Business group to host monthly meeting on campus
Community business and nonprofit leaders recently gathered at Texas A&M University-Victoria and made connections with university business students.
Victoria Innovation Growth Opportunities and Relationships, or VIGOR, hosted its monthly meeting at 8 a.m. on Oct. 2 in the University Commons Multi-Purpose Room, 3006 N. Ben Wilson St. The next meeting will be on Nov. 6 at the same time and place. The group, led by Teri Moten, focuses on promoting cooperation and networking between businesses and nonprofits in the community.
“VIGOR was founded to bring people together and foster a greater sense of community,” said Moten, VIGOR facilitator. “We are bridging business with nonprofits, and we give these local businesses and organizations a place to come together, share what they are working on and collaborate. We don’t necessarily have a concrete structure to the group. We try to be what the business community needs us to be.”
The group usually meets once a month at the Gardenhouse Coffee & Espresso Bar, but the October and November meetings will be on the A&M-Victoria campus, hosted by the College of Business. The group hopes to give university students an opportunity to make connections in the local community and learn the importance of networking, Moten said.
“I’ve wanted to find a way to bring more students into our meetings and show them the importance of these networking opportunities,” Moten said. “We had one student who was attending our regular meetings, and it was wonderful to see his passion and plans for the future. I hope we can encourage more students to become part of the community.”
Moten is an alumna of A&M-Victoria, and she returns to campus throughout the year to talk with classes and share the importance of networking. In one of her recent visits to a class taught by Brooke Garcia, clinical assistant professor of management, Moten asked Garcia if there was a way to encourage students to attend VIGOR meetings.
“At first we were looking at group transportation, but then we decided it would work much better for our students if we could host some meetings on campus,” Garcia said. “The College of Business was happy to host, especially because it offers our students an opportunity to connect with real-world business and nonprofit leaders. Our students have a lot of contact with their peers and faculty members, but they’ll need those community connections when it’s time to begin their careers.”
During the meeting, students and community members divided into small groups and spent time getting to know each other. The students also were encouraged to share their goals for the future and any needs they might have with community members.
“This was a perfect chance for students to learn the power of networking,” Garcia said. “One of the lessons I share with my students is that a career path doesn’t always look the same for every person. You may know what you think it will look like, but that’s not always the case, and having a strong network of successful professionals can make all the difference as you move forward.”
For more information about VIGOR, contact Moten at teri@yourbusinessproblemsolver.com.
Texas A&M University-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 50 academic programs in the colleges of Business, Education & Health Professions, Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, and Natural & Applied Science. A&M-Victoria provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as online classes that students can take from anywhere. The university supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.