Higher ed leaders Solis and Vela agree, the Rio Grande Valley is at the forefront

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas – The leaders of two higher education institutions in the Rio Grande Valley had the same message when they appeared together at an event hosted by Starr County Industrial Foundation. 

The event was titled “SCIF Talks Presents: The Crucial Role of Higher Education as a Catalyst for Economic Development.” The two higher education leaders were Dr. Ricardo Solis, president of South Texas College, and Manuel ‘Manny’ Vela, vice president and chief operating officer of Texas A&M University Higher Education Center at McAllen. They appeared together on a panel moderated by Julian Alvarez, senior vice president of Lone Star National Bank.

In his remarks, Vela said the Valley is the “front door” to the United States.

“The reality is and we have lived it: people look at us as though we are the back door to this country. And the reality is we’re not the back door to this country. We are the front door. I love quoting (Texas A&M University) Chancellor John Sharp who is very fond of saying: As goes South Texas, will go to Texas. And as goes Texas, so goes the United States of America. And if you look at the improvements that have been made here and across the Valley, I like our chances,” Vela said.

In his remarks, Solis said the Valley is the “front yard” for international trade.

“As I touched upon earlier, we are in an enviable position. We are now at the crossroads of international trade. We are the front yard of this whole internationalization that is taking place in Mexico and (manufacturing) companies in the Far East and other countries now wanting to be right next to the biggest market the world, the United States,” Solis said.

“We’re no longer the backyard. We are the front yard. This is where we see so much happening. As I mentioned, we’re the envy of many other regions of the United States because the demographics have gone down drastically. And here we’ve seen, still, growth continues. We have a very young labor workforce and the population continues. So, our opportunities are unlimited. So we’re going to have to continue to be prepared for these changes and adapting and looking at being as innovative as possible. But, most importantly, working together.”

Here is a video recording of the panel discussion, including a Q&A at the end:

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