Brownsville native Orlando Campos spent over 15 years in North Texas, working for chambers of commerce and in economic development. He was hoping for the right opportunity that could bring him home. In 2023, a job opening and the right candidate for it met when Campos became the new manager and chief executive officer for Harlingen Economic Development Corporation. He was selected in mid-June among 20 candidates by the EDC…
The official word finally came in late June with the announcement that Houston-based NextDecade was building an $18 billion-plus liquefied natural gas plant at the Port of Brownsville. For port executives and community at-large leadership, the announcement was a combination of relief and elation in definitively knowing they overcame all obstacles and last-minute legal challenges. Site work began the same day of the announcement. The dirt started moving on the…
SpaceX has completed a months-long process it says shows compliance with federal requirements that would authorize the second launch of the Starship rocket. The nearly 400-foot rocket currently sits on its launch pad on the shores of Boca Chica Beach. The initial Starship launch occurred on April 20. The rocket, which is described as the largest and most powerful ever built, got off the ground in spectacular fashion. Thousands of…
Jay Garza as a freshly minted Texas A&M University graduate relocated to California to chase his big-city dreams. Living in San Francesco, Perez worked in human resources operations for Gap Inc. at its corporate headquarters. There were aspects of the West Coast life he enjoyed, but long, traffic-filled commutes became tiresome, and his family in Harlingen beckoned. His father, Henry, a small business owner in Harlingen, was perplexed why his…
SpaceX‘s Starship rocket is ready for its second launch, awaiting federal approvals, and eager to improve over an April launch that successfully lifted off but disintegrated over the Gulf of Mexico four minutes into flight. Kathryn Lueders, the new executive general manager at Starbase on Boca Chica Beach, gave that assessment on Thursday at an event hosted by the South Padre Island Chamber of Commerce at the Holiday Inn Resort.…
A fast-growing sport is expanding in the Rio Grande Valley with plans to construct a 21,500-square-foot venue for padel ball and pickleball players. The RGV Padel Club is making a $2.7 million investment to construct the new facility at 2513 Victoria Drive in Mission. Construction is projected to start within three months and be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024. Estimates are the RGV Padel Club will support 52…
Mohamed Sharaf’s initial business visit to the Rio Grande Valley was one of getting a feel for a region where he wanted to build and open a travel center. The concept is one of a modern-day truck stop with lots of floor space for food, snacks and beverages with extra-large bathrooms. Think Buc-ee’s with a different variation of a similar template as designed by Sharaf’s Victron Energy Corporation. One of…
A freshly surfaced pocket parking lot by Boggus Ford in Harlingen offers a clue of something new afoot by the Arroyo Colorado. Take a left from an existing trail of two decades into a new section of the Arroyo Colorado Hike and Bike Trail. It descends to the arroyo and then back toward Expressway 77. The new extension runs 1.6 miles, going under an expressway bridge on a trail lined…
Amanda Nolan grew up the daughter of a small business owner, a mother who set a template to follow. Sure enough, Nolan started young with an artsy bent in making trinkets and homemade jewelry popular with her classmates. It gave her the first indications of what it’s like to make your own money. “It was something I was around,” she said of the entrepreneurial spirit. “I followed the momentum.” The…
Three Rio Grande Valley hospitals are addressing the region’s chronic nursing shortage with a bold plan to develop their own registered nurses. The hospitals are Harlingen Medical Center, Mission Regional Medical Center and Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco. The group’s parent company is California-based Prime Healthcare. The latter has entered into an agreement with the Texas School of Health Sciences to offer an 18-month, 40-hour weekly immersion program that will…