Category Archives: Industry

Port of Brownsville Recognizes West Plains

e-Brief Features Manufacturing/Industrial News Comments
CEO of West Plains LLC Amit Bhandari (third from right) accepts the 2018 Chairman's Award with company representatives.

West Plains LLC is the recipient of the Port of Brownsville’s 2018 Chairman’s Award. The award recognizes both the company’s investments and rehabilitation efforts of the port’s iconic grain elevator. Presentation of the award came Dec. 4 at the port’s annual customer appreciation luncheon. More than 200 guests were witness to the award presentation by Brownsville Navigation District Chairman John Reed. Among those in attendance were local, regional and state public…

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SBA Names New Regional Administrator

e-Brief Features Government News Comments
Justin Crossie

The U.S. Small Business Administration has appointed Justin Crossie as the regional administrator for SBA’s Region VI, which includes the Lower Rio Grande Valley District. Crossie now leads 10 district office directors, serving more than 3.8 million small businesses. Offices under his direction are in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. Crossie will lead the delivery of SBA’s financial, entrepreneurial development, government contracting and international export initiatives. He will also head…

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TSTC Adds Mixed Reality Into Curriculum

e-Brief Features Education Featured Technology Comments
TSTC HoloLens

Bringing emerging technology into the hands of its students, Texas State Technical College will be implementing HoloLens Mixed Reality into its curriculum as early as next year. Students will strap on a Microsoft HoloLens to see 3D computer graphics shown on top of the real-world classroom environment. “There is nothing as powerful as using HoloLens for educating our students,” said TSTC Senior Vice President of Student Learning Hector Yanez. “This is…

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McAllen Awards STC $259K Job Training Grant

e-Brief Features Education Manufacturing/Industrial News Comments
The Economic Development Corporation of McAllen presents South Texas College with a job-training grant to provide customized training related to advanced manufacturing within the city’s boundaries.

McAllen’s advanced manufacturing sector has received a boost thanks to a $259,440 job-training grant to South Texas College. Funds from the McAllen Development Corporation grant will provide customized training, as well as equipment, salaries and supplies. All aspects will come from STC’s Institute for Advanced Manufacturing. “We need to put in place training opportunities and high-quality training so that we have the most competitive and best prepared workforce in the country which will attract companies to…

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Silva Heads Mission EDC

Government News Comments
Mission EDC Board, left to right, Vice President Richard Hernandez, President S. David Deanda, Catherine Garcia, Mission EDC CEO Daniel Silva, Mayor Armando O’Caña, Mario Garza and Secretary Pete Jaramillo

Daniel Silva is the new chief executive officer of the Mission Economic Development Corporation. Silva’s primary responsibilities are creating jobs and economic opportunity in Mission. Silva’s 14 years of economic development experience includes that of Mission EDC’s chief operating officer for seven years. He holds a bachelor’s in Business Administration in Computer Information Systems as well as a master’s in Public Administration. Both degrees are from the UT-Pan American (UTRGV). “I appreciate…

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A Warrior for Good Health

News Professional Services Retail Comments
Muniz Rio Grande Pharmacy owner Bobby Muniz in his Harlingen store. (VBR)

In 2015, Bobby Muniz was praying and holding on to hope as his wife prepared to give birth to their youngest child, Ariel. Some doctors did not give the baby girl much chance to survive long after birth, but she did, with surgeries soon to follow to bolster her health. The miracle and joy of his daughter’s birth inspired the Harlingen pharmacist and school board member to re-examine his work,…

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Building a Better Burger

Food & Entertainment News Comments
Owner and chef Frank Macias with the Trump’s Burger Wall, piled high with American and Mexican flavors representing the cultural mix of South Texas. (VBR)

Frank Macias at times seems a bit surprised by his success. All the while, he is confident in the skills and vision that took him down a road from food truck operator to restaurateur with a plan for the future. The owner of Frankie Flav’z in Harlingen, Macias’s first job was flipping burgers at McDonald’s when he was 16. He bounced around from eatery to eatery until he was 22,…

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RGV Towns Share Nature Prize

News Recreation & Tourism Comments
Thousands of black-bellied whistling ducks visit Ibis Pond at Estero Llano Grande State Park every winter, attracting birders visiting the Rio Grande Valley. (VBR)

From the deck at Estero Llano Grande State Park in Mercedes, I watched approximately 2,000 black-bellied whistling ducks in Ibis Pond as they looked for food, perched on logs and bobbed in the chilly November water. The park’s 200 acres of woodlands, lakes and marshes shelter an amazing abundance of wildlife from seven alligators to diverse birds, butterflies and 24 mammal species as well as native plants.  The mid-Valley park…

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Company Recycles Cooking Oil

Professional Services Comments
Fatty Chem plant manager Hector Martinez stand in front of a company tanker truck and next to used cooking oil collection containers. (VBR)

Some jobs are said to be as clean as a whistle while others sound as dirty as a pig sty. One successful Rio Grande Valley enterprise that some people might consider to fall in the latter category is recycling used cooking oil. A Los Fresnos-based company called Fatty Chem By-Products Inc. bills itself as a full-service recycler of fats and oils, with some of the byproducts having been used in…

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Birding by the Numbers

Featured News Recreation & Tourism Comments
Two birders scan the area with binoculars at Estero Llano Grande State Park.

Some 800 birders visited the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival in November, its 25th year as one of the premier birding events in the country. With dozens of field trips to regional birding hotspots and lectures by internationally renowned birding experts, the festival’s staying power is a testament to the economic impact of ecotourism, and particularly birdwatching, in Deep South Texas. While there are no recent studies on the financial…

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