U.S. Consulate Explores Guanajuato Development Projects 

Beyond the bustling and colorful streets of Guanajuato city and other colonial jewels like San Miguel de Allende, the Guanajuato countryside is peppered with small towns.  Traveling outside the major cities, the Public Affairs Officer from the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara recently visited several of these small towns to take a look at local economic development projects sponsored by the Bajío Community Foundation. 

The Bajío Community Foundation was created in 1998 with the goal of spurring economic growth in the region and addressing the root of the migration issue through sustainable, community-led development and job creation.  It is one of the oldest community foundations in Mexico and promotes particularly progressive inter-sectoral programs and collaborations with both government and the private sector. 

The Foundation is nothing if not creative – and resourceful.  Adriana Cortes, the Foundation’s director, who spoke at the White House Conference on the Americas in 2007, recently struck up a relationship with several North Carolina communities that have experienced a jump in their Hispanic population.  As a result of the Foundation’s efforts, several local governments and civic groups in North Carolina now help to fund development projects in Guanajuato.  Additionally, students from the University of North Carolina visit in the summer to provide extra hands for projects while living with families and improving their Spanish language skills. 

In Tamaula, the Foundation put together funding for wells and an irrigation system, again coordinating with a U.S. university to make it happen.  They also helped to sponsor a cheese-making project in Tamaula which has been especially helpful in creating economic activity for local women.  They’ve coordinated with Tec de Monterrey’s Irapuato campus who manages a distance learning program to keep 17-19 year-olds in schools, and they’ve funded the purchase of supplies and training for a women’s group to embroider products to sell locally or in the U.S. 

They’re also willing to look outside the box.  They’re currently helping to support a luxury guesthouse in Las Trancas which was recently converted from a 450-year old hacienda.  Why help an outsider set up a guest house?  They see the many jobs the guest house has already provided and is planning to provide to the local community.  Bringing tourists into these small communities can often spur much-needed economic growth.

To read more about Adriana Cortes and the work of the Foundation, click here.