Chamber of Commerce president returns after motorcycle accident in time to help honor Brownsville-area leaders
The head of the Brownsville Chamber of Commerce almost didn’t make it to this year’s annual banquet.
In fact, the chamber’s biggest event of the year was postponed several months due to President and CEO Angela Burton’s serious motorcycle accident one year ago, when she was hit broadside at a Santa Rosa intersection while riding her Harley-Davidson. The accident resulted in three weeks of hospitalization and months of intensive rehabilitative therapy. The banquet is normally held in January.
Thursday, however, Burton’s biggest concern was making sure the chamber banquet went smoothly. The event was held to recognize the organization’s directors and committee chairs and, additionally this year, to honor the Brownsville area’s four legislators. They were recognized for their work during the legislative session, which ended in June. State Sen. Eddie Lucio, one of the four, served as the event’s keynote speaker.
"It’s just a show of appreciation for our leadership," Burton says. "This is kind of a bittersweet thing for me. We’re celebrating leadership, but this time last year the leader was in ICU (intensive care unit)."
Honored for their work as directors were Kevin Alford, of Alford Insurance Agency; Lourdes Carrasco, Simons Homes; Rafael Chacon, Integra Capital; Fred Chavez, Wells Fargo Bank; Jaime Parra Jr., Parra Furniture & Appliance; and Dr. Surya Raguthu of Active Life Rehabilitation.
Numerous outgoing committee chairs were recognized, as was outgoing 2007-08 chamber board chairwoman Maribel Baca, of Valley Coca-Cola Bottling Company. The board chairman for 2008-09 is Juan Armando Recio, of Falcon Bank.
Lucio, discussing successes and failures of the 81st legislative session, cited as a high point a $186 million increase in the pool of money available from the TEXAS Grants financial aid program, bringing total funds available to $614.3 million — a 44 percent increase over the prior biennium.
Lucio said the program, which provides financial aid to low-income and minority families in an effort to increase the state’s crop of college graduates, doubles a student’s chances of graduating from college. The Rio Grande Valley is the principal beneficiary of TEXAS Grants, having received $67 million since the program began in 1999, Lucio said.
Even bigger news was passage of Senate Bill 98, which allows the University of Texas Board of Regents to establish the UT Health Sciences Center-South Texas. The center is expected to be a major boon to the region and would include a medical school and other health care-related degree programs.
The center would serve a population of more than 1.6 million in a 12-county area, which has experienced 16.4 percent population growth since 2000. Plans for the health sciences center call for three separate facilities in the Rio Grande Valley, with the principal facility located in Cameron County.
A new academic medical center will have a substantial economic impact on the region, Lucio said, citing the experience of San Antonio and its UT Health Sciences Center.
"I can think of no greater accomplishment than the passage of Senate Bill 98," he said.
In other aspects the Legislature dropped the ball, he said, noting that endless deliberations over the Voter ID bill — which ultimately failed to pass — used up so much of lawmakers’ time that many important pieces of legislation never got a hearing. Lucio said he was discouraged by the defeat of bills that would have expanded the Texas Childrens Health Insurance Program and boosted funding for Adult Basic Education.
"Much was left undone," Lucio said. "It was disappointing but worthwhile."
As for the chamber banquet itself, more than 300 business and community leaders showed up to listen to the speeches, the kudos and the honors bestowed, Burton said afterward.
"I think all in all everything turned out great," she says. "I truly appreciated the support afforded by our chamber members and many of our city leaders."
Burton, marking her fifth year as chamber head, said the organization’s membership stands at about 1,000, the vast majority of which are small businesses. The chamber’s budget fluctuates between $400,000 and $450,000 a year. The chamber is entirely supported by membership dues and special events such as Thursday’s banquet.
Burton conceded membership has suffered slightly because of the recession, which has caused some members to trim non-essential costs — such as chamber dues. At the same time, members seem to be using the chamber’s networking services and business seminars more than ever.
"We’re not losing and we’re not gaining," she says. "We’re trying to stay above things, but we have honestly lost longtime members due to the economy."
What hasn’t changed is the chamber’s primary objective, which Burton described as creating a "climate of growth and success in our community" and pursuing initiatives that "focus on critical priorities."
Just what those priorities are is the subject of a new business plan Burton is working on for the 2010 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1. The business plan, revised yearly so the chamber can keep its priorities up to date, likely will include "education excellence," transportation and international affairs, she says.
Burton will present the plan to the board for approval at its September meeting. The chamber’s mission is twofold, she notes.
"We really work at providing services for our members, because we’re member funded," Burton says. "We also serve as kind of a cheerleader for the community. We work on promoting our members, and we work in lots of areas of governmental affairs."
