by Legislative Media | Apr 30, 2016 | Politics
Featured, from left: Sonia Marroquín, Assistant City Manager, Myra Ayala Garza, City Secretary, and Ascensión Alonzo, Director of Finance, who all work for the City of Edinburg. The City Finance Department reports that Edinburg’s local retail economy in 2015 grew almost eight percent over the previous 12-month period in 2014. Local sales taxes in 2015 were $20,386,379, an increase of 7.65 percent over the 2014 total of $18,937,282.
Photograph By MARK MONTEMAYOR
Construction and related building activities in Edinburg totaled almost $20 million during March 2016, bringing the total value of construction activities in the city to almost $65.2 million during the first three months of the year, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. Combined, building permits from January through March 2016 were issued for work valued at $65,173,203, compared with $41,367,340 for the same period in 2015. During March 2016, building permits for work valued at $19,710,781 were issued by the city, compared with $11,888,509 in March 2015.
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by Legislative Media | Apr 29, 2016 | Politics
Featured, from left Councilmember J.R. Betancourt and Mayor Pro Tem Richard Molina on Monday, February 18, 2016, during a work session of the Edinburg City Council and the Hidalgo County Commissioners Court, review options for Edinburg in the proposed construction by Hidalgo County for a $150 million courthouse in the city’s downtown.
Photograph By MARK MONTEMAYOR
Valuable vacant property owned by First National Bank of Edinburg (which was closed in September 2013) is on the way to becoming yet another success story for the city following recent action by the Edinburg City Council, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. When completed, the new residential community will help provide more high-quality housing for Edinburg, and pump an estimated $47 million into the local economy, based on the values of the lots and homes.
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by Legislative Media | Apr 28, 2016 | Politics
Featured: Dr. Shervin Fatehi, left, and Dr. Javier Macossay examine a 3D-printed heart at their research lab in the Science Building on the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley campus in Edinburg. They recently were awarded a grant from startup company New Matter. The Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, along with the City of Edinburg, promote the best interests of UTRGV and the UTRGV School of Medicine through its extensive legislative lobbying efforts before the UT System Board of Regents, the Texas Legislature, and Congress.
Photograph By KRISTEN GARZA
Edinburg’s unemployment rate for March 2016 of 4.7 percent marked the third consecutive month that the city posted a monthly figure of less than five percent, with McAllen being the only other Valley city in that category, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. Edinburg’s March 2016 figure of 4.7 percent is the best showing for that month in almost a decade, when the city posted a 4.4 percent unemployment rate in March 2008.
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by Legislative Media | Apr 25, 2016 | Politics
About 300 11th-grade high school students and their fathers and/or mentors from throughout South Texas participated in the Together in Educational Success (TIES) conference at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in early April. The Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, along with the City of Edinburg, promote the best interests of UTRGV and the UTRGV School of Medicine though its extensive legislative lobbying efforts before the UT System Board of Regents, the Texas Legislature, and Congress.
Photograph Courtesy MARCI CALTABIANO
Possible action on several current and new job creation strategies being considered by the Board of Directors of the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation will take place beginning at noon on Tuesday, April 26, 2016 in the Council Chamber at Edinburg City Hall, the EEDC has announced. The two items scheduled to be deliberated in open session are interlocal agreements with the City of Edinburg regarding Project Domain and the city’s soccer park. In executive session, the following issues will be reviewed: Project Urban; Project Grindstone; the monumentation at the North Industrial Park; Project Square; Project Quest; and a development agreement with VICA Enterprises, L.P.
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by Legislative Media | Apr 20, 2016 | Politics
Featured, from left: Harvey Rodríguez, Jr., Vice-President, Board of Directors, Edinburg Economic Development Corporation; Ellie M. Torres, Secretary/Treasurer, Board of Directors, Edinburg Economic Development Corporation; and Agustín García, Jr., Executive Director, Edinburg Economic Development Corporation. This image was taken on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 at Edinburg City Hall, following an EEDC Board of Directors meeting.
Photograph By MARK MONTEMAYOR
Construction and related building activities in Edinburg totaled more than $9.2 million for February 2016, bringing the total value of construction activities in the city to almost $45.5 million during the first two months of the year, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. Combined, building permits in January and February 2016 were issued for work valued at $45,462,422, compared with $29,478,831 for the same two months in 2015.
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by Legislative Media | Apr 6, 2016 | Politics
Featured: Ellie M. Torres, Secretary/Treasurer for the Board of Directors of the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, Francisco Cigarroa, M.D., then-Chancellor of the University of Texas System, and Mayor Richard García, on Tuesday, August 26, 2014, during groundbreaking ceremonies for the $54 million University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Medical Academic Building in Edinburg, the first new construction for the UTRGV School of Medicine.
Photograph By MARK MONTEMAYOR
Edinburg’s unemployment rate for February 2016 of 4.5 percent is the best showing of any month for the city since February 2008, and this latest figure continues to keep pace with McAllen’s Valley-leading monthly unemployment rate, which came in at 4.4 percent for February 2016, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. Also according to the latest data, which was released on Friday, March 25, 2016 by the Texas Workforce Commission, there were 36,204 people employed in Edinburg during the month of February 2016. The data represents an increase of 753 jobs in Edinburg when comparing the employment figures for February 2016 and February 2015. In February 2016, there were 36,204 employed in Edinburg, while 35,451 were employed in Edinburg in February 2015.
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by Legislative Media | Mar 31, 2016 | Politics
Featured: Agustín “Gus” García, Jr., Executive Director, Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, on Friday, September 25, 2015, participates in a panel discussion during the Inno’2015 Transportation Innovation Conference sponsored by South Texas College at its Technology Campus Atrium in McAllen.
Photograph By DIEGO REYNA
The financial statements and practices of the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation meet the highest standards that help ensure citizens and the public that the EEDC is properly managing its programs and services, according to an independent audit released on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. The EEDC, which is led by Executive Director Agustín “Gus” García, Jr., is the jobs-creation arm of the Mayor and Edinburg City Council. The audit, which is required by state law, was conducted by Noel Garza, CPA, who has been under contract with the EEDC for the previous five years to perform the financial review. His detailed work, which is available by requesting a copy from the EEDC, covers the fiscal year 2014-2014 activities of the EEDC.
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by Legislative Media | Mar 25, 2016 | Politics
Featured: Harris County Sheriff Office Deputy David Thomas is pulled by his German Shepherd Boomer as he walks to his vehicle after a training session on Wednesday, May 29, 2013, in Houston.
Photograph By NICK DE LA TORRE/HOUSTON CHRONICLE Via k9s4cops.org
A dual purpose Narcotics K9 officer will soon be helping protect Hidalgo County, says Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, who has announced the invaluable donation made by K9s4COPS, the non-profit, pro-law enforcement foundation from Houston. The prized police dog, known as “Buzbee” is currently undergoing intensive drilling with Lt. Frank Guerrero, the Hidalgo County K9 officer, courtesy of Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman, at the Harris County Sheriff’s Department Training Academy in Houston, said Roseann Rogers, Executive Director for K9s4COPS. “K9s are essential and indispensable tools in the pursuit of narcotics and illegal contraband in deep South Texas,” said Canales. “The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Department and I are indebted, and owe a great deal of gratitude, to Kristi Schiller (the Houston philanthropist and founder of K9s4COPS) and to K9s4COPS for their incredible contribution to our local law enforcement community.”
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by Legislative Media | Mar 24, 2016 | Politics
Featured, from left: David P. Higgerson, director of field operations for the Laredo Field Office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, receives a legislative resolution in his honor from Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, on Tuesday, November 24, 2015.
Photograph Courtesy JULIE BENITEZ SULLIVAN
Better ways to help protect Texans from wrongful convictions for crimes they did not commit, defend women and children from family violence, and improve the system that monitors Texans on probation and parole are among the key justice issues being shaped for 2017 by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg. The House District 40 lawmaker, who is a lawyer, is focusing on those and related issues as a member of the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, which held one of its major public hearings for this year in Austin on Monday, March 21, 2016.
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by Legislative Media | Mar 21, 2016 | Politics
Featured: City Councilmember Homer Jasso, Jr. in the Council Chamber of Edinburg City Hall on Monday, February 8, 2016, during a joint work session of the Edinburg City Council and the Hidalgo County Commissioners Court on the proposed $150 million Hidalgo County Courthouse, which will be built in Edinburg.
Photograph By DIEGO REYNA
The results of an annual audit, which help ensure citizens that public entities are properly managing government programs and services, regarding the fiscal year 2014-2015 activities of the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, will be presented at Edinburg City Hall on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. The audit, along with several other key items, are part of the regular monthly meeting of the EEDC Board of Directors. The session, which will be held in the Council Chamber, begins at noon. It also will be televised live on the Edinburg Cable Network. The EEDC is the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg Mayor and Edinburg City Council.
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