Category Archives: Industry

Rodriguez Appointed to TMRS State Board

e-Brief Features Government Moving On Up News Comments
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has appointed McAllen City Manager Roel “Roy” Rodriguez

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has appointed McAllen City Manager Roel “Roy” Rodriguez to the Texas Municipal Retirement System Board of Trustees for a term to expire on Feb. 1, 2029. The board oversees the Texas Municipal Retirement System, which is responsible for providing a secure retirement benefit plan for eligible employees of more than 800 Texas cities. Rodriguez is a former gubernatorial appointee to the Texas Municipal Retirement System Board…

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Glazer’s Anchors Weslaco Industrial Park

Community News Retail Comments
Glazer's distributes some of the country's better know brands of beer across the Rio Grande Valley, (Courtesy)

Weslaco’s city leadership in recent years has honed in on a consistent message amid the community’s growth across several key economic sectors. The days of local residents having to go to McAllen to shop and dine are over, they say. “We don’t have to leave Weslaco anymore,” said Steven Valdez, the executive director of the Weslaco Economic Development Corporation. “We can stay home.” A business and commerce identity independent of…

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Brownsville Plant Expanding & Adding Jobs

Food & Entertainment News Comments
Rich's employees at its Brownsville plant produce the company's appetizer products that are commonly found in Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores across the country.

Rey Esquibel has worked his way up to the top leadership post at the Rich’s frozen foods manufacturing plant in Brownsville.  Esquibel says his “fingerprints are all over” the 130,000-square-foot facility on east 14th Street. His work ethic matches that of the 400 employees who work at the facility.  Rich’s Brownsville plant is located just blocks away from what is known in the city as the four corners intersection where…

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New Fan Store Touts UTRGV Pride

News Retail Comments

Alisa Gonzalez and her husband Benjamin took their recent high school graduate to get settled at Texas A&M University last fall and made a poignant observation. College Station has fan stores a many featuring all sorts of A&M Aggies gear, be it t-shirts, caps, sweatshirts or bumper stickers. The Edinburg couple thought of their university back home. They knew it had nothing comparable to promote the Vaqueros of the University…

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Photographer Reaches For The Sky

News Professional Services Comments
Love is in the air for a couple photographed by Jackie Valdez near the floodway in Mercedes.

Jackie Valdez‘s photographs feature the faces of the Rio Grande Valley. There are teenage girls wearing cowboy hats enjoying the sights and sounds of the Rio Grande Livestock Show in Mercedes. High school bands marching down streets in parades and across football fields make up another colorful portion of her South Texas portfolio. Freshly graduated students in portraits look hopeful and happy in Valdez’s portrait work as they look off…

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Rio Grande LNG Reaching Out To Community

Education Manufacturing/Industrial News Comments
Rio Grande LNG representatives emphasized the safety aspects of their plant being built at the Port of Brownsville during a recent event on the TSTC campus in Harlingen.

Rene Rodriguez’s students are huddled around representatives of Rio Grande LNG, a bit wide-eyed and asking plenty of questions. Rodriguez is an instructor with the building construction technology program at Texas State Technical College in Harlingen. Rio Grande LNG representatives had just concluded a presentation on campus regarding their facility, which is currently under construction at the Port of Brownsville. The first phase of the $18 billion-plus liquefied natural gas…

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Port of Brownsville Business Park Lands First Tenant

e-Brief Features Manufacturing/Industrial News Comments
COSTEP CEO Adam Gonzalez, Westa Inc. CEO Zaur Kafkas, and Port of Brownsville Interim Director and CEO William Dietrich join Brownsville District Navigation District members Ralph Cowen, John Reed, Sergio Tito Lopez and John Wood.

The Port of Brownsville recently held a ceremonial groundbreaking for its first tenant at the Port of Brownsville Business Park, Westa Inc. The April 18 ceremony marked a significant milestone in the development of the port’s 118-acre business park. Westa Inc., a major player in the agricultural industry, will invest $20 million to establish a state-of-the-art wheat flour mill and wheat storage silos at the Port of Brownsville. The company…

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MFE Hosts Inaugural Delta Flight to Austin

Featured News Transportation & Travel Comments
McAllen International Airport nonstop Delta Airlines flight to Austin, April 22.

McAllen International Airport welcomed representatives from Delta Air Lines to launch their first nonstop flight to Austin on April 22. “McAllen has made travel between the Valley and Austin easier than ever,” said City of McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos. Nonstop flights between McAllen and the state capital now depart daily from McAllen International Airport. “A growing Rio Grande Valley needed a non-stop flight with multiple frequencies a day connecting to…

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A Clear Eye on the Goal

e-Brief Features Education News Non-Profit Comments
Michael Castilleja

Life hasn’t been easy for Brownsville resident Michael Castilleja. Raised by his grandfather, he learned the value of money at an early age because it was hard to come by. When he completed high school, he faced a number of obstacles in his pursuit to break free of the cycle of poverty but Castilleja possesses a clear understanding of the value of education. “Being in a Hispanic family in the…

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Port of Brownsville Awarded $1.1M

e-Brief Features Manufacturing/Industrial News Comments
Port of Brownsville

The Port of Brownsville was recently named the recipient of $1,116,279 in funding from the federal government for its Port of Brownsville Vessel Suitability Analysis and Feasibility project. Congressman Vicente Gonzalez announced the award in March as part of $15,622,100 in Community Project Funding for the 34th Congressional District of Texas. “By passing this final tranche of long-awaited funding bills, the U.S. House of Representatives has avoided a devastating and…

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