Category Archives: Manufacturing/Industrial

STC Summer Offers Some Face-to-Face Instruction

Education Featured Healthcare Manufacturing/Industrial News Comments
STC Summer 2020

Some face-to-face classes are gradually returning to South Texas College this summer after integration of federal, state and county safety protocols. STC will begin in-person courses for select programs and will continue for summer courses which officially begin on June 1. STC is currently open for its police and fire academies at the Regional Center for Public Safety Excellence. Throughout the week of April 27, nearly 200 students were completing…

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Port of Brownsville Turns 84

e-Brief Features Featured Manufacturing/Industrial News Comments
Port of Brownsville anniversary

On May 16, the Port of Brownsville will observe its 84th anniversary. Opened in 1936, the port signified a new hope for economic prosperity in the Rio Grande Valley region. The port was the vision of an Italian immigrant Louis Cobolini. The 17-mile long Brownsville ship channel has since welcomed foreign travelers and businesses to its shores. In the port’s early years, agricultural exports brought citrus fruits from local groves and…

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Port of Brownsville Drives Record-Setting Values

Featured Manufacturing/Industrial News Comments

Foreign Trade Zone No. 62 at the Port of Brownsville reported a record-setting $8.9 billion in the combined value of exports and imports for 2019. The total value of export shipments through FTZ No. 62 reached $4.3 billion in 2019. This is an increase from $3.8 billion the year before. In turn, the FTZ received $4.6 billion in imports. These numbers are the highest in the zone’s history. Products in…

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Kapal Gains State Designation

Manufacturing/Industrial News Comments
The Donna facility of Kapal Industries, a cabinet and countertops manufacturer.

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…

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New Mobile Harbor Cranes Arrive at Port

Featured Manufacturing/Industrial News Comments
A crew member of the cargo vessel M/V BBC ASIA observes the unloading of one of the mobile harbor cranes at Dock 16 at the Port of Brownsville. (photo Port of Brownsville)

Two new mobile harbor cranes arrived Jan. 16 at the Port of Brownsville. The Brownsville Navigation District ordered the Konecranes Gottwald Model 6 mobile harbor cranes in June 2019 to increase the port’s on-dock lifting capacity due to higher demands of cargo volumes. “These cranes are one of the latest investments by the Port of Brownsville to meet the needs of our port tenants and growing list of clients,” said…

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Harlingen EDC Supports Moving Business

Featured Manufacturing/Industrial News Comments
TPPS New Investment Incentive

Texas Plating & Polishing Solutions recently received a $25,000 New Investment Incentive from the Harlingen EDC. The funds will help cover moving costs to TPPS’s new facility in the Harlingen Industrial Park. TPPS provides chrome, polish and nickel for the plastic injection mold industry. The company services customers both in the United States and in Mexico. It creates molds for automotive, appliance and medical companies. Owner and President Jose J.…

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Port Recognizes Welding Works International

e-Brief Features Manufacturing/Industrial News Comments
Ralph Cowen, Brownsville Navigation District Secretary; John Wood, Brownsville Navigation District commissioner; Sergio Tito Lopez, Brownsville Navigation District vice chairman; Mary Treviño, Welding Works International Inc. executive administrator; Alfredo de la Fuente, Welding Works International, Inc. president; Christina de la Fuente, Welding Works International Inc. manager; John Reed, Brownsville Navigation District chairman; and Esteban Guerra, Brownsville Navigation District commissioner.

Welding Works International Inc. is the Port of Brownsville 2019 Chairman’s Award honoree. The award recognizes the company’s 20-plus years of “setting a high standard in safety training and providing ongoing contributions to the well-being of the Rio Grande Valley community.” Brownsville Navigation District Chairman John Reed presented the award to Welding Works President Alfredo de la Fuente at the Customer Appreciation Luncheon Dec. 3. More than 200 guests were…

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Three New LNG Projects Move Forward

Featured Manufacturing/Industrial News Comments

The Port of Brownsville is one step closer to welcoming three new LNG projects with an investment totaling $38.75 billion. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved their proposals late last week during its monthly commission meeting.  “Today’s announcement is another significant milestone in making these energy projects a reality and is the result of years of hard work by the applicants,” said John Reed, chairman of the Brownsville Navigation District.…

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STC Hosts Information Sessions on High-Demand Careers

Community Events Education Featured Healthcare Manufacturing/Industrial News Comments

South Texas College invites communities in Starr County to visit and explore high demand, high wage career opportunities in a series of information sessions in November and December. Sessions will take place at the Starr County campus, 142 FM 3167, Rio Grande City. The Emergency Medical Technology Program will open its doors from 1:30-2:30 p.m. Nov. 20,, Nov. 27 and Dec. 4. The Patient Career Assistant Program also welcomes the…

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TSTC, Mueller Co. receive TWC Skills Grant

Featured Manufacturing/Industrial Comments
Back row, Executive Director for Workforce Solutions Cameron Patt Hobbs, TSTC Executive Director for Workforce Training and Continuing Education Victor Blalack, TSTC Business Relationship Manager for Workforce Training and Continuing Education Robert Quintanilla. Bottom row, TSTC Provost Cledia Hernandez, Manufacturing Manager for Mueller Co. LLC Sergio Marroquin, Product Engineer for Mueller Co. LLC Alexis Salinas, Texas Workforce Commission and Commissioner Representing the Public Bryan Daniel.

A Texas Workforce Commission grant will allow Texas State Technical College and Mueller Co. to advance the technical skills of more than 80 Mueller Co. employees. TSTC will provide the workforce training for employees at the Brownsville location. Bryan Daniel, TWC’s chairman and commissioner representing the public, presented both organizations with the $107,705 Skills Development Fund grant. “TSTC is at the forefront of employer and student success,” said TSTC Provost…

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