Category Archives: Industry

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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Idea Takes Flight Across RGV

Food & Entertainment News Comments
Daniel Pompa and Bobby Saenz took an idea and built into a Valleywide chain of restaurants. (VBR)

They came from two different walks of life – the cook and retail store manager – and in a Brownsville kitchen during an Easter break, they mapped out the beginnings of a business plan. It was 2010 when Bobby Saenz, with years of retailing management experience, approached Daniel Pompa, a graduate of a culinary school, and made a pitch. “I had a vision of a restaurant – burgers, wings, country…

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Designing Iconic Texas Art

Arts Retail Comments
Ida Rodriguez holds a work in progress, a decorated steer skull, in her South Texas Longhorns studio. (VBR)

With a dream of becoming a fashion designer, Ida Rodriguez started out designing and sewing her own clothes. Growing up in the Rio Grande Valley town of Alton, she was one of a family of seven with a father who was the sole provider, and a strict patriarch. In her early 20s she had an opportunity to attend fashion design school in Dallas, but her father said no; she needed…

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Beer Center of ‘Experience’

Food & Entertainment News Comments
Manager Kevin Norrell inside the glass-enclosed keg storage area at the Yard House in McAllen. (VBR)

Three thousand gallons of beer is kept at a temperature of 36-38 degrees in a glass-enclosed keg storage area that can be viewed from inside La Plaza Mall in McAllen. With some 130 beers on tap, the recently opened Yard House boasts the largest assortment of draft beer in the city. The cold beer is delivered to the establishment’s centerpiece, an island bar lined with colorful taps, through more than…

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Local Small Businesses Receive $100,000

Featured Professional Services Retail Technology Comments
STED grant winners with Hidalgo County Commissioners Court members

Five businesses in small and rural communities in Hidalgo County are the recent recipients of funding to consequently spur prosperity in their respective communities. The funding comes from Hidalgo County’s first-ever Small Town Economic Development program with grants totaling $100,000. More than 40 businesses applied to the program with 21 chosen to participate. Businesses receiving $20,000 grants are Reybotics, Green Thumb Nursery, Cappadona Ranch, Ashley Nicole Boutique and Hernandez Barns. “This economic…

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