It costs money to run or start a business. Funding a business is one of the first and most important financial choices most business owners make. The U.S. Small Business Administration has launched Lender Match, an online referral tool connecting small business borrowers with participating SBA lenders. Lender Match is an upgrade to Leveraging Information and Networks to Access Capital, introduced as a pilot in 2015. Lender Match brings together…
“He’s just an opportunist!” someone said after a meeting. We were discussing the aftermath in which one person seemed to get a cushy assignment while others seemed to get to carry the heavy load. The “opportunist” had quietly lobbied for the assignment before the meeting. That’s when it occurred to me that the word “opportunist” gets a bad rap. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines opportunity as: 1) a favorable juncture…
Two large AEP Texas service centers under construction in Cameron County are expected to be up and running within a few months. “The Rio Grande Valley continues to be one of the fastest growing areas within our service footprint,” said Judith E. Talavera, AEP Texas president and CEO. “Building these new service centers will give our employees and the community improved, more resilient facilities that will allow us to continue…
Location, location, location is a familiar adage used to describe a major selling point in the real estate industry. In today’s health-conscious consumer marketplace, it’s organic, organic, organic. Just ask Mike Ortiz and Mark Miller, two of three partners (the other one is Jade Murray) who are involved in growing, packing and shipping more than a dozen winter vegetables for some of the biggest, and smallest, supermarkets and specialty shops…
Changing demographics and under-equipped workers in the United States are threats to economic growth that need to be addressed, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Robert Kaplan said. He addressed the issue in December during remarks at the Border Economic Development and Entrepreneurship Symposium in McAllen. “The native-born workforce is going to continue to decline,” Kaplan said. “Immigrants and their children will make up more of…
Bicycle enthusiasts gather on weekend mornings at a coffee shop before taking off on a group ride. While sipping one of many coffee drinks on the menu, they can pick up parts for their bikes or get a little maintenance done. That’s what sets 7th and Park apart from most coffee or bicycle shops. “I always wanted to own my own business but the ideas kept changing,” said Graham Sevier-Schultz,…
“Life is inherently risky. There is only one big risk you should avoid at all costs, and that is the risk of doing nothing.” – Denis Waitley. Sometimes we don’t have the insight into financial risk management that we think we do. My wife, Sonia, works as a physician’s assistant in a pediatric clinic right here in the Rio Grande Valley. Every day she’s involved in critical “risk assessment” with patients. It’s…
After placing in the top 25 out of 400 entries in the H-E-B grocery store chain’s Quest for Texas Best competition, the pace of business at Thompson Dairy Farms has picked up dramatically. And, with a little luck, the farm’s goat cheese may next find a global market. Owner and head cheese maker Adam Thompson began marketing hand-crafted aged cheeses from goat’s milk at Rio Grande Valley farmers markets, where…
Officials break ground for Index Fresh Latin American avocados headed for tables in the United States have a new place along the border to stay cool and ripen. Index Fresh cut the ribbon on a new 60,000-square-foot packing and ripening facility in Pharr on Jan. 9. “I am just overjoyed to be here today,” Index Fresh President and CEO Dana Thomas said. “I love the new plant. If you are…
January is National Mentor Month, a perfect time to connect with a counselor/mentor at the U.S. Small Business Administration. Lower Rio Grande Valley District partners provided counseling and training to 9,094 small businesses in 2017, and helped create or retain about 481 jobs. These partners also helped start 111 new businesses. Mentors can be invaluable to small businesses. After all, it can be overwhelming to juggle dozens of responsibilities and…