Salazar, executive director of the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, was the keynote speaker for banquet and focused his presentation on three key points vital to success. First is opportunity and the ability to seize it. Second is readiness and the difference between what is inherent and what is practiced for. The final key to success according to Salazar is effort. Be prepared, said Salazar. Aggressively seek out the opportunity that others sit and wait for.

Salazar spent 13 years in economic and small business development with UTPA before moving on to banking. He then became a banker for Lone Star National Bank and then an account executive with First Franklin, a division of Merril Lynch Bank & Trust, where he was consistently one of the top 25 performing account executives in the country.

The VIP awards banquet was created to recognize CoBA student accomplishments, especially those related to Values, Initiative and Professionalism (VIP).

Buchanan explained to a crowd of students and professors that while freedom and independence are part of why people decide to become an entrepreneur, accountability for one's actions is always a constant.

Additionally, entrepreneurial success depends on four variables: people, focus, customer service and balance, said Buchanan. And while all four are vital, he keystone to his success has been the people.

"You cannot survive, you cannot be a company unless you have top notch people. You need to treasure them, treat them right and give them the right kind of benefits," said Buchanan. Later, Edward Peno, Kial Gramley and Karen Lozano, who formed the rest of the FibeRio team, joined Buchanan for an open question segment on the company's plan to develop their corporation.

FibeRio is The University of Texas-Pan American's first spin-off corporation. The Company's equipment will provide the world industry a new cost and energy-efficient way to gather nano-fibers

For more information on the dates and times of Entrepreneurship Series events, contact Dr. John Sargent at jsargent@utpa.edu

CoBA graduates Aziz Trevino and Susan Val Verde returned to CoBA this month to share their experiences as entrepreneurs. The two grads were the first in this semester's Entrepreneurship Speaker series established to motivate entrepreneurial hopefuls. Treviño, supervisor and co-owner of Aziz convenience stores, spoke of his family's humble beginnings and about the business becoming a top convenience store chain in the Valley. It takes more than just money and the desire to create a successful business, Treviño told the audience of CoBA students and faculty. It takes knowledge. Val Verde's experience was different. As executive director and a franchisee for Sylvan Learning in the Valley, Val Verde has been to Baltimore and back in her quest to bring the Sylvan Learning franchise to the area. This experience led to a paradox. "When you have your own business, you crave this freedom and that's one of the things that drove me into doing this, but you also have a lack of freedom because you're really chained down to the work that has to be done," said Val Verde, noting she had to return to the office after her speech. "When you own your own business, it's not a 7 to 5--it's a 24 hours a day business. You're always on call," explained Treviño. The entrepreneurs had different business stories but agreed that owning a business was more than a job--it's a lifestyle.

     This Spring semester the Department of Economics and Finance continues its bi-monthly faculty seminar series.

      Starting February 5^th from noon to 1 p.m. in room BUSA 118, either an invited speaker or a faculty member will present an original research paper.           

      The seminar series will offer a unique opportunity for collaboration and exchange of ideas not only among members of the Department, but also with researchers from the College, the University, and other research institutions, said Dr. Damian S. Damianov, (assistant professor of economics and finance) who acts as a coordinator of the seminar series.

       This semester, two guest speakers are invited to present, Candling Li of the University of California-Riverside and Shane Sanders of Nicholls State University in addition to presenters from the Department.

For more information on the Department of Economics and Finance seminars contact Dr. Damian S. Damianov at ddamianov@utpa.edu

John Paul Mariano, a senior in the Department of Computer Information Systems, represented the College of Business Administration on a panel of four students who provided questions to Steve Wozniak.  Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer, Inc., was the first speaker in this year’s UTPA Distinguished Speakers Series.  Wozniak used the students’ questions as the bases for his presentation.  The questions and answers centered mostly on Wozniak’s experiences in entrepreneurship, computer science and other areas in which he has excelled.