The project before you is the product of years of work and collaboration, and we could not have been successful without our partners. The eBridge Center is mobilizing the next generation of entrepreneurs and equipping them with the skills and resources they need to create jobs, access capital, and scale commercially.
More than 350 government, university and economic leaders and others gathered this past week at the eBridge Center for Business and Commercialization in Brownsville for the new facility’s official grand opening ceremony.
Housed in the renovated former La Casa de Nylon building at 1304 E. Adams St. downtown, the 36,000-square-foot eBridge Center bills itself as the largest start-up-company incubator and entrepreneurial resource center in the Rio Grande Valley. The project groundbreaking took place in June 2021.
In her comments during the grand opening ceremony, Dr. Janna Arney, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley executive vice president and provost, described eBridge as a state-of-the-art facility “designed to provide a collaborative workspace for entrepreneurs, small businesses, inventors and investors to come together and transform their ideas into reality.”
A partnership between the UTRGV Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Center (ECC) and the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC), with support from the city of Brownsville, the Economic Development Administration and the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council, the center is “poised to become a driving force for innovation and economic growth in our region,” she said.
The ECC, established in 2011 under the University of Texas at Brownsville-Texas Southmost College, was created to foster and support entrepreneurship in the Valley, and collaborated with BCIC to develop eBridge with the city providing the building that ultimately would house it, Arney said. The vision was for a business, commercialization and innovation hub that would “create a pipeline of talent, technology and entrepreneurship that will drive economic growth in the region,” she said.
A primary goal is to generate high-paying jobs in advanced manufacturing, energy, health and other fields, while attracting new businesses and industries to the region, “which could lead to the creation of thousands of jobs over the next decade,” Arney said.
“The eBridge initiative also seeks to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in the region,” she said. “By providing resources and support to startups and small businesses, the initiative hopes to create a vibrant ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship that will drive economic growth in the region.”
BCIC President and CEO Cori Pena said entrepreneurship “makes communities better versions of themselves” and applauded the project’s partners. She also recognized the U.S. Small Business Administration, U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez Jr., former congressman Filemon Vela Jr., past BCIC executive directors Rebecca Castillo and Josh Mejia, the BCIC board and others for their help in making the center a reality.
Pena detailed some of eBridge’s amenities including the E-Lab, a collaborative space for entrepreneurs to develop business ideas while having access to a full range of services; the only U.S. Patent Trade Resource Center south of South Antonio, which allows users to research patents and register intellectual property without having to travel or hire an attorney; a city of Brownsville satellite office, training rooms, conference rooms and office space.
The center will also be home to the UTRGV ECC, the Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center, Small Business Development Center and an “entrepreneur in residence,” she said.
“The project before you is the product of years of work and collaboration, and we could not have been successful without our partners,” Pena said. “The eBridge Center is mobilizing the next generation of entrepreneurs and equipping them with the skills and resources they need to create jobs, access capital, and scale commercially.”
To see more, view Brownsville Herald photojournalist Denise Cathey’s full photo gallery here:
Photo Gallery: Brownsville’s eBridge Center holds grand opening
