Ricardo Mora, ‘serial entrepreneur’ from El Paso-Juárez, hired as new CEO of El Paso Chamber

The founder of the Juárez Technological Center and operator of several businesses on both sides of the US-Mexico border is the new leader of the El Paso Chamber.

Ricardo Mora was chosen to be the new CEO of El Paso’s largest business organizations after a 90-day national search that brought together nearly 300 candidates, chamber officials announced Monday.

He replaces Andrea Hutchins, the first woman to serve as CEO of the chamber in its 125-year history. She left her job in June because her husband, an Army officer, was transferred from El Paso.

“Our search committee aimed to find a CEO who could help develop and capitalize on binational near-shoring, technology manufacturing and human capital development opportunities. Ricardo not only meets the requirements, he exceeds them,” said Elizabeth O’Hara, president of the chamber’s board, in a statement.

As co-founder and CEO of Juárez Technology Hub, Mora helped oversee the Bridge Accelerator binational supplier development program, aimed at helping produce suppliers on both sides of the border expand their markets. The program started in 2019 with $1.5 million from Microsoft.

Mora, who describes himself as a “serial entrepreneur,” operates RM International. It’s his company in El Paso, with subsidiaries in telecommunications and food services in Mexico and the United States, according to his biography on the website of the New Mexico State University Arrowhead Center advisory board, of which he is a member. Arrowhead is an economic development organization of NMSU.

He opened two Taco Tote restaurant franchises in the Phoenix area years ago, according to a 2006 El Paso Times story.

He was born in El Paso and raised in Juárez, where his father worked at a maquiladora and his mother ran a salsa bottling company, according to a 2019 profile in Inc.

“I am honored to join the El Paso Chamber and look forward to driving growth and innovation in our business community,” Mora said in a statement.

In addition to the Arrowhead Center’s advisory board, Mora also serves on the boards of several other nonprofit organizations, including Desarrolla Economico Ciudad Juárez, Funax-FabLab Juarez and the development council of the University of Texas at El Paso, according to chamber information .

Mora starts his new job on August 19th.

Vic Kolenc can be reached at 915-546-6421; vkolenc@elpasotimes.com; @vickolenc on twitternow known as X.

This article originally appeared in the El Paso Times: El Paso-Juárez businessman Ricardo Mora is the new CEO of the El Paso Chamber