Cardona's Dual personality: Downtown redeveloper and vocational school president

Anabell C. Cardona has been called a one person redevelopment company and a risk-taker. That’s an accurate characterization, considering that since 2001, she has purchased and rehabilitated at least five downtown Weslaco buildings, investing $7.438 million in acquiring and renovating the properties which cover approximately 31,000 square feet. The other half of the story is that those buildings serve as classrooms, labs and offices of the Valley Grande Institute for Academic Studies, a private-non-profit school providing training for vocational nursing and selected healthcare occupations. Anabell Cardona became Valley Grande Institute’s CEO/President in 2001.

When Valley Grande opened in 1992, the vocational school had only 27 students. In the last eight years, Cardona has applied both the knowledge she gained managing the office of a pediatric practice and her own 100 percent positive attitude to transform Valley Grande into a respected, highly successful medical-vocational school with over 800 students a year and a waiting list. “What was holding us back was space,” she said.

The Weslaco native, who clearly remembers window shopping downtown as a child, has pursued a vision of reviving downtown and restoring its vitality. “You can see old downtown buildings come alive after you paint them,” said Cardona, who can see potential in buildings showing their age. When she had the awning taken down on recently purchased Texas Avenue building, she discovered attractive architectural details known as dentils. “It was like a secret,” she explained. “We just cleaned it up and added natural stone columns.” She is not aiming for a downtown that’s a re-run of yesteryears’ shops, but for a mixed use plan setting the academic and administrative offices of Valley Grande in the midst of existing and future retail and professional offices.

Soon after Cardona took over Valley Grande, she leaped at the opportunity to move the operation from the packing shed area to downtown where she undertook remodeling an old building piece by piece. Valley Grande grew through Cardona’s perseverance. A survey by UT Pan Am revealed Valley Grande’s annual impact on Weslaco is approximately $4.8 million. She slowly added equipment such as a working x-ray machine for students to practice with, allotting space first to classrooms even if it meant putting her offices in temporary, less desirable locations. She forged alliances with the medical community who welcomed her students for hands-on internships and clinicals at hospitals, hospices, home health agencies and private practices. “I understand what doctors need,” she said, based on her pediatric office experience.

Cardona credits part of Valley Grande’s growth to the quality instructors for the Vocational Nursing program and courses such as EKG, Phlebotomy, Patient Care and Pharmacy Technicians, Medical Insurance and Coding. “I have a wonderful nursing staff. They have helped us get this program to be successful.” The heart of the school is the 15-month LVN program. A new batch of students starts the program about every third month. In January, Cardona presided at the graduation of a Valley Grande LVN class of 76 students and the capping ceremony for LVN students midway through the course which was held at the McAllen Convention Center. Cardona is proud that 91 percent of those students passed the state LVN licensing exam on their first try.

“We always have to be on top. You don’t just graduate them. You have to make sure they’re going to pass the state exam the first time,” she said. “As long as you produce good students, you’ll get more students. It’s the students who refer others to us. All of our recruitment has been word of mouth.” Currently students commute from as far as Brownsville and Rio Grande City. By the time LVN students graduate, prospective employers have been to the school and offered jobs. Graduates of the other programs are assisted by the school’s placement office.

Cardona said she sets the example for her staff of 50–certified instructors, accountants, financial aid advisors-- by showing them nothing is impossible, portraying a positive outlook no matter the obstacles. So it’s no surprise that Cardona was presented with the President’s Award by the Weslaco Economic Development Corp, which recognized the risks she had taken to pursue her vision. In 2004, Valley Grande Institute for Academic Studies was recognized as the Business of the Year by the Weslaco Chamber of Commerce in 2006. Anabell Cardona is a member of the Board of Directors of Knapp Medical Center, Valley Partnership, Weslaco’s Comprehensive Planning Committee, and the Chamber of Commerce.

Cardona is not resting on her laurels, by any means. She received approval from accrediting agencies to begin a Massage Therapy training course this year, which she said will complement other programs in the school. Valley Grande maintains approval with Veterans Education and the Department of Education which allows the school to offer Federal Financial Aid to qualified students. Additionally, Cardona is considering moving beyond healthcare education into other fields. Meanwhile she is continuing to renovate -and in one case, build from scratch-downtown Weslaco because she cares deeply about her community.