On Tuesday, the Brownsville Navigation District Board of Commissioners signed an option agreement for Big River Steel LLC to build a $1.6 billion plant at the Port of Brownsville. The agreement covers up to 800 acres of property. This will enable the steel-maker to develop a LEED-certified steel manufacturing plant, as well as storage and a distribution facility. “This is good news for Brownsville and the result of hard work by many…
The National Science Foundation has awarded the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley a $249,992 grant for the NSF INCLUDES Symposium for ADVANCING STEM Latinas in Academic Careers. The federal funds will be made available to UTRGV on Aug. 1. The funding allows UTRGV to place emphasis on increasing the number of Latinas in STEM workforce areas. The NSF symposium will provide a national platform to discuss and address the issues that affect…
Area businesses who have an interest in Property Assessed Clean Energy are invited to attend an information session April 23 at the Port Isabel-San Benito Navigation District. During this time, PACE Executive Director Charlene Heydinger will discuss how property owners can upgrade their buildings and conserve energy while also saving money. Financing options are available for industrial property owners and multifamily property owners as well as commercial property owners. Industrial Property Owners The Texas…
The Texas Workforce Commission has kicked off its 2018 Summer Earn and Learn program which provides students with disabilities with both work readiness training and paid work experience. The program is a partnership between TWC, Texas Workforce Solutions Offices and Texas Workforce Solutions-Vocational Rehabilitation Services. Last year, more than 1,500 students, ages 16-22, participated in Summer Earn and Learn. They worked in positions such as design graphics assistants, customer service representatives…
There are certain pages every website can’t be without. A small business’s site needs to give visitors what they are most likely to be looking for. If you’re getting a website together for your small business or reinventing an existing site, take a look at the five essential pages every small business website needs. We include three other recommended pages as well. Homepage Your homepage is the virtual lobby of…
Valley Technical Academy and Woz U are working together via an online learning portal to address the diversity gap in tech employment when it comes to Hispanics. According to Valley Technical Academy, only seven percent of the tech sector is comprised of Hispanics. Through this partnership, the Mission-based center will provide Woz U’s tech-based curriculum in immersive education sprint formats. This format enables students to learn skills required to enter a…
NAFTA issues that directly impact the border region will be the topics of discussion in a conference April 20 in McAllen. The “Renegotiating NAFTA: Challenges and Opportunities” Conference aims to educate attendees on how NAFTA renegotiations could change the local quality of life in South Texas. The conference will include also roundtable discussions on strategies that are applicable in preparing for changes in NAFTA. Topics include investment and job creation, as…
A group of undergraduate business students from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley recently beat out more than 500 teams from 37 countries to capture their first ever championship win in the 15th annual CME Group Trading Challenge. Christopher Martinez of McAllen, Michael Villarreal of Rio Grande City and Jose Naveja of Progreso finished the competition with a total of $706,585. They beat out second-place competitor Kansas State University, who…
More than 5,000 attendees took part in South Texas All Hazards Conference 2018 during the two-day conference last week. Held at the McAllen Convention Center, the event included an expo, classes, presentations and networking. John O’Valle, district director at Texas Department of Public Safety Division of Emergency Management, was very pleased with this year’s attendance. “On Wednesday alone, 3,157 people walked through the doors,” O’Valle praised. Initial projected attendance, according to…
With the latest number released by the Texas Workforce Commission. Mission has reached a new milestone. Figures released for Feb. 2018 show the city has 34,433 people employed, thanks in part to the 900 jobs added to the local economy last year. This is the highest number of people in employment in Mission since TWC began keeping figures for cities in 2005. Mission’s 6.0 percent unemployment rate for February was a…