Auto group owner explains how business boomed in Port Lavaca

Ben Keating, president and owner of Keating Auto Group and Viper Exchange Racing, talks to an auditorium full of University of Houston-Victoria students, alumni, faculty and staff members, and area business leaders about the automobile industry. Keating’s speech Tuesday in the Kay and Ron Walker Auditorium was part of the UHV School of Business Administration Distinguished Speaker Series. Keating shared several stories about his business results and strategies, including how he came to own his first dealership in Port Lavaca and how the pink license plates got started. He also provided leadership advice to students, telling them how persistence, passion and investing in themselves can lead to success.

The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.