Vela, Rusteberg and Gonzalez Barron with the keynote speaker, CEO of ABC Capital, Mario Laborín Gómez. 

The recipients of the Business Leaders Awards for 2013 are:

Rolando Gonzalez Barron, President and CEO of Industrias Gobar, Matamoros, Tamaulipas.

"I leave enamored and captivated by my projects and enjoy every moment of what I do," said Gonzalez Barron. "God has given me a great blessing, the ability to think positive and believe in the goals that I want to achieve."

Fred Rusteberg, President and CEO of International Bank of Commerce, Brownsville.

"I am honored to be recognized by the leadership of UT Brownsville and to be in the caliber of Manny Vela and Rolando Gonzalez Barron," said Rusteberg. "I want to thank my wife and my family who have been there for me and my board of directors and my officers and management team who have made a difference in my bank's success." 

Manny Vela, President and CEO of Valley Baptist Health System. 

"Valley Baptist has had a long standing partnership with UTB and we could not be more proud of what we have previously established and we are so looking forward to even more and better opportunities as we create this regional university," said Vela.  

 
Mario Laborín Gómez, Chairman and CEO of ABC Capital, was the keynote speaker of the breakfast.

The packed audience heard from keynote speaker Mario Laborín Gómez is Chairman and CEO of ABC Capital, a commercial bank and the largest independent loan servicing company in Mexico. He served in the cabinets of two Mexican presidents: as CEO of Nacional Financiera for President Vicente Fox, and he continued that appointment and also became CEO of Bancomext for President Felipe Calderon. 

Following the breakfast, Laborín participated in a panel discussion in the lecture hall of the Science and Engineering Technology Building. He was joined on the panel by 2012 Business Award recipient Sergio Arguelles, Chairman of the Board of FINSA, S.A. and 2013 honoree Rolando Gonzalez. The experts focused the discussion on the outlook for the Mexican economy and U.S.-Mexico trade in light of the recent Mexican and U.S. elections. 

The School of Business, with over 1,400 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the spring 2013 semester, is committed to providing graduates with the education and training needed to successfully lead the region’s businesses and launch new enterprises that will grow the economy.