March 15, 2022
Corpus Christi, TX
2021
Overall Score
2.42
Policy Score
1.33
Socioeconomic Score
3.50
Corpus Christi achieves a score of 2.42 thanks to its strength in Job Opportunities. Higher marks in all policy categories would help Corpus Christi improve its overall performance.
Growing up under a dictatorial regime in Panama, Lorena Parada-Valdes longed to live in a democratic country. In 1979, she had her chance. That year, she was one of just four Panamanian college students to receive a merit-based scholarship to study in the United States.
After graduating from Bates College in Maine, Parada-Valdes traveled the world, teaching and studying languages. In 2003, she moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, drawn by the warm weather and beautiful coastline. “It was the closest thing to home, without being there,” she says. Fluent in six languages, Parada-Valdes put her skills to work. She became a Federally Certified Court Interpreter and a Nationally Certified Judiciary Interpreter and Translator. In 2004, she opened The Language Bridge, a company that provided translation and interpretation services to the Federal court system.
As Corpus Christi’s business community grew, Parada-Valdes realized many industries could benefit from her expertise. “Educating people about diverse languages and cultures is essential to individual and organizational success,” she says. She expanded her business to include foreign language education, ESL classes, and cross-cultural training. She called the new company FoxP2Go, after the human gene FoxP2 that regulates language and speech development.
Since 2014, Parada-Valdes has served numerous multinational businesses with offices in Corpus Christi. These include Voestalpine, an iron manufacturer headquartered in Austria; M&G Resins, a petro-chemical company headquartered in Italy; and TPCO a steel pipe manufacturer, headquartered in China. “We have worked with these companies providing Spanish and English as a Second Language instruction, technical translation in Italian and Portuguese, and cross-cultural training,” says Parada-Valdes.
I’ve often believed that the United States’ greatest strength is that everyone is welcome here. It’s a nation made up of immigrants.”
Today, FoxP2Go provides services in 11 different languages and has around a dozen contractors, several of whom are American-born. “We’re very much in growth mode,” says Parada-Valdes. “We’re growing with the understanding that accessibility to language is key to the success of our community. I’ve often believed that the United States’ greatest strength is that everyone is welcome here. It’s a nation made up of immigrants. And that openness towards diversity has made all the difference: it’s what sets us apart as a country, and as a power.”
Indian native Kamlesh Bhikha grew up in an entrepreneurial family. His grandfather was a sugarcane and cotton farmer and his father manufactured diamonds, selling the gems he’d fashioned from rough stones. Bhikha also aspired to be his own boss. “The harder you work, the more you reap,’” he says. “And that’s how I ended up as the managing partner of Rodeway Inn.”
After earning his bachelor’s degree in accounting back in India, Bhikha went to work for his father. In 1987, on a business trip to Charlotte, North Carolina, he became enamored with America. He eventually settled in Maryland and landed a bookkeeping position with the Howard County Social Services department. “This is back when we only worked 35-hour weeks,” he says. So he took a second job at a Howard Johnson, working his way up from desk clerk to general manager.
In the hotel business, Bhikha saw the opportunity he’d been waiting for. On Christmas day in 1992, his uncle, who had recently purchased a Rodeway Inn in Corpus Christi, invited Bhikha to become his partner. “That was my Christmas gift, and a very powerful opportunity,” Bhikha says. In 1993, he became a United States citizen and moved to Texas.
The Corpus Christi Rodeway employs around 20 people, all of whom are U.S.-born Americans, and it serves up to 5,000 guests each month. “I have a people personality,” Bhikha says. “I’m always on the front line. I know every single employee’s name. I shake hands with my guests. Interacting with so many people gives you different ways of thinking.”
Bhikha’s engagement also extends beyond the hotel. He’s a member of Leadership Corpus Christi, a United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce-led community-building initiative. He also serves on various boards, including the Westside Business Association, the Corpus Christi Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Early Scholars Academy, the Texas System of Education Service Centers, and the local YMCA—where he teaches yoga.
I’m interested in improving the quality of life for all citizens of Corpus Christi.”
“I’m interested in improving the quality of life for all citizens of Corpus Christi,” Bhikha says. “With physical fitness and an education, you can do anything. So I give back to the community in all these ways.”
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