Rio Grande Guardian's Podcast

MCALLEN, Texas - Rio Grande Valley Partnership President Daniel Silva recently sat down for an in-depth conversation about marketing the region with Rio Grande Guardian anchor Mark Hanna. The Partnership has been tasked with marketing the Valley and has selected “One Region, One Voice,” as its mantra. However, Silva said his group is not averse to promoting the Valley and northern Tamaulipas as Ri...

MCALLEN, Texas - Rashmi Chandran, executive director of AltaCair Foundation, says her group is going to focus on unserved colonia residents, rather than the underserved.    On a Rio Grande Guardian podcast, Chandran said “very helpful” research conducted by UT-Rio Grande Valley has helped AltaCair identify the colonias that need the most help.   “Living in cities like Edinburg, McAllen, we don&apo...

MCALLEN, Texas - Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement (VIDA) will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year. The community-based nonprofit came about thanks to the efforts of Valley Interfaith and private-industry business leaders.  The impetus was the need to empower the underserved residents of in the Rio Grande Valley with the tools, education, and training needed to become self-suf...

REYNOSA, Tamaulipas - COBIFER members learned all about the new RioPlex marketing initiative at a meeting at Grupo Río San Juan on July 24. And they liked what they heard. Indeed, the Q&A portion of the meeting went on for an hour and 15 minutes, with members wanting to know more and expressing their support. RioPlex, created by the CEO Group and adopted by Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Force...

McALLEN, Texas - CEO Group leader Joaquin Spamer recently sat down for an in-depth conversation about the new RioPlex marketing initiative with Rio Grande Guardian anchor Mark Hanna. The CEO Group is an offshoot of the Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Force and comprises business men and women from the Rio Grande Valley and northern Tamaulipas.  When the CEO Group proposed a marketing initiative tha...

EDINBURG, Texas - All the stucco on the outside of the new Hidalgo County Courthouse has to be taken off and replaced, County Judge Richard Cortez has revealed. The reason is that water is leaking in between the stucco and the outer wall. Cortez says the stucco cannot be replaced at the moment because we are in hurricane season. Cortez first revealed the problem publicly on a Rio Grande Guardian p...

EDINBURG, Texas - All the stucco on the outside of the new Hidalgo County Courthouse has to be taken off and replaced, County Judge Richard Cortez has revealed. The reason is that water is leaking in between the stucco and the outer wall. Cortez says the stucco cannot be replaced at the moment because we are in hurricane season. Cortez first revealed the problem publicly on a Rio Grande Guardian p...

MCALLEN, Texas - Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez recently sat down for an in-depth conversation about county matters with Rio Grande Guardian anchor Mark Hanna. Among the topics discussed were the Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Force, the RioPlex marketing initiative, the new Hidalgo County Courthouse, and utilizing jail space for county inmates in Willacy County. Here is an audio recording of...

PHARR, Texas - Construction is underway for yet another cold storage facility within the Pharr Produce Park. The latest project sees Greenway Construction building a 50,000 square foot warehouse for its sister company, LakeWay Produce. This is just the first phase. The second phase will see it expanded to 94,000 square feet. The new building is less than half a mile from another cold storage facil...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro held a Zoom call to discuss President Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. In a statement about the decision, Castro, a Democrat from San Antonio said:  “Nearly four years ago, American voters swept Joe Biden into office with faith in his vision for our nation. Since his first day in office, he has delivered. The Biden-Harris a...

PHARR, Texas - Luis Bazan, director of the Pharr International Bridge, has given an early preview of the 4th Industrial Warehouse Summit, which takes place in October.   IWS is an event co-hosted by the Pharr Bridge Board and Pharr Economic Development Corporation.   Bazan gave details of the next IWS when he attended a groundbreaking ceremony for LakeWay Produce’s new cold storage facility in the...

PHARR, TEXAS - Pharr Economic Development Corporation President Victor Perez went off script to recognize industrial developer Joaquin Spamer at a groundbreaking ceremony.    The focus was supposed to be on another warehouse developer, Ramon Mery, and later in the proceedings it was. But Perez said he wanted Spamer to come to the podium because he, Perez, is a member of the Hidalgo County Prosperi...

HARLINGEN, Texas - When Mario Reyna, a leader with the Prosperity Task Force, made his opening remarks at a RioPlex event he described Harlingen as the center of the Rio Grande Valley and the center of the universe.    Up next was Harlingen Mayor Norma Sepulveda. She was happy to receive Reyna’s accolade.   “Good morning, everyone. I like that welcome to the center of the universe. I love it,” Sep...

HARLINGEN, Texas - There was an absorbing discussion at Harlingen Convention Center over whether the creation of RioPlex duplicates the work of the Rio Grande Valley Partnership and/or COSTEP. The discussion occurred in a Q&A session that followed a keynote address by businessman and consultant Rolando Pablos. The event was co-hosted by the CEO Group and the Prosperity Task Force. Pablos wrote...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton of Phoenix, Arizona, says this is an incredibly important moment in U.S.-Mexico relations. And the reason it is important is the nearshoring phenomenon.  Stanton, was a panelist at the Mexico Institute’s 10th Annual Building a Competitive U.S.-Mexico Border Conference, held recently in Washington, D.C.   The panel was titled “The Border from the Congressio...

WASHINGTON, Texas - U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar says that if all the trucks that cross the border each year at the Laredo port of entry were lined up they would go around the world 3.4 times. Cuellar, who hails from Laredo, Texas, was a panelist at the Mexico Institute’s 10th Annual Building a Competitive U.S.-Mexico Border Conference, held recently in Washington, D.C.   The panel was titled “The Bord...

WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Rep. Lou Correa of California says the elephant in the room that no one talks about is the United States’ attitude towards Mexico and Mexico’s attitude to the U.S. Correa was a panelist at the Mexico Institute’s 10th Annual Building a Competitive U.S.-Mexico Border Conference, held recently in Washington, D.C. The panel was titled “The Border from the Congressional Perspectiv...

When I ran the Bob Krueger campaign, I was his campaign manager, San Juan had just elected a majority of city councilmen who were Hispanic. Because, let's face it, the white Anglo political establishment was running everything down here.  And when Bob Krueger put his campaign together, he put Juan front and center. And when they wanted to have a campaign meeting, all of Juan's people wer...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Orlando Campos, executive director of Harlingen Economic Development Corporation, made a pitch to potential investors from India. Campos made his pitch at an event hosted by the Council for South Texas Economic Progress that was held at the Port of Brownsville. Here is an audio recording of Campos’ remarks. Go to www.riograndeguardian.com to read the latest border news stories...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Jason Wolfe, president and CEO of NovaLink, recently made a sales pitch to potential economic development investors from India. He made his remarks at the Port of Brownsville at an event hosted by the Council for South Texas Economic Progress (COSTEP). Also making a pitch to the potential investors were Brownsville Navigation District, Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporatio...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Businessman René Xavier González recently gave a presentation on the work of CODEM to investors from India. CODEM is a privately run economic development corporation based in Matamoros. Gonzalez’s company, SIDEE Construction is a member of the group. González made his remarks at the Port of Brownsville at an event hosted by the Council for South Texas Economic Progress (COSTEP...

MCALLEN, Texas - McAllen businessman Michael Fallek says he fully supports the new RioPlex marketing initiative started by the Prosperity Task Force’s CEO Group. Fallek was attended a recent meeting at the McAllen Country Club where the name RioPlex was adopted. The Rioplex region encompasses the Rio Grande Valley and Northern Tamaulipas. Here is an exclusive interview the Rio Grande Guardian secu...

MCALLEN, Texas - Adam Gonzalez, CEO of COSTEP, says he fully supports the new RioPlex marketing initiative started by the Prosperity Task Force’s CEO Group.  COSTEP stands for the Council for South Texas Economic Progress. Gonzalez was attended a recent meeting at the McAllen Country Club where the name RioPlex was adopted. The Rioplex region encompasses the Rio Grande Valley and Northern Tamaulip...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - On the day he announced his retirement as chancellor of Texas A&M University - effective a year from now - John Sharp was happy to recall his love for South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley.   In an audio interview with the Rio Grande Guardian, Sharp recalled that back when he was running for office and he was in a bad mood, his secretary would change his schedule for the d...

MCALLEN, Texas - Various economic development organizations from across the Rio Grande Valley recently made a pitch to three investors from India.   McAllen Economic Development Corporation had an advantage: it could point to a successful collaboration with an Indian firm.   McAllen EDC Vice President Ralph Garcia told the story of how Zoho, a billion-dollar tech company, was recruited to his city...