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BY BENJAMIN TREVIÑO | STAFF WRITER
The “greatest icon in McAllen history,” the palm tree, has a new look at the McAllen Chamber of Commerce. The new chamber logo, and what it represents, were unveiled April 18 at chamber headquarters with about 100 chamber members, city leaders, and McAllen residents in attendance.
“This has been in the works for six months,” said McAllen Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Josh Mejia. “I conveyed to our Strategic Communications team to design a tangible symbol of the chamber’s new direction…an icon that will represent [our] initiatives well.”
The new logo incorporates four circles into one unified ring, resulting in a modern, artistic depiction of McAllen’s iconic palm tree — a symbol that has been synonymous with the city for decades. Each ring represents one of the four fundamental pillars of the chamber’s mission.
The four pillars are: to help facilitate the city’s economic development, expand and enhance the benefits of chamber membership, be a partner in the city’s public policy, and promote tourism in the “City of Palms.”
“These four things are integral and vital to exactly what the chamber should be doing. So with all due respect to chamber leaders past and present, I’m looking forward to what this organization can look like in the near future,” Mejia noted.
To punctuate the McAllen Chamber of Commerce’s enhanced commitment to its community, the logo ceremony included a check presentation to two organizations dedicated to helping McAllen-area children. The Children’s Bereavement Center and Make-A-Wish RGV each received checks of $500 to help fund their respective budgets.
“We’ll use it right here in McAllen to support our grieving children, and their families,” said Ernest Espinoza, executive director, Children’s Bereavement Center. “We use a holistic approach, including art, drama, and play therapy, so this will help buy a lot of things for those children.”
“We’re going to use the check to go to wishes that we grant for our children with critical illnesses,” said Rebecca Ramirez, president and CEO, Make-A-Wish RGV. “They can wish to be, wish to go, wish to have, or wish to meet. So, the check will go directly to helping fund our children’s wishes.”
As part of the chamber’s new four-pronged initiative, www.mcallen.org now features four new tools to expand and enhance chamber membership. They include a community calendar of events, a searchable job board for employers and workers, a bulletin board where members can amplify their promotions, and a business blog to display news articles.
The Tuesday morning ceremony was capped off with Mejia and chamber Vice President of Strategic Communications Christine Cavazos unveiling the new logo outside the chamber building.
