The entity dedicated to promoting Puerto Rico as an ideal market to establish business conducted tours of various strategic points of the island for site selectors to encourage investment in the Island.

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – Invest Puerto Rico (InvestPR), the entity in charge of attracting capital investment and new businesses to Puerto Rico, conducted a Familiarization Tour (Fam Tour) in which a dozen site selectors visited the island to learn about its capabilities as an investment center for the industrial sectors they represent. The initiative is part of InvestPR’s business strategy that seeks to raise Puerto Rico’s profile as an ideal market to establish businesses to attract more capital investment and foster the creation of new companies and jobs. 

In conjunction with InvestPR and other private sector partners, the Fam Tour included visits to existing companies already leveraging Puerto Rico’s value proposition to drive the success of their operations, including CytoImmune Therapeutics, Prime Air Corp., and Medtronic. They also visited important research and development centers, such as the Molecular Sciences Research Center at the University of Puerto Rico, and facilities looking for large-scale industrial tenants, including the former Microsoft facility in Humacao and the Roche facility in Ponce.

The tour also featured a panel discussion on energy and infrastructure in Puerto Rico. This allowed the evaluators to learn more about Puerto Rico’s efforts to optimize its infrastructure and increase its energy resilience.

“This tour is just one part of our ambitious commercial strategy to unlock the potential of Puerto Rico as a competitive market for business. By showcasing the island’s unique advantages and highlighting investment opportunities, we can bring new jobs and economic growth to the island and strengthen our business ecosystem,” said Ella Woger-Nieves, Chief Executive Officer of InvestPR.

Woger-Nieves also emphasized that the tour helped the evaluators see the island’s unique advantages for businesses, such as its strategic location, bilingual and highly trained/educated workforce, tax incentives, and access to the U.S. market. 

For his part, Rafael Perez, Senior Director of Business Development at InvestPR, commented, “This initiative showcased the unique advantages and competitive offerings of Puerto Rico as a strategic business destination. Site evaluators experienced Puerto Rico’s unparalleled potential, helping Invest Puerto Rico put the island on the map for world-class companies looking for a business destination to invest in.

A Fam Tour is a common practice in the economic development industry to introduce prospective companies and site selectors to a particular region or location. It effectively showcases a region’s unique advantages and opportunities and can help build relationships and trust between investors and economic development organizations. Fam Tours can also help generate interest and excitement among potential investors, leading to new investment and job creation. 

One of the consultants who participated in the Fam Tour, Ford Graham, senior vice president of McGuireWoods Consulting, commented, ” I was aware that there was a big manufacturing presence in Puerto Rico, but seeing all the different facilities and the magnitude of what companies on the Island can do was impressive. I make a lot of foreign direct investments, and now that I’m well aware that Puerto Rico is such a great place to do business, I can help put the country on the radar of my clients. Puerto Rico has a well-established bioscience and pharma community but has much more to offer.”

Bob Westover, senior vice president of Colliers International who also participated in the tour, echoed Graham’s comments: “Trips like this are useful because it helps us take our learnings back to our client sites and corner offices where executives might not be considering Puerto Rico for a reason that is not valid or just because they are not aware of all that the Island has to offer. Our job is not site elimination, but site selection and ensuring that business destinations like Puerto Rico stay top of mind.” 

Woger-Nieves was confident that the initiative’s goal was met: “Puerto Rico is an ideal location for companies looking to establish, relocate or expand their operations. The island has a unique value proposition for companies to thrive and grow. With a skilled workforce, a strategic geographic location, robust logistics capabilities, and competitive tax incentives, it is a great destination for companies looking to grow and expand in a U.S. jurisdiction. In addition, they have the support of the public and private sector, academia, and professional organizations that together work to facilitate the arrival of companies to the island,” concluded.

About Invest Puerto Rico 

Invest Puerto Rico is the economic development organization created by law with the purpose of promoting Puerto Rico abroad as a competitive jurisdiction for investment, focused on attracting new businesses and capital to foster economic growth on the Island. Our vision is to be a transformational and results-oriented accelerator of economic development for the island.  Learn more at www.investpr.org.