About VBEC

VBEC (Victoria Business and Education Coalition) is the educational initiative of the was created in collaboration with the University of Houston Victoria, The Victoria College, Victoria Independent School District, Victoria Chamber Foundation, and many area businesses and individuals. The goal of the program is to assist with increasing the educational attainment level of the region. The success has been phenomenal.

VBEC is completely grant and donation funded and has a 501(c)(3) status with the Internal Revenue Service. The program currently consists of the six facets described below. VBEC is a program that is continuously evolving to meet the changing needs of area businesses.

Program awards

• In 2005, VBEC was recognized by the current Texas Secretary of Education, Dr. Shirley Neeley, as the program to become the national model.
• In 2007, it was a finalist for the United States Community Service Award in Washington by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
• In 2008, it received the Texas Governor's Volunteer Award in the Community Connector Category.

Victoria should be very proud and excited about these accomplishments.

This is how it all began

In 2002 a group of community leaders began to congregate with the purpose of improving the educational attainment level in the region. With over 100 people on board, the group named themselves the Human Capital Planning Team. This group developed a steering committee of eight community and business leaders who developed a vision and a mission statement. They also drafted a plan that would guide the larger group in identifying barriers to educational attainment, current efforts to address these barriers, and gaps that needed to be closed to overcome these barriers.

The Victoria Business and Education Coalition and the Victoria Chamber of Commerce Education Committee were developed as a result of the Human Capital Planning Team. The VBEC concept is the outcome of the efforts of these groups. The many facets of the program have been developed or implemented by the VBEC Team over the past several years.

Many businesses and individuals have collaborated to ensure the success of VBEC With the help of The Victoria College, the University of Houston-Victoria, Victoria Independent School District and many area businesses and individuals these facets of VBEC are currently in place: Occupation Investigations, Business Cents Classes, Careers, the YOUth LEADership Conference, and recruiting volunteers for the HOSTS Mentoring/Tutoring Program. These programs are designed to assist in many aspects of a student's success in the workforce. They also address the essential need for adult and business involvement with the education community.

One hundred percent of the third grade students who participated in the HOSTS (Help One Student To Succeed) Mentoring/Tutoring Program at Hopkins Academy during the 2009-2010 school year passed the reading portion of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Test! Ninety-Four percent of the ninth graders who were enrolled in the math program at Memorial High School Stroman Campus passed the math portion of the TAKS! The VBEC Team recruits caring adults to mentor/tutor students at three schools in Victoria Independent School District.

We need your help. The goal of VBEC is to provide mentors to assist every needy student in the HOSTS Program. This ambitious goal will require many caring adults to commit to assist a needy student for just thirty minutes a week. There are many other opportunities to volunteer for VBEC The entire program is staffed primarily by volunteers!

Thank you for all of your support. Increasing the knowledge and skills of our workforce is vital to the local economy and to our ability to compete globally. VBEC is definitely on target and is truly making a difference for the students in our region.