Fabian Contreras recalled that his father, who owned several Mexican companies, told him to go start his own business. Contreras struck out on his own, diving into the U.S. trucking industry and learning its ways. Now, 13 years later, he is the president/CEO of Codysur Group, a trucking and logistics firm consisting of seven companies with 220 employees and revenue of over $40 million in 2014, serving automotive, electronics and…
“For me, reliability is extremely important. My personality is geared towards resolving chaos, yet I live in it every day: things are going to break,” said Aaron Voreis, owner of Weigh and Test Solutions. “I work in a niche business. If it weren’t for customers having problems, we would not have jobs. What I do is fix somebody’s problem.” After running the industrial scale company for two years, in 2013…
Daniel Rivera ran his wedding photography business from his kitchen table while he taught high school physics. Because it seemed unprofessional to meet clients in his kitchen or at Starbucks, he researched what other small business owners did. “I knew I didn’t want to go to Starbucks and work there. And I did not want to get an executive office and sit in a room by myself. Sometimes you just…
Picture a room of computerized machinery. Add thousands of spools of thread in all colors. Complete the image with the brothers Cabrera, Leo and Eduardo, who run the Singer-Brother Sewing Center. The store does not sell your grandmother’s sewing machine, that’s for sure. New machines from Brother and Singer feature laser guidance lights, design software that provides near-limitless capabilities and built-in cameras. “ It’s all about programming now,” Leo Cabrera…
Bicycles can stir up memories of the fun and freedom of childhood or trigger daydreams of pedaling with the pros in the Tour de France peloton. Popular bike trails in Brownville, Harlingen, Mission and McAllen reflect the demand for safe places to ride. At the same time, the trails encourage more people to bike for exercise, health, socializing and alternative transportation. Of course, everyone on a bike wants to look…
When the first cargo vessel was docking at the new Port of Brownsville in 1936, a young Richard L. Ostos was there to catch a line thrown from the vessel. Eighty years later, his grandson R. Lee Ostos is a major presence at the same port as president of Dix Shipping, the region’s largest and oldest stevedoring and steamship agent. In the years between, what began as Dick’s Shipping made…
Jose Cruz Jr. is the executive coach with Sotelo & Associates LLC. He has 22 years of experience in higher education administration and was vice president at South Texas College. Cruz, who holds an MBA and also provides corporate training and retreat facilitation, talked with VBR’s editor about his work. Q What do you do as an executive coach? A I’m a sounding board, a mirror and a confidant for…
Approximately 60% of U.S renters — that’s 56.8 million people — live in multifamily housing. A smaller percentage of Texas’ population lives in apartments compared to most states, but that’s still amounts to about 3.6 million. In 2014, Texas added 64,000 new apartments units with a median rent around $880. The apartment market in the Valley is strong, with more than 23,000 apartments, counting only those that are in the RGV…
Dr. Noel Lopez, board certified in Family Medicine, developed obstructive sleep apnea, a condition where a person stops breathing repeatedly while sleeping. The lack of oxygen wakes them up for a second or two, sometimes hundreds of times each night. People with sleep apnea never achieve quality sleep or reach a point where they actually get rest. As Dr. Lopez studied apnea and other sleep disorders, he realized that many…
When SpaceX decided to build their rocket launch site at Boca Chica Beach, as good corporate citizens the company ordered an archeological survey of the entire area around the control facility and launch parcels. For Jack Keller, principal investigator for Southern Archeological Consultants Inc., the job was a short drive from his office in Bayview. Two bridges once ran from Boca Chica Island to the mainland: Gen. Zachary Taylor’s wagon…