![]() Zapata does not have an international bridge like Laredo, Roma and Rio Grande City do, so there are few Mexican deposits at the bank here. in the main area, where once you had thriving businesses,” he said. In Zapata alone, I bet you that there are 200 empty buildings. “If you want a good sense of the depression, take a drive from Zapata to Hebbronville, Freer, San Diego and look at the dilapidated buildings in every town. The only source of income here is derived from government transfer payments - law enforcement, Health and Human services and education, Ramirez noted. Since 2014, the area’s once bustling oil and gas industry has more or less disappeared. Over the last 35 years, they grew to $570 million in deposits.īut rural South Texas is in a massive recession. They expected that the Zapata bank would grow to $50-$60 million, and make maybe $500,000 a year, Ramirez said. Under the umbrella of this branch, Ramirez opened three IBCs in Rio Grande City and one in Roma, Hebbronville, Freer, Alice, Beeville and Kingsville. In 1983, Dennis Nixon, CEO and president of IBC Bank, offered Ramirez the job to open a branch in Zapata. ![]() But the daily commute to and from Zapata was hurting, he said. Ramirez went on to implement the banking program at the other LSU, Laredo State University, and then became a banker himself at Laredo National Bank. “But eventually home kept calling me,” he said. So he got his MBA, pursued a doctorate at the University of Tennessee, went on to become a professor of banking at Louisiana State University, where he stayed for five years. Ramirez started his career as an engineer but quickly discovered that it wasn’t what he wanted to do. It’s in his blood, he said - he’s been cattle roping since he was 10 years old, and he still gets up on horses, which he can maneuver with ease. Ramirez believes his big contribution will be mentoring the bank’s young leaders.Ī Zapata native, Ramirez is a cowboy at heart and in practice. His son, Ricardo Ramirez, will succeed him as president of the bank. And he still plans to come into the office every day. He will stay on as chairman of the board and maintain executive authority. I am not the kind who sits and watches television.” Obviously I’m going to miss it because man is a creature of habit, and it’s a habit for me to be coming to the bank every morning,” Ramirez said. ![]() The time comes that you have to step down and let the younger people come in.
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