Rene Jackson is a La Joya native and a nearly 30-year veteran of the U.S. Army with an expertise in logistics and the transportation of goods and products.

“Ammunition and missiles,” Jackson said when asked in a television interview what materials he supervised shipping. “We would bring in all of the support sustainment stuff for the war fighters doing the actual fighting.”

Jackson would rise to the rank of lieutenant colonel before health reasons compelled him to retire from military life in recent years. Jackson returned to South Texas with an open slate after decades of being away from home. 

“I knew I had to do something,” Jackson said of post-military life. “I considered different options, but really, I wanted to be my own boss.”

The first step was becoming an owner of a Little Caesars franchise in the San Antonio area. The second opportunity came after his wife took her cell phone for a repair at a uBreakiFix store in San Antonio. She came away impressed with the results. Asurion, a major U.S. tech care and insurance company, is the parent company of over 900 uBreakiFix stores in the United States, but there were no such stores in the Rio Grande Valley.

Seeing an opportunity, Jackson would seek and eventually secure a uBreakiFix franchise for the South Texas region. His first store opened in McAllen in 2022. He would recruit his younger brother, Reggie, in the business and today the two siblings own and operate five South Texas uBreakiFix stores. The newest one is in Brownsville, which opened in April.

“We can repair anything with a power button,” Rene Jackson said at the family-owned Brownsville shop.

‘Making Up For Lost Time’

Reggie Jackson brought a logistical background of his own to the new business.

He formerly worked for UPS and also worked in law enforcement. His experience includes stints in police departments and at the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office. His most recent job was working in a supervisory job for United Airlines at the McAllen International Airport. The request from his older brother to partner with him was met with a quick yes.

There were personal reasons as well for agreeing to the business partnership. Reggie is 14 years Rene’s junior. The brothers had not spent much time together in years. The appeal of working with his brother to Reggie was a strong motivation to form South Texas Techie Repair with uBreakiFix stores in Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Edinburg, Laredo and McAllen.

“It’s an opportunity to work with my brother and reconnecting with him,” Reggie said. “It’s making up for some of the lost time he was away.”

The brothers have gotten their hands into all aspects of the business. It has included training provided by Asurion in learning some of the minute technicalities in knowing what it takes to repair smart phones, tablets, game consoles and other types of electronics. Common repairs include cracked screens, battery and WiFi issues, liquid damage, and operating problems after a device has been dropped.

“Bringing your device to us is like it going back to the factory,” Reggie Jackson said. “If we can’t do it, it can’t be done.”

‘Everything By The Book’

Jackson can express that sort of confidence in the repair work because of Asurion’s partnerships with large brands like Samsung, Verizon and AT&T. 

Asurion is a major national insurer for cell phones. The uBreakiFix stores like the ones in Brownsville, Edinburg and McAllen work with Asurion customers on their claims – and make the necessary repair work whenever possible. Original parts and screws are used in the repairs and the standards set forth by the major brands – including Apple – are followed in “doing everything by the book,” Reggie Jackson said.

The technicians employed by uBreakiFix are certified by Samsung and Google. Many of the technicians are like Hugo Gonzalez, a Matamoros native who began doing tech repair at age 15 and went on to study computer science at Texas Southmost College in Brownville. The training and expertise are essential when considering the complexity of smart phones and other modern day electronic devices. Cell phones typically include over 40 tiny screws. They are so small that they would easily fit in the palm of an average hand. 

With their company growing quickly, the Jackson brothers are already thinking of possible new locations in the Mid-Valley and in the Sharyland/western Hidalgo County area. People in today’s world need to stay connected via their electronic devices and being away from them for too long can cause hardships. As an added service, uBreakiFix stores likes the ones in the Valley offer mobile services in having technicians go to homes and offices for repair work.

“People can’t afford $1,500 for a new phone,” Rene Jackson said. “We want to get our customers back up and running as quickly as we can.”