Texas Border Business
By Roberto Hugo González / Texas Border Business
MISSION, Texas — Elizabeth Davis walked away with $25,000, Josh Howard earned $15,000, and Cassandra Aguillon took home $10,000 as the Ruby Red Ventures pitch competition delivered a major $50,000 boost to three Rio Grande Valley entrepreneurs during the Mission Small Business Expo.
Davis, founder of Nuts and Cows, captured the $25,000 first-place prize after pitching her growing clean-label food company. Howard, founder and CEO of Hophire, secured the $15,000 second-place award, while Aguillon, founder and CEO of Evermore Digital, earned the $10,000 third-place prize.
The big wins capped an entrepreneurship competition supported by Mission Economic Development Corporation and Ruby Red Ventures, giving local business owners a chance to develop their ideas, sharpen their strategies, and compete for capital that can accelerate their businesses. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Center presented the competition in collaboration with the organizers.
Lone Star National Bank served as the Expo’s title sponsor, providing key support for an event centered on entrepreneurship and economic opportunity. The sponsorship, combined with the work of Mission EDC, Ruby Red Ventures and its partners, helped put local entrepreneurs in front of business leaders and a panel of judges.
Davis’ winning company, Nuts and Cows, produces clean-label food products made with natural ingredients, including products aimed at consumers with dietary restrictions.
Drawing on more than two decades of food-industry experience, Davis has developed dozens of products and has already generated sales through farmers’ markets and corporate customers. Her plans include establishing a storefront while expanding production, packaging and marketing.
Howard presented Hophire, a video-first hiring application designed to move beyond the traditional paper résumé. The platform lets job seekers introduce themselves through video résumés and includes a referral marketplace. Hophire was already operating on mobile devices and the web at the time of the competition.
Aguillon presented Evermore Digital, a digital consultancy that helps companies identify operational and marketing inefficiencies before developing customized solutions. Her business draws on years of experience managing advertising expenditures and helping companies improve customer acquisition.
But the competition extended beyond the three winners.
David Ceron presented The Writers Lab RGV, an educational venture designed to strengthen literacy and creative writing through children’s books, novels, poetry, comics, songwriting, and screenwriting.
Maria Lorenzo presented Seventh Avenue Cafe, a Mission family restaurant built around quality food, hospitality, and plans for future expansion.
Raven Torres presented KaiserOS, an operational consulting business founded with her husband, Daniel, to help companies diagnose infrastructure problems and build customized operating systems.
Leticia Sosa presented Renewed Reflections and Resilient Recovery, combining psychotherapy with neurofeedback technology. Petronilo Vasquez presented Bonampak Coffee Roasters, a specialty coffee company sourcing beans directly from farms in Mexico.
The entrepreneurs prepared for the competition through an intensive business-development program before facing a panel of judges and presenting their plans.
The result was more than a competition. Three entrepreneurs left with a combined $50,000 to invest in their businesses, while all the participants gained exposure, training, and an opportunity to demonstrate the entrepreneurial talent emerging across Mission and the Rio Grande Valley.
For Mission EDC and Ruby Red Ventures, the event demonstrated how economic development can reach directly into the small-business community. Lone Star National Bank’s title sponsorship added private-sector support to an initiative designed to help entrepreneurs turn promising ideas into growing businesses.
