“The Food Bank RGV couldn’t have the same impact without the generosity and support of local businesses,” said Terri Drefke, Food Bank RGV Chief Executive Officer. “We are always looking forward to creating new partnerships in our mission to end hunger in South Texas.” Growing from an emergency food pantry started in Pharr in 1983, the Food Bank today has grown to the fifth largest food bank in Texas and…
“The appraiser can predict the general real estate market with much greater certainty than he can the value of a specific piece of property. Real estate appraising is an art, not a science,” said Joe Patterson, who heads Aguirre & Patterson, Inc., Hidalgo County’s largest appraisal company. He explained that an appraisal applies the laws of probability to real estate transactions. “An appraiser estimates the market value of a property…
Dozens of dolphins moving down the Brazos Santiago Pass to the Laguna Madre have a lot in common with the people aboard the nearby Bay King charter boat. One and all are fishing the bountiful waters of the Laguna Madre, enjoying the clear water, bay breeze and the camaraderie of fishing together. Fishing the bay has a timeless allure whether you are casting your line into the gin-clear water from…
Last October, when Nikhil Shah, president of All Star Metals, talked about the Port of Brownsville ship recycler with us, he suggested VBR return in one year to see the changes slated to take place. Today the largest recycler in the RGV, All Star Metals (ASM) has grown from a small shipyard to one of the largest ship recycling and metal scrap processing facilities in the nation. On August 8,…
Retiring after 22 years with the Smithsonian, Mark Clark left his curatorial position at the National Museum of the American Indian and moved to Brownsville in 2005 to get warm. In the seven years since, he has turned up the heat on the Brownville art and music scene and helped reenergize the historic downtown district. Above all, through his investment in the historic Miller -Webb building and the opening of…
Yunho Lee came to the Rio Grande Valley to find an aloe vera supply for his Korean company Univera Aloe. A visit to Hilltop Gardens, established in 1939 and the oldest, continuously operating aloe farm in the U.S., convinced Lee to do more than simply source aloe. He bought the company and its 517 acres north of La Villa in 1988. Since then, Hilltop Gardens, a part of Aloecorp, has…
If you have an idea for a product or service, you often need a kick start to get it off the ground. Crowd funding is the newest entry-level pathway to finance a finite project, be it a tasty new salsa, unusual fashion jewelry or clothing, a book, game, mobile app, device or film. Eduardo Millet, vice president for business development at the McAllen Chamber of Commerce, is championing the use…
Looking like graceful three-armed swimmers slowly stroking across the skyline, wind turbines are signaling the arrival of a new Valley industry. By the end of 2012, Willacy and Cameron Counties will have 383 wind turbines in operation. In Kennedy County, the Penascal Wind Farm (owned by Iberdrola) with 168 turbines and Gulf Wind with 118 are already channeling electricity to Texans. Today Texas has over ten thousand megawatts of windpower,…
Jorge Jaber shares some characteristics with his northwest Hidalgo County vineyard for he seems to have absorbed the Valley’s sunshine and flourished with its soil. The grapes now being harvested at Jaber Wine Estate have overcome great odds, and so has Jaber, an idealist as resilient as any Valley pioneer. Thirty years ago, Jaber purchased two hundred and eleven acres in northwest Hidalgo County with the intention of planting a…
The FastTrac Entrepreneurship program, which has 300,000 graduates nationwide, is now strengthening the ranks of Valley business owners through training facilitated by ITEC of the University of Texas-Brownsville. Classes were held simultaneously at TSTC’s University Center and at UTB. As the 10-week-long training session wrapped up in late August, program participants were already applying the insights and skills gained during the training. Four entrepreneurs talked to VBR’s editor about the…