Iowa Ag Connection - Oyervides Talks The Talk for Extension CED Program

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Oyervides Talks The Talk for Extension CED Program
Iowa Ag Connection - 02/11/2016

Victor Oyervides has walked the walk as an entrepreneur in both the United States and Mexico. Now he talks the talk for the Community and Economic Development program of Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.

In October 2014, Oyervides joined ISU Extension CED in a joint position as a community development specialist and director of the West Liberty Chamber of Commerce. He is one of eight CED specialists who hold joint appointments and one of five who are fluent in Spanish.

"We're working on leadership and entrepreneurship," Oyervides said. "so our goals are to create a Latino entrepreneurial community, a start-up community for Latinos, a networking of systems that doesn't exist for them right now here in east and southeast Iowa," he said.

Oyervides earned a bachelor's degree in architecture from the Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila in northern Mexico. He started his first business as an exporter in Edinburg, Texas, located in the southeast corner of the state along the US-Mexico border. He also started a business in the town of Saltillo, Mexico, located more than 200 miles southwest of Edinburg. He imported fine paper used by print shops, advertising agencies, and government agencies, along with running a graphic design studio.

The challenge of maintaining businesses on both sides of the border prompted Oyervides to hire a person to help with sales and marketing so he could focus on the import-export paperwork required by the two governments. That person eventually became his wife.

In 2006, Oyervides and his family moved to southeast Iowa, where he started and managed a New Iowans Center in Mount Pleasant. Part of Iowa Workforce Development, the New Iowa program assists immigrants in becoming part of their local community. Here, he trained immigrants from 34 different countries on citizenship, employment readiness and the English language. He also provided counseling to the Anglo community on diversity and cultural sensitivity.

In February 2013, Oyervides launched Emprendedores Latinos de Iowa, a project of the Iowa Center for Economic Success. The goal of the project, which is funded by the Northwest Area Foundation and USDA, is to expand entrepreneurial assistance to Latino business owners and entrepreneurs in southeast Iowa. When Oyervides joined ISU Extension and Outreach CED, he brought the ELI project with him.

Through ELI, Oyervides has trained more than 150 business leaders and entrepreneurs, 38 of whom are Latinos. He also established ELI Conecta, a network of Latino entrepreneurs in southeast Iowa. The project culminated with a one-day business conference in West Liberty on Sept. 14, 2015.

Oyervides' efforts have resulted in 33 new businesses -- 10 of which are Latino owned -- in Muscatine, West Liberty, Columbus Junction and Cedar Rapids. An additional 13 businesses were expanded or improved. He also is involved with Juntos, an activity-based program in which Latino youth and their parents learn strategies for succeeding in school and for setting goals after finishing high school.

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