Photo by HUBmedia - The Bridge Accelerator Demo Day 

    Born on the Mexican side of the Juárez - El Paso Border Region to a Mexican father and an American mother, you could say that Victor Corella was destined to be a natural bi-national entrepreneur. From as early as he can remember, his father ran multiple businesses along the US/Mexico border and would take his young son to meetings with stakeholders, where he saw how companies operate. “They basically put me in an incubator when I was a kid to be an entrepreneur.” Victor is now the CEO and Director of AMN International, a quality inspection assurance company that serves and supports the automotive, electronics and home appliance industries that deliver consumer goods for the USA and Mexico.

Intelligent investment on top of the range non-destructive specialized inspection equipment like as X-ray machines and high-resolution microscopes, to deal with the next generation of automotive vehicles, electric and autonomous cars, is seeing AMN become a preeminent company in manufacturing quality assurance. AMN serves over 40 manufacturing companies on the 400K list. Among them, Victor can list a number of big names operating between the US and Mexico such as Aptiv, Bosch, Continental, Johnson Controls, Nidec and VW, as personal clients.

Photo by HUBmedia - The Bridge Accelerator 

As a successful bi-national business, in its thirtieth year and employing over 400 people with operations in Michigan, the border regions of El Paso, TX Texas and Ciudad, Juarez, Mexico, Victor says he and many of his employees have to cross the US/Mexico border multiple times per week just to run the business. He notes that 80% of his employees are bilingual in English and Spanish. 

“When you work like we do, it starts to feel like one country. No walls, you forget the border is even there.”  


Victor says that AMN decided to go to The Bridge Accelerator to connect and grow within the bi-national community. He emphasizes The Bridge Accelerator as an opportunity to keep moving forward into the bi-national ecosystem and make deeper inroads into the cross -border, bi-national manufacturing market. The Bridge Accelerator is a business accelerator program for local SMEs and companies in the Borderplex region, designed to upskill their processes and better connect them with major manufacturing businesses in the area to take a larger percentage of the $39 billion regional supply chain. Currently 98% of these industrial inputs are supplied from outside the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. 

Victor says the programs courses and leaders helped AMN identify their strengths and weaknesses as a company, reinforced best business practice and helped them differentiate themselves from the competition in a highly competitive market. The program assisted them in attaining new strategic partners and helped them establish link between quality inspection service, manufacturing and regionally operating industry. “We were seeing that we had all the pieces of the puzzle, but when we came to The Bridge, they helped us to fit it all together, to align all our internal processes,” says Victor. He adds that on top of that, the program opened their eyes to new sectors and opportunities in the region.

 “The Bridge put us on a level where we are more visible to corporate America and corporate Mexico.”

You may also like: Business accelerator; the tool you don't know you need.

 Photo by HUBmedia - The Bridge Accelerator  

After a rigorous acceleration program, companies’ like AMN, are offered face to face meetings with decision makers at major manufacturing companies in the region like Bosch, Delphi, Toro and Continental. Local companies get to demo their innovations and unique offerings and ultimately pitch their services as local suppliers to these industry players. Through the program AMN managed to secure a $250,000 purchase order with Bosch. Victor says it represents a significant financial win for AMN, and the potential of building a long-term relationship as a supplier to Bosch. He says it will serve as a blueprint for establishing commercial partnerships with other regionally based manufacturers.

Being a bi-national entrepreneur in such a big regional business hub can come with its challenges, especially when it comes to dealing with the nation’s dual tax systems, government regulations and financial administration.

 “It can be tricky. You definitely have to know what you are doing, but the rewards of working bi-nationally definitely outweigh any of the challenges.” 

Victor adds that his multicultural identity has given him a distinct cultural and language advantage, allowing him to take market share of two nations, as well as dynamically serve the interconnected manufacturing supply chain between them. “I have a very good instinct for bonding both cultures and making the best of it to be an entrepreneur and solve business problems in both the American and Mexican cultures,” he says.

Photo by HUBmedia - The Bridge Accelerator 

Aside from AMN’s personal vision to expand their market, Victor views the current climate and The Bridge as a huge chance to convince the large companies located in the Border Region to open their eyes to the existing high skilled labor force, speed and logistical benefits of utilizing local suppliers.

“We are preparing ourselves through The Bridge, with a vision to manufacture the future here in our bi-national ecosystem.”

You may also like: From the factory floor to the C-suite
 Jose Ochoa Success Story