Good evening, everyone. My name is Victor Perez and I am the founding board president of the Pharr EDC Foundation, and executive director of the Pharr Economic Development Corporation.
I would like to start off by saying thank you to the the Pharr City Commission and to Mayor Dr. Ambrosio Hernandez for their support with the creation of this foundation.
Without the support of the City Commission and Mayor Hernandez none of this would be possible. So, I applaud you, ladies and gentlemen, for being true pioneers of education.
I also want to thank the soon-to-be Pharr EDC Foundation Board for supporting higher education for members of the Pharr community by accepting the responsibilities that come with sitting on a newly-created board.
As you all know, economic development is critical to our city’s financial success. It impacts our community, and allows us the opportunity to forge strong partnerships with our local business industry.
As the City of Pharr’s economic development arm, the Pharr EDC has always focused its efforts on creating direct pipelines for student, post-secondary education, workforce development, entrepreneurship, and other forms of business development. It is imperative that we invest in the future of this community and that we continue to do so for the continued success of the Pharr economy.
By creating the Pharr EDC Foundation, we are not only ensuring the continued growth of the Pharr community, but we are also ensuring that the leaders, and entrepreneurs of tomorrow are given the needed resources to succeed.
We are excited to begin this journey with you and look forward to the many opportunities that will be available for our Pharr students.
Thank you all, and God Bless.
Editor’s Note: The above remarks were made by Victor Perez, executive director of Pharr Economic Development Corporation at an inauguration ceremony to celebrate the new Pharr EDC Foundation and the induction of its founding board of directors. The event took place on the patio of the Pharr EDC offices on the evening of Feb. 25, 2021. Perez was named president of the Foundation. The board plans to focus its efforts on providing scholarships, internship opportunities, and financial literacy education to students within the City of Pharr.
Here are the remarks of Pharr Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez:
Good evening. Buenas Noches. Bienvenidos a todos. Thanks for being with us tonight. It is a beautiful evening as you can see. We are very happy to have all of you here. I know you guys are really busy. It is a lot to give back to the community but it is also very meaningful and it is your community. You invested in it quite a bit and the City of Pharr sees all the progress that has been made.
With the COVID-19, as you know, under the guidance of the Commission and Dr. (Ramiro) Caballero leading the charge we went after the most vulnerable people and those who did not come out. So, we took care of those people that are stuck at home and that just builds on what we are about to do. We are taking care of the older generation that has been around and they deserve to be taken care of. We are taking care of the business community, the homeowners, but now is the time for us invest in our children.
We do it all the time in partnerships, whether it be PSJA, Vanguard, Valley View, Hidalgo ISD, UTRGV, Rio Grande Valley College, STC. Most people do not realize how much the City of Pharr partners in an effort to move our children forward. And now what we are going to do is take it to the next level.
Economics sometimes get in the way and we have all found out, not everybody needs to be a doctor, or an engineer or a lawyer. Not everybody needs to be a welder but you should have a choice and the economics should never get in the way but it does get in the way.
We think the best way to combat that is to take care of our constituents, our children, the next generation. The best way to do that, the commission believes, is, we are going to be utilizing not taxpayer money but bridge revenues. What we are going to be doing, because of the commission, it is their will, although it is physically located in the EDC, it is a city endeavor. We are setting aside seed money of half a million dollars as an endowment and this is going to be for the residents of Pharr.
So, any child that wants to go past high school, again whether you want to be a welder, you want to be a lawyer, a doctor, an engineer, a plumber, that is your choice. You should have that. But we should never allow the economics to get in the way. Our commission feels that way. So, therefore, we are seeding it and we are obviously going to have fundraisers to help people move along. But, every year as the bridge grows, we will be adding more and more. And we anticipate to have quite a few happy Pharr families and it is well deserved. But it is entirely because we have a great commission. It is united. They are taking care of the entire spectrum of the population and I could not be any prouder of them.
Here are the board members of the Pharr EDC Foundation:
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