The International Museum of Art & Science is planning to reopen to the public on June 11. An IMAS member preview will take place June 9 from 3-7 p.m. When the museum opens, there will be a capacity limit of 25 percent, following the recommendations of the Texas Department of State Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of the interactive areas will not be accessible…
David Garza opened his San Benito pharmacy on April 1, 1980. That same day, his wife Dorothy gave birth to their first child. It’s 40 years later and The Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy endures. The landmark anniversary has been met by a worldwide pandemic in the spring of 2020. The COVID-19 virus has put a dent in the longstanding community pharmacy. It perseveres, however, under the primary watch of a second…
The rush to apply for and receive emergency federal funds during the COVID-19 crisis didn’t reach everyone. The result of the first come/first serve component of the Small Business Administration-affiliated loans is many American businesses left out of the funding loop. In Harlingen, city leaders and the economic development corporation are doing something about it. The EDC put aside $1 million in funding in establishing Harlingen’s Emergency Loan Program, HELP.…
Yolanda Carrillo and her staff of chaplains at hospitals in the Rio Grande Valley have seen heartache and felt its pain in recent months. The outbreak of COVID-19 has consequently separated the sick from their loved ones with the denial of hospital visitations. Hospital chaplains have stepped in best they can. They are waving hellos and also making signs of prayer through windows looking into intensive care units. The Valley…
Lone Star National Bank President David Deanda knew he and his staff had the challenge of a banking lifetime before them. The outbreak of COVID-19 had brought the South Texas economy to a sudden and shocking halt. Small businesses in the Rio Grande Valley were soon desperate for help. The federal government offered two lifelines. One was the Paycheck Protection Program. The other was the Economic Injury Disaster program. Both…
The Rio Grande Valley’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis will be prolonged. It could take 12-to-18 months, at the minimum, said leading bankers and economic development specialists. They say the recovery from the widespread business shutdowns this spring will stretch well into 2021. Recovery will also be dependent on one key factor. “It’s all going to depend on how we contain COVID,” said David Deanda, the president of Lone…
A nonprofit executive like Traci Wickett has connections everywhere in a community. The president and chief executive officer of the United Way of Southern Cameron County heard from Brownsville’s Good Neighbor Settlement House about growing needs they were seeing as furloughs and unemployment set in with the outbreak of COVID-19. The demand for served meals and emergency pantry items doubled in less than one week in early April. “Unemployment sent…
“Be prepared, not scared. Be proactive, not reactive.” ~ Stuart I.R. Haniff. When your mission is to fight hunger and to feed hope, countless people in your community are relying on you to be prepared. Stuart I. R. Haniff, the chief executive officer of the Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley Inc., took that mission to heart in preparing his organization’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. Haniff and his…
Leadership Mid-Valley Class XV is currently offering 20 $500 mini-grants to Mid-Valley businesses that are Weslaco Chamber Members. Applications are available online through June 3. Businesses will be selected by a lottery system on Facebook live on June 15. “These times have resulted in economic hardship for millions of small businesses throughout the United States and there is no better time to give back to our very own,” LMV Class…
During these rough times, the Alamo Economic Development Corporation continues to offer its programs to aid businesses in Alamo. One of the EDC’s most popular options is the Micro-Loan Program. The creation of the Micro-Loan Program came in order to help local business owners with storefront improvements, repairs and renovations. This program now utilizes a micro-loan as working capital to help alleviate operating costs that business owners have trouble covering.…