May 6, 2016
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The San Diego Chamber assisted the El Paso Chamber with their visit to San Diego, which included a meeting with Chamber member, SIMNSA Health Plan, due to their interest in establishing a similar binational healthcare model in their own border region. Their visit concluded with a keynote speech from Chamber President & CEO, Jerry Sanders.
Following the meeting, Chamber VP Paola Avila penned an op-ed in the El Paso Times on Donald Trump and the importance of crossborder collaboration:
Those of us living and working along the border know that the United States is Mexico’s top trade partner. Mexico is the United States’ third-largest trade partner. Between the two countries, more than half a trillion dollars in goods is moving back and forth each year.
We also know that as much as 40 percent of U.S. imports from Mexico are produced by a U.S.-based workforce. We are not only trading with each other; we are producing together.