While many of Buddy Hawkins’ friends were retiring, he was starting a new business. A well-known figure in RGV construction circles for 37 years, Hawkins had seen his construction business wither away in the 2008 recession. Then he received a call from a ServiceMaster Clean corporate recruiter. Given the opportunity to buy a franchise which would clean up and restore homes and commercial buildings struck by fires, floods, storms and…
Locally harvested free range eggs, grass-fed beef, gorgeous red tomatoes, eight varieties of carrots and containers of fragrant herbs signal the Valley’s latest agricultural adventure. The number of small farms is rising in the Valley as growers connect to consumers eager to buy fresh picked produce and Valley grown food. The New Ag age centers on direct marketing, cutting out the middleman. Twenty-five percent of the Valley’s income still comes…
In early March the Wall Street Journal reported that vehicle sales were up noticeably in February from a year earlier. Ford had increased its sales by 9%; Toyota by 4%; and General Motors by 7%. Sales in 2013 are now projected to top 15 million cars and trucks, a significant rise. Car and truck dealers in the Rio Grande Valley saw the same surge. Reports circulated of dealerships selling 60…
If you’ve ever thought about teaching in your field of expertise, consider becoming an adjunct instructor. This option lets you test your affinity for education, and at the same time opens up the possibility of a second or retirement career. All of the region’s universities and colleges employ adjunct instructors or professors. An adjunct instructor is hired as needed to teach a specific course at the college level. Qualifications for…
From the sparkle of sunlight on a resaca to moonlight bathing the Gulf, waterside dining adds a special magic to a meal. Along the Arroyo Colorado, resacas, the Laguna Madre, the Rio Grande and the Gulf of Mexico, Valley restaurants find that good food served with a water view result in a happy clientele. The Riverside Club may be the granddaddy of waterside restaurants and remains the region’s only riverfront…
After working in the moving industry for almost 30 years, Ernesto Chapa decided it was time to open his own business. In 1995, he established Chapa’s Moving Express LLC with his son Raul Guerrero, running one moving van which they parked in the backyard. Today, Chapa’s has grown to 11 moving trucks and three trailers. They operate from a new building on South Ware Road that also serves as the…
Last summer, three years out of dental school, Dr. Luz Martinez, 33, anticipated buying a dental practice in 10 or 12 years. Yet when her employer Dr. Rocky Salinas offered to sell her the Weslaco office of Smiles, she found the opportunity irresistible. Getting from the October 2012 offer to the January 2013 opening of RGV Family Dentistry required an intense effort from Dr. Martinez and her husband Buddy Martinez,…
Rio Grande Valley native Melissa Guerra, an expert on Latin American food, has a clear vision for her eponymous Latin American cookware and ingredients store located at The Pearl in San Antonio. Melissa Guerra Tienda de la Cocina is on the threshold of becoming the Latin American Williams-Sonoma, the go-to place for aficionados of Latin American cuisine. It would be more accessible and less twee than the California specialty-cookware giant,…
American consumers spent $51 billion on their pets last year, and 62 percent of US households have pets, according to a Time magazine report. Pets have become part of the family, with consumers spending more on pet toys and healthcare and opting for pet motels instead of kennels. Kamron and Vicky Fultz couldn’t agree more with this trend. While pursuing theater and music majors in college, they were cast opposite…
“When your stars line up, you have to take advantage of it,” said Bert Wolf, who until mid-November was the owner of Acetylene Oxygen Company (AOC) headquartered in Harlingen. A year ago, Praxair Inc., the largest industrial gases company in the Americas, first approached Wolf about selling his third-generation business to them. Wolf rebuffed the multi-billion dollar global corporation. “But they were assertive, so I sat down and talked to…