Texas Border Business
Leadership Mid-Valley (LMV) Class XV awarded twenty (20) $500 mini-grants to Mid-Valley locally owned and operated businesses as part of their class legacy project. Businesses were able to apply online and were then selected by a lottery system on Facebook live on June 16. The Leadership class held a special check presentation at the Weslaco Business Visitor & Event Center.
Leadership Mid-Valley is a proud initiative of the Weslaco Area Chamber of Commerce. The program’s primary objective is to seek, identify, and motivate emerging leaders and develop their potential for community leadership. Each class is assigned to complete a class fundraiser and a legacy project. This past February of 2020, Leadership Mid-Valley Class XV hosted an event at The Valley Nature Center called “Sabor de Weslaco” which featured tastings from local restaurants, as well as a raffle and silent auction. Because of the events surrounding COVID-19, the class was unable to complete their original class project idea, and decided to deploy these funds to support the talented and hard-working people in the Mid-Valley regions who have been impacted by COVID-19.
Winners of the grant included: Affordable Homes of South Texas, Inc., Aurora House Foundation,Boots ‘n Jeans, Busy Bristles, Cortino’s, Cynthia’s Body Shop, Dance Time, Jose’s Cafecito Courtyard, LaserLux, Mediterraneo Event Center, Montalvo Insurance, Moreno’s Feed & Pet Store, Nana’s Taqueria, Siesta Village, Inc., South Texas Juvenile Diabetes Association, Taqueria El Compallito, Teddy’s Barbecue, The Other Guys Pharmacy, Valley Trophies, and Weslaco Inn.
“These times have resulted in economic hardship for millions of small businesses throughout the United States and there is no better time to give back to our very own,” LMV Class XV released in a statement. “We hope that these grants can give the small businesses in our community some relief as they strive to move forward.”
To be eligible for the grant, businesses needed to be a Weslaco Chamber of Commerce member, be a small, locally owned and operated business located in the Mid-Valley area (Donna, Weslaco, Mercedes, Elsa, Progreso), not be part of a franchise, have been in business for at least one year and rent or own space to operate their business (brick and mortar, not home or online-based).
For more information on the Leadership Mid Valley program, visit Weslaco.com, contact chamber@weslaco.com or call 956-968-2102.
