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:

• Stedman's path from advertising and marketing to economic development
• AI, data and blockchain across the supply chain
• Electric and autonomous trucks, and Green Corridors' Laredo–Monterrey freight system
• Laredo's interstates, bridges and rail lines
• The pending UP–Norfolk Southern merger and East Coast rail access
• TAMIU's automation, logistics and robotics programs
• Pathways for Trade and LEDC's 60-year history
• LEDC's 50-year strategic plan for Laredo as Texas' next Metroplex

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

• How a poster of the top U.S. customs districts and a chance conversation at an air cargo conference in Houston started a 15-plus-year relationship with Laredo
• Why Ken says Laredo has room for growth that congested ports like New York-New Jersey and Philadelphia don't
• His numbers on U.S.-Mexico trade: just under 40% of it moving through Laredo, and a roughly 60/40 import-export split that's more balanced than the big Asia-facing ports
• The proposed I-27 corridor, a second highway running parallel to I-35 that Ken says could take 10 to 20 years to build
• Why customs on both sides of the border is where congestion happens, and how AI could help flag problem imports
• A proposed elevated train corridor between Monterrey and Laredo that Ken calls "a dream," and why he thinks it could take six to eight years
• How WorldCity turns raw Census Bureau data into charts and stories, and why it's "three to six months" from adding AI

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 · d111filmsusa@gmail.com