Texas Border Business
“Steak” in your Community Cowboy Up For Kids, Buckaroo is set for January 9, 2016
Honoree: Community Leader Art Ortega, CEO of Texas National Bank
(Edinburg, November 24, 2014) Boys & Girls Clubs of Edinburg RGV has begun ticket sales to their annual “Steak” in Your Community event to be held at 6:00pm, Saturday, January 9, 2016 at the Legacy Center located at 702 Cullen St (Rogers & Expway 281). The “Steak” in Your Community fundraiser is the Club’s FUNdraising event which is filled with fast paced auctions, live music from the RiverRock Band, good food by Palacios Endowment and great company.
This year’s honoree is Art Ortega, CEO at Texas National Bank. Art was born and raised in Mercedes, Texas by Jose P. and Genoveva Ortega. Art’s parents came to the U.S. from Mexico in search of a better life for themselves and their children. They settled in the rural farming community south of La Villa where Art was instilled with a strong work ethic, family values and morals. In addition, his parents had a strong sense of faith and belief in the education system. It is through that teaching that Art felt a strong need to help the Boys & Girls Clubs of Edinburg RGV in their annual fundraising efforts.
Mr. Ortega’s first foray into the area of Finance was when he began work at Texas State Bank in 1985. He received his Degree in Finance in 1987 from Pan American University (now known as University of Texas Rio Grande Valley). In 1991 he took his expertise in finance in a new direction by providing financial consulting. After 17 years of working with Fortune 500 companies such as Merrill Lynch, Chase Investment and UBS Financial, Art decided to join forces with his brother Saul Ortega on a full-time basis and grow several ventures they had invested in throughout the years. Two of the businesses had a special meaning to the duo as one farm, Platon Farms, was named after their father’s middle name and the other ranch, Tres de Enero Ranch, after their mother’s birthday. Art was brought back into the banking industry by Texas National Bank where he is the Chief Executive Officer for 4 branches throughout Hidalgo County.
At Texas National Bank, Mr. Ortega has fostered community engagement amongst its employees. The service mindset is something he has held since his childhood and he believes that the future belongs to the children residing in our communities. “Boys & Girls Clubs of Edinburg RGV provide a huge service to our younger generation. While I grew up in an atmosphere where I was fortunate to have one of my parents at home to watch over and guide our development, the same is not true of many of todays youth” said Art Ortega. He further explained that single family homes and homes in which both parents work make teaching family values and morals near to impossible. He added “BGCE RGV provides a place to fill this gap in a very positive and safe environment. The benefit and impact to the community is beyond measure.”
In seeking this year’s honoree it was important that the children of the club be the main focus of all fundraising efforts. In that sense, there could be no individual more committed to positively impacting the club other than Art Ortega. In this sense, the “Art” of giving is about more than writing a check or having checks written. It is maintaining a true passion for providing the next generation with the most and best resources available to help them be tomorrow’s CEO.
Proceeds from the event will help support youth development programs of the Boys & Girls Clubs and the Youth of the Year scholarship program. The 2015 Youth of the Year will be announced at the event.
Tickets are $100 per person with a limited number of tables available for $1,000 (seats 10). The Board of Directors would like to extend an invitation to anyone who would like to celebrate with us. Tickets can be purchased by calling 956.383.2582 or logging on to www.bgcesteak.com.
