Category Archives: Industry

McAllen Heart Hospital Named 100 Best Again

e-Brief Features Healthcare Industry News Comments
McAllen Heart Hospital Healthgrades 2018

McAllen Heart Hospital is one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for both cardiac care and coronary intervention. The 2018 honors come from Healthgrades. The organization identifies the 100 best-performing hospitals across all conditions or procedures evaluated within both cardiac care and coronary intervention. Healthgrades evaluated nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide for 34 of the most common inpatient procedures and conditions. This is the second year in a row the South Texas Health System hospital has…

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Landscape Design: Beauty and Function

News Professional Services Comments
Andrew Heffner used native plants help this residential landscape design fit into the natural surroundings. (Courtesy)

While working for the city of McAllen as a landscape architect, Andrew Heffner realized the region could support a full-time business that catered to commercial, residential and public clients who needed a landscape architect. Five years ago, he opened Heffner Design Team as a one-man operation. Today he heads a full-time staff of four designing landscapes with the aim they be “beautiful, functional and meet the client’s budget.” Licensed by…

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Getting Ready to Pay the Taxman

Business Advice Events Finance/Banking News Comments
CPA Javier Alacron discusses tax reform with small business owners.

Some elements of the new tax reform package that was signed into law late last year and took effect in 2018 are straightforward and simple to understand. Others are detailed and complex. And some areas are cloudy since the regulations haven’t been written yet. The simplest part of the package to understand is the lowering of tax rates in the seven tax brackets for individuals. “Whatever bracket you are in,…

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Dental Practice Grows as a Business

Healthcare News Comments
Dr. Juan D. Villarreal (center) with Dr. Denise Hausenfluck and Dr. Vivian Teegardin. (VBR)

Several hundred dentists provide needed services throughout the Rio Grande Valley, and one of them owns and manages the largest network of clinics in the South Texas, and perhaps in the Lone Star State. Dr. Juan D. Villarreal, a Harlingen native who holds a doctor in dentistry from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, has turned the business that he first opened in 1983 on Ed…

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Turning a Profit for a Nonprofit

Non-Profit Retail Comments
Nathan Pinkerton is director of Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore operations in the Valley. (VBR)

A deciding factor for many people who give to nonprofit organizations is how much of their donation will go to administrative costs, because they want to know their money goes directly to fund charitable works. The answer to that question for the Rio Grande Valley affiliate of Habitat for Humanity is zero. The reason behind that is the success of Habitat for Humanity ReStore retail outlets in McAllen and Harlingen…

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Demand Grows for Dog Day Care

Featured News Professional Services Comments
doggie day cares

At daycare facilities across the Rio Grande Valley, kids can be found playing ball, catching Frisbees or splashing in a swimming pool, and then maybe taking a good, long nap. Except these children are of the four-legged variety. Dog daycare is a growing segment for many dog-boarding businesses to meet the demand for short-term canine care. More and more dog owners are turning to daycare to avoid leaving their pets…

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McAllen H-E-B introduces more ways to get Janktafied

Events Featured Food & Entertainment News Comments
The Jankster Lamar Jones gives a lively demonstration at the launch of The Jank BBQ spice rub Feb. 8. (VBR)

He came, he sang, he talked, he cooked. Lamar Jones joined H-E-B officials Feb. 8 in launching his newest addition to The Jank line, The Jank BBQ spice rub. And he did not disappoint shoppers who stopped to watch the show and sample some unique dishes. Shoppers were drawn in by dishes such as Jank Brussel Sprouts, Jankanero Dry Rub Chicken sliders and Marbled Jankanero Cornbread Cake. The new rub…

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Lone Star Breaks Ground on New Banking Center

Events Featured Finance/Banking News Comments
Lone Star National Bank officials and community leaders turn shovels of dirt at the groundbreaking ceremony for the bank’s second Edinburg location. (VBR)

In front of the building already under construction, Lone Star National Bank hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Feb. 7 to celebrate its second Edinburg location. The new branch will be the 34th in a network of banks throughout both the Rio Grande Valley and San Antonio. “Our goal is to continue to grow in the Valley, Lone Star National Bank President and CEO David Deanda said. “We are always there to…

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Custom Bootmaker Keeps Tradition Alive

News Retail Comments
Armando Duarte Rios shows one of the many exotic skins he has in the shop.

Some may call it a dying industry as technology keeps swallowing one tradition after another, but the only bootmaker left in Raymondville and one of a few in the Rio Grande Valley keeps defying the odds against dozens of commercial bootmakers. Armando’s Boots Co. has been producing the custom-made footwear for nearly 40 years and is not showing any signs of slowing down. The 77-year-old owner, Armando Duarte Rios, comes…

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