(Seguin) — Another round of businesses, individuals and community groups is being recognized for the yearlong efforts to make Seguin a better place.
The Seguin-Guadalupe County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce recently honored this year’s batch of award recipients during its 35th annual Awards Banquet.
Leading the pack of award recipients was this year’s Businessman of the Year and Businesswoman of the Year honorees.
Named Businessman of the Year for 2024 was Local Attorney Paul Gaytan.
Gaytan, of Gaytan Law Firm, was recognized for his 25-year legal career – a career in which he returned home to Seguin to operate.
Gaytan, who also serves as the Seguin City Councilman, says he is humbled by the honor and is proud to represent his community.
“I think that the foundation I have has been instrumental in the success that I have had in my life. I’ve been very fortunate. With the support of a tradition of education and business owners in my family — with support of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, my uncle, Johnny Trevino was a founding member and we still have a couple of founding members here today — Mr. (Louis) Ramirez, Mr. (Lewis) Reyes. We have a long history here and then also the strong support from the LULAC organization so I think when you take those leaders and those mentors, you should be successful with that type of foundation so I am very grateful for those who trailblazed for us over the past several generations and we are able to reap the benefits of all of their hard work,” said Gaytan.
Named as Businesswoman of the Year was Patricia Garcia Saucedo, owner of the Mosheim Mansion.
Although Saucedo was not on hand to accept the award due to a family obligation, she is applauded for her effort to revitalize the historic home on North Austin Street into an event venue for Seguin. Saucedo was also recognized for her “dynamic career path” that spans a number of industries and disciplines including, business computer science, business analysis, aerospace, web design and e-commerce.
Also recognized was Joseph Cantu, Seguin ISD district device specialist. Cantu was honored with the inaugural Vickie De La Rosa Academic Merit Award.
Tyson Foods received this year’s Corporate Business Award. Accepting the award for Tyson was John Trent Pontius.
The Interagency of Guadalupe County was also honored for receiving the Pete Garza Community Service Award. Accepting the award on its behalf was Becky Schroeder.
This year’s Rosita Ornelas Media Award was presented to J.R. Gonzales, the executive producer and host of the Latino Business Report.
Dr. Cesar Silva, a professor at Texas Lutheran University, was also on hand and was presented with this year’s Youth Leadership Award for his contributions to Mexican-American studies.
The Hispanic Chamber this year opted to extend two Humanitarian Awards. This year’s recipients include Rafael De La Paz, the CEO of Community Health Centers of South-Central Texas and Regina Lee of the Christian Cupboard.
The Patriot Award was extended this year to Craig Russell, the founder of the SS American Memorial Foundation.
This year’s Juan Seguin Award was also presented to Mental Health Officer Brian Lumpkin, of the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office.
Wrapping up the list of awards was the presentation of the Chairperson’s Director of the Year Award. Chosen by Chamber Chairwoman Christina Krueger was Chamber Director Yesenia Rizo.
This year’s banquet also introduced the inaugural Louis Q. Reyes Scholarship Award. This year’s scholarship recipients were Kayla Hernandez and Taelor Krueger.
Sharing a few words with this year’s audience was Guest Speaker Rudy Garza. Garza is the president and CEO of CPS Energy.
The banquet was held Thursday at the Seguin Coliseum.
The Seguin Daily News will feature photos of each of the award recipients during a future edition of the Seguin Daily News.