds $800 billion annually. Yet Arizona captures only a fraction of the advisory, logistics, and development infrastructure this trade requires. That gap is not a liability. It is the opportunity.

The Risks Are Real. So Is the Strategy.

No credible investor ignores risk. Political headwinds, regulatory shifts, and cross-border complexity are all real factors. I have navigated all of them, from managing a $13 billion federal budget at CBP to advising top national and international companies through Intermestic Partners on exactly these challenges.

The investors who partner with us are not flying blind. They are flying with the most experienced cross-border navigation team in the Southwest.

The Future I Am Building

Arizona is not a hedge. It is a conviction.

The projects Intermestic Capital is advancing are on track to create 16,000 jobs in Arizona. That is not a projection built on optimism. It is a projection built on 20 years of building cross-border relationships, understanding policy architecture, and knowing where the capital needs to go before the headlines arrive.

If you are an investor, a fund manager, or a family office looking for differentiated exposure to North American economic integration, I want to talk to you.

Let's Build Together

I write about cross-border trade, investment, and economic leadership every week in my newsletter. If you believe that the next great American investment story is being written right now at the U.S.Mexico border, follow along and let's build something together.

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