Texas Border Business –
August 29, 2014 – The Weslaco EDC and the Weslaco Area Chamber of Commerce held a reception for newly appointed UTRGV President Dr. Guy Bailey and Medical School Dean Dr. Francisco Fernandez on Thursday, August 7, 2014 at the Weslaco Business, Visitor & Event Center. City leaders and members of the business community welcomed the newly appointed candidates and witnessed a $10,000 endowment fund donation to the new university on behalf of the Weslaco EDC.
“The Weslaco EDC contributed to the UTRGV endowment fund in order to recognize the regional nature of this school and show support from the Mid Valley. The contribution will be used by students attending UTRGV who graduated from Weslaco schools. Many of our students need financial assistance to afford college. Higher education is a quality of life issue. People with bachelor’s degrees and beyond earn higher incomes which has a direct economic impact on the area,” said Weslaco EDC Board President Rob Peterson.
Joey Trevino, Executive Director of the Weslaco EDC, said “My only hope is that the Weslaco EDC endowment fund will help Weslaco residents achieve their dreams and encourage them to stay in the area to become successful community leaders.”
“Our goal with this endowment is to help those students in financial need attain college degrees. By helping these students, we believe we will have given them the tools to become leaders in our community which will ultimately help them contribute to the growth and development of our All-America City,” said Weslaco EDC Board Treasurer Adrian Farias.
“Weslaco is the epicenter of the Rio Grande Valley and as such the center of this new university. We welcome the university leadership and plan to continue supporting UTRGV in their development,” stated Weslaco Chamber CEO Martha Noell.
Veronica Gonzalez, UTPA Vice President for Advancement, noted “A student’s ability to complete his or her education is often dependent on available scholarship funding. Everyone at UTPA, soon to be UTRGV, is grateful to the Weslaco EDC for partnering with the university to give our Valley students tools to succeed.”
The reception, sponsored by Davis Equity, was attended by 70+ area community leaders. Davis Equity VP Randy Summers has worked closely with UTRGV in their development for the area.
