Broker Gives Back Via Business & Chamber Service

Hector Rocha Jr., sees opportunities emerging for his hometown from a business office on Vermont Avenue that’s just steps away from a busy U.S. Business 83.

The Mid-Valley insurance broker and Mercedes Chamber of Commerce board member is bullish on his community’s prospects as he builds a business from a heart-of-the-Rio Grande Valley location. Rocha sees the same for Mercedes. It’s a community whose midpoint location in a region of 1.4 million residents is increasingly being seen as a place to locate new businesses.

Dallas-area Victron Energy saw it that way when deciding to build its Gateway Travel Center in Mercedes. Opening in recent months, the travel center on the Expressway 83 corridor has quickly caught on with Valley commuters and commercial trucking interests. New eateries like Chick-fil-A and Wendy’s in the Gateway development complex are drawing even more traffic.

“We’ve had multiple projects come through,’’ Rocha said. “Economic development in Mercedes has taken a significant spike over the last year.’’

Hometown Perspective

The Mercedes native got his business footing and experience in working for large companies like Farmers Insurance and Axa Equitable Life Insurance.

Rocha built up a solid client base in working out of offices in Brownsville and servicing a broad swath of South Texas accounts, going up to Laredo. He had personal aspirations and ambitions when it came to having his own business. There was little doubt where he would look first when the time came to start out on his own.

“I’ve always wanted to be in Mercedes,’’ Rocha said. “We have deep roots here. It was a warmer market for us than anywhere else.’’

It was 2015 when he charted his own business path with Brighthill Insurance. Rocha has been at 249 S. Vermont Avenue as his business location since 2018 after starting from a home-based office. His brokerage offers a wide range of services, including home and auto coverage, commercial accounts, and health insurance options as Brighthill seeks the best plans for its customers from national and regional insurance companies.

Serving on the chamber’s executive board gives Rocha a great perspective on the community’s business and civic life. He points to the work the chamber does to raise funds in establishing yearly scholarships for graduating seniors. Then there’s the Texas Street Festival, the largest Labor Day weekend celebration of its kind in the Valley. The holiday musical extravaganza is produced and organized by the Mercedes Chamber and has become one of the Valley’s biggest festivals.

It all goes to show the diverse role the chamber of commerce plays in Mercedes and one that Rocha is proud to be part of in seeing his community grow and become reenergized with renewed promise.

“There’s more opportunities coming down the road,’’ he said. “We’re perfectly set up in the Mid-Valley for growth with (FM) 1015 and an international bridge. The amount of open land Mercedes has along Expressway 83 is another key factor in attracting investors to the city.’’

• Ricardo D. Cavazos
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