Rio Grande Guardian's Podcast

WESLACO, Texas - The Council for South Texas Economic Progress is working on an agreement with Startup Runway, a Frisco-based company that brings manufacturing and tech companies across from India.   COSTEP CEO Adam Gonzalez said his organization will make sure any potential companies are well-vetted. Then, he or his colleague Rick Carrera, the group’s director of economic development, will connec...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - The Rio Grande Guardian has posted a number of stories featuring support for liquefied natural gas export terminals at the Port of Brownsville.  Here are the links to a couple of stories featuring such support for the Texas LNG project: https://riograndeguardian.com/serna-projected-revenues-from-texas-lng-to-cameron-county-over-19-years-is-76-7-million/ https://riograndeguardi...

MCALLEN, Texas - The CEO Group, which comprises business leaders, entrepreneurs and bankers from across the Rio Grande Valley and North Tamaulipas, has confirmed its brand name for the region - Rioplex.   The announcement was made at a meeting at McAllen Country Club on Wednesday, June 19, with white T-shirts bearing the brand being distributed to everyone present.   The marketing effort has the s...

ROMA, TEXAS - Adam Gonzalez, CEO of the COSTEP, the Rio Grande Valley’s regional economic development organization, has praised everyone involved in developing Las Americas Roma Logistics and Industrial Park. Gonzalez attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a secondary Customs and Border Protection inspection station at the new park on June 18. Gonzalez said the state-of-the-art 30,000 square-foot...

Judge Treviño, commissioners, thank you very much for allowing me the time to be here this morning. I know I don't have very much time so I'm going to jump right into this.   The first thing that I wanted to start off with was safety. Safety is our number one concern with regards to community, with regards to our employees, and with regards to the environment. There's a number of th...

Just to refresh everybody's memory. Rio Grande LNG leased a 984-acre site from the Port of Brownsville. The project will consist of five LNG trains. The estimated investment on the project is $18 billion with $12 billion of that being for phase one alone, with trains one to three.   At the peak there will be over 5,000 construction jobs or five to seven years. At full build out the project wi...

MCALLEN, Texas - Belén Guerrero, Mission Economic Development Corporation’s chief operating officer, recently spoke to investors that are keen to bring manufacturing and high-tech companies from India to the Rio Grande Valley. The event was hosted by the Council for South Texas Economic Progress and was held at the Casa De Palmas in McAllen. Guerrero said there were great opportunities for Indian...

EDINBURG, Texas - Growth, growth, and more growth. That was the message Carlos Garza, project manager for Edinburg Economic Development Organization, made a pitch to investors from India.  The event was hosted by the Council for South Texas Economic Progress and was held at the Casa De Palmas in McAllen. “One of the things that we boast here is that we are the fifth fastest growing city in Texas....

PORT MANSFIELD, Texas - Several tons of trash was collected during the annual Port Mansfield Cut & Beach Cleanup. Hundreds of volunteers participated in the event Miller and Kathie Bassler began organizing 15 years ago with the idea of keeping the area clean of debris and trash from across the harbor all the way to the cut. Dozens of boats owned by fishing guides, private individuals and from...

HARLINGEN, Texas - While there were a few surprising omissions in her 2024 State of the City Address, Harlingen Mayor Norma Sepulveda did cover a lot of ground in her one-hour presentation. Sepulveda did not mention the work of the Harlingen Area Chamber of Commerce, Texas State Technical College, the Port of Harlingen, and Los Indios International Bridge. But she did feature UT-Rio Grande Valley’...

HARLINGEN, Texas - Harlingen Mayor Norma Sepulveda says the South Texas border region does not get fair news coverage at the national level.   Too many of the stories are negatively slanted, she says, which is why the South Texas Coalition of Mayors is so important.   Ron Whitlock Reports interviewed Sepulveda on a range of subjects just before she went on stage at the Harlingen Convention Center...

MCALLEN, Texas - South Texas Manufacturers Association members heard about apprenticeship programs at their most recent monthly meeting, held at the Doubletree Suites by Hilton in McAllen.   The presentation was made by Dr. Carlos Margo, associate dean in the Office of Industry Training & Economic Development at South Texas College. Margo gave an overview apprenticeship programs, including:  ·...

MCALLEN, Texas - Adrian Villarreal, president and CEO of IBC Bank-McAllen, says the North American Free Trade Agreement - now known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement - has transformed Deep South Texas.   Villarreal spoke about his bank’s heavy involvement in NAFTA and USMCA while participating in a bankers panel at the City of McAllen’s recent 2024 MxLAN International Economic Summit. T...

PHARR, Texas - Manny Vela, vice president and chief operating officer for Texas A&M McAllen, said the excitement in the room during a panel discussion about higher education at the recent IWS3 was palpable.   Vela was joined on stage by South Texas College President Ricardo Solis and UT-Rio Grande Valley Associate Vice President for Workforce and Economic Development Ron Garza. The moderator w...

PHARR, Texas - Maroula Khraiche, an assistant economics professor at UT-Rio Grande Valley, spoke about a range of economic topics at the recent IWS3. She concluded her remarks by saying, “the conclusion is the next five years are likely to be experiencing less globalization and more protectionism, which can damper competition.” Before that Khraiche discussed inflation, interest rates, the federal...

HIDALGO, Texas - The first cohort of students have graduated from Valley View High School with a high school diploma and a minor in Spanish from UT-San Antonio.   Valley View, one of the smallest school districts in Hidalgo County, used to have a similar tie-up with UT-Pan American and then UT-Rio Grande Valley. But these days, the emphasis on helping students that excel in Spanish is being champi...

PHARR, Texas - South Texas College President Ricardo Solis says his college would be in a much stronger position to help the Rio Grande Valley grow if it was also operating in Cameron County.   Currently, STC is limited by statute to Hidalgo and Starr counties. But maybe one day that might change, Solis said.    “South Texas College by the way, we are just limited to Hidalgo and Starr counties. On...

EDINBURG, Texas - A collaboration between McAllen Economic Development Corporation and a team of four marketing students from UT-Rio Grande Valley is already paying dividends. The Xolat marketing agency - comprising Karla Medrano, Susana Ibarra, Melanie Garza, and Regina Cerna-Matamoros - was formed within the   Robert C. Vackar College of Business & Entrepreneurship on UTRGV’s Edinburg campus...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - The City of Harlingen and Harlingen Economic Development Corporation are working hard to make sure access to capital is not a barrier for budding entrepreneurs in the city.   This was the message Harlingen Mayor Norma Sepulveda gave when she appeared as a panelist at RGV StartUp Week.   The weeklong event, held at the eBridge Center for Business & Commercialization, was de...

BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS - Brownsville Mayor John Cowen, Jr., won many plaudits for his first ever State of the City Address.  “Epic is an understatement when your mayor, John Cowen, rocks the 2024 State of the City,” said Brownsville City Manager Helen Ramirez. The event was held at Texas Southmost College’s Performing Arts Center. TSC had never staged such an event before. In his closing remarks, Cowe...

PHARR, Texas - Steve Valdez, executive director of Weslaco Economic Development Corporation, gave a presentation recently to visiting national site selectors. The site selectors were brought to the Rio Grande Valley by the Council for South Texas Economic Progress and Pharr Economic Development Corporation. Valdez met up with the selectors at a breakfast event held at the Forum by Regency in Pharr...

PHARR, Texas - Rick Carrera, economic development director for the Council for South Texas Economic Progress, recently gave an in-depth presentation about the Rio South Texas region to four national site selectors. The event, held at the Forum by Regency in Pharr, was co-hosted by COSTEP and Pharr Economic Development Corporation. In his remarks, Carrera said the Rio South Texas region, which incl...

DALLAS, Texas - Senior executives from two border-based banks were on a panel that discussed nearshoring.   Michael Scaief, chairman of the board and CEO of Texas Regional Bank, and Gerald ‘Gerry’ Schwebel, executive vice president of IBC Bank, spoke at the Texas-Mexico Business Forum in Dallas. The moderator was Fernando Sepúlveda, founder and CEO of Emtech and chairman of AEM.   It was hosted by...

MCALLEN, Texas - Ralph Garcia, vice president of international business recruitment for McAllen Economic Development Corporation, has spoken about new industrial space being created on the north side of his city.   “As we continue to grow as a community, one of the challenges that we have on the south side, being close to the border, is availability of real estate. And so the City took the initiat...

It is with great pride and excitement that I stand before you today for this historic groundbreaking ceremony for the new air traffic control tower here at Valley International Airport.  This project marks a significant milestone in our continuous efforts to enhance and expand our facilities to better serve the citizens of the Rio Grande Valley.  Over the past decades, Valley International Airport...