Category Archives: News

A Mission to Promote New Business

Cultura Agency owner Art Alcantar is one of the entrepreneurs who launched a business with the help of the Mission EDC. (VBR)

Art Alcantar spent years away from his native Rio Grande Valley building a multimedia career that specializes in digital and social media marketing. In recent years, when he looked around the Valley for a facility to that could meet the needs of his technology-driven business, Alcantar found the ideal landing spot in Mission. The 55,000-square-foot Mission Economic Development Corp. facility has all of the high-end technological amenities that Alcantar’s business…

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Building a Future on the Past

Inside the restored Putegnat Building in Brownsville, Fernando Balli talks about the 1868 building. Designer Tina Garbo Bailey, who collaborated with Balli, stands to his right. (VBR)

While getting his degree in architecture and environmental design, Fernando Balli earned a C in architectural history. That is noteworthy because now, with Balli Property Group, he specializes in restoring historic architecture in Brownsville. The turning point came when, after restoring a 1931 house on Palm Boulevard that backs onto Town Resaca, he and his wife decided that, instead of flipping it, they would make it their home. The striking…

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Leadership Matters: Manny Vela

Valley Baptist Health System CEO Manny Vela

Editor’s Note: Leadership can mean different things to different people. The Valley Business Report wanted to learn more about the views on leadership through the words of experienced business leaders in the Rio Grande Valley. Starting with this month’s edition, VBR introduces Leadership Matters, a new question-and-answer feature that poses questions on leadership to Valley CEOs and other business leaders. Manny Vela CEO, Valley Baptist Health System   What are…

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Gluten-free Goods on the Road

Peggy Harris with some of her gluten-free breads at a farmers market. (VBR)

Selling shrimp caught in the Gulf Mexico was a full-time job for Peggy Harris when she was a vendor on the second floor of Valley International Airport in Harlingen. Called Texashrimp, the business on the south side of the boarding area was easily seen by passengers wanting to take some fresh shrimp with them. After eight years, she sold the venture and embarked on a new and different type of…

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Big Freeze: Pathway to Pain Relief

Vaporized nitrogen flows from a cryosauna as Cryo Body Perfections owner Margret DeBruyan holds the door open. (VBR)

Margret DeBruyn is a walking advertisement for cryotherapy. After a bad car crash she was left with chronic back pain when she tried cryotherapy and was amazed with the results. That prompted her to start a business to help others find relief. “It’s something that is really amazing,” she said. “If you are in chronic pain it chips away at your life. You start to miss out on life. We…

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Three Generations of Protection

Owner Jeremy Holden with a manually operated shutter often used by businesses for security. (VBR)

There are only a handful of locally owned home shutter companies in the Rio Grande Valley, and Holden Security and Storm Shutters is probably the oldest one around. “I am third generation,” said Jeremy Holden, who has run the company founded by his grandfather ever since his father died 11 years ago. “I started right out of high school so I’ve really been in this business for 21 years.” The…

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Trevino Touts Economic Progress

Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino gave a State of the County presentation at an even sponsored by the Harlingen Chamber of Commerce. (VBR)

A devastating hurricane season last year that took a toll in the Caribbean tourism industry may have also opened a door of opportunity to increase tourism at South Padre Island. “The four major cruise lines have contacted South Padre Island about establishing a port of call there,” Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino said during a recent State of the County event in Harlingen. Trevino credited the county for helping to…

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Standing on the Brink of Boom

Big economic news is expected to break in April with an announcement that will mark the latest industrial success story for Cameron County, further setting the stage for an unprecedented economic boom for this southernmost county in Texas.   “We are on the cusp of some great things,” said Gilbert Salinas, director of the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corp. “And it’s no accident. This has been a 10-year body of work…

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McAllen Ecourages Team Up to Clean Up

Keep McAllen Beautiful invites citizens to hit the streets of McAllen April 7 to help in the Great American Clean-Up & Don’t Mess with Texas Trash-off.

Keep McAllen Beautiful is organizing its annual Great American Clean-Up & Don’t Mess with Texas Trash-off for April 7, 2018 from 8 a.m. to noon at McAllen Municipal Park. KMB plans to hit the city’s major streets, hike and bike trails, city parks and schools to help keep McAllen looking clean and beautiful. “I am always so proud of our city during the cleanup because of the number of volunteers that participate and…

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It’s National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day

Peggy's Cakes and More is just one of the many small businesses in the Rio Grande Valley which keep business local, fresh and personable. Look for a feature on Peggy Harris and her successful small business in the April edition of Valley Business Report.

March 29 is National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day — a day to celebrate the value that family-owned small businesses bring to their communities. These days, Mom and Pop businesses face many challenges as they compete against larger retailers and service providers with expansive budgets. But Mom and Pops have some strengths bigger companies don’t. By leveraging them, they cannot only compete successfully but also excel. Here are four…

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