Category Archives: Industry

Texas A&M to Build $30M Training Center at PoB

Manufacturing/Industrial News Comments

On Feb. 8, Regents of The Texas A&M University System approved building a $30 million advanced manufacturing training facility at the Port of Brownsville. The announcement comes after the Brownsville Navigation District Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to approve a lease amendment at a recent regular board meeting, allowing the Texas A&M University System to expand its existing footprint at the port. The South Texas Workforce Development Project is proposed…

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City of Pharr Awarded Grant to Address Brain Health

e-Brief Features Featured Government News Comments

The City of Pharr was selected by the Alzheimer’s Association and the National Association of County and City Health Officials for the Healthy Brain Initiative Road Map Strategists. The initiative will allow the City of Pharr to enhance its capacity to address cognitive health and dementia for the citizens of Pharr. Through this initiative, the City of Pharr will designate a part-time HBI Road Map Strategist, a systems change agent…

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Businessman Supports ‘Habit’ With New Store

News Retail Comments
Insurance agent Roel Villanueva goes `big' with a new fireworks store in Mercedes.

Roel Villanueva was enthralled with fireworks as a boy growing up in Mercedes. The Mexican-style palomas were his favorites, the triangle shaped firework known for packing a punch with their concentrated amounts of gunpowder and being loud enough to trigger car alarms in neighborhoods. Villanueva was just shy of 10 years of age when he didn’t flee the scene fast enough from a paloma ready to go off. It went…

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Donna Store Offers New Candy Twist

News Retail Comments
Juanita Sanchez and her two daughters, Sarai and Dinah, offer a wide range of freeze-dried candies at their Donna store.

It was an idea whose origins came from social media.  Dinah Sanchez saw on TikTok where the sweet novelty of freeze-dried candy was garnering a considerable amount of attention and viewer numbers. She was intrigued by the concept of candy in freeze dried form. How does it taste? What is its texture? A further look around revealed there was almost none of this sort of product in the Rio Grande…

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SPI Restaurant ‘Off Beaten Path’ Thriving

Food & Entertainment News Comments
The hula chicken sandwich with a grilled slice of pineapple reflects the years Lobo Del Mar's owners spent in Hawaii.

Ben Little describes his South Padre Island restaurant as being “a bit off the beaten path,” on the bay side a block off Padre Boulevard. Lobo Del Mar Café is on Palm Street at a spot adjacent to where the road ends before getting to the Laguna Madre. A recent visit to the restaurant on a late January weekday morning was busy, even during an off-season winter month when tourist…

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Dietrich Assumes Interim Director at Port

e-Brief Features Manufacturing/Industrial Moving On Up News Comments
William Dietrich

The Port of Brownsville begins 2024 with Port Chief of Police William Dietrich succeeding former Port Director and CEO Eduardo A. Campirano as interim port director. The Brownsville Navigation District Board of Commissioners began a national search for a new port director and CEO in August. Dietrich was named interim in December while the search continues. “Building upon record achievements, the Port of Brownsville is on the path for tremendous…

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Villita Avocados Makes U.S. Produce History

Agriculture e-Brief Features News Retail Comments
Villita Avocados Inc.

This week, avocado grower and distributor Villita Avocados Inc. in Pharr is making history in the produce industry, fulfilling orders utilizing specially made mesh produce bags that are 100 percent compostable.  “We will be the first avocado company to come out with a 100 percent compostable, 100 percent plastic-free avocado bag in North America,” said Rob Ybarra, executive vice president of Villita. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the United…

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STC Introduces Cutting-Edge Resources in Solar Energy

Education Featured News Technology Comments
Students begin to dismantle STC’s new solar panels they installed during the semester on a simulated roof structure built at the college’s Technology Campus. (photo STC)

South Texas College Electrician Technology students are the first in the Valley to use to utilize a newly completed composite-shingled roof structure to simulate real-world residential solar panel installations. Built last summer at STC’s Technology Campus, the simulated roof structure enables students to utilize a new solar grid system that provides the same experience as working on an actual solar roof installation at residential job sites. The structure and equipment…

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VA Offers New Transportation Opens for Veterans

e-Brief Features Healthcare News Comments
VA Uber Health Connect

Veterans living in the Rio Grande Valley/Costal Bend Area who need transportation to and from medical appointments now can get a ride via VA Uber Health Connect. “The VA Uber Health Connect Initiative bridges the transportation gap by ensuring veterans have reliable transportation for their health care needs,” said National Lead of VA Uber Health Connect Indra Sandal. “By offering ridesharing as an additional means of transportation, VA is helping…

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Livestock Show ‘In Blood’ Of New GM

Community News Non-Profit Comments
Luis Saldana grew up in Mercedes as a student participant in the RGV Livestock Show and now leads the organization.

Luis Saldana was coming to the end of a three decades-long career with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service when a job offer came along involving the leadership of a historic organization in his hometown. Saldana’s fellow board members of the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show approached him in early 2023 with the possibility of the general manager leadership post. Saldana grew up the son of an agricultural education instructor…

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