Industry Partners Gather at ITEC Center for Productive Meet and Greet Session

Texas Southmost College (TSC) welcomed representatives from its various industry partners to the ITEC Center on Thursday, May 9, 2025 for the Business, Engineering, Architecture and Technology (BEAT) Industry Partner Meet and Greet.

The event was TSC’s way of showing appreciation for the different industries who have contributed to helping enhance the various Workforce Training and Continuing Education programs, ensuring that students in those programs are learning the skills to fully prepare them once they enter the workforce.

Among the many industry partners is Marek Brothers Systems, a Houston-based contractor with a local branch in Harlingen, who specialize in supplying metal framing, insulation, drywall and suspended ceilings.

“We made a decision to really embrace looking at student to fill our workforce and finding avenues to build our workforce, and the most efficient and key element is by going through trade schools and finding the students who are already on career pathways to join the workforce, and helping supply them with the tools they need to enhance their training experiences,” said Abraham Matamoros, Area Manager with Marek.  “We supplied metal framing, and they are free to do with it what they please. Anything they need in order to contribute to their training.”

Working with industry partners is an integral piece of the programs to which they are connected, and it allows the courses to keep up with the ever-shifting expectations respective to each industry.

“Having industry partners plays a huge role for our programs because they are the ones who are driving what our curriculum should look like,” said Dr. Emma Miller, Dean of TSC’s BEAT Department. “With the industry changing often, we need to keep up with those changes in order for our curriculum to make sense to our students and ensure that they can be gainfully employed once they are done.”

Because of this close collaboration with industry partners, TSC is able to know what kind of skills that industries are looking for when it comes to selecting the workers they hire.

“If we are updating our curriculum, we are doing a lot of application in our programs as part of that updated curriculum, our students will be prepared for those jobs,” said Miller. “Industry partners are a crucial piece of the picture because when students have committed to being part of our programs, they’ll be ready to hire by the time they complete their training.”

Additionally, the partnership gives many students the opportunity to participate in internships, which has a multitude of benefits for them in the long run.

“By placing our students in internships as part of the process in their programs, they get hands-on experience with these companies, and at the same time, the companies get to see what our students are capable of so that when it comes time for graduation, the students can have an opportunity to quickly get on board with a full-time job.”