In late January of this year, VR opened a new office in Panama City, officially giving us a presence in Central America for the first time in our 30-year history. Owners Carlos Dias, Alfonso and Ruben Bustamante established the franchise in a new 6-story building that they built with the VR logo – located minutes away from the downtown area.
There is incredible opportunity in Panama City with its ever-expanding metropolitan area and economy that’s growing at an 8% rate – extraordinary in these challenging times today. All indications point to this location becoming our gateway for future development in not only neighboring countries such as Honduras and Costa Rica but also into South American markets such as Brazil.
We know that we will see great success from the Bustamantes and Carlos as we roll further into 2009.