On Tuesday, Barracuda Public Relations, an El Paso public relations firm filed for bankruptcy. As we reported, El Paso is likely to experience mass layoffs this year due to the Trump Administration’s federal cost cutting measures and the imposition of tariffs. In the first quarter of the year, almost 500 employees were laid off due to cuts in federal contract work related to migrants. This represents about 30% of the job losses during the pandemic in 2020.
There are around 103,000 government workers in El Paso. This represents about 22% of El Paso’s workforce. Many of these public sector jobs are dependent on federal monies. More important are the ancillary jobs that the public sector creates. These jobs and the jobs of the businesses that support the contractors are also in danger. Barracuda’s bankruptcy demonstrated the economic danger to El Paso.
The Barracuda Bankruptcy
According to its bankruptcy filing on Tuesday, Barracuda is liquidating its assets, effectively closing the company. The court filing states that Barracuda has less than 50 creditors with liabilities of less than $50,000. The initial filing does not include a list of creditors, however, as part of the required notices to affected parties, the bankruptcy lists the City of El Paso, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and the Texas Workforce Commission suggesting that the creditors are tax entities.
The creditors are scheduled to attend a video meeting tomorrow at 2:00pm.
The bankruptcy petition is signed by its owner, Marina Monsisvais.
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Marina Monsisvais
Texas Comptroller of Public Account’s information shows that Marina Monsisvais established Barracuda on July 22, 2010. She is the only principal of the company, according to the state’s records. Prior to launching Barracuda, Monsisvais worked as the promotions director and was a DJ for KHRO-FM. She also freelanced at the El Paso Times and was part owner of the Communal Heart Records record label.
According to Glassdoor job reviews, Barracuda does not offer a good work environment. Glassdoor, owned by Indeed, allows employees to post anonymously about their job experiences. The workplace environment, according to the online reviews was “toxic,” and that Monsisvais “resorted to fear,” and had “a bad attitude” as well as demonstrating “no respect for certain people.”
In 2020, Monsisvais completed UTEP’s Executive MBA Program.
Government Contracts
Among the work the public relations company includes on its online portfolio are the non-profits Paso del Norte Community Foundation, Paso del Norte Health Foundation and Paso del Norte Foundation. Four of the portfolio examples are government work which includes the City of El Paso and the Texas Department of Public Transportation. The portfolio suggests heavy reliance on government and non-profit work that depends on federal grants or taxpayer funds.
The government contracts awarded to Barracuda includes a 2024 contract worth $183,450 awarded by the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority. Also in 2024, the City of El Paso issued a consulting contract worth $137,024 to AECOM Technical Services to develop the Climate Action Plan in January of that year. Later that year, the City amended the contract to include Barracuda as a sub-contractor for the creation of the Paso del Norte Climate Fellowship Educational Program.
County Fast Tracks Contract
Barracuda was “fast-tracked” by the county commissioners for a public relations project promoting a $350 million quality of life bond in 2024. Barracuda was contracted to send 200,000 text messages and engage voters through direct mailers, social media and advertising to encourage them to provide input on the county’s proposed quality of life bond. The county bypassed normal processes and awarded a contract worth $599,750 to Barracuda for the work. The contract award was approved unanimously by the county commissioners on February 26, 2024. Barracuda began work two days later.
However, a review of pending contracts shows that Barracuda was awarded a $10,125 bilingual design water bill insert promoting participation by the county commissioners. The contract was approved on Monday.
In 2016, the City of El Paso contracted Barracuda to promote the El Paso Streetcar Project.
Monsisvais told KFOX yesterday that the bankruptcy is the result of the “decline in federal and state contracts.” Monsisvais added that her company’s bankruptcy is “part of a wave of businesses and non-profits suffering due to funding cuts.”
Barracuda’s website lists 17 employees at the company. It is not known if any had been terminated prior to the bankruptcy filing or if they will be laid off because of the filing.
In addition to the job losses from federal funding cuts, next week’s tariffs are likely to impact El Paso’s economy as well.
The Tariff Threat
Donald Trump announced that starting next week the administration will impose a 25% tariff on automobiles entering the US. Around $7 Billion in imports cross into the US via El Paso. México is the top exporter of automobiles to the US. Members of the USMCA trade agreement – Canada and México will be temporarily exempted from the tariffs. Nonetheless, many automobile parts are manufactured in México as other consumables that will eventually become more expensive for consumers and further lead to job reductions across the board. The cross-border trade created additional jobs in warehousing, logistics and ancillary services like accounting and IT.
The first quarter of 2025 demonstrates that job losses in El Paso will increase significantly in the coming months. In addition to the direct government jobs, the ancillary jobs that support the businesses relying on government work will also be impacted.