Category Archives: News

Farm Grant Program Offers Up to $30K

Agriculture e-Brief Features News Comments
farm grant

National produce distributor PRO*ACT invites qualifying local farms to apply for up to $30,000 from their grant program, Cultivating Change. The program offers a total of $85,000 to farms looking to fund new and innovative projects, The application process is currently open through Dec. 15. Afterwards, a group of industry professionals will conduct a panel review, while the general public votes on their favorites. Both voting and panel review will…

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TWC Grant Funds Medical Training

e-Brief Features Education Healthcare News Comments

The Workforce Development and Continuing Education department at Texas State Technical College, in partnership with Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen, is the recipient of a Skills Development Fund grant for customized job training. The $301,238 Texas Workforce Commission grant currently provides technical skills training for 155 Valley Baptist Medical Center employees. Customized raining will continue for one year for positions such as certified nursing assistants, registered nurses and nurse managers. The training focuses…

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Rio Grande LNG On Track

e-Brief Features Featured Manufacturing/Industrial News Comments
Rio Grande LNG

Rio Grande LNG recently announced a major milestone that puts the project on track to receive federal authorization in July 2019 to proceed with construction. This timing is based on the Notice of Schedule released Aug. 31 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The federal agency reviews and permits all liquefied natural gas projects in the United States. This Notice of Schedule sets the dates for the final steps leading…

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Symposium Addresses Healthcare Disparities

Education Events Featured Healthcare News Comments
Students are able to show their research at the School of Medicine Research Symposium. (photo Silver Salas, UTRGV)

From advances in studying determinants of health, to public health initiatives to combat obesity and patient case studies, researchers from across the country and world gathered recently at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine’s second annual Research Symposium to discuss how they are addressing disparities in healthcare. “Health Disparities 2018: Closing the Gap” featured keynote speaker Maria Elena Bottazzi, associate dean of the National School of…

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INNO Highlights Impact of Future Workforce

e-Brief Features Education Events News Comments
South Texas College held its sixth annual INNO Conference dedicated to the discussion of preparing students for the workforce and jobs of the future. (photo STC)

It is urgent students are ready for jobs of the future. According to those speaking at INNO at STC, now more than ever, college graduates with real-world experience are needed for even the most entry level of jobs. Last week, INNO, STC’s sixth annual Binational Innovation Conference, welcomed those in industry, education and economic development. Each brought information focused on innovation as well as the impact of students on the…

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Culture Reflects Leadership

Business Advice e-Brief Features Featured News Comments

There is a saying in counseling circles that goes like this: Every happy family is happy in the same ways; every dysfunctional family is dysfunctional in its own unique way. While this is vast generalization, it is something that can be applied to organizations as well. When you look at successful organizations, there are some things these organizations do well: Clear vision and mission; strong, effective communications throughout the organization;…

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Lance Ames Promoted to Health System CEO

Featured Moving On Up News Comments
Lance Ames

Lance Ames is now the chief executive officer of South Texas Health System Edinburg and South Texas Health System Children’s. Ames recently served as chief operating officer and then interim CEO of the system’s facilities in Edinburg. Under his leadership, the hospital opened a new 26-bed inpatient unit dedicated to the care of surgical patients. The hospitals also saw an increase in total surgeries by 8 percent during the prior year. Prior…

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Venue Gives Valley Boost

Arts Featured Food & Entertainment News Recreation & Tourism Transportation & Travel Comments

Welcomed with great fanfare and full houses, the $88-million, 219,000-square-foot Bert Ogden Arena opens a new chapter in the Rio Grande Valley as the largest entertainment venue in South Texas and a boon for regional economic development. An estimated 5,000 people turned out for grand-opening ceremonies and arena tours in August, entertainer Luis Miguel performed a sold-out concert in September, followed by a near sell-out for a WWE wrestling card.…

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Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Education News Comments
Laurie Simmons is the manager of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Center for Innovation and Commercialization in Weslaco. (VBR)

The Rio Grande Valley is a complex network of interconnected communities bound by culture, geography and economics. At times in its history and into the present, the region sometimes struggles to overcome territorial squabbles to work together for the common good. With the merger of campuses into the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, the concept of a regional university represents another step in uniting the border region. And a…

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Comeback in Brownsville

Food & Entertainment News Recreation & Tourism Comments
Mariachis perform at Noche de Garibaldi in downtown Brownsville. The musical event was patterned after the music scene in Mexico City’s Garibaldi Plaza. (VBR)

Downtown Brownsville is a happening place again. The once thriving central business district is undergoing a major transformation, and much of the credit is going to the city’s leadership and to the progressive vision of some of its residents. Brownsville’s downtown used to be a place bustling with people shopping for a variety of merchandise, ranging from fashionable clothes to ropa usada to household goods to furniture to gadgets of…

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