SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas - The two workforce boards for the Rio Grande Valley co-hosted the “State of the Regional Workforce Conference” at Margaritaville on South Padre Island on October 23, 2026.
The two boards are Workforce Solutions Lower Rio Grande Valley and Workforce Solutions Cameron.
The conference was subtitled “Leading the Workforce Ecosystem, Building a Stronger Rio Grande Valley.”
One of the topics under discussion was titled "AI and the Future of Work: Preparing the RGV Workforce for What's Next." It featured Drew Lentz, a self-confessed wireless nerd, solution creator, and connectivity enthusiast, and Daniel Rivera, executive director of Elsa Economic Development Corporation.
The aim was to provide a forward-looking discussion on how artificial intelligence is transforming the workplace, reshaping jobs, and changing the skills employers need.
The session explored the opportunities and challenges AI presents for businesses and workers, and what the Rio Grande Valley can do to prepare its workforce for an increasingly technology-driven economy.
Biography:
Drew Lentz is a technologist, founder, and community builder with nearly 30 years in wireless networking and emerging technology. He has held senior roles at Meta, Amazon (EERO), Cisco, and Comcast Business and today designs and builds AI-powered agents and automation systems. Based in McAllen he co-founded Code RGV, the largest tech nonprofit in South Texas, and believes AI's greatest promise is opening doors for people and places too often left behind.
Rivera leads the Elsa Economic Development Corporation, where he built the city's economic development department from the ground up. At the Mission Economic Development Corporation he managed $9.5 million in federal grants and led a COVID-19 relief effort that generated $1 million for 286 small businesses. He puts artificial intelligence to work for small cities, creating Growth Signal, an AI-hosted economic development podcast, and Digital Facade, an AI-assisted tool now used in three Rio Grande Valley cities. A Texas A&M engineering graduate and former physics teacher, he is a certified Texas economic developer and an industry champion on the Workforce Solutions IT/STEM Task Force.
Here is a video recording of their presentation:
