Category Archives: News

Building better nerds 

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Under the name Code RGV Academy, a group of local tech professionals has been providing free, introductory technology courses since April 2014, intent on building better nerds.  Officially, the organization wants to spur creativity, business entrepreneurship and innovation by introducing Valley residents to the fundamentals (and financial rewards) of coding. Coding, if you have been out of the loop, is the current term for programming. (Programmers write code, remember.)  Code…

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Accidental Mentors

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Everyone who has seen the movie Star Wars wishes he’d had a mentor like the wise Jedi Master, Yoda, the greenish-grey, pointy-eared elfin creature who coached Luke Skywalker through every emotional crisis and physical challenge imaginable.  Remember Yoda’s cryptic advice?  “Ready you are?  What do you know of ready?  Difficult it is.” As an executive search consultant, I interviewed many candidates who told me that they were good managers.  Some…

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Farmers market on a daily basis

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After 60 years on the wholesale side of agriculture, the Holbrook family last year crossed over into retail when they acquired Klement’s Grove and Country Store, a well-known Taylor Road farm stand at McAllen’s western limits.  Now operating as Earth Born, the store provides an outlet for the family’s organic vegetables and citrus, which are grown, harvested, packed and shipped as South Tex Organics.  The organic vegetables have been marketed…

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On the Road Again: Mobile Businesses

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Back in the Valley’s early days, some businesses customarily brought their goods and services to their customers’ homes and businesses. In 1910 McAllen, for example, residents living on Main Street would hang a sheet on their porch if they wanted Dr. Frank Osborn to stop in for a house call.  Fifty years later, ice cream trucks, pizza delivery cars and door-to-door peddlers were the final vestiges of house calls.  Today,…

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Giving Birth to a Village  

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Getting a hotel property launched can be compared to bringing a village to life.  Major hotel properties provide guests with food, security, entertainment, exercise facilities, connectivity, social events and of course, clean, comfortable rooms. When the Residence Inn by Marriott opened on Dec. 18 in Harlingen, staff in housekeeping and reception, for example, had been training for more than two weeks.  The management team, on the other hand, had been…

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Listening to your customers 

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“We’ve basically adapted to our customers,” said David Leahy, who owns Quips ’n Quotes with his wife Patty and parents Bruce and Susan Leahy.  “Ten or 15 years ago, we didn’t have any fashion merchandise — no scarves, no sweaters. It was one of those deals where we’d bring a few items in, and the customers would say you need to bring in more.” That willingness to heed customers’ suggestions…

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Protecting property in a LLC 

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While LLCs are common in the business world, a relatively new form of LLC could be of great use to South Texas property investors. The Texas Series LLC provision was added to the Texas Business Organizations Code in 2009 and offers a unique twist on the ability of an LLC to diversify its overall holdings while limiting its liabilities. A Series LLC essentially has the ability to create separate “series”…

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Pride & Joy – Our little girls and boys 

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The Valley’s high proportion of young people includes very young people: infants, toddlers and preschoolers.  Certain Valley businesses cater to that population, helping families keep their children clothed and entertained. Whether shopping for gifts for a friend’s newborn or playing beloved auntie and taking the tikes to the zoo for the day or searching for dress clothes for a wedding’s little ring bearer and flower girl, you will find what…

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Demotivation Insight  

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Fortunes have been, and continue to be, made studying and teaching the art of human motivation in the workplace.  Businesses want more from their employees, and turnover is so very costly.  We can’t seem to get enough of this stuff we call motivation.  Well, we are Americans.  We want more, of everything; and we want it better, faster, cheaper. The reasons people work are as unique as individuals themselves.  But…

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Lighting the night and the economy 

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To boost its economy 30 years ago,  the city of Hidalgo began passing out shopping flyers to drivers and pedestrians crossing the Hidalgo-McAllen International Bridge. Tourism spurs economic development and creates jobs, a fact that city leaders decided could transform their pass-through community into a destination with a vibrant reputation. The surge in tourists and the growth of city businesses did not happen overnight.  But today Hidalgo hosts the Festival…

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