In the early days of car manufacturing, Henry Ford said, “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.” For Ford, this was an issue of costs and efficiency. By only offering one color, he could lower his costs by being able to buy that color paint in mass quantities at significant discounts versus higher prices for smaller amounts of many…
The Rio Grande Valley dodged a bullet last year as Hurricane Harvey made its way up the Texas Gulf Coast, where it left a trail of damage and flooding from Corpus Christi to Houston and beyond. Record-breaking rainfall left southeast Texas besieged by deep water that trapped people in their homes and made it next to impossible for businesses to operate. Every year as hurricane season starts in June, Valley…
The aroma of incense is in the air. Posters of rock and roll legends line the walls along with pieces of art created from old vinyl records, such as an image of The Doors’ Jim Morrison. Rows upon rows of bins are filled with vinyl records used and new. “I want this place to look like my bedroom when I was a kid, posters on the wall and all that,”…
Editor’s Note: Leadership can mean different things to different people. Valley Business Report turns to experienced business leaders in the Rio Grande Valley to learn more about their views on leadership in their own words. Through a question-and-answer format, Leadership Matters presents comments on leadership from Valley CEOs and other business leaders. Paul R. Rodriguez is president and CEO of Valley Land Title Company, which provides title insurance products and…
A Mexican entrepreneur who has achieved success with nopal-based powders, candies and breads is working to break into the U.S. market, with a little help from his friends at the Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Center, a real-life entrepreneurship laboratory in Brownsville. Acting as a business incubator, the center is part of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s Office of Community Engagement and Economic Development. “What we focus on is business…
The Texas State Technical College nursing division in Harlingen is celebrating its second consecutive 100 percent national exam pass rate for its vocational nursing program. The milestone is a mark of distinction for the department working to relieve a shortage of nurses in the Rio Grande Valley and across the state. “We hold all of our students to a high standard,” said Heather Sauceda, TSTC vocational nursing program director. “Here…
The Texas economy added 39,600 seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs in April, which marked 22 consecutive months of employment growth. Over the year, Texas added 332,300 jobs for an annual employment growth rate of 2.7 percent in April. Private sector employers added 37,900 positions over the month. Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in April, up slightly from 4.0 percent in March. “Texas employers continue to boost the impressive…
Edinburg EDC is currently accepting submissions for a new visual identity from Edinburg students and residents. The professional logo design should be recognizable and promote the EDC’s community mission to ” promote economic growth in the Edinburg EDC and South Texas through the attraction of new innovative commerce, retaining and preserving our existing businesses by providing the resources that support successful business and quality of life for the citizens of…
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley has received approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to establish a new degree program for a Doctor of Philosophy degree in clinical psychology. The new PhD program will focus on producing clinical psychology scientist-practitioners with knowledge about Hispanic cultures in the Rio Grande Valley and the United States. “Providing new educational opportunities for the students of the Rio Grande Valley is…
Full disclosure upfront: I am an unabashed fan of the Rio Grande Valley and our neighboring communities on the southern bank of the Rio Grande. Even more disclosure: As the executive director serving the members of the Rio South Texas Economic Council, I get paid to be a cheerleader for our region. Yet those who’ve known me for a while can attest that my enthusiasm for our sunny corner of…