Texas Border Business
By Joey Gomez
McALLEN, Texas – A shared vision for students and a passion for collaboration has created a partnership among three South Texas College faculty members with the goal to open doors across borders.
Through years of teamwork and a commitment to student success, STC Business Administration Chair Jose Olivares, along with Economics faculty member Kevin Peek, Ph.D. and Ruben Flores, Ph.D., who is currently leading STC’s Bachelor of Applied Technology Degree (BAT) in Operations Management agree that their unique partnership has helped transform one of the college’s signature events into a platform that is connecting students, educators and industry leaders on an international scale.
Now the partnership looks ahead to its most popular event, welcoming the start of STC’s 6th annual Binational Educational Symposium, March 5-6 at the college’s Pecan Campus, focused on artificial intelligence and its impact across industries.
“The contacts, the networks that have been brought to the table has facilitated a tremendous amount of success for the college,” Peek said of the partnership. “With Jose (Olivares) on the Mexican side and Ruben (Flores) locally, there has been a tremendous level of expertise that has been brought together.”
Pooling their unique talents and expertise together, from international economics and industry partnerships to community engagement, the faculty all agree that the symposium has emerged into a forum that is enabling students to share their ideas, build connections and start their futures beyond the classroom.
“When I came in about eight years ago, I brought my contacts in industry and those opened doors for us,” Olivares said. “That led to partnerships with universities in Mexico and eventually to combining our efforts into one symposium. It became a way to connect our students with international students and businesses.”
What began as a modest collaboration has now grown into an event that highlights innovation, entrepreneurship and the unique opportunities found in the region.
Hosted by STC in collaboration with institutions including Texas A&M University and Universidad Autonoma de Tamaulipas (UAT), the event features a wide range of faculty and student presentations, academic competitions and entrepreneurial showcases.
Created in 2020 as a collaborative effort between STC, UAT and INDEX Reynosa, the Symposium grew from a number of separate events including the college’s New Innovations, New Opportunities (INNO) Conference on the U.S. side and the Foro Educativo de Commercio International, which was an event held by UAT in Mexico.
Both events then merged into a single binational initiative that Olivares said fulfilled a vision to unite academic institutions with industry partners into one dynamic event.
What once drew 200 attendees in separate events has grown into thousands of participants from across the United States and abroad, Olivares said.
Since its launch in 2020, the symposium has reached more than 2,000 attendees including participants in New York, Chile and across Mexico. Speakers have included faculty from New York University, the University of Texas at San Antonio, East Carolina University as well as entrepreneurs and experts in international trade.
“We recently had more than 2,000 individual links clicked on the virtual portion of the Symposium,” Olivares said. “It has just grown exponentially since then.”
Peek, an Economics faculty member whose background includes international trade research and documentary work, said expanding participation beyond local institutions helped elevate the Symposium’s reach and impact.
“We expanded our audience beyond STC and our collaborators in Mexico to include the general public and institutions from other regions,” Peek said. “It’s not just academic, it’s public and private sector participation as well.”
Flores said he has focused on strengthening connections with community leaders, public agencies and employers across the region for more than 40 years. His longstanding ties to the Valley, and his experience in both the public and private sectors have helped broaden recruitment and collaboration.
“We need to bring together all sectors, including education, business and public service, because that is how we make a difference for our students,” Flores said. “When students interact with industry leaders and community partners, they begin to see what’s possible for their futures.”
Flores said the event also reflects STC’s broader mission of empowering students to pursue degrees, careers and entrepreneurial opportunities.
“Education can be the portal to opportunity,” Flores said. “This symposium shows students that they not only can earn a degree, but they can also build businesses and create generational change.”
For more information on STC’s Binational Educational Symposium visit southtexascollege.edu/info/bes/.
Information source: STC
