Amistad has been finding solutions for manufacturers for more than 25 years.

      Founded in 1978 as a regional developer in Ciudad Acuña, Coah. by Jesús Ma. Ramón, Amistad Industrial Development has been a major developer in Coahuila for decades. Its clients run the gamut from textiles to aerospace companies. It has consolidated investments for more than 100 world class companies that have generated more than 45,000 direct jobs and 180,000 indirect jobs in Mexico.

      Over the years it has built more than 21 million square feet of industrial space. Although its early years concentrated on northern Coahuila, today it is headquartered in Saltillo with plants as far south as Yucatán.

      “We’ve moved into different areas of the country,” says Marco Ramón president of Amistad’s real estate division. “Originally our base was mostly Coahuila and Apodaca (a Monterrey, N.L. suburb), but we’ve pretty much been following our clients wherever they want us to go.”

      The U.S. recession of 2001-2003 was a serious blow to Mexico’s maquila industry. Couple that with the emergence of China as a cut-and-sew destination and the result is a shock to industrial developers.

      “The industry has changed considerably in the last five years,” says Ramón. “For us as a company the crisis of 2001-2003 really hit us hard. Within an 18-month period we had seven companies pick up and move. We were stuck with a 20 percent vacancy rate within our parks.

      “But as we saw the textile industry move out, we saw other industries move in. There’s been a major interest by aerospace companies. In 2000 we had none in our portfolio. Today we have five. We weathered the storm. We went through it OK, compared to other companies that went belly up.”

      Ramón says the furniture sector is another emerging industry. Palliser, Canada’s leading home furniture manufacturer, has nearly 200,000 square feet of space in facilities in Matamoros and Saltillo.

            Amistad consists of three major divisions: manufacturing, real estate and construction. A fourth division, Amistad Industries, was created recently to invest in commercial development in the United States...

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