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With over 25 years of participating in Brownsville's progress and development, Fred Rusteberg’s credentials as IBC- Brownsville’s founding President may best be symbolized by his role as Founding Chairman of Brownsville First, a grassroots effort to pass a ½ cent sales tax for economic development. Since the launch of IBC-Brownsville in 1984, Rusteberg, who is bilingual, has worked successfully to make it the region’s premier bank in convenience and locations, with assets over $500 million. His responsibilities include 12 bank facilities in Cameron County, including Brownsville, Harlingen, South Padre Island and Port Isabel, as well as new full service branches in Wal-Mart Supermarkets. Brownsville’s growth, like the growth of IBC-Brownsville, can be attributed at least in part to the leadership of Rusteberg in promoting border trade, maquiladoras and general economic development for the region. Before becoming a banker, Rusteberg worked for the area’s future as Assistant Port Director for the Port of Brownsville and as Project Director for the Brownsville/Matamoros Railroad Relocation Project. In these roles he helped develop legislation leading to the $50 million project designed to move rail transportation from downtown to the deepwater port and to build a new international bridge. As past chairman and one of the founders of the Brownsville Economic Development Foundation, Rusteberg participated in their transformation, creating the Brownsville Economic Development Council, of which he is past Chairman. On behalf of IBC, the region’s economic development effort, and groups including the Border Trade Alliance, Rusteberg has traveled extensively from Washington D.C. to the Far East and throughout Mexico. As a reflection of the many contributions Rusteberg has made to his community, he was recently named Brownsville’s Outstanding Citizen of the Year by the Historic Brownsville Museum and Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. (D-Brownsville).A graduate of Texas A & M University, where he earned a degree in Finance, Rusteberg has maintained a strong interest and active role in secondary and post-secondary education. A member of the Brownsville Independent School District Strategic Planning Team, Tri-Chair for Vision 2000, and Chairman of a $100 million bond issue for school improvements, he has played a major role in shaping the future of educational opportunities in the area. Serving as Chairman of the University of Texas (UT) at Brownsville Development Board, on the President’s Advisory Council at the UT Brownsville and the Chancellor’s Advisory Council at the UT Austin, Rusteberg has been active in the development of science, engineering and technology programs and other curriculums promoting higher quality education for South Texas. | 