Category Archives: News

Weslaco Jazzes Up City Development

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Weslaco Economic Development Corporation has an ambitious goal of reinventing Weslaco’s downtown in the next 24 months. Getting 100 percent occupancy of the store fronts on Texas Boulevard is the cornerstone of the reinvention plan developed by Hernan Gonzales, EDC executive director. Downtown Weslaco has experienced spurts of revitalization in its central business district in the past. In 1998, Larry and Patti Dittburner resuscitated the Hotel Cortez, a historic landmark.…

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For the Love of a Pet

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Have you noticed that most pets have human names now? You hear more dogs, cats, birds and goats addressed as Jack, Leo, Olivia or Ozzie and fewer called Chief, Shadow or Fluffy. Americans love their pets and are expected to spend over $50 billion on them in 2011. In the Valley dozens of businesses cater to animals and their owners, from groomers and pet supply stores to veterinary clinics, pet…

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Figuring Out One Part of Retirement

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Does it make sense to take early retirement and have reduced Social Security benefits for the long decades of your retirement? Can you come out ahead if you delay retirement and don’t begin collecting Social Security benefits until you reach 70? Bill Hunot, who worked for the Social Security Administration for 27 years and is now a Financial Planning Analyst with Wells Fargo Advisors, spoke in Brownsville on options available…

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From Rags to Riches: The Evolution of Family Business

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After fleeing Castro’s Cuba in the early 1960s, two branches of the Fernandez family settled in McAllen and started over again in the fabric business they knew so well. With little money for inventory, Jose Fernandez, who had owned La Elegante fabrics in Guantanamo, and his nephew Lazaro Fernandez Sr. opened Rio Bravo selling fabric remnants. Fifty years later, the second generation of the Fernandez families carries an in-depth inventory…

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Doing Business Face to Face

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Direct selling has been called the original social networking business. Selling a product face to face based on a relationship is as old as commerce, yet today it is a vital part of the sales of green energy, cosmetics and the home décor markets. The one-on-one sales approach uses product parties, kiosks at community events and old-fashioned door-to-door ventures to sell products. Direct sellers now keep in close touch with…

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Q & A with human resources manager

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Roy Sheneman is Human Resources Manager for Valley Telephone Cooperative, Inc. and is pursuing a PhD in Leadership Studies with an element on generational differences in the workplace. He talked with Valley Business Report’s editor about adapting to working with people who are your grandson’s age or the age of your grandmother. Q Why is the current generational mix different? A For the first time in history, we have four…

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Landing the High Fliers

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Weslaco’s Mid-Valley Airport has secured the first new landing rights general aviation customs processing center that Customs and Border Protection has opened on the U.S.-Mexico border in 40 years. Because of its proximity to the Progreso International Bridge Port of Entry and the CBP agents stationed there, the airport’s Federal Inspection Services (FIS) processing center now offers “on-call” landing rights to private and charter flights arriving from Mexico. “We wanted…

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