TEXAS – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Center for Innovation and Commercialization held its fourth annual Startup Resource Expo, offering local business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs the opportunity to network with organizations that offer resources.
The expo, free and open to the community, was held at the CIC facility in Weslaco. Participants heard from professionals during a variety of training sessions on topics such as access to funding, mentoring, marketing, legal, manufacturing, social media and app development.
The goal of the expo was to provide accessible resources and serve as a hub of inspiration for local business owners and community members interested in starting their own ventures.
Stephanie Mendez, UTRGV CIC manager, said she hopes people who visit the expo will take away the knowledge that there are many resources readily available in the Rio Grande Valley.
“When our community grows and more businesses open, that in turn attracts more jobs and our talented people don’t have to leave to find opportunities,” Mendez said. “It’s a great thing. Businesses succeed, we all succeed, the economy succeeds.”
Mendez was not alone in pointing out the Valley’s potential for economic growth. Francisco Aldape, a UTRGV economics professor who will begin teaching at the university in the fall, said the expo was the perfect opportunity to begin networking and meeting colleagues.
It also gave him a chance to learn about resources available not only to the community, but also to students.
CIC’s mission is to support all individuals, including students, faculty, staff and the community at large, in their entrepreneurial endeavors. Julian Jimenez, a business owner and UTRGV mathematics student, understands well how helpful the CIC can be to entrepreneurs: The center helped him launch his own social networking app after attending the Pitch Academy at CIC in 2021.
His “Meet Texas” app helps users network by connecting them with other users with similar interests to create quality interactions at networking events.
Jimenez was one of the speakers at the exhibit specializing in “How NOT to Launch a Mobile App.” He said he wanted to share the setbacks and mistakes he made while working on launching Meet Texas.
The events organized by CIC focus on providing support, encouraging innovation and accommodating people’s entrepreneurial aspirations. Christie Gonzalez, a local entrepreneur, was grateful for events like the expo organized by CIC, as they have helped her grow her own small business.
