Rio Grande Guardian's Podcast

MISSION, Texas - The Greater Mission Chamber of Commerce held the latest in its Buenas Tardes Luncheon series on Aug. 13, 2025.  It centered on a panel discussion titled “The State of Current Business.”  There were six panelists: Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez; Rick Carrera, director of economic development for the Council for South Texas Economic Progress; Joe Quiroga, president of Texas Nat...

MISSION, Texas - The Greater Mission Chamber of Commerce held the latest in its Buenas Tardes Luncheon series on Aug. 13, 2025.  It centered on a panel discussion titled “The State of Current Business.”  There were six panelists: Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez; Rick Carrera, director of economic development for the Council for South Texas Economic Progress; Joe Quiroga, president of Texas Nat...

MISSION, Texas - The Greater Mission Chamber of Commerce held the latest in its Buenas Tardes Luncheon series on Aug. 13, 2025.  It centered on a panel discussion titled “The State of Current Business.”  There were six panelists: Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez; Rick Carrera, director of economic development for the Council for South Texas Economic Progress; Joe Quiroga, president of Texas Nat...

MISSION, Texas - The Greater Mission Chamber of Commerce held the latest in its Buenas Tardes Luncheon series on Aug. 13, 2025.  It centered on a panel discussion titled “The State of Current Business.”  There were six panelists: Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez; Rick Carrera, director of economic development for the Council for South Texas Economic Progress; Joe Quiroga, president of Texas Nat...

MISSION, Texas - Joe Quiroga is president of Texas National Bank. He was one of six panelists at a Greater Mission Chamber of Commerce event on August 13 titled “Buenas Tardes Luncheon. The panel discussion was titled The State of Current Business.  In his remarks, Quiroga said there were positive and negative things to report about the current Rio Grande Valley economy.  Here are his remarks.  Go...

HARLINGEN, Texas - The Council for South Texas Economic Progress recently hosted a  Lunch & Learn session at Texas State Technical College.  The event focused on RFI Best Practices and was organized by COSTEP’s director of economic development, Ric Carrera. Carrera said RFI Best Practices is a crucial for driving smart growth and meaningful investment across the Rio South Texas region. “We wer...

LAREDO, Texas - The 32nd Annual Pathways For Trade Symposium takes place at the Laredo County Club on Thursday, Aug. 28. The evening before a reception will take place titled the Trade Ambassador’s Dinner. The symposium is being hosted, as always, by the Laredo Economic Development Corporation, which has served Los Dos Laredos for 58 years.  This year, the symposium’s title is “The New Era of Trad...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - On Friday, Aug. 1, the City of Brownsville and their outside consultants, Freese and Nichols, hosted a community information session about their new Downtown Renaissance Master Plan. Longtime Brownsville-based realtor Larry Jokl was sitting in the audience. At the end of the presentation Jokl got up and walked to the podium. After being given the microphone, he said he could n...

EDINBURG, Texas - Pam Bentsen Havens and her mother, Marge Bentsen, have explained why they donated land for a million gallon water tower in north Edinburg. They said it was the right thing to do for the community. Here is the interview: The Bentsens gave the Rio Grande Guardian an exclusive interview at the conclusion of a ribbon-cutting ceremony the City of Edinburg held to unveil the new water...

WESLACO, Texas - The Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council set up the Small Cities Coalition in 2011 and, potentially, 46 cities could participate. Unfortunately, not all do, said LRGVDC Executive Director Manuel Cruz, at a recent meeting of the group. But that does not stop the LRGVDC from providing great services to the small cities, Cruz said. These include programs to help with economic...

WESLACO, Texas - Hidalgo County Regional Mobility Authority Chairman Robert L. Lozano has made a plea for unity when it comes to transportation projects across the region. Lozano made his comments at a special meeting of the Rio Grande Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization policy board. He is a board member of the MPO. HCRMA did not get its proposal for more funding for Segment 4 of the Hidalg...

MCALLEN, Texas - Julio Salinas is chairman of Texas Young Democrats.  On Saturday, July 12, 2025, Salinas took state Rep. Gene Wu of Houston on a tour of key locations in Hidalgo County. Wu is minority leader in the Texas House of Representatives.  Following the tour, Hidalgo County Young Democrats met with Wu. They spoke about the “devastating impact” ICE raids were having on Valley communities....

MCALLEN, Texas - The minority leader of the Texas House says he is going to ensure Hidalgo County Democratic Party gets the funding it needs to be competitive in the 2026 election. State Rep. Gene Wu of Houston visited the Valley recently to hear from Young Democrats and grassroots progressives. In a meeting at the Hidalgo County Democratic Party HQ in McAllen, the young activists told him they fe...

René Xavier González, head of new business development and marketing for Sidee Industrial Development in Matamoros, has given a Mexican perspective to the idea of a bi-national auto cluster initiative. The idea has been proposed by the Council for South Texas Economic Progress.   González said some companies may need convincing about the data they share but he thinks there will be buy-in.   “Somet...

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas - South Padre Island City Council Member Kerry Schwartz wants to see an Eco Center District established to capitalize on the amount of interest there is in ecotourism. Schwartz made his case at a special workshop meeting the council held to discuss expansion of the island’s convention center. “Our mission really should be about ecotourism, because ecotourism is huge. I&ap...

MISSION, Texas - Hidalgo County Commissioner Ever Villarreal has announced what he says is an “amazing” transportation project that will help transform the western part of the county. Villarreal said the county, working with the City of Mission, is going to become “project sponsor” for two sections of the proposed county loop between Granjeno and Penitas and turn them into non-toll projects.  By b...

MCALLEN, Texas - The former editor and publisher of El Periódico USA has launched a new binational Spanish language media project called Debate X Media, LLC. The plan, says Jose Luis B. Garza, is to highlight the potential and accomplishments of the Hispanic population in the Rio Grande Valley and become a binational news agency. “We have to project the importance of this region because it's...

WESLACO, TEXAS - A spokesperson for MHP Salud says no staff member has lost their job because of federal funding cuts to the Affordable Care Act Navigator Program. Heather Morgan is vice president of communications and business development for MHP Salud. She oversees brand development and management, reputation, communications, and positioning. In an email to the Rio Grande Guardian , she did conf...

EDINBURG, Texas - The director of Hidalgo County’s Community Service Agency (CSA) says Rotarians from across South Texas were shocked when he told them the extent of the cuts his agency is facing, should Congress adopt President Trump’s budget proposals.   Jaime R. Longoria met recently with Rotarians from across the Rio Grande Valley, Laredo, and the Coastal Bend.   Specifically, Longoria spoke a...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - The director of research for the Bespoke Group says that as the world becomes less unipolar, the United States is going to have to work much more closely with Mexico. Jacob, L. Shapiro holds a master’s degree with distinction from Oxford University and a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University. He was guest speaker via a video link at an international relations forum hosted...

WESLACO, Texas - Unidos Contra la Diabetes’ collective impact director, Moises Arjona, Jr., has discussed the Rio Grande Valley’s health clinic concerns after recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. Arjona gave an update during a recent Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Force webinar on Tuesday.   Unidos Contra la Diabetes is a collective impact initiative working to prevent and reduce...

MISSION, Texas - Mission Economic Development Corporation CEO Teclo Garcia gave the opening remarks at a Commercial & Investment Tour event before moderating a panel discussion. The event was held at the Center for Education & Economic Development and co-hosted by the Rio Grande Valley Partnership.  In his opening remarks, Garcia spoke about the growth of his city, both in population terms...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Dr. Mostafa Malki is a professor at UT-Rio Grande Valley and executive director for business development at America’s Additive Foundry Center for Advanced Manufacturing Innovation and Cyber Systems. He is also the founder of Aaron Economic Consulting. Malki was a panelist for a discussion titled “Additive Manufacturing and Industrial Reshoring in the RGV.” The discussion, held...

PHARR, TEXAS - Victor Perez, president of Pharr Economic Development Corporation, has welcomed COMCE to the city. COMCE stands for Consejo Empresarial Mexicano de Comercio Exterior, Inversión y Tecnología (Mexican Business Council for Foreign Trade, Investment and Technology). It is a non-profit organization representing the Mexican private sector in international affairs, particularly focusing on...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - The Rio Grande Valley is becoming no different than some of the bigger metros in Texas, says Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation CEO Gilberto Salinas.   “Austin-San Antonio is really one big area, Houston is just a huge monster when it comes to people, numbers and cities around it, DFW? DFW is kind of like McAllen-Brownsville. It's becoming that one huge region, on...