UTRGV students bring win to the Valley

UTRGV’s CEO chapter was named Global Chapter of the Year for the first time in university history at the 42nd annual Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization Global Conference & Pitch Competition.

The conference took place from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1 in Tampa, Florida.

The organization is a nonprofit charitable corporation founded in 1983 and supports the growth and development of a global network of more than 250 college and university chapters with students who seek to be entrepreneurs, according to its website. 

Skyler Howell, entrepreneurship and innovation senior and president of CEO-UTRGV, said there used to be two chapters at UTRGV before merging them in 2020. 

“That way, we can share our resources not only in terms of funding but in terms of our amazing talent that we have on both campuses,” Howell said. 

In 2024, the chapter won the Outstanding Social Media Award. The chapter’s president said, now, it wanted to show the impact it has had in the university and the community.

Andrea Gaytan, management senior and vice president of international affairs of CEO-UTRGV, said the chapter gives students hands-on experience with entrepreneurs. 

“We bring in guest speakers,” Gaytan said. “… We have our general meetings every single week. They get to practice financial skills, LinkedIn workshops and get to actually network with other students that also want to bring their own ideas to life.”

She said the chapter not only brings officers to the conference but also members, giving students opportunities to network with professionals.

Howell added the annual CEO is where chapters across the country come together. 

“If you have a business idea, you’re able to pitch it and, hopefully, win some money for your venture, but they also give out the chapter awards,” he said.

During the nomination process, any CEO chapter can apply and share why it should be awarded the chapter of the year. 

“Our application was strong enough to be considered the most outstanding chapter,” Howell said. 

He added the CEO-UTRGV is the first student organization at UTRGV to have joined the RGV Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. 

“This gives you all the benefits that you get from joining a chamber such as networking, exclusive events, promotion for your business and among many other things,” Howell said. “We’ve had tours with SpaceX, with L&F Distributors. … Our most recent one was with Sam’s Club in Harlingen.” 

CEO-UTRGV gives members the opportunity to see how a business runs in the Rio Grande Valley and also volunteers with the community, according to the chapter’s president. 

Gaytan said finding out the chapter won was surprising but not shocking.

“I am very confident in our own chapter and everything that we’ve done for the university and the community as a whole,” she said. “For this being both our last year as UTRGV students, this, I believe, was the perfect way to kind of wrap up the semester.”

Howell said he felt shock when hearing their names called out but were confident in the work they have done. 

“I don’t do it for the awards … but it’s nice to know that our hard work we do throughout the year was recognized and that we’re able to bring this to our university in the 10th year,” he said. 

Gaytan said the organization has helped her develop real skills for the world. 

“And that is something that I believe, especially in this generation, students are looking for that,” she said. “… We have everything that is going on in classrooms but, after they go to class, they can go to the general meeting, and they’re able to learn via our meetings.”

Howell said the chapter’s future plans are to keep the partnership with the RGV Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, more tours outside the local region and its weekly meetings. 

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