El Paso is finally putting shovels in the ground on its long-promised Advanced Manufacturing District at the airport, with a 9 a.m. groundbreaking set for Thursday, May 6. City and university leaders say the project will turn vacant airport-side land into multi-tenant facilities aimed at aerospace, defense, and other advanced manufacturing employers, pitching the district as a jobs and supply chain engine that links local firms to air, rail, and cross-border routes.
Groundbreaking set for Thursday morning
The City of El Paso announced the May 6 ceremony in a post on X, according to City of El Paso communications, and later confirmed the details in official materials. In a City of El Paso press release, officials described the Advanced Manufacturing District, or AMD, as a “development-ready industrial area” and said the city is now accepting applications for leasing and performance-based incentives within the district, including a Defense Industrial Base Business Readiness incentive. City Council adopted the Advanced Manufacturing Incentive Policy in February to set the framework for tenant selection and incentives.
What’s being built and where
The Advanced Manufacturing District will sit on airport-adjacent land and is designed to host mid-size and larger manufacturers that need secure logistics and fast access to air cargo, rail and the U.S.–Mexico trade corridor, according to the El Paso International Airport business page. The airport’s Innovation Factory, a 30,000 square foot converted cargo space, already operates as an incubator for early-stage firms and sits across the street from the AMD site. Roadwork and infrastructure projects, including the six-lane Global Reach Drive, have been laid out to connect the new industrial park to major arterials, per design documents from Huitt‑Zollars.
Funding and regional partners
The AMD grew out of a roughly $40 million federal Build Back Better Regional Challenge award won in 2022 by a coalition led by UTEP and the City of El Paso, with the award amount detailed by Congresswoman Veronica Escobar and regional officials. About $25 million of that funding is slated for the industrial district, and about $15 million is directed to university-led innovation efforts, according to UTEP.
The West Texas Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing coalition that secured the award includes UTEP, the city, the county, the El Paso Chamber and workforce partners, bringing public agencies, higher education and business groups under one regional umbrella.
Leasing, jobs and local impact
The city is already taking tenant applications and will evaluate companies based on economic impact, wages, and job creation, according to the City’s Economic & International Development office. That office also notes that the region’s manufacturing workforce tops about 373,000 and ranks the Borderplex among the top five North American manufacturing hubs by employment. Officials say incentives are performance-based and are intended to speed companies’ ability to compete for Department of Defense contracts. Proponents add that the AMD is meant to create on-ramps for startups and established manufacturers to scale up without leaving the region.
Organizers say they will share event logistics and guest details through official channels. The city’s news release and the airport’s business page include application links and background materials for companies interested in leasing, and officials are pointing potential tenants there for instructions and context ahead of Thursday’s ceremony.
