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Adrian Zapata started out selling Cutco in Laredo. After UTSA and a stint in banking, he came home in 2015 as a pharmaceutical rep specializing in diabetes, visiting doctors from Eagle Pass to Laredo. What he saw there showed him how serious the health problem in South Texas is. Today his work connects health insurance with a vascular clinic focused on amputation prevention.
Host David Romero and Adrian, former chairman of the board of the Laredo Chamber of Commerce, talk about why education sits at the center of all of it. People used to cross the border to see a doctor; now they rely on local physicians, but you need coverage to get there. They also get personal: the system Adrian uses to juggle every role with a 10-week-old at home, why a planned short stay in Laredo turned into eight years of marriage, and Youth Leadership Laredo, the five-year program he leads to build the city’s next leaders.
In This Episode
About the Guest
Adrian Zapata is the Immediate Past Chairman of the Board of the Laredo Chamber of Commerce, Business Development Executive at PAD Specialists–Laredo, and owner of A to Z Management & Insurance. He leads Youth Leadership Laredo.
Credits & Links
THE PORTCAST — in partnership with Port Laredo, driven by Brennan & Company, produced by D111 FILMS U.S.A.
Host: David Romero · Recorded at the Port Laredo Global Trade Summit 2026
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/vLYMh8St2SA
portlaredo.com · d111films.us · brennangroup.com/about-us · laredochamber.com
To wrap up Season 1, host David Romero talks with David Stedman, CEO of the Laredo Economic Development Corporation, about how Laredo is changing. Stedman puts it simply: Laredo is at "the crossroads of trade and transformation," moving from a gateway where goods pass through to a growth engine.
He starts with technology. Data will drive everything, he says. AI still needs people to steer it, but it isn't going away. Combine it with blockchain and you get a live view of a product from first idea to manufacturing to the store shelf. Trucks are changing too, with electric and autonomous vehicles on the way, and Green Corridors is planning an elevated, automated freight system between Laredo and Monterrey.
Then he walks through why Laredo stands out. A city of just over a quarter million people has four interstates, two loops, four international bridges, a presidential permit for a fifth, and two rail bridges. He argues Laredo sits at the center of the Western Hemisphere, and that the pending Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger could link it by rail to Atlanta and the East Coast.
Stedman closes with what's next: Pathways for Trade, now 33 years old, and LEDC's strategic plan. The plan brings the City of Laredo, Webb County, the CVB, the chamber and LEDC together around a shared 50-year plan, with measurable goals and near-term action items to make Laredo Texas' next Metroplex.
In This Episode:
About the Guest:
David Stedman is CEO of the Laredo Economic Development Corporation, a nonprofit that has spent 60 years bringing jobs and investment to Laredo. Originally from Houston, he spent his early career in advertising and marketing before moving into economic development.
Credits & Links:
Host: David Romero
Recorded at the Port Laredo Global Trade Summit 2026
THE PORTCAST | Season 1 — in partnership with Port Laredo, driven by Brennan & Company, produced by D111 FILMS U.S.A.
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/iIxtsPqYNxw
Port Laredo — portlaredo.com | D111 FILMS U.S.A. — d111films.us | Brennan & Company — brennangroup.com/about-us | Laredo EDC — laredoedc.org
Daniela Silva says knowing what she wanted came early. She studied international business with a focus on logistics, and an internship at a port terminal in Colombia gave her a clear goal: to work in the maritime world. She held commercial roles at shipping lines, returned to the terminal side with APM Terminals in Colombia about four years ago, and in January 2026 moved to Mexico to lead commercial for APM Terminals México.
In this episode, recorded at the Port Laredo Global Trade Summit 2026 in Laredo, Texas, Daniela describes her job. She works from one physical location, but the cargo she deals with comes from Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The terminal sits between the shipping lines and everyone else in the chain: importers, exporters, customs brokers, and trucking and rail carriers. She thinks that position gives the clearest view of international trade. For her, the best moments are when a strategy built with a client and its partners actually works, and the client chooses APM Terminals because of it.
She also shares the figures that stood out during summit preparation: roughly $8 of every $10 Mexico exports go to the United States, and about 86% of Mexico's exports go to North America. She then explains where APM Terminals México is going. Lázaro Cárdenas has Phase 2 underway and Phase 3 announced, with the aim of becoming the leading gateway and hub on Mexico's Pacific coast. Progreso, Yucatán, has a 19-year concession renewal and new investment in southeastern Mexico.
IN THIS EPISODE
- From a Colombian terminal internship to leading commercial for APM Terminals México
- The commercial side of a port terminal, and why it's a privileged view of the supply chain
- Building partnerships among clients, shipping lines, and land and rail carriers
- U.S.–Mexico trade by the numbers, and why Canada belongs in the conversation
- Lázaro Cárdenas expansion: automation, digitalization, decarbonization, renewable energy
- Progreso's 19-year concession renewal and APM's commitment to southeastern Mexico
ABOUT THE GUEST
Daniela Silva leads commercial operations for APM Terminals México at the company's Lázaro Cárdenas and Progreso terminals. She has a background in international business and logistics, and her career spans port terminals and shipping lines in Colombia and Mexico. You can find her on LinkedIn.
CREDITS & LINKS
Host: David Romero
THE PORTCAST — in partnership with Port Laredo, driven by Brennan & Company, produced by D111 FILMS U.S.A.
This episode is brought to you by Brennan & Company, a Founding Sponsor of the show — moving freight across the U.S.-Mexico border since 1913.
Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/r2aFVK9NCzc
portlaredo.com | d111films.us | brennangroup.com/about-us | apmterminals.com
New York-New Jersey is gridlocked. Philadelphia is crowded. Ken Roberts says Laredo has what the big ports are running out of: room to grow.
Ken Roberts is the founder and president of WorldCity, the Miami-based media and data company behind ustradenumbers.com, a database of U.S. trade data covering airports, seaports, and border crossings across the country. He joins host David Romero at the Port Laredo Global Trade Summit 2026 in Laredo, Texas - North America's Leading Trade Gateway, moving $353B+ in trade every year - to talk about how a chance conversation at an air cargo conference turned into a 15-plus-year relationship with Laredo, what sets this port apart from the giants, and where trade goes next.
Ken had just moderated three panels and spoken for an hour when they sat down. By his count, just under 40% of U.S.-Mexico trade moves through Laredo across bridges, rail, and pipeline, in a relationship that is more balanced than the big Asia-facing ports. He also looks ahead to the proposed I-27 corridor, an elevated Monterrey-Laredo train he calls "a dream," and how AI could ease the customs bottleneck on both sides of the border.
In this episode
About the guest
Ken Roberts is the founder and president of WorldCity, Inc., a Miami-based media and data company he started in 1998. WorldCity produces ustradenumbers.com, which covers more than 200 countries and more than 400 U.S. airports, seaports, and border crossings, along with TradeNumbers publications for ports and cities including Miami, Los Angeles, and Laredo. Roberts is a Forbes.com contributor, a former Miami Herald international trade columnist, and a two-term member of a Federal Reserve advisory board focused on trade and transportation. He began his career at five newspapers before launching his own publications, and now works with airports, seaports, and border crossings across the country, with much of his time spent in Texas.
Credits & links
Host: David Romero
Guest: Ken Roberts - WorldCity, Inc.
Produced by: D111 FILMS U.S.A., in partnership with Port Laredo, driven by Brennan & Company
Recorded at: Port Laredo Global Trade Summit 2026, Laredo, Texas
Full episode (YouTube): https://youtu.be/Xwb55yB2-2U
Ken's trade data: https://ustradenumbers.com
Contact: D111 FILMS U.S.A. · David Romero · (956) 256-4653 · [email protected]
Carlos Jiménez, a Commercial Sales Executive at CPKC (Canadian Pacific Kansas City), joins host David Romero at the Port Laredo Global Trade Summit 2026 to explain how the three-year-old merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern created something unique: the only railroad in North America connecting Canada, the U.S., and Mexico on a single line, with no transfers required.
Carlos works in CPKC’s automotive and intermodal business unit, handling 53-foot containers, both dry and refrigerated. He lays out the core efficiency case for rail: a single intermodal train carries 300 containers — each the size of a standard truck trailer — meaning one train, run by a two-person crew, can move the equivalent of 300 trucks off the highway. CPKC also runs a daily service between San Luis Potosí and Chicago with transit times under four days.
Last year, CPKC opened a second international rail bridge in Laredo, doubling its crossing capacity; the port now sees roughly 50 to 60 trains cross daily. Unlike trucking, rail cargo is dispatched and cleared from origin terminals, so it crosses the border directly without the customs-line bottlenecks that trucking faces.
Security operations run out of a center in Monterrey with 5,000 automated cameras monitoring the network. When a train passes through a high-risk zone, a drone provides aerial escort, connected directly to Mexico’s National Guard and, at the border, to CBP. CPKC also runs three AI-powered inspection checkpoints across Mexico that photograph each train 360 degrees and flag anomalies — or dangerous wheel temperatures — before they become derailment risks.
CPKC has also begun moving refrigerated cargo since December, importing meat products from the U.S. into Mexico and exporting confectionery and pharmaceuticals to Canada, alongside a new Mexico City–Laredo intermodal route. Carlos closes with a simple message: rail isn’t competing with trucking, ocean, or air freight — every mode complements the others, and diversifying transport options is no longer optional given trucking’s own driver shortages.
Note: the interview is conducted in Spanish; this description is written in English.
In this episode
About the guest
Carlos Jiménez is a Commercial Sales Executive at CPKC (Canadian Pacific Kansas City), based in Monterrey, Nuevo León, where he was born and raised. He works in CPKC’s automotive and intermodal business unit, and part of his role involves educating clients and the broader logistics industry in Mexico on how much the rail sector has modernized over the last decade.
Credits & links
Host: David Romero
Guest: Carlos Jiménez — CPKC (Canadian Pacific Kansas City)
Produced by: D111 FILMS U.S.A., in partnership with Port Laredo, driven by Brennan & Company
Recorded at: Port Laredo Global Trade Summit 2026, Laredo, Texas
Full episode (YouTube): https://youtu.be/471poi6nl-E
CPKC: cpkcr.com
Contact: D111 FILMS U.S.A. · David Romero · (956) 256-4653 · [email protected]
Devorah Karren, Director of International Affairs for the Government of Nuevo León and Promotion Director for Port Colombia-Laredo, joins host David Romero at the Port Laredo Global Trade Summit 2026 to describe how a crossing that was, in her words, “completely abandoned” just a few years ago became “the fastest, safest, most efficient port on the entire U.S.-Mexico border right now.”
Port Colombia-Laredo is a separate international bridge from the main Port Laredo crossing, about 20 miles away, run by the Nuevo León state government. Karren walks through the build-out behind that turnaround: a master plan for the port built from scratch, and the Carretera a la Gloria — a highway promised for more than 30 years and finally delivered last year, 108 kilometers of concrete connecting Monterrey directly to the port without ever leaving Nuevo León or crossing another state. The result, she says, was a 264% jump in passenger crossings, with the port now handling roughly 8,000 vehicles a day in both directions.
The growth isn’t slowing down. Last year, President Trump personally approved the expansion of Port Colombia, adding two new international bridges — one dedicated to northbound cargo, one to southbound — which will bring the crossing to 16 total lanes for passengers and freight combined. Security has scaled up to match: from 35 officers when this administration started to more than 750 combined state police and National Guard personnel today.
Karren also talks about what keeps a border this active running smoothly day to day: Nuevo León’s representative office in Laredo doesn’t have its own building — it works out of the City of Laredo’s offices, by design. Born and raised in Monterrey and now based in Laredo, she describes the relationship between the two cities as a symbiosis: two economies functioning as one system, even on opposite sides of an international border.
Note: the interview is conducted in Spanish; this description is written in English.
In this episode
• How Port Colombia went from “completely abandoned” to one of the fastest-growing crossings on the border
• The governor’s master plan to build a full logistics city around the port — roads, boulevards, and signage, from scratch
• Carretera a la Gloria: the 108km highway that took 30 years to deliver, and the 264% jump in passenger crossings it produced
• Two new international bridges, approved last year, that will bring the crossing to 16 total lanes for cargo and passengers
• Growing border security from 35 officers to more than 750 combined personnel
• Why Nuevo León keeps its Laredo office inside City Hall, not a building of its own
• The “symbiosis” between Monterrey and Laredo — two economies functioning as one system
About the guest
Devorah Karren serves as Director of International Affairs for the Government of Nuevo León and Promotion Director for Port Colombia-Laredo, the international bridge connecting Nuevo León with Laredo, Texas, roughly 20 miles from the main Port Laredo crossing. Born and raised in Monterrey, she now lives and works in Laredo, representing Nuevo León’s interests on the U.S. side of the border.
Credits & links
Host: David Romero
Guest: Devorah Karren — Government of Nuevo León
Produced by: D111 FILMS U.S.A., in partnership with Port Laredo, driven by Brennan & Company
Recorded at: Port Laredo Global Trade Summit 2026, Laredo, Texas
Full episode (YouTube): https://youtu.be/apvp2OV6cB0
Contact: D111 FILMS U.S.A. · David Romero · (956) 256-4653 · [email protected]
2025 fue el ano con mas comercio internacional en toda la historia de la humanidad. Marc Canal se dedica a explicar por que.
Como Senior Fellow del McKinsey Global Institute, el think tank de McKinsey con sede en Barcelona, Marc lidera investigacion sobre los grandes cambios macro del mundo: geopolitica, tecnologia y demografia. Es coautor del libro "A Century of Plenty: A Story of Progress for Generations to Come."
Nos sentamos con el en Laredo, Texas - North America's Leading Trade Gateway, con mas de $353B+ en comercio cada ano - durante el Global Trade Summit 2026, para hablar de por que estamos, segun el, en un "cambio de era" comparable a la posguerra o la caida del Muro de Berlin.
En este episodio:
SOBRE EL INVITADO
Marc Canal es Senior Fellow del McKinsey Global Institute, con sede en Barcelona. Lleva mas de una decada en McKinsey, y en los ultimos anos dirige investigacion sobre progreso global, productividad, demografia, habilidades, innovacion y tecnologia. Es coautor del libro "A Century of Plenty: A Story of Progress for Generations to Come." Estudio administracion de empresas en ESADE Barcelona, tiene una maestria en economia financiera de HEC Paris, y un MBA de London Business School.
SOBRE EL SHOW
THE PORTCAST es el centro de mando - donde las personas que mueven el comercio de Norteamerica vienen a hablar. Reportado desde Laredo, Texas, el puerto terrestre mas transitado de Estados Unidos.
THE PORTCAST - en colaboracion con Port Laredo, impulsado por Brennan & Company, producido por D111 FILMS U.S.A.
Brennan & Company ha movido carga a traves de esta frontera desde 1913 - una de las empresas de freight forwarding mas antiguas de Estados Unidos, y el Founding Sponsor detras de la voz de este corredor desde el primer dia. https://brennangroup.com/about-us
ANFITRION
David Romero - D111 FILMS U.S.A., Executive Producer
Si mueves carga, la manejas, la financias, o construyes las bodegas donde se guarda, este es el show que cubre tu corredor desde adentro. Sigue THE PORTCAST donde sea que escuches.
https://portlaredo.com
https://d111films.us
https://brennangroup.com/about-us
Trucks leaving Laredo reach all 48 continental states within 36 hours.
Not a week. A day and a half. New Hampshire, Delaware, Portland, Miami — the whole country, from one border city.
Jevin Hodge saw that on a live-action map and it changed how he understood this place. He is founder and CEO of Amplify Global Impact, and he led the strategic planning and community engagement work behind the Port Laredo Global Trade Summit — roughly 18 months of stakeholder analysis and hundreds of conversations with government, civic, business, and logistics leaders across the corridor.
What he found: the industries moving this trade were operating in silos. Everyone wanted a place to convene. Nobody had built one.
We sat down with him in Laredo, TX — North America's Leading Trade Gateway, moving $353B+ in trade every year — to talk about why this corridor's reach is global rather than regional, and why the people holding it up are almost never in the room when it gets discussed.
In this episode:
- The 36-hour map: how far freight leaving this port travels in a day and a half, and why almost nobody here realizes it
- Why Jevin argues Laredo's fingerprints are on the entire world — Canada, Mexico, and every state in between
- How the Summit was built: community audit, stakeholder analysis, and hundreds of one-on-one conversations before a single agenda item existed
- The customs broker who had never attended a conference in his life — and what his showing up revealed about who these events usually leave out
- "We do a really good job of listening with our mouth." His case for diagnosis before strategy
- Why the workers who keep this port running are absent from most trade conversations, and what changes when they aren't
- How being raised by a single mother — no car in the family until his sophomore year of high school — shaped a career built on connecting problem-havers with problem-solvers
ABOUT THE GUEST
Jevin Hodge is founder and CEO of Amplify Global Impact, where his work spans public affairs, strategic communications, strategic planning, and impact strategy. He led the community engagement and strategic planning work behind the Port Laredo Global Trade Summit. He also serves as president of a Head Start program serving 500 children with 120 educators, president of the East Valley NAACP, and is a former state lawmaker. Find him on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook at @JevinHodge.
ABOUT THE SHOW
THE PORTCAST is the command center — where the people moving North American trade come to talk. Reported from Laredo, Texas, the busiest land port in the United States.
THE PORTCAST | Season 1 — in partnership with Port Laredo, driven by Brennan & Company, produced by D111 FILMS U.S.A.
Brennan & Company has moved freight across this border since 1913 — one of the oldest freight forwarders in the United States, and the Founding Sponsor backing this corridor's voice from day one. https://brennangroup.com/about-us
HOSTS
Felipe Romero — Port Laredo, Director of Communications
David Romero — D111 FILMS U.S.A., Executive Producer
If you move freight, broker it, finance it, or build the institutions around it, this is the show that covers your corridor from inside it. Follow THE PORTCAST wherever you listen.
portlaredo.com
d111films.us
brennangroup.com
Most people picture one truck crossing the border. It's three — plus two customs brokers and
a stack of paperwork that grows every year.
Ryan Hammett leads the North America thought leadership team at C.H. Robinson, one of the
largest third-party logistics providers in the world, moving 35 million shipments a year for
more than 75,000 customers. He joined us at the Port Laredo Global Trade Summit 2026 in
Laredo, TX - North America's Leading Trade Gateway, moving $353B+ in trade every year — to
talk about the importance of investments for the future of cross-border freight, particularly
how AI is benefitting the flow of goods in the U.S. – Mexico trade corridor.
WHAT YOU'LL HEAR
— Why LEAN AI isn't theoretical: how C.H. Robinson layers AI across the operations that matter
most, and why every second counts at 35 million shipments a year
— What it actually takes to move one shipment across this border — three trucks, two brokers,
and paperwork that increases nearly every year
— Why logistics stays a relational business, and how human expertise gives AI the context that
"looks right on paper" can miss
— The question Ryan is watching as a parent and an industry leader: how do you build critical
thinking in people who have tools that will think for them?
— Why the trucks you pass on the highway are mostly family small businesses — 300,000+ for-hire
carriers in the U.S. and nearly as many in Mexico
— How a civil engineer ended up running market intelligence, and why C.H. Robinson spent its
first 80 years in produce
GUEST
Ryan Hammett — Director, Market Intelligence & Insights, C.H. Robinson. Nearly 14 years at the
company across technology implementation, business development, M&A integration, commercial
strategy, and chief of staff to the Chief Commercial Officer. He also leads C.H. Robinson's
research partnerships with universities studying supply chain and transportation. Find him on LinkedIn.
THE PORTCAST — in partnership with Port Laredo, driven by Brennan & Company, produced by
D111 FILMS U.S.A.
Brennan & Company has moved freight across this border since 1913 — one of the oldest freight
forwarders in the United States, and the Founding Sponsor backing this corridor's voice from
day one. brennangroup.com/about-us
HOSTS
Felipe Romero — Port Laredo, Director of Communications
David Romero — D111 FILMS U.S.A., Executive Producer
If you move freight, broker it, finance it, or build the warehouses it sits in — this is the
show that covers your corridor from inside it. Subscribe.
portlaredo.com
d111films.us
brennangroup.com/about-us
#PortLaredo #SupplyChain #CrossBorderTrade #Nearshoring #LeanAI
$353B+ in trade crosses through Laredo every year — more than the Port of Los Angeles.
Most of America can't tell you the name of the city it moves through.
THE PORTCAST — in partnership with Port Laredo, driven by Brennan & Company, produced by D111 FILMS U.S.A.
This is Episode 1. Before we sit down with the people who actually move North American trade, we're telling you who we are and why this show exists.
If you're watching this, there's a good chance you already live in this world. You clear entries at 4am. You chase a driver stuck at the bridge. You're deciding whether to move a plant to Monterrey. You're financing a warehouse on Mines Road. You've spent twenty years in this corridor and watched national coverage get it wrong every single time.
This show is for you.
Laredo is North America's Leading Trade Gateway — the busiest inland port on the continent — and until now, the corridor had no media voice of its own. The biggest stories about this place kept getting reported from somewhere else, by people who have never crossed the World Trade Bridge. THE PORTCAST is a broadcast-grade interview series reported from the actual #1 port: the command center where carriers, customs brokers, developers, manufacturers, and city leadership come to talk about cross-border logistics, nearshoring, and the future of US-Mexico trade.
WHAT YOU'LL HEAR
— Why a city most Americans have never heard of moves more freight than the Port of LA
— What the national conversation about the border consistently gets wrong
— Why a corridor this important has gone this long without its own media platform
— What we're building, who's coming on, and what you'll finally understand about this place
— A first look at Episode 2 with Marcos Benavides, CEO of Brennan & Company
NEXT EPISODE
Marcos Benavides — CEO, Brennan & Company. A Laredo institution since 1913, and the Founding Sponsor of this series. He takes the first seat.
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SUBSCRIBE
New episodes drop weekly, with clips throughout the week. Hit subscribe and turn on notifications — this corridor moves fast and we're reporting it from inside.
Then do us one better: drop a comment telling us what you do in this corridor and what you want to hear discussed. We're building the guest list in public. If your question is good, we'll put it to the person who can actually answer it.
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FOUNDING SPONSOR — BRENNAN & COMPANY
Customs brokerage, freight forwarding, warehousing and logistics in Laredo since 1913. The reason this show launched on day one instead of someday.
Website → brennangroup.com
Instagram → instagram.com/brennancompany
LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/brennanco
Facebook → facebook.com/brennan1913
PORT LAREDO
Website → portlaredo.com
LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/portlaredo
Facebook → facebook.com/portlaredo
D111 FILMS U.S.A.
Website → d111films.us
Instagram → instagram.com/d111filmsusa
YouTube → youtube.com/@D111FILMS
Facebook → facebook.com/D111FILMSUS
HOSTS
Felipe Romero — Port Laredo, Communications & Marketing Executive
David Romero — D111 FILMS U.S.A., Executive Producer
Filmed in Laredo, Texas. Broadcast-grade production by D111 FILMS U.S.A.
#PortLaredo #TradeCorridor #Nearshoring #SupplyChain #USMexicoTrade
From the publisher's feed
THE PORTCAST is the media voice of Port Laredo — North America's Leading Trade Gateway. Broadcast-grade conversations with the carriers, brokers, port officials, and decision-makers moving North…