Rio Grande Guardian's Podcast

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.   Dr. Malki recently gave a presentation about business opportunities tied to additive manufacturing at the eBridge Center for Business & Commer...

EDINBURG, Texas - Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez has been named honorary Field Marshal for the War on Poverty in Hidalgo County.   The award was bestowed by Hidalgo County’s Community Service Agency (CSA) at the group’s inaugural Access to Success Program Banquet, held Dec. 12 at Monza Social Event Center in Edinburg.   “We have amongst us someone who walked the walk and said we're going...

In an exclusive interview with the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service, land developer Michael Fallek said McAllen South Industrial Park is master planned and divided into ten lots.     “That is the way things are being utilized, sold and marketed,” he said.   “But there are different conversations going on. We have four or five of the lots that are spoken for. We are going to end up bu...

MCALLEN, Texas - The new 125-acre McAllen South Industrial Park is not yet finished but already the owners have sold lots to companies from abroad.   The park, with a buildable area of about 1.8 million square feet, is being going up off Military Highway between 10th and 23rd streets in south McAllen.   “Already, we've got an Asian firm that is purchasing property. We've got a Mexican fi...

RAYMONDVILLE, Texas - Working with Willacy County Navigation District, leaders of the Texas Youth Hunting Program have helped quell the once sizable deer population in the Port Mansfield area.   The Texas Youth Hunting Program, administered by Texas Parks & Wildlife, helps teach young people how to hunt responsibly, with safety to the fore.    “We're helping Fort Mansfield. They were havi...

EDINBURG, Texas - Raudel Garza, executive director of Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, says he expects great things from UT-Rio Grande Valley’s highly anticipated Workforce Economy Research and Community (WERC) Complex.  The complex sits next to I-69 Central in Edinburg. Back in the day it used to be the old Haggar Clothing Company building. Later it became UT-Pan American’s Community En...

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas - Rose Benavidez, president of Starr County Industrial Foundation, won warm applause when she provided telling statistics that show a vastly improved economic and educational picture in her county.   Benavidez gave the wrap-up remarks at SCIF’s 50th Anniversary Dinner, held at Julabe Reception Hall No. 2 in Rio Grande City on Nov. 21.   Benavidez said that, 30 years ago, Sta...

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas - Starr County Judge Eloy Vera has praised the work of Starr County Industrial Foundation. Vera spoke at a dinner held to celebrate group’s 50th Anniversary. It was held at Julabe Reception Hall in Rio Grande City on November 21. “It is truly an honor and privilege to be here to speak to such an outstanding group of people, and also to welcome you to the 50th Anniversary cel...

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas - Sam Vale, chairman of the Starr Camargo Bridge Company, has given an update on plans to expand the Starr-Camargo Bridge in Rio Grande City. Vale said his partner on the project will be Eduardo A. Garza Robles, owner of Nuevo Laredo-based Uni-Trade Group. “We've been we've been friends for several years and we've decided that we're going to do a joint ve...

In our early days of travels to Mexico George Gause and I spent several 20 de Noviembres in Mexico City and other places commemorating the start of the Mexican Revolution in 1910. On November 20, 2024, I was all smiles at the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the Arts, Culture and Event Center (ACE) in Edinburg. For my longtime library and arts colleague Letty Leija it was the culmination of a long time...

EDINBURG, Texas - At a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the City of Edinburg’s new Arts, Culture and Events (ACE) Center, Mayor Ramiro Garza made a point of singling out for praise Letty Leija. The director for the office of library and cultural arts played a big role in the project from the very beginning, the mayor said.  “ I want to take this moment to highlight the extraordinary contributions of a...

EDINBURG, Texas - Pharr businessman Robert Lozano, CEO of F&P Brands, and his wife Laurie are to donate $1 million from the Robert & Laurie Lozano Family “Life Currency” Endowment to benefit Driscoll Children’s Hospital in the Rio Grande Valley. Driscoll’s leadership says the funding will ensure children in the Valley will always have access to world-class care while supporting Driscoll’s...

MCALLEN, Texas - A former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico says chambers of commerce and the business community in general can help turn down ugly political rhetoric. Antonio Garza was asked if political rhetoric hampers trade negotiations and good trade policies. He was asked this question by Cynthia Sakulenzki, president and CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, during a recent webinar that RGVHCC o...

AUSTIN, Texas - Viva Benefits, which was co-founded by former Rio Grande Valley teacher Michael Barnes, has announced a $2.2 million pre-seed fundraising round led by Chingona Ventures.   Viva Benefits is a network of affordable housing partners that helps renters access essential benefits like health, education, and financial wellness.    Chingona’s motto is: Investing in the founders of tomorrow...

AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Transportation Commission has appointed Teclo J. Garcia, CEO of the Mission Economic Development Corporation, to two advisory committees. They are the Border Trade Advisory Committee (BTAC) and the Freight Advisory Committee (FAC). Both make recommendations to the Texas Department of Transportation. TTC Commissioner Alejandro “Alex” Meade nominated Garcia. Meade said both...

PHARR, Texas - DHR Health has held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new public-private behavioral health facility it is building in north Pharr.  The hospital campus will be located at 4800 North Jackson Road in Pharr and will include a new 161,000 square foot building. The City of Pharr is providing the land.  Following an appropriation by the Texas Legislature last session, the Texas Health and H...

MCALLEN, Texas - Dr. Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, Ph. D., still calls the Rio Grande Valley home, even though she is now a professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. The renowned scholar taught for many years at UT-Rio Grande Valley in Brownsville. She came back to the region recently for two speeches. One was titled “Beyond Boundaries: A Dialogue on U.S.-Mexic...

HARLINGEN, Texas - Eugenio Marín, CEO of Fundación México-Estados Unidos para la Ciencia (FUMEC), gave an in-depth presentation on the semiconductor industry at Texas State Technical College in Harlingen on Nov. 5. The "Friends of COSTEP" event was titled “Navigating the Growing Semiconductor Industry.” It was co-hosted by the Council for South Texas Economic Progress and Harlingen Econo...

MCALLEN, Texas - Former U.S. ambassador to Mexico Antonio Garza recently appeared on a webinar hosted by the RGV Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.  In his remarks, Garza gave his predictions about future US-Mexico relations and what the new presidency of Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico might mean. Garza also spoke about violence in Mexico and international trade. The first question was posed by RGVHCC boa...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez has presented a $2 million-plus check to Brownsville Public Utilities Board  to support the city’s Resaca Restoration Project. In his remarks at the check presentation, Gonzalez said he wished other cities in his district had the beautiful resacas that Brownsville had.  “It’s always a pleasure to bring money home, right, to celebrate with our constit...

PHARR, Texas - An expert in manufacturing told students from Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD and IDEA Public Schools about the benefits of working in the industry. Mike Willis, executive director of the South Texas Manufacturers Association, managed a maquiladora plant in Reynosa for 26. He was one of the keynote speakers speakers at Pharr Economic Development Corporation’s 4th Annual Manufacturing Day i...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - To coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, DHR Health Brownsville has unveiled its newest mammogram unit. Aida Coronado-Garcia, DHR Health Brownsville executive vice president and chief operating officer, said the new unit - a Siemens Mammomat Revelation - represents the latest in breast imaging technology, allowing for enhanced screening and diagnostic services.   “Early...

PHARR, TEXAS David Ortiz, director of UT-Rio Grande Valley’s Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center, has encouraged high school students to consider manufacturing as a career.   Ortiz spoke to students from Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD and IDEA Public Schools at Pharr Economic Development Corporation’s 4th Annual Manufacturing Day in Pharr. The event was held at The Forum by Regency.   “There's a...

 MCALLEN, Texas - Texas Transportation Commissioner Alejandro “Alex” Meade says his efforts to bring more highway project funding to the Rio Grande Valley is being made easier thanks to nearshoring. Meade said that these days his fellow transportation commissioners are coming forward to ask what more they can do to help the region.  And, he said, this is happening in large part because of the phen...

PHARR, Texas - Engineering consulting firm Raba Kistner was one of the sponsors of the recent IWS4 summit hosted by Pharr Economic Development Corporation. IWS stands of industrial warehouse summit. The fourth such event was held at the Pharr Development and Research Center.  Katrin Leonard, vice president for Rio Grande Valley operations at Raba Kistner, spoke at IWS4. She also gave the Rio Grand...