Texas Border Business
MCALLEN, TX (October 5, 2017) – South Texas College kicks off its annual binational effort to promote entrepreneurship and business locally and south of the border.
The 5th Annual Binational Innovation Conference (INNO 2017) is a bi-national collaborative effort between STC and El Instituto Internacional de Estudios Superiores in Reynosa, Mexico, and takes place on Oct. 20 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the STC Technology Campus located at 3700 W. Military Highway in McAllen.
This year’s keynote address will focus on an economic overview for the Rio Grande Valley presented by Blake Hastings, representative with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Laura Warren, President of Warren Group Architects Inc., will also speak about Urban Development in the Valley.
“The Valley is changing rapidly,” said Mario Reyna, Dean of Business, Technology and Public Safety at South Texas College. “We must see from a 5,000 ft. level what our region will look like to give our entrepreneurs an opportunity to plan their next venture.”
The INNO Conference provides entrepreneurs and the business community with information about the new cross-border economic opportunities that could arise so they are enabled to develop new business plans and adjust existing strategies to potential opportunities.
Developer and businessman Mike Rhodes will also speak about the upcoming Tres Lagos development taking place in north McAllen.
INNO will also include two distinct panels. Panel One will include representatives from Urban Development planners including those from the city of McAllen, Hidalgo County, RGV Partnership, Hidalgo County RMA and Starr County.
Panel 2 will include representatives from the various Economic Development Corporations (EDCs) in the region including Keith Patridge, President & CEO of McAllen EDC; Augustin Garcia, Executive Director of Edinburg EDC; Victor Perez, Executive Director with Pharr EDC; Alex Meade, Chief Executive Officer with Mission EDC; and Leticia Flores, Community Relations Specialist for the Lower South Texas Region representing Texas Gov. Greg Abbot.
“Our region will have a loop that will redirect traffic from our congested areas which means a lot of new opportunities for our business community,” Reyna said. “New neighborhoods around our metropolitan area will change how we buy our services, so this too needs to be analyzed in order to better understand what impact this will have to our business community, and what steps they will need to take to reposition themselves in the near future.”
For more information, to register, or a full schedule of events please visit www.southtexascollege.edu/info/inno/. For more questions, please call the STC Business Administration Department at (956)872-2764.
