With shrimp prices at an all-time high, the Brownsville-Port Isabel shrimp fleet is doing its best to keep up with demand. A 70% drop in imported Asian shrimp due to a disease problem has given Texas shrimpers an opportunity to supply a hungry U.S. market. Approximately 450 trawlers go out from Texas ports. “There are happy shrimpers now,” said Andrea Hance, executive director of the Brownsville-based Texas Shrimping Association. The…
Let’s add one more item to the list of things that’s not like your grandfather’s — your office. Contemporary office furniture is two generations away from obligatory black chairs and heavy, dark brown furniture The office of today combines functionality, comfort and a lively sense of style. After all, we spend most of our waking hours in our offices. We are most productive when our surroundings are esthetically pleasing, visually…
“I tell people I’ve been training for this job all my life,” said House of Frames owner Peggy Allen, surrounded by framed artwork and frame samples. Allen graduated from Pan Am with a studio art degree and held jobs as a commercial artist. In 1997, after working part time for three years with the previous owner of House of Frames, Allen bought the custom framing business. That was two months…
If you’re tired of how you look, go in a slump every time you open your closet, or have a mental meltdown thinking about what to wear to an event, image stylist Lillyan David might be someone you want on speed dial. She was born with the fashionista gene and loves sharing her passion with clients. In business for herself as Closet Couture for the past three years, David recently…
Intellectual Property includes patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade names and trade secrets, patent attorney Susan Ochoa Spiering told a Technology Ventures audience in Edinburg. “Treat IP like real property. You can buy, sell, lease and license IP and pass it on by inheritance,” Ochoa said. While a patent is not a monopoly, it can help you corner the market. “It is an exclusive right to make, sell or use. It must…
With the company tag line of “Our business is picking up,” Mobile Crane Services Inc. has a built-in positive outlook. Since 1972, the Pharr company has done much of the region’s heavy lifting, deftly swinging highway overpass beams, derailed train cars and oil field compressors into place. “Back in early ‘70s, there just wasn’t any crane service in the Valley to speak of,” Jimmy Shawn recalled. He had an old truck with…
Created in 2005 by the Texas Historical Commission, the Texas Treasure Business Award program pays tribute to businesses that have provided employment opportunities and support to the state’s economy for 50 years or more. Seven Harlingen businesses located in the city’s historic center were presented with the prestigious award this fall: three law firms, three retailers and a service company. To date, only 119 businesses in Texas have been named…
When it comes to Texas citrus, the Rio Grande Valley has no competitors. While consumption of Valley red grapefruit is growing nationally, sales of Florida and California grapefruit are decreasing. This season, Valley packing houses expect to ship between nine and ten million cartons of citrus, primarily grapefruit. Marketed under the names Ruby Red, Rio Star and Rio Red, Texas grapefruit attracts consumers because of its color, but the naturally…
Every Human Resources Department writes employment advertisements that paint the same dream candidate. In one way or another, every job posting looks and sounds like this. GREAT EMPLOYEE WANTED “Top company is looking for a person who wants to work! Someone who understands workplace values, like showing up on time, respect for authority and meeting deadlines. We expect our employees to dress appropriately, be goal oriented and follow through on…
The bottom line is not the only measure of a successful business. Keeping more than 13 million pounds of waste annually out of a landfill means success to Ruben Guerrero Jr., plant manager of his family-owned business, Brownsville Scrap Paper, Inc. The dynamics are two-fold, no matter how you say it – reuse, repurpose, recycle, upcycle. Trash comes in; trash goes out. The lucrative business has plenty of markets in…