Conference Keynote Speaker

	Arcilia Carrasco-Acosta TAMACC Chair
	Arcilia C. Acosta is a native Texan and a seventeen year resident of Dallas, Texas. Ms. Acosta is the President and CEO of CARCON Industries & Construction, based in Dallas and specializing in commercial, institutional, and transportation construction. CARCON Industries is a current general member of several of the largest construction programs in Dallas / Fort Worth. This includes CARCON as a general partner of the $1.3 billion DISD Bond Program. Most recently CARCON Industries, as a joint venture partner, was awarded the $700mm DART CM/GC contract through Dallas Area Rapid Transit and in November of 2007 the Forth Worth ISD $500mm Bond Program. In 2003, Ms. Acosta led the start-up of Southwestern Testing Laboratories (STL Engineers), a geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing and environmental consulting rm based in Dallas. Today, STL Engineers has a list of clients (partial) that include the Texas Department of Transportation, North Texas Tollway Authority, D/FW Airport, Hillwood Development, Kimley-Horn, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In June of 2006, STL Engineers was awarded a multi-year, multi-county contract to provide geotechnical services for TxDOT. Ms. Acosta has spent her career in the construction industry and has succeeded in an industry where few women have successfully emerged as leaders. In July 2007, Ms. Acosta became Chairman of the Texas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (TAMACC), the umbrella organization of the 26 Hispanic Chambers in Texas with over 15,000 members. Ms. Acosta currently serves on the state board of the Foundation for the Education of Young Women, one of three co-chairs of Dallas Achieves, Board of Governor for the Dallas Foundation, Board member for DISD Education Foundation, and a past Chair of the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She is a member of the Texas Council of Engineering Companies and the Junior League of Dallas. Ms. Acosta has been featured in many state and national publications including Latina Style Magazine, Enterprise Latinos, Engineering News Record, Construction Today, Diversity Texas, Women’s Enterprise, and Minority Business News – Texas, and the Dallas Morning News. In 2005, she was also selected by the Dallas Business Journal as one of the “40 Under 40” entrepreneur award. Most recently, she was featured in VANIDADES Magazine, an international Latin American woman's magazine and in ECLIPSE Magazine. In 2007, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) featured a 30 minute documentary on Ms. Acosta. Ms. Acosta currently serves as a member of the Board of Advisors for Texas State Bank. Ms. Acosta is a graduate from Texas Tech University. She is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School – Corporate Governance Program. In 2006, Ms. Acosta was awarded the “Texas Hispanic Business Woman of the Year” by the Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce. In 2007, Ms. Acosta received the “AFLAC Civic Award”. The awards identify and reward Hispanic business leaders throughout the United States for their civic contributions.