Author Archives: VBR

UTRGV Names New Business Dean

Yash P. Gupta

Yash P. Gupta will assume his role as the new dean of the Robert C. Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship Aug. 1 at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Gupta will replace Mark Kroll, who served as dean for seven years and will return to faculty to focus on teaching as well as research. Gupta comes to the Valley from Louisville, Ky., where he was president and CEO of…

Read More

Mission Chamber President Receives Scholarship

Robert Rosell

President and CEO of the Greater Mission Chamber of Commerce Robert Rosell is one of a handful of professionals nationally receiving a scholarship from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. The National Institute Scholarships recognize recipients for their involvement in both industry professional organizations and community service. Rosell will participate in the Institute for Organization Management‘s curriculum which consists of four week-long sessions taught by university professors, industry experts and…

Read More

Mission Internship Produces Results

Mission EDC CEED

The Mission EDC’s first group of interns did exactly what they were meant to do over the last year at the CEED Building: gain experience, grow skills and get ready to transition into the professional world. The students, stationed at different work areas around the Mission EDC based on their skill set and worked on cyber security issues. They also worked in facility management, marketing, social media management, event production,…

Read More

Brownsville Navigation District Elects Board

John Reed (photo Port of Brownsville)

John Reed has unanimously been elected to serve as chairman of the Brownsville Navigation District. Reed has served as chairman prior from 2010-2012. His new appointment is also for two years. He continues to serve alongside BND Vice Chairman Sergio Tito Lopez and Secretary Ralph Cowen. Both men were also unanimously elected to the serve as part of the executive board. Local businessman Esteban Guerra also was sworn in as…

Read More

Resolving Workplace Conflict

Leadership consultant Magdalena Jones helps businesses resolve workplace conflict. (VBR)

As they grow, local small businesses often promote longtime employees to supervisory or management positions without providing training in essential skills. Conflicts arise when an individual does not know how to be a boss – how to delegate work, how to guide subordinates to keep projects on schedule, how to deal with a team’s strengths and weaknesses, how to listen.   Workplace conflict, whatever the cause, leads to inefficient operations…

Read More

Hatching Ideas for Business

Linda Ufland is the manager of the Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Center in Brownsville. (VBR)

A Mexican entrepreneur who has achieved success with nopal-based powders, candies and breads is working to break into the U.S. market, with a little help from his friends at the Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Center, a real-life entrepreneurship laboratory in Brownsville. Acting as a business incubator, the center is part of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s Office of Community Engagement and Economic Development. “What we focus on is business…

Read More

TSTC Helps Fill Nursing Shortage

TSTC nursing

The Texas State Technical College nursing division in Harlingen is celebrating its second consecutive 100 percent national exam pass rate for its vocational nursing program. The milestone is a mark of distinction for the department working to relieve a shortage of nurses in the Rio Grande Valley and across the state. “We hold all of our students to a high standard,” said Heather Sauceda, TSTC vocational nursing program director. “Here…

Read More

Texas Economy Continues to Grow in April

The Texas economy added 39,600 seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs in April, which marked 22 consecutive months of employment growth. Over the year, Texas added 332,300 jobs for an annual employment growth rate of 2.7 percent in April. Private sector employers added 37,900 positions over the month. Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in April, up slightly from 4.0 percent in March. “Texas employers continue to boost the impressive…

Read More

New UTRGV Doctorate Program Approved

(photo UTRGV)

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley has received approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to establish a new degree program for a Doctor of Philosophy degree in clinical psychology. The new PhD program will focus on producing clinical psychology scientist-practitioners with knowledge about Hispanic cultures in the Rio Grande Valley and the United States. “Providing new educational opportunities for the students of the Rio Grande Valley is…

Read More