Edinburg EDC launches new bank internship program for UTRGV students

EDINBURG, Texas – Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, in partnership with UT-Rio Grande Valley and the Edinburg 2040 Initiative, has officially launched the Bank on INT! paid internship program.

The program was launched with a signing ceremony at Edinburg City Hall. The aim is to produce valuable hands-on experience, mentorship, and career development opportunities for aspiring banking professionals currently studying at UTRGV.

Nine undergraduate students will benefit from the program, gaining hands-on experience at regional banks such as Freedom Bank, Rio Bank, Texas National Bank, Lone Star National Bank, and Greater State Bank, while also earning school credit. The ten-week summer internship begins June 9. Through the program the students will benefit from 200 hours of work experience and mentoring.

In his remarks at the ceremony, Edinburg Mayor Ramiro Garza said the Bank on INT! program came about thanks to the Edinburg 2040 Initiative. He specifically praised Pedro Salazar, chair of the Edinburg 2040 Economic Development Committee. He said it probably helps that Salazar is a former banker.

“This about our kids. Our kids are going to learn so much from this program. All the banks here and all the professionals… this is about building our pipeline,” Mayor Garza said. And while there are only nine students in the first cohort, Mayor Garza said he expects that number to grow in the coming years.

Raudel Garza, executive director of Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, also spoke at the signing ceremony.

“Workforce development is very important for all of us. The first thing that people ask about when they’re coming in and looking at a market is, where am I going to get the labor? And so, developing that workforce, that local talent, is of utmost importance to all of us. It has been a priority for the economic development corporation since I’ve been here, and even before that,” Raudel Garza said.

“We’re happy that quite a few local banks are participating (in Bank on INT!). There are some others who are not participating this year who are very anxious to continue this for the next year and the next round, if you will.”

Garza praised UTRGV for its participation. “Without them, obviously, this is impossible. They’ve got a program already set up in terms of identifying talents throughout the university, kids that are coming through.”

In his remarks, Salazar, the chair of the Edinburg 2040 Economic Development Committee, said he has known Mayor Garza for almost 30 years.

“And throughout those 30 years, he’s always complaining to me about something – and I don’t mean that in a bad way. When he complains, it’s because he wants something done. And one of the things that he often complains about is, we just lose too many of our top kids to larger markets,” Salazar said.

“And unless we can find compelling career opportunities for these students, we’re going to continue to lose these students. So, in January, we set out to create a top tier local internship program. And I do mean local, because the idea is to try to retain some of this top talent.”

Salazar reiterated, this is a top tier internship program. “I’ve been involved with other internship programs and the structure, the curriculum, the engagement from the banks… these kids are going to get really exposed, and hopefully it’ll be career defining,” he said.

So many students come out of college not knowing what they want to do, Salazar explained. He said he was one.

“It took me what, ten years to figure out what I wanted to do. It would have been a lot different if I would have had an experience like this (Bank on INT! ) coming out of college, knowing this is what I want to do. I wouldn’t have wasted so much time doing all these different things that that I did do.”

Salazar thanked Ray Garcia of Texas National Bank with his help in setting up the program. “He was the first person that I reached out to. He has pretty much given this program some structure.”

And, Salazar predicted, the students would secure an incredible experience at the banks.

“I kept on saying, we need to make sure that these students go and sit down at the corporate headquarters, at Lone Star National Bank, or at Rio Bank. I worked at Lone Star National Bank and when you go into that corporate headquarters and you sit down in their executive room, there is just something about it,” Salazar said.

“And I wanted these students to feel some of that, right. It is about creating these career-defining opportunities for our students and trying to retain some of our top talent. And in talking to some of the banks that are participating and having them, that have interviewed some of these students, they say these kids are great.”

Salazar also praised UTRGV.

“Sometimes we have this perception that you have to go and pull talent from, you know, UT Austin, or Rice, or somewhere else. We are creating, we’re developing some very strong talent here locally, and it’s important that we recognize it and we tap into it.”

Salazar’s final point focused on the value of local community banks.

“I want to thank the banks because this is a significant investment on their part. We’ve got some larger banks, we’ve got some smaller banks, but they’re all paying top dollar for these students. They are also putting in a lot of their time, a lot of resources, and part of this is going to be those mentorship opportunities,” Salazar said.

“You get to know Mr. Humphreys at Rio Bank, or you get to know Joe Quiroga at Texas National Bank. You start developing this network, these relationships, that is going to carry them (the students) through. If they want to stay in banking, even if they don’t work at the bank where they do the internship, that’s an invaluable experience that they’ll be able to take with them for the rest of their lives.

“So, I just want to thank the banks that are participating. Hopefully we can increase the number of banks that participate. The last thing I just wanted to mention is that if you notice, the banks that are participating, they’re all local banks. They’re all local community banks. We have a lot of banks in our community, but it always seems like it’s the community banks that make those significant investments.

“And, so, whenever you’re looking to establish a new banking relationship, just keep in mind who it is that’s investing in your community.”

The final speaker at the signing ceremony was Dr. Giorgio Gotti, dean and professor at UTRGV’s Robert C. Vackar College of Business & Entrepreneurship. Dr. Gotti said he wants other sectors to take a leaf out of the local banking industry and consider collaborating with UTRGV.

“When I came to UTRGV, about four years ago, my interview was for the director of the school accountancy, and I put a video of a soccer match where the team was really working well together, passing and scoring. I feel that here, in the last four years, this is what happened. We have a very good team that plays well together. And to make this possible, we need a university. We need a college. We need a mayor. We need the city. The EDCs, their departments, all of us working together to help the students,” Gotti said.

“The student now will be business leaders of tomorrow, they will be the mayors, they will be the governors. And so, I think it’s really important for them to learn and to learn while doing something. And what is the best way to learn? Doing something, learning from the people that actually know how to do it, from the bankers, working day by day with them, putting together the knowledge that they absorb in the classroom with the knowledge from the people that actually know how to do it.”

Gotti added: “So, I am very happy to be here. Thank you all that made this possible. Thank you on behalf of our students that will benefit. We have nine students, but we had 80 applicants, so it was really something that touched a chord in our students. They wanted to do it.

“We will try to do it again and again and again. And this will become, hopefully, a framework that we can use for other partnerships with the community, with other parts of the university, putting our students first.”

Editor’s Note: Rio Grande Guardian accounts manager Steve Van Ryzin helped with this story from Edinburg.

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