The former Toys R Us site adjacent to La Plaza Mall in McAllen will soon undergo redevelopment by Houston-based Murdoch Capital LLC and Parkway Partners. Property plans have not reached finalization, but the partners report positive feedback in the preliminary stages of its marketing. “McAllen has a strong reputation for high retail sales volume, so we jumped at the opportunity to purchase this site as soon as it became available,” said…
Success pushed Mid-Valley Pharmacy to a new location in Mercedes this year. Robert Zamora, John Hinkle and Adrian Cervantes had purchased the pharmacy in 2004 Even when the pharmacists bought the business 14 years ago, the pharmacy building was small. “People were used to going there,” Cervantes said. “We struggled with the idea of changing locations, but we outgrew the space. We needed something better for us, for our employees…
Russon Holbrook lived the go-go life of international banking and financial services. It meant many days away from his family, managing investment portfolios and relations with frequent trips to Mexico. In 2013, Holbrook gave all of that up and did something he vowed never to do. He returned to the Rio Grande Valley. The lure of the Holbrook farming legacy in the Valley brought him back. It started with his grandfather,…
Rebecca Garcia was born into a large extended family with roots in Monterrey, Mexico. Her grandmother bore 11 children while her grandfather started a restaurant business, serving up barbacoa and other Mexican specialties from a small trailer. The family migrated north to Nuevo Progreso and eventually to the Harlingen area, along the way building and growing a restaurant business that thrives today. Starting out in trailers much like her grandfather…
In 2015, Bobby Muniz was praying and holding on to hope as his wife prepared to give birth to their youngest child, Ariel. Some doctors did not give the baby girl much chance to survive long after birth, but she did, with surgeries soon to follow to bolster her health. The miracle and joy of his daughter’s birth inspired the Harlingen pharmacist and school board member to re-examine his work,…
With a dream of becoming a fashion designer, Ida Rodriguez started out designing and sewing her own clothes. Growing up in the Rio Grande Valley town of Alton, she was one of a family of seven with a father who was the sole provider, and a strict patriarch. In her early 20s she had an opportunity to attend fashion design school in Dallas, but her father said no; she needed…
Five businesses in small and rural communities in Hidalgo County are the recent recipients of funding to consequently spur prosperity in their respective communities. The funding comes from Hidalgo County’s first-ever Small Town Economic Development program with grants totaling $100,000. More than 40 businesses applied to the program with 21 chosen to participate. Businesses receiving $20,000 grants are Reybotics, Green Thumb Nursery, Cappadona Ranch, Ashley Nicole Boutique and Hernandez Barns. “This economic…
Three new members are now part of the 2018-2019 Weslaco Chamber of Commerce board of directors. Joining current members are Superintendent of Weslaco ISD Priscilla Canales, Valley Trophies owner Travis McDaniel and South Texas College Mid Valley Campus Administrator Daniel Montez. Canales’s service in the interest of public schools in both large and mid-size school systems spans to 1991. Through the years, her various positions in education includes teacher, mentor, educational specialist, assistant principal and principal,…
Custom training for local small businesses is the focus of a Weslaco EDC grant. The $100,000 grant will fund South Texas College in providing training in retail, manufacturing and logistics through Sept. 30, 2019. A ceremonial check presentation took place Nov 1 for the partnership to increase both high skill and high wage jobs in the Mid-Valley region. “Workforce training is one of the biggest negotiators in today’s economic projects,”…
Norma Aguinaga believes in divine intervention. Without it, Lord and Moe’s Meat Specialty Shop might not exist, and she might not even have a husband. “God still works miracles today for those that believe. Every customer that comes in here was brought by the Lord.” Norma and husband Erasmo began their journey together while working at Texas Meat Purveyors in Harlingen. That’s where they met and later married. With combined…