Mayor welcomes conventioneers

Thursday marked the Opening Celebration of the 43rd Annual Hispanic Business Convention of Texas hosted by the Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce (TAMACC) at the Embassy Suites-City of San Marcos Convention Center.

The Hispanic Business Convention of Texas is a statewide gathering of influential Latino/Latina entrepreneurs, business owners, elected officials, state agencies and corporate representatives that TAMACC, a nonprofit 501(c)6 organization, has hosted since they were founded in 1975.

The Opening Reception of the three-day conference was emceed by past United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) President and CEO J.R. Gonzales and featured Commissioner Representing Labor for the Texas Workforce Commission Julian Alvarez III as the keynote speaker and Mayor John Thomaides as a guest speaker.

Thomaides began by welcoming the attendees and organizers of the convention and giving them tips on the best way to enjoy their time in San Marcos – including a swim in the “gin clear” river, a vibrant downtown and one of the largest outlet malls in America, Tanger Outlets.

“If it sounds like I’m trying to recruit you to move your businesses to San Marcos, that’s because I am,” Thomaides said.

He also spoke about the tremendous growth that comes with being positioned in the middle of the Interstate 35 corridor and the economic future he sees for San Marcos as a strong multicultural business community.

“A strong city needs a strong business community and professionals, like yourselves, that are taking time out of their busy schedules to gather and learn,” Thomaides said. “Those are the kind of business leaders we need to attract to our city.”

Commissioner Alvarez centered his speech on the positive growth Texas’ economy has experienced in the past several years – with areas of Texas like Amarillo experiencing 2.9 percent unemployment rate. He also charged the audience to be proactive rather than reactive in their workforce solutions and ideas, encouraging the growth of training in growing fields like computer coding and trade jobs.

Alvarez finished his speech with a challenge for attendees to take advantage of and pride in the positions they hold as job creators, members of the workforce and members of TAMACC.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I charge you and I challenge you, especially those that are in this room that are future leaders, this organization is in the forefront of a lot of great things that are happening, I ask you to take advantage of the positions you hold, because each and everyone of you play a key role in two things: you put food on the plate by creating jobs – you should take pride in that – and the fact that you represent your communities well,” Alvarez said. “You make Texas strong.”

The convention hosted a series of speakers and workshops throughout the weekend that included President and Founder of Sol2Soul Evelina Solis, Google Digital Coach Vicky Hernandez Sepulveda, President of the Greater San Marcos Partnership Adriana Cruz, First Lady of Texas Cecilia Abbott and many others.

TAMACC, headquartered in Buda, serves as an organizational umbrella for Hispanic chambers of commerce and business organizations throughout the state by providing advocacy, technical assistance, programs and services to its members – a membership of over 15,000 business. For more information on TAMACC, go to TAMACC's website.