Tag Archives: Brownsville

Local Education Receives $850K for Career Training

Education Healthcare Manufacturing/Industrial Comments
South Texas College is one of the local recipients of TWC's recent JET grants for training registered nurses. (photo STC)

One local college and four independent school districts are the recipients of $850,892 in grants from the Texas Workforce Commission. The funds are for programs that focus on supporting high-demand occupations through the Jobs and Education for Texans grant program. The award total for 27 JET grants is $5,718,073 in 27 grants. Funds go to multiple public community colleges, technical institutes, state colleges and ISDs for programs. “I congratulate these JET recipients as…

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Keppel AmFELS Completes Containerships

Featured Manufacturing/Industrial News Comments
Executives from Keppel AmFELS and Pasha Hawaii with Brownsville Navigation District Chairman John Reed, fourth from left, and other federal, state and local dignitaries to commemorate the milestones achieved in the construction of two new containerships April 30. (photo Port of Brownsville)

Keppel AmFELS reached a pair of construction milestones April 30 in the building of two containership vessels for Pasha Hawaii. Executives from both companies were joined by Brownsville Navigation District Chairman John Reed and other federal, state and local dignitaries for the ceremonial keel laying for M/V George III and the cutting of the first steel plates for M/V Janet Marie, the two containerships currently being built at the Port of Brownsville. Delivery of…

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Brownsville Agreement to Lead to Channel Deepening

Featured News Comments
Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy Dan Brouillette addresses the crowd during the Brazos Island Harbor Channel Improvement Project Funding Agreement. (photo NextDecade)

The Brownsville Navigation District and NextDecade Corporation have come to an agreement set to deepen of the ship channel. The project will then transform the Valley business landscape. The Brazos Island Harbor Channel Improvement Project Funding Agreement commits NextDecade to privately fund key improvements to the Brownsville Ship Channel. The company will pay 100 percent of the deepening. The project will run from the Gulf of Mexico to the western…

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South Port Connector Road Receives Clearance

Featured News Comments
The South Port Connector Road Project will improve traffic accessibility to the Port of Brownsville by providing another entry and exit to and from the port. It will eventually offer direct access to commercial lanes at the Veterans International Bridge.

The South Port Connector Road Project is advancing to the construction phase after receiving environmental clearance April 24 from the Texas Department of Transportation Pharr District Office. The project is part of the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority’s East Loop Corridor plan. When complete, the two-mile road will connect Ostos Road at the Port of Brownsville with State Highway 4. The project will enhance the port’s intermodal connectivity. This will…

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Giving Back: A Noble Donation

Giving Back News Comments
Noble’s Rene Capistran and Alfredo Garcia, in light blue shirts, prepare tacos for the participants at a children’s fishing tournament in Brownsville. Texas Noble Builders also served as sponsors for the event. (VBR)

When Noble Texas Builders unveiled its new headquarters in La Feria, scores of business leaders and elected officials showed up. Many wanted to check out the remodeled building that had been empty for a number of years. There were company employees brimming with enthusiasm. They now had one of the most modern office buildings in the Rio Grande Valley. In this small city of about 7,000 people, Texas Noble Builders…

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Pursuing a Noble Profession

Real Estate Comments
Texas Noble Builders is constructing the Cameron County Events Center in Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island. (VBR)

Texas Noble Builders is a company that does more than construct large scale commercial and non-commercial projects, even though that is its bread and butter. Founded four years ago by Brownsville native Rene Capistran and several partners, TNB’s community presence certainly speaks for itself. The company logo seems to be everywhere these days, from South Padre Island where it’s building the new Cameron County Events Center and two pavilions at…

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UTRGV Launching Executive Education Programs

e-Brief Features Education News Comments
UTRGV Executive Education program instructors Zoila Zambrano and Elaine Hernandez (Courtesy)

UTRGV, through its new Office of Professional Education & Workforce Development, will launch several executive education programs in the coming months. Given the complexity of leading an organization in today’s fast-changing world, providing both knowledge and guidance for top-level decision makers is becoming increasingly important. The design of the new UTRGV’s programs keep in mind today’s executives. The first program is the hybrid course, Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership. It…

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Growth of a Spirited Business

News Retail Comments
To stay competitive, Holiday Wine and Liquor owner David Hernandez’s Rio Grande Valley business evolved from selling cold beer to a chain of full-service liquor stores. (VBR)

Fresh out of college at 23 years of age, David Hernandez saw an opportunity and then seized it. With $30,000 in hand from his relatives, Hernandez used it as seed money to open the first of what would become 12 Pop-A-Top stores in the Rio Grande Valley. The yellow stores with blue trim became ubiquitous across the region. “Coldest Beer In Town” was the Pop-A-Top signature line and Hernandez meant…

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Fresh, Tasty Tale of Success

Food & Entertainment News Retail Comments
Francesca and Carlos Hernandez team up as the beauty and the beast behind the success of a healthy food company. (Courtesy)

A beauty and beast team is riding a wave of success of almost fairy tale proportions with a line of fresh, healthy meals and other related products. On a good week, Beauty & Beast Cuisine cooks and packages in the neighborhood of 27,000 meals in its Edinburg kitchen. “It’s just been an explosion of opportunity,” said Carlos Hernandez, the beast in the partnership with his wife, Francesca, the beauty. “It…

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Port Sets Records, Eyes Future

Events Manufacturing/Industrial News Comments
Brownsville Navigation District Board Chairman John Reed

The Port of Brownsville once again posted a record year for 2018, moving 11.3 million tons of cargo with operating revenues of more than $24.2 million. That translates into a 6.6-percent increase in cargo along with a 25-percent bump in rail movements. Revenues were also up 2.5 percent over the previous year, according to figures released during the State of the Port event in March. “The Port of Brownsville made…

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