The Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company (PRIDCO) — es, Compañía de Fomento Industrial de Puerto Rico (or simply ''Fomento'')— is a government-owned corporation of Puerto Rico authorized and empowered to induce

private capital In economics, capital goods or capital are "those durable produced goods that are in turn used as productive inputs for further production" of goods and services. At the macroeconomic level, "the nation's capital stock includes buildings, eq ...

into

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

in order to establish

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exc ...

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...

s, and industrial operations in

. As its primary function, PRIDCO is known for providing

incentive In general, incentives are anything that persuade a person to alter their behaviour. It is emphasised that incentives matter by the basic law of economists and the laws of behaviour, which state that higher incentives amount to greater levels of ...

s to both native and foreign companies that either manufacture in Puerto Rico or export from Puerto Rico.

History

PRIDCO was created by the government of Puerto Rico in 1942 along with the

Puerto Rico Government Development Bank The Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico (GDB) — es, Banco Gubernamental de Fomento para Puerto Rico (BGF)— is the government bond issuer, intragovernmental bank, fiscal agent, and financial advisor of the government of Puert ...

(GDB) during the governorship of Rexford G. Tugwell. Its purpose was to finance the construction and operational management of

industrial park An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park ...

s where stateside manufacturing companies could find low-rent venues for their operations. For decades, PRIDCO operated as a subsidiary of the Puerto Rico Economic Development Administration (PREDA); the agency that oversaw the systematic operation which transformed the

economy of Puerto Rico The economy of Puerto Rico is classified as a high income economy by the World Bank and as the most competitive economy in Latin America by the World Economic Forum. The main drivers of Puerto Rico's economy are manufacturing in Puerto Rico, man ...

from an agricultural economy into an industrial one known as

Operation Bootstrap Operation Bootstrap ( es, Operación Manos a la Obra) is the name given to a series of projects which transformed the economy of Puerto Rico into an industrial and developed one. The federal government of the United States together with what i ...

. Bootstrap was the brainchild of PREDA's first administrator,

Teodoro Moscoso José Teodoro Moscoso Mora
Rico Puerto Rico. Noticel. June 15, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2012. ...

. Other notable industrialists served in PREDA as well, such as Hugo David Storer Tavarez who served as the director of promotion for some years, and

William Riefkohl William Riefkohl López (born October 8, 1939) was the executive director of the Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association 2002–2013. Early life William Riefkohl was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, to William Riefkohl Villodas from Patillas and M ...

who served as its deputy administrator from 1988 to 1992. As PREDA continued to transform Puerto Rico, PRIDCO eventually became an independent agency. A government reorganization eventually merged PREDA into PRIDCO, establishing PRIDCO as the focal agency for all manufacturing in Puerto Rico while PREDA ceased to exist. Today, PRIDCO also oversees the program to promote Puerto Rican rums which enjoy

cover-over subsidies Cover-over subsidies are annual payments from the U.S. government to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico out of federal excise taxes. For example, when a bottle of rum is produced in either the Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico, and then sold in th ...

when sold in the United States. The agency is also now under the umbrella of the

Department of Economic Development and Commerce of Puerto Rico The Puerto Rico Department of Economic Development and Commerce is the executive department of the government of Puerto Rico responsible for the economic development in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and all its commerce related matters. ...

(DDEC), an

executive department The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ba ...

. In 2019, the agency was tasked with creating a database of business owners who are veterans of the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

with a mandate to adhere to a law that requires supporting and helping veteran business owners. Along with the Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture, in 2019, the organization discussed plans to import coffee beans from different locations in order to mix and cultivate new coffee plants in Puerto Rico. In August, 2019 employees of PRIDCO protested against the direction of

PROMESA The Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) is a U.S. federal law enacted in 2016 that established a financial oversight board, a process for restructuring debt, and expedited procedures for approving critical i ...

, the non-elected board working on restructuring Puerto Rico's debt. PRIDCO employees demanded more transparency and more consideration for the work PRIDCO has been doing for decades. In early 2020, the police were investigating the illegal transfer of funds by PRIDCO to overseas accounts.

Executive directors

As PREDA

Teodoro Moscoso José Teodoro Moscoso Mora
Rico Puerto Rico. Noticel. June 15, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2012. ...

José Madera José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...

Manuel Dubón Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Ma ...

Xavier Romeu Xavier Romeu Matta is a counselor and litigator, with expertise in securities litigation and regulation, and corporate, commercial and employment litigation. He is a former politician, and an advocate of statehood for Puerto Rico, and of the appoin ...

As PRIDCO

Enrique Rodríguez Negrón Enrique Rodríguez Negrón (born July 14, 1933 in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) served as a member of the Senate of Puerto Rico from 1989 to 2001. From 1993 to 2001, he chaired the Senate Tourism Committee and partnered with then Executive Director of t ...

* Jaime Morgan Stubbe *

Jorge Silva Puras Jorge Silva Puras (born August 23, 1966 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto-Rican public servant and government official. Early life and education Silva Puras is a 1988 graduate of Yale University where he majored in political science and eco ...

* Boris Jaskille * Javier Vazquez Morales * 2011–2013:

José Pérez Riera José Ramón Pérez Riera was the former Secretary of Economic Development and Commerce of Puerto Rico The Secretary of Economic Development and Commerce of Puerto Rico heads the Puerto Rico Department of Economic Development and Commerce and ...

* 2013–present: Antonio Medina Comas * Rafael L Ignacio Torres 1961-1965 vice-president PRIDCO * Rafael L Ignacio Torres 1984-1990 President of PRIDCO

References

{{authority control 1942 establishments in Puerto Rico Financial services companies established in 1942 Government-owned corporations of Puerto Rico Industrial development agencies Manufacturing in Puerto Rico