By PETE BANDA
Special to the NEWS
A history making partnership between UTRGV and the San Benito EDC was announced last week at a special ceremony at the EDC building in San Benito. According to officials present, UTRGV will be opening up a new satellite office inside the EDC building within the coming weeks. With a mission to induce growth of the economic profile of Resaca City, the satellite office will specialize in guiding new entrepreneurs, as well as lure established businesses to San Benito.
Ron Garza, Associate Vice President of Workforce and Economic Development at UTRGV, was among the leaders present who helped establish the connection between the two entities.
“Being from San Benito, It’s a bit more personal for me, so anytime I can help bring resources to the City, I really enjoy that,” said Garza. “San Benito was one of the biggest cities left in the Valley without representation from UTRGV, so when the opportunity came about, it was a no-brainer.”
According to Garza, the start of the partnership can be traced back to a specific date, the first day on the job for the new head of the EDC, Ramiro Aleman.
In October of 2022, Aleman was announced as the new Executive Director of the EDC. Garza says Aleman wasted no time getting to work.
“I believe it was his first day on the job when I got a call from (Aleman),” said Garza. “We’ve known each other for a while and he wanted to see what kind of partnership we could get going… Things started moving from there and the rest is history.”
Aleman, who took over as EDC Director after the resignation of Rebecca Castillo in August 2022, has spent 16 years working in various aspects of Economic Development. He cited his desire to help San Benito create new business opportunities as the driving force behind the agreement.
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