Category Archives: Industry

UTRGV Students Take Trading Competition

Education Featured Finance/Banking News Comments
Christopher Martinez, Michael Villarreal and Jose Naveja with faculty advisor Bruno Arthur (UTRGV Photo)

A group of undergraduate business students from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley recently beat out more than 500 teams from 37 countries to capture their first ever championship win in the 15th annual CME Group Trading Challenge. Christopher Martinez of McAllen, Michael Villarreal of Rio Grande City and Jose Naveja of Progreso finished the competition with a total of $706,585. They beat out second-place competitor Kansas State University, who…

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Coast Guard Supports Texas LNG

Featured Manufacturing/Industrial News Comments
Rendering of Texas LNG’s planned liquefaction terminal at the Port of Brownsville.

The United States Coast Guard found the Brownsville Ship Channel to be suitable for marine traffic resulting from Texas LNG’s planned liquefaction terminal at the Port of Brownsville. In a letter of recommendation issued Feb. 26, the Coast Guard concluded that the waterway is suitable to handle current and anticipated incremental traffic from the Texas LNG proposed facility. The Houston-based company plans to construct an LNG export facility on a…

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VTX1 Acquires Ranch Wireless

Featured News Technology Comments
VTX1

VTX1 Companies has acquired Ranch Wireless Inc., a provider of fixed wireless internet service based in Seguin, Texas. Adding Ranch Wireless customers to VTX1‘s existing customer base will gives the company close to 20,000 total customers, making it one of the largest rural service providers in Texas. “This acquisition is important for VTX1 Companies in that we overlap approximately 4,000 of their 17,000 square-mile service area through our northern exchanges,” said Dave Osborn, CEO of…

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Taking a Byte from the Apple

News Retail Technology Comments
Jose David Avila and his son David hold a vintage IBM keyboard like one they sold online for $1,000. (VBR)

A father/son team has carved out a niche in the recycling industry by working with products no one else in the Rio Grande Valley touches: electronics. RDA Technologies in Brownsville recycles anything with electronic components inside, ranging from old computers to ice makers to televisions and more. “I started in my living room in 2012 destroying old computers. Then my wife kicked me out to the garage,” said Jose David…

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Leadership Matters: Manny Vela

Business Advice Healthcare News Comments
Valley Baptist Health System CEO Manny Vela

Editor’s Note: Leadership can mean different things to different people. The Valley Business Report wanted to learn more about the views on leadership through the words of experienced business leaders in the Rio Grande Valley. Starting with this month’s edition, VBR introduces Leadership Matters, a new question-and-answer feature that poses questions on leadership to Valley CEOs and other business leaders. Manny Vela CEO, Valley Baptist Health System   What are…

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Gluten-free Goods on the Road

Food & Entertainment News Comments
Peggy Harris with some of her gluten-free breads at a farmers market. (VBR)

Selling shrimp caught in the Gulf Mexico was a full-time job for Peggy Harris when she was a vendor on the second floor of Valley International Airport in Harlingen. Called Texashrimp, the business on the south side of the boarding area was easily seen by passengers wanting to take some fresh shrimp with them. After eight years, she sold the venture and embarked on a new and different type of…

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Big Freeze: Pathway to Pain Relief

Healthcare News Comments
Vaporized nitrogen flows from a cryosauna as Cryo Body Perfections owner Margret DeBruyan holds the door open. (VBR)

Margret DeBruyn is a walking advertisement for cryotherapy. After a bad car crash she was left with chronic back pain when she tried cryotherapy and was amazed with the results. That prompted her to start a business to help others find relief. “It’s something that is really amazing,” she said. “If you are in chronic pain it chips away at your life. You start to miss out on life. We…

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Three Generations of Protection

News Professional Services Comments
Owner Jeremy Holden with a manually operated shutter often used by businesses for security. (VBR)

There are only a handful of locally owned home shutter companies in the Rio Grande Valley, and Holden Security and Storm Shutters is probably the oldest one around. “I am third generation,” said Jeremy Holden, who has run the company founded by his grandfather ever since his father died 11 years ago. “I started right out of high school so I’ve really been in this business for 21 years.” The…

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CodeRGV Attends CodeWars 2018

Education Events Featured News Technology Comments
Representatives from CodeRGV attend CodeWars in Houston. CodeRGV is currently planning events to help local students prepare for next year's event. (photo CodeRGV)

More than 750 high school level Computer Science enthusiasts converged on the HPE campus in Houston last weekend to participate in CodeWars 2018. CodeRGV was in attendance to learn more about the program and to build a stronger partnership with school districts across the state. In addition, the group learned how Valley school districts can participate in future HPE events like this one. The students, representing close to 100 districts across…

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School of Medicine to Open Women’s Center

Education Featured Healthcare News Comments
The UT Health Rio Grande Valley Surgery and Women’s Specialty Center will soon be coming to this building at 614 Maco Drive.

UT Health Rio Grande Valley, the clinical component of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine, has acquired a general surgery practice in Harlingen as part of the School of Medicine’s mission to increase access to primary and specialty care for residents throughout the region. The UT Health Rio Grande Valley Surgery and Women’s Specialty Center, located at 614 Maco Drive in Harlingen, will offer services such…

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