WESLACO, Texas - The only way to create true wealth on the Rio Grande Valley is produce goods and services that people outside of the region are willing to pay for.
This is the view of Dr. Mark Kroll, professor of International Business and Entrepreneurship at UT-Rio Grande Valley.
The Rio Grande Guardian interviewed Kroll at a recent meeting of the RGV Angel Network.
“The only way the Valley becomes wealthier is to produce goods and services that people outside of the Valley are willing to pay for, so that we can import money, their money back to the Valley. That's the way the Valley becomes wealthier,” Kroll said.
“You know, meals at taquerias is all well and good, but in order to elevate all boats, we're going to have to sell. We’re going to have to export either services or goods elsewhere, and have those people like them enough to send us money back. As I tell my students, the reason San Francisco is so fabulously wealthy is because we all send them money for their software.”
Kroll continued: “We need to do things that cause people around the country and the world to send us money for what we do, and the way you do that is to start new ventures.”
The RGV Angel Network was founded in the summer of 2015 by local investors, educators and community leaders, who believed that early-stage investing could provide a meaningful return for investors while also spurring local economic growth. It is housed in UT-Rio Grande Valley’s Center for Innovation and Commercialization in Weslaco.
Under the direction of Dr. Kroll, the then dean of the College of Business at UT Brownsville and Laurie Simmons, former director of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund’s Tropical Texas Regional Center for Innovation and Commercialization, the idea was presented to community leaders. With ten founding members and some seed money from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, RGVAN was formed. Ten years later, the group is looking to expand.
“Every quarter we have a pitch night. At that pitch night, three ideas for business are presented. And they are seeking what we call seed money, which, as the name implies, is start-up money,” Kroll explained.
Over the years the RGV Angel Network has invested in more than a dozen enterprises.
“Some of them have succeeded. Some have not. Some have gone belly up. But, nevertheless, it is a means by which new ventures in the Valley, that have scalable business ideas, that can built to ten, 15, 100 million dollar businesses, can come find start-up money.”
Is the Valley producing more of these types of businesses, Kroll was asked. “Slowly but surely,” he said.
Asked if there was anything else he would like to add, Kroll said:
“I think that people need to encourage entrepreneurs in their lives. Don't pour cold water on people who have a dream. Encourage them. They may not make it. But we need people in the Valley who want to dream big.”
Here is a video recording of the Guardian’s interview with Dr. Kroll:
Sandra Charlton, a Weslaco-based CPA, is also a board member of RGV Angel Network. In an interview with the Guardian, Charlton said the group is on an upward trajectory.
“It is a great environment for people to come and learn. The RGV Angel Network is always wanting more people to come and learn about these investment opportunities. They do a lot more than just pitch nights. They do pitch academies. They do a lot of training and support for these start-up businesses,” Charlton said.
Here is a video recording of the Guardian's intervidew with Charlton:
