The Texas Workforce Commission has approved an additional $1 billion in direct support for the Texas child care industry. This increases available funds for the 2022 Child Care Relief Fund to a total of $3.4 billion — with an estimated average award of over $250,000 per provider. In addition to the $1 billion for CCRF, the Commission has also approved an additional $75 million aimed to defray startup costs for…
At the request of local superintendents, Texas Southmost College is now offering a Substitute Teacher course. The 12-hour course, introduced by TSC’s Workforce Training and Continuing Education department, is designed to produce well-trained and prepared substitutes to enter the classroom. Workforce Training and Continuing Education Executive Director Bervick Simon said TSC has worked closely with local school districts to identify the skills needed to be a qualified substitute teacher. “Substitute…
This month marks 20 years for the Texas Abandoned Crab Trap Removal Program, taking place Feb. 18-27. Texas coastal waters will close to crabbing with wire mesh crab traps to facilitate the annual volunteer crab trap cleanup. Any traps left in bays — including traps tied to docks — will be assumed abandoned and considered “litter” under state law. This allows volunteers to legally remove any crab traps they find.…
Texas Southmost College is leading a coastal community college workforce training consortium to increase the number of students earning college credentials leading to high demand jobs at Texas’ seaports and the aerospace industry. With funding from a $1.8-million grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, TSC, Houston Community College and San Jacinto College will collaboratively create, redesign or expand the reach of training for nine industry-aligned college credentials. These…
A $30,000 Texas Mutual Workforce Grant was recently presented to Texas Southmost College from RGV Focus to help ensure opportunities for TSC faculty and students. The grant will allow students to earn certifications in credit and non-credit workforce programs at TSC in specific skill sets. Faculty will be able to earn new certifications to add to the TSC inventory. TSC President Jesus Roberto Rodriguez said everything that TSC is doing…
Entrepreneurship and Artificial Intelligence are coexisting fields for UTRGV graduate student Md Salman Rahman. They are his vessels to improving lives and helping his community. Rahman, who is passionate about exploring novel ways to utilize his expertise in data science in the healthcare sector, represented UTRGV in November in the Blackstone LaunchPad Big Idea Competition. The virtual competition hosts students with no prior entrepreneurship experience to practice distilling and presenting latent…
The City of Harlingen, Harlingen EDC, and Workforce Solutions Cameron host the fourth Workforce Wednesday Job Fair Feb. 9. The event takes place from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., at Casa de Amistad, 1204 Fair Park Blvd., Harlingen. The job fair series began in August 2021, hosting dozens of employers giving job seekers an opportunity to connect to thousands of job openings across the region. “These events are placing people…
Life looked good for Angela Saenz of Mercedes. She had earned the title of licensed vocational nurse and had a job in the field. “Going to college was something that was always embedded in me by my parents because they didn’t get to go to college,” Saenz said. She realized the value of having parents who instilled in her the importance of education. Saenz also understood how fortunate she was…
Restorations are underway at two large vacant buildings in Harlingen and the company behind those efforts sees new opportunities ahead for both facilities. BH Properties, a Los Angeles-based company, focuses on purchasing and turning around buildings like the former Dillard’s at Valle Vista Mall and a warehouse formerly belonging to Valley Baptist Medical Center. The latter facility at 4405 Glasscock Avenue, just west of Ed Carey Drive, has been vacant…
From Edinburg to Alamo to Brownsville – from charter schools to convenience stores to restaurants and medical centers – the Rio Grande Valley’s development temperature is much warmer than recent temperatures. Our region is heating up, and it looks and feels so good! Construction crews are working daylight to dark building, renovating and expanding. The building for a better tomorrow across our Valley is happening. Here at VBR, we thrive…