Category Archives: Transportation & Travel

VBR Business Briefs

Community Education Finance/Banking News Transportation & Travel Comments
Executives representing Lone Star National Bank recently received five honors on the bank’s behalf from the Independent Bankers Association of Texas.

Lone Star National Honored For Services McAllen-based Lone Star National Bank was recently honored with five best of bank awards in honors given by the Independent Bankers Association of Texas. LSNB was honored for providing South Texas entrepreneurs with a range of services, including business education, expert-led workshops, networking opportunities and financial guidance through a complimentary eight-session cohort. Lone Star’s Small Business Education Program provides business owners with added expertise…

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Project Doubles Pharr Bridge Capacity

News Transportation & Travel Comments
The Pharr International Bridge offers logistics advantages that have made it the nation’s leading port for fresh produce imports. (Courtesy)

A commercial lane expansion at the Pharr International Bridge is nearing completion and full operational status as the 3.2-mile span dramatically increases its trade capacity. “We are going to have 100 percent more capacity,” said Luis Bazan, the bridge’s director, in a Mexico Business News article. “Four new lanes will allow us to significantly improve wait times, but the objective is no longer just to reduce them, but to eliminate…

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RGV Airports Take Flight With Growth

News Transportation & Travel Comments
City and airport leaders were on hand in mid-May to welcome the inaugural flight of Breeze Airways from Orlando to Brownsville. (Courtesy)

The corporate jets lined up tip-tip on a Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport runway after SpaceX filed the legal paperwork to begin the transition to becoming a publicly traded company. Investors from around the world flew into Brownsville in April as they traveled to SpaceX’s nearby Starbase to assess the company’s business model and growth plans. The Brownsville airport has grown accustomed to this sort of business travel since…

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VBR Business Briefs

News Retail Transportation & Travel Comments
Steven Valdez, center, the executive director of the Weslaco Economic Development Corporation, recently welcomed Mariana Linaldi and her family and their Southern Roots Market to the downtown area. (Courtesy)

Veteran Firefighter Leads By Example Ubaldo Perez joined the Edinburg Volunteer Fire Department at the age of 18 before beginning his professional career with the McAllen Fire Department as a dispatcher.  Perez would later become a firefighter with McAllen while continuing to volunteer and serve in his hometown. His willingness to serve carried forth in both communities. “When people need help, often during some of the worst moments of their…

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VBR Business Briefs

Food & Entertainment News Transportation & Travel Comments
STC and Weslaco community leaders recently celebrated the establishment of a new avionics tech program at Mid Valley Airport. (Courtesy)

Program Features Aviation Training South Texas College in partnership with Mid Valley Airport and Hidalgo County Precinct 1 is set to launch a new Avionics Technician Program in Weslaco. College and local officials gathered in mid-May to formally announce the program’s anticipated start at Mid Valley Airport in the fall of 2026. It is the only program of its kind in the Rio Grande Valley. The college’s Center for Advanced…

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New Terminal Raising City’s Profile

Transportation & Travel Comments
Brownsville’s airport is able to handle a wide range of aircraft, including large military planes. (Courtesy)

The Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport opened a new 90,000-square-foot terminal in early 2021 amidst much fanfare in promoting the city’s transformation of its air traveler experience.  Left behind was a 1970s-era 30,000-square-foot terminal whose outdated appearance was a striking contrast to the sleeker and more modern terminals found at airports in Harlingen and McAllen. All of that is in the past because the stylish terminal of today in…

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MFE Team Honored by United Airlines

e-Brief Features News Transportation & Travel Comments
McAllen International Airport opened in the mid-1990s and its growth in passenger traffic has led to a study looking at facility expansion. (Courtesy)

United Airlines has awarded AGI, the ground handling team operating at McAllen International Airport, with its Gold Safety Excellence Award, recognizing AGI’s outstanding commitment to safety in all aspects of its airport operations. “Safety is universal, and safety culture is something that’s hard to build and easy to lose,” said Marlon Suarez Garcia, senior manager-Line Stations Safety and Regulatory Compliance for United Airlines. “Safety culture is a feeling — and…

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Trucking Moves Trade Forward at the Port

e-Brief Features Manufacturing/Industrial News Transportation & Travel Comments
ruck drivers are essential to the Port of Brownsville’s comprehensive logistics network. In 2024, the port recorded more than 450,000 truck movements. (Courtesy)

This month, the Port of Brownsville will join the American Trucking Associations in celebrating National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, which runs from Sept. 14-20. According to the American Trucking Associations, truck drivers safely transport more than 11 billion tons of goods and products every year, which accounts for nearly 73 percent of America’s total annual freight. Eighty percent of U.S. communities depend solely on trucking to deliver goods. In 2024…

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McAllen International Airport Elevates Travel Experience

e-Brief Features News Transportation & Travel Comments
McAllen International Airport

McAllen International Airport is now offering Tap N’ Fly ticketless parking, a third TSA screening lane and the new MFE VIP Lounge. MFE is now the first commercial airport south of San Antonio to offer both a ticketless parking system and three TSA security screening lanes, reducing wait times and improving the security process for all passengers. “Investments in our infrastructure moves our city forward, which positions McAllen as a…

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Family-Owned Dealerships Endure In RGV

News Retail Transportation & Travel Comments
1950s-era Chevrolet pickup trucks like this vintage model turned heads when sold new at RGV dealerships like Clark Chevrolet and Tipotex Chevrolet. (Courtesy)

One Rio Grande Valley car dealer whose name is today emblazoned across the region got his start in a modest-sized store selling Buicks just blocks south of the courthouse in Edinburg.  Bert Ogden sold cars as a side business before opening his first dealership in the 1960s. He would purchase used cars from upstate Texas sources, restore them to running condition, and then sell them in the Valley. The downtown…

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