After managing 16 school kitchens in North Texas as a nutritionist, Rio Grande Valley native Veronica Barrera-Cuellar returned home with a dream of attending pastry school. She ended up selling chocolate. “I love pastry and I wanted to go to pastry school, but life happens,” she said. Needing to find a livelihood, she teamed up with her sister Patricia and began looking into franchise opportunities to start their own business.…
As technology races ahead by leaps and bounds, one thing never changes when operating a business. In the end it’s all about customer service. Across the Rio Grande Valley there are several locally owned companies offering residential and commercial security systems, and they all say their success is grounded in connecting with customers. Unlike some national security companies that contract with sales representatives and service technicians, these businesses take…
It started as “a hobby business,” a vehicle for a husband-and-wife team of physical therapists to promote their passion for fitness. The vision that began in 2011 for Jun and Edith Ellorimo to get people “walking and running” is today a Footworks Start To Finish store with a wide community reach to go with a growing network of runners and cyclists. “It has gone beyond what we envisioned,” Jun said…
As a young architect, Calvin Walker left Louisiana to work in the Rio Grande Valley for a year. Fifty years later, he is still designing buildings from his Brownsville office. In the interim, he worked for 30 years at various iterations of the large architectural firm SHW, rising to vice president and partner in charge of Brownsville. In 1997, he declined to relocate and started Walker Perez Associates with Carlos…
Rio Grande Valley citrus groves and packing houses are buzzing with activity as this year’s harvest season kicks into high gear for what is predicted to a bountiful yield that could pump as much as $200 million into the local economy. “I think we are shaping up to have a really good year,” said Dale Murden, president of Texas Citrus Mutual. “Our estimates are above last year. The crop is…
Recycling in the Rio Grande Valley may not be as prevalent as it is in other parts of the state and nation, but for 37 years a Brownsville family has been “going green” to make a living. Owned and operated by Ruben Guerrero Sr., his wife Rosa, and sons Ruben Jr. and Rolando, Brownsville Scrap Paper on FM 511 not far from the Port of Brownsville, the business buys, sells…
A 52-percent increase in cotton acreage in the Rio Grande Valley this year has paid off for farmers. But, as is typical in the tough business of farming, some growers did better than others. “The crop has been harvested now,” Hidalgo County AgriLife Extension Agent Brad Cowen said. “Yields are kind of scattered this year. It was a really good year for some and not so good for others.” Valley…
Gliztzy Glam caters to princesses Every little girl dreams of being a princess. Carrie Fullerton can make that happen. Fullerton’s business, Glitzy Glam Parties, offers an all-inclusive upscale party planning service with specialty themes for children ages 3 and up. She takes care of all the details, right down to the invitations and clean up. “I have been doing parties for 17 years and I was an elementary teacher for…
Market reopens in two days Workers are racing to complete a shade structure before Saturday’s reopening of the Harlingen Farmers Market at its new location at First Street and Tyler Avenue next to City Hall. “We will have shade for 20 vendors,” market manager Kate McSwain said. “We have 32 vendors lined up right now. That’s a big increase over last year. I’m very excited.” The market will be open…
Sandy Pena’s love for downtown Weslaco runs deep and reaches back to her childhood when she and her cousins used to play summertime hide-and-seek in the adjoining buildings owned by her father and aunt. “It was our playground,’’ Pena said. “It’s where we grew up.’’ Those days of frolic are long behind her, and Pena today owns and runs the downtown store her father, Lionel Oliveira, started almost 60 years ago and still…