MCALLEN, Texas - McAllen City Manager Isaac “Ike” Tawil says he is about to announce “a fantastic initiative” to help retail stores with their business planning and marketing needs.
In what sounded like a tie-up with Eloy Garza’s Career Bridge, Tawil said the program is being developed in conjunction with UT-Rio Grande Valley and McAllen Chamber of Commerce.
It will involve students at the university’s Robert C. Vackar College of Business & Entrepreneurship getting real world experience.
“Investment opportunity - we evolve, we innovate. Every day I talk to Liz on a regular basis. I work with the management team at the City. We are constantly trying to come up with new ways to invigorate this community,” Tawil said, at a recent luncheon at the McAllen Chamber of Commerce.
The “Liz” Tawil was talking about is Elizabeth Suarez, president and CEO of the McAllen Chamber.
“And most of those conversations happen, I’m going to say, by happenstance,” Tawil explained. “The most recent initiative is a three-party agreement and relationship between the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, the Chamber and and the City's retail development office.”
Tawil explained how this came about.
"We got a call. The office got received a phone call from a concerned business. You know, things were tough. Tariffs were in place, sales at the restaurant were down. What are we going to do? And we looked at their situation, and we said, you know, maybe there's a way we can help you do something better,” Tawil said.
“And so we sat down with the university, we sat down with Liz, and we're getting ready to announce a fantastic initiative that is going to work through the Chamber of Commerce with local retail to develop marketing and business planning in conjunction with the Vackar School of Business and the students over there.”
Tawil said this will be a win-win for the retail stores and the students.
“What a tremendous opportunity to help the retail community develop their marketing plans, work their budgets, but also allow students at the university to engage in a real world exercise, where they get first-hand experience on what it's going to be like when they finish the next two and a half or three years, wherever they are in their program, how do they put it into practice? How do they hit the ground running?”
Tawil added: “Part of what I recognize in building this community is that we create the next level workforce.”
Tawil hoped to introduce McAllen’s “partners” at AEP, whom he had just met with. But they were not present at the luncheon.
“Technology is coming here. Investing in our students, investing in the youth of this community, is priority No. 1 for me. Making sure that we have the workforce that industry needs to bring next level to McAllen is important to me.”
Tawil said he is currently engaged in conversations with Texas A&M University at Tres Lagos. “We are engaging with them, in constant communications about how we can amp up their health related programs, whether it's pharmacy, nursing, public health. Health care is going to be next level and important for this region.”
The McAllen Chamber luncheon was sponsored by Rhodes Enterprises.
