Lone Star National Bank President David Deanda knew he and his staff had the challenge of a banking lifetime before them. The outbreak of COVID-19 had brought the South Texas economy to a sudden and shocking halt. Small businesses in the Rio Grande Valley were soon desperate for help. The federal government offered two lifelines. One was the Paycheck Protection Program. The other was the Economic Injury Disaster program. Both…
Yolanda Carrillo and her staff of chaplains at hospitals in the Rio Grande Valley have seen heartache and felt its pain in recent months. The outbreak of COVID-19 has consequently separated the sick from their loved ones with the denial of hospital visitations. Hospital chaplains have stepped in best they can. They are waving hellos and also making signs of prayer through windows looking into intensive care units. The Valley…
The Rio Grande Valley’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis will be prolonged. It could take 12-to-18 months, at the minimum, said leading bankers and economic development specialists. They say the recovery from the widespread business shutdowns this spring will stretch well into 2021. Recovery will also be dependent on one key factor. “It’s all going to depend on how we contain COVID,” said David Deanda, the president of Lone…
A nonprofit executive like Traci Wickett has connections everywhere in a community. The president and chief executive officer of the United Way of Southern Cameron County heard from Brownsville’s Good Neighbor Settlement House about growing needs they were seeing as furloughs and unemployment set in with the outbreak of COVID-19. The demand for served meals and emergency pantry items doubled in less than one week in early April. “Unemployment sent…
The month of March started like any other with businesses to run, bills to pay and jobs to fill. There was also a general awareness of a growing threat. The COVID-19, known as the coronavirus, was making its way across the oceans to the United States. In fact, it had already arrived. By mid-March, the threat was very real. Coronavirus outbreaks hit both coasts of the United States. Texas would…
For Andrea Bernes, it started with a question that would transform her bakery in the coronavirus era. “A customer asked me if I would sell her flour,” said Bernes, the owner of Linda’s Cakes & Desserts Specialty Shop. Bernes mulled that over. It was mid-March and long lines were forming at grocery stores as the COVID-19 crisis arrived in the Rio Grande Valley. “Then one of my suppliers asked if…
Rio Grande Valley businesses, like those around the country, are dealing with disruptions and an upheaval in a way of life unlike anything experienced in our lifetimes. Here’s a look at how three RGV businesses prepared for what they knew was coming and how they are doing in adapting to a new normal. Menchaca Family Clinic Michael Menchaca didn’t wait for any official announcements for Menchaca Family Clinic. The family…
Mario Dominguez is a believer in the Central Texas style – and oak is the key. He starts the flame every Tuesday night at his hometown barbecue restaurant in Mercedes. It will then burn steady and sure for the next five days at The Smoking Oak. The line of customers starts forming before the noon hour at the BBQ restaurant on 546 Hidalgo Street. The oak burns slow, thus giving…
Irineo Capetillo knows what it’s like to navigate through the birth, emergence and subsequent struggles of a business that even in success, needs assistance if it hopes to see further growth. Going into 2019, Capetillo knew his Kapal Industries had outgrown its Donna facility. He also needed a second facility to expand his cabinet making and countertops manufacturing operations. The early search for a second facility in the Rio Grande…
Ranch House Burgers II has new and temporary hours in the era of COVID-19. Every other day, the Mission restaurant is open from midnight to 3 a.m. Its customers are primarily police officers, state troopers and first responders. “They got tired of burritos from the convenience stores,” said Mike Barrera, the restaurant’s owner. “We’re a business, so we do charge for the meals to help keep my staff employed, but it’s…