Mario Mendiola is an energetic, man-on-the-go entrepreneur and realtor who has a passion for both his hometown and its downtown. In early 2020, he saw through a lengthy restoration of a historic two-story building on the corner of Texas Avenue and Sixth Street in downtown Weslaco. A formerly abandoned building is now a stylishly restored building for offices and upstairs apartments. Mendiola had another downtown project brewing. He wanted to…
Michelle Quiroz is an engineer by training and had a fascination for a topic beyond her work for a large corporation with manufacturing operations along the border. The science and craft of coffee roasting fascinated her and got Quiroz wondering how to apply her disciplined thinking to a dream of owning and running a small business. It would lead to the beginnings of Reserva Coffee Roasters in McAllen. It opened…
When 18-year-old Priscilla Cavazos walked through the doors of Fred Loya Insurance in 2003 to begin her new job, little did she know that 18 years later, she would walk into another insurance office every day. This office is in Edinburg and bears her name – Priscilla Cavazos Insurance Agency. At the time, Cavazos also did not realize the role that first insurance job would play in shaping her future.…
The view from Ford Sasser’s sixth-floor office offers a wide expanse view of the expressway traffic running beneath it. Rio Bank’s new office tower looks out over Expressway 77/83 in McAllen since its opening in October. The city’s hospitals and medical district are just across the way. Sasser, Rio Bank’s president and chief executive officer, is a fixture on local television with a signature and folksy line. “Your kind of…
In the social media-driven world where a hobby can turn into a business in a flash, Samantha Cervantes is proof how fast such a thing can happen. The mid-20s-year-old mother of two children was looking for a job last year to help her family’s finances. It was a tough go of it as the employment market contracted with the shutdowns and slowdowns. Cervantes also had the issue of childcare for…
The many historical buildings that dot downtown Brownsville are coming back to life as investments in the city’s heritage. It makes business sense. Youthful investors are transforming old buildings in the city’s core, giving them makeovers, and turning them into restaurants, art studios and cafes. In one case, it’s stylish new lofts. Botica Lofts is gleaming new and on the corner of 11th Street and Adams in downtown Brownsville. It’s…
The expression “love what you do, and do what you love” is a powerful lesson. What is really satisfying is the enjoyment of our careers. Personal reward should be equivalent to earning a living. Does our job truly make us happy? It is truly important that teachers and counselors advise students to pursue an education toward a career best suited to their liking. By junior high, students are thinking of…
Turning the tide again beach debris, an Adopt-A-Beach Winter Clean-Up takes place Feb. 5 on South Padre Island. Volunteer registration is open now through the duration of the cleanup. Volunteers should wear closed-toe shoes, and bring drinking water and gloves. Organizers have only been able to secure a small amount of gloves, so volunteers should bring their own set of disposable, garden or work gloves. Adopt-A-Beach will provide all necessary…
TSTC will soon launch two new online boot camps that train for in-demand careers in both cyber security and full stack web development. These boot camps require no previous experience, and contain tools and support to help students obtain a well-paying job in a short amount of time. TSTC’s Cybersecurity Analytics course incorporates 13 weeks of online training beginning March 1. According to TSTC, there will be 3.5 million unfilled…
The Texas Workforce Commission has launched MyTxCareer.com. The new online job search site helps Texans quickly register, search for and apply for jobs available in Texas. There are currently more than 500,000 job postings available posted by more than 20,000 employers. “MyTxCareer.com is another valuable resource from TWC to help Texans find the jobs they need to get back into the workforce,” said TWC Chairman Bryan Daniel. “At TWC, we remain focused on…