Juan Guerra is now the city manager of Edinburg, with his appointment coming at a special Edinburg City Council meeting Oct. 9. Guerra comes to Edinburg with 18 years of experience in city government. This includes three years as city manager for the City of Pharr since 2015. Born and raised in Chicago, Guerra has been a resident of the Rio Grande Valley for 26 years. He is a graduate of Nikki…
South Texas College held a grand opening and building dedication ceremony for its highly anticipated Regional Center for Public Safety Excellence Sept. 18. Helping the college open the facility was Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, delivering the keynote address to a gathering of local, state and federal law enforcement professionals. The new Regional Center intends to make STC the first border community college in the nation to establish integrative training along the…
The Texas Workforce Commission has awarded 23 grants totaling $4,998,598 to public junior colleges, public technical institutes, public state colleges and independent school districts for programs that focus on supporting high-demand occupations through the Jobs and Education for Texans (JET) grant program. Of note, eight of those grants went to local community colleges and school systems. “These grants will focus on advanced technical training, and will keep our Texas businesses…
Representatives from the RGV law enforcement community recently met for South Texas College’s first President’s Advisory Council Retreat. Here, leaders provided regular input and recommendations for professional continuing education and degree programs. Law enforcement is coordinating with STC to develop an action plan as the STC Regional Center for Public Safety Excellence gets underway. Earlier this year, STC President Shirley A. Reed extended an invitation to leaders of the law enforcement…
Christopher Wycoco was the first man to graduate from the Entrepreneur Boot Camp at the Women’s Business Center of Cameron County. This year, the Women’s Business Center nominated him for, and he received, the 2018 Minority Business of the Year Award from the Small Business Administration. A native of the Philippines, Wycoco came to the Rio Grande Valley to pursue a career as a registered nurse, taking a position at…
Editor’s Note: Leadership can mean different things to different people. The Valley Business Report turned to experienced business leaders in the Rio Grande Valley to learn more about their views on leadership in their own words. Through a question-and-answer format, Leadership Matters presents comments on leadership from Valley CEOs and other business leaders. Sergio Contreras is president and CEO of the Rio Grande Valley Partnership. The RGVP is the primary…
Forty community leaders and stakeholders from the Rio Grande Valley recently traveled to Washington, D.C. for the second annual RGV2DC fly-in. During their time in D.C., attendees met with members of Congress, including senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz and Congressman Beto O’Rourke. Mayor of McAllen Mayor Jim Darling; elected officials from Mission, Pharr, and Brownsville; as well as senior leadership from the RGV Partnership, University of Texas at Rio Grande…
The Pharr International Bridge hosts a free BridgeConnect Trade Session on the new toll system June 21 from 2-4 p.m. The session povides an overview of the enhancements coming soon for customers to cross more efficiently. The system will also replace all existing tags for current customers. The BridgeConnect Trade Session will take place at the Pharr Development and Research Center, 850 W. Dicker Road in Pharr. BridgeConnect is implemented by the…
Officials break ground for Index Fresh Latin American avocados headed for tables in the United States have a new place along the border to stay cool and ripen. Index Fresh cut the ribbon on a new 60,000-square-foot packing and ripening facility in Pharr on Jan. 9. “I am just overjoyed to be here today,” Index Fresh President and CEO Dana Thomas said. “I love the new plant. If you are…
The need for storage and distribution space for the variety of fruits and vegetables imported from Mexico has long been a driver of industrial demand in the Rio Grande Valley. The agriculture industry has fueled the rise of Pharr as a global powerhouse and the home to a variety of thriving agriculture-related businesses. The Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge is the sixth-largest land port of entry in the United States and currently…