Alvarez: Great things happening in San Benito, Texas
SAN BENITO, Texas - It is hard to celebrate the anniversary of a key facility for a community in the age of COVID.
However, the City of San Benito and its economic development corporation did so digitally. The first anniversary of the opening of the San Benito Business & Economic Development Center was featured on Facebook with EDC Executive Director Rebeca Castillo explaining how the project came about.
\u201cWe reactivated a vacant funeral home into the San Benito Business & Economic Development Center. It now houses the San Benito EDC offices and is also a resource center for the business community,\u201d Castillo said. \u201cWe are very proud to have created an entrepreneurial and starter-up ecosystem that leads our businesses to success.\u201d\xa0
The San Benito Business and Economic Resource Center is located at 701 N. Bowie Street, San Benito. Castillo said the 3,000 square feet facility will serve as an ecosystem that will provide incubation space for up four business start-ups. The start-ups could be housed there for a period of 18 to 24 months and be provided with low cost rent. The idea, Castillo said, is to provide resources for the start-ups in the hope that they can successfully graduate into their own storefront.\xa0
Julian Rios, president of San Benito EDC said he believed the working space will prove integral to boosting economic growth in San Benito.
\u201cWe are building around the concept of customer service and being hands on. We assist business prospects by finding the ideal property/location, by helping them prepare a business plan, by programming trainings and workshops that are of most demand and so much more,\u201d Rios said.
For the celebration, state Sen. Eddie Lucio sent a video message of support. VIPs that attended a live event included San Benito Mayor Benjamin \u2018Ben\u2019 Gomez, Julian Alvarez, the labor representative on the Texas Workforce Commission, Pat Hobbs, executive director of Workforce Solutions Cameron, and Alex Meade, a senior vice president for Texas Regional Bank.
Castillo said she and her economic development team can be contacted via phone at (956) 626-1350 or via email at info@sanbenitoedc.us
Editor\u2019s Note: Here is a link to the celebration on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SanBenitoEDC/\xa0
Editor\u2019s Note: The attached podcast features the remarks of Julian Alvarez, labor representative on the Texas Workforce Commission.
To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.