FUTURO is currently in its sixth year of the Enterprise Community designation. On January 11, 2002 FUTURO was designated as an Empowerment Zone. The whole FUTURO team is working to focus the purpose of their organization to one or two specific tasks that will both make them sustainable into the near future and benefit the greatest number of residents and communities in the region. This is no easy task. There is much need as demonstrated by the numerous areas explicated in our regional strategic plan.

The FUTURO team is working closely with its partners in the Middle Rio Grande Economic Task Force. The Task Force is currently promoting the region to automobile manufacturers and suppliers. The incentives FUTURO needs to entice companies into its region are the panacea needed to provide both the economic and social future of the entire region. FUTURO is currently designing a marketing plan that will incorporate the region's vast resources of people, including its children, with the needs of global industries. FUTURO recently hired two Economic Development Coordinators (EDCs). The EDCs are applying for funding to promote regional capacity building workshops. The workshops will be held in the central locations of Eagle Pass and Uvalde, will provide essential training to our region's leaders, and were designed to answer the need for affordable training in Texas. The cost of traveling outside the state and region for valuable training is too great for our rural economies. FUTURO plans to provide monthly workshops beginning in August 2004.

Furthermore, commencement of FUTURO's Affordable Housing Project is under way. The project will involve building 15 self-help homes for very low-income applicants (income requirements being set by the USDA). The self-help program involves the participating families in construction process of their homes. FUTURO hopes to break ground on the new homes in the Fall of 2004.