Regional Economic Development Association

Adios ASARCO, Hello Future!

In collaboration with the office of Senator Shapleigh, Get The Lead Out, and various other student organizations, REDA organized a conference that celebrated the permanent closure of ASARCO and discussed the possibilities of the ASARCO-site in the future.

The conference, due to its prominent speakers and controversial subject, was one of UTEP’s biggest and most recognized student-organized conferences of the year.

Recap

• Time and date: 11am-2pm on Saturday, February 21, 2009
• Notable guest speakers: Businessman Robert Ardovino, Former Mayor Bert Williams, Mayor John Cook, and Senator Eliot Shapleigh
• Former Mayor Williams was presented with a Senate Resolution from Eliot Shapleigh, applauding his contributions against ASARCO
• Mayor Cook presented Senator Shapleigh with the “Star on the Mountain” Award for his contributions against ASARCO
• Get The Lead Out presented a professional video recapping the grass root movements against ASARCO
• Nearly 10 students/student organizations presented ideas for the future use of the ASARCO site
• Media coverage and promotion from The El Paso Times, Channel 4, Channel 9, Channel 14, Univision, What’s Up El Paso, The UTEP Prospector, the Newspaper Tree, and more
• Following the event, many community members networked together to celebrate the closure of ASARCO and the opportunities the closure will bring. Pizza was generously donated by Papa John’s Pizza.

Student presenters

• Intro/conclusion: Richard Sapien, Priscilla Moreno
• MC: Erik Pavia
• Derick O’Hara from Engineers without Borders
• Angel Diaz from Students for Reform
• Alex Muñoz from the Regional Economic Development Association
• Diego Rico from the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization
• Alan Jiminez
• Mario Salomon from the Regional Economic Development Association
• Claudia Ordaz

• Download the recap