Author Archives: Ricardo D. Cavazos, VBR content editor

Ricardo D. Cavazos is a Rio Grande Valley native and journalist who has worked as a reporter, editor and publisher at Texas newspapers. Cavazos formerly worked as a reporter and editorial writer at The Brownsville Herald, Dallas Times Herald, Corpus Christi Caller-Times and San Antonio Light. He served as editor of The Monitor in McAllen from 1991-1998 and from there served for 15 years as publisher at The Herald in Brownsville. Cavazos has been providing content for the Valley Business Report since 2018.

Buckeye Brings Gift Of Music to RGV

The South Texas Academy of Music teaches its student musical skills and highlights the need for teamwork. (Courtesy)

Nick Dozer grew up a metal rocker and a buckeye in the rolling hills of southern Ohio. Dozer considers himself part of Buckeye Nation, as in Ohio State University football lore, but these days he finds himself in the Rio Grande Valley. He met a Valley girl while living in Nashville where both he and Dina Obrego were what he called “musicnaries.” It was ministry through music as Dozer and…

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Island Vibe Suits SPI’s Only Dentist

Brooke and Aaron Unterbrink relocated their family to South Padre Island where Aaron has a dental practice.

Dr. Aaron Unterbrink got through 2020 and 2021 when, as a dentist, he tended to one emergency after another. Unterbrink had five dental offices at the time in Hidalgo County. His main office was in McAllen with another one in Alton and another in Donna. The frantic pace of those years and the constant medical emergencies he dealt with took a toll. It convinced Unterbrink there had to be a…

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Young Entrepreneur Building Presence

Nayelli Valdemar is a one-woman shop for now, a young mother who has aligned her personal values with a passion to run “a business I know inside out.” Only 25, with the energy of a budding entrepreneur, Valdemar embodies her motto, uno solo puede. “One can do it” is a general translation and is reflective of the work ethic demonstrated recently at her Funky Flower Shop in Mercedes, just a…

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Wanderlusters Find Home In San Benito

The 1,400-space Fun N Sun Resort in San Benito is among the longest active tourist and residential parks in the Rio Grande Valley. (Courtesy)

The Fun N Sun RV Resort in San Benito fits the description of a community within a community with its over 2,000 residents coming and going like a small town. The San Benito resort is one of the longest active RV parks in the Rio Grande Valley. It got its start decades ago in Harlingen near the Air Force base that would be redeveloped into the Valley International Airport. Fun…

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Reading Turtle Offers Break From Online World

The number of independent bookstores like The Reading Turtle are on the rise in the United States.

Harlingen Mayor Norma Sepulveda is known for making the rounds of her city and dropping in on locally-owned small businesses. In mid-January, she made such a visit to The Reading Turtle. In the mayor’s words, it’s “a cozy bookstore” and where she made a pact with her young son. “I’ve made a deal with my son,” Sepulveda wrote on her Harlingen mayor Facebook page. “Every time he completes a book,…

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Businessman Supports ‘Habit’ With New Store

Insurance agent Roel Villanueva goes `big' with a new fireworks store in Mercedes.

Roel Villanueva was enthralled with fireworks as a boy growing up in Mercedes. The Mexican-style palomas were his favorites, the triangle shaped firework known for packing a punch with their concentrated amounts of gunpowder and being loud enough to trigger car alarms in neighborhoods. Villanueva was just shy of 10 years of age when he didn’t flee the scene fast enough from a paloma ready to go off. It went…

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RGV Ranks High Among Tourist Spots

Winter Texans enjoy the weekly hamburger lunch day on a recent Wednesday at Chimney Park RV Resort in Mission.

It’s the sort of 70s-degree January day that draws Winter Texans to the Rio Grande Valley as Cathy Sutton stands on a riverside pavilion at one of the two RV parks she manages in Mission. It’s the weekly hamburger lunch day at the Chimney Park RV Resort, a Wednesday treat that features live music played by Winter Texans from area parks. Sutton calls it “coming up with ideas on what…

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Donna Store Offers New Candy Twist

Juanita Sanchez and her two daughters, Sarai and Dinah, offer a wide range of freeze-dried candies at their Donna store.

It was an idea whose origins came from social media.  Dinah Sanchez saw on TikTok where the sweet novelty of freeze-dried candy was garnering a considerable amount of attention and viewer numbers. She was intrigued by the concept of candy in freeze dried form. How does it taste? What is its texture? A further look around revealed there was almost none of this sort of product in the Rio Grande…

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SPI Restaurant ‘Off Beaten Path’ Thriving

The hula chicken sandwich with a grilled slice of pineapple reflects the years Lobo Del Mar's owners spent in Hawaii.

Ben Little describes his South Padre Island restaurant as being “a bit off the beaten path,” on the bay side a block off Padre Boulevard. Lobo Del Mar Café is on Palm Street at a spot adjacent to where the road ends before getting to the Laguna Madre. A recent visit to the restaurant on a late January weekday morning was busy, even during an off-season winter month when tourist…

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EDC Building Team To Match City’s Growth

Raudel Garza, left, is using his experience in economic development to build a team in Edinburg that can effectively promote the city. (Courtesy)

Raudel Garza’s first year as executive director of the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has been “100 mph from day one.” Garza is hardly complaining in making that assessment with Edinburg. The city is growing at such a rapid clip, he said, and bringing with it “lots of opportunities and challenges.” For an economic development specialist, it’s a fertile field to grow jobs and recruit new industries while nurturing small businesses…

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