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Edinburg registers lowest unemployment rate – 4.5 percent – among Valley’s cities for April 2016, reports Edinburg EDC Executive Director Agustín García, Jr.

Photograph By DIEGO REYNA

Featured: Councilmember David Torres, Mayor Richard García, and Mayor Pro Tem Richard Molina, at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance on Thursday, May 19, 2016, following the mayor’s State of the City Address about Edinburg to about 300 area residents in attendance and thousands more who viewed it on the Edinburg Cable Network.

Photograph By DIEGO REYNA

Edinburg’s unemployment rate for April 2016 of 4.5 percent marked the fourth consecutive month that the city posted a monthly figure of less than five percent, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced, The April 2016 figure of 4.5 percent is the best showing for that month in almost a decade, when the city posted a 4.0 percent unemployment rate in April 2008. According to the Texas Workforce Commission, there were 36,636 people employed in Edinburg during the month of April 2016. That performance represents an increase of 758 jobs in Edinburg when comparing the employment figures for April 2016 (36,636) and April 2015 (35,878).

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Edinburg gives initial approval to provide a maximum of $30 million – to be spread out over up to 30 years without raising city property tax rate – to help in the construction of $150 million Hidalgo County Courthouse

Photograph By MARK MONTEMAYOR

Featured, from left: Precinct 1 Hidalgo County Commissioner A.C. Cuellar, Jr. of Weslaco; Hidalgo County Judge Ramón García; Mayor Richard García; Councilmember J.R. Betancourt; and Mayor Pro Tem Richard Molina. This image was taken on Tuesday, March 8, 2016 in the Council Chamber of Edinburg City Hall.

Photograph By MARK MONTEMAYOR

The Mayor and Edinburg City Council on Tuesday, March 8, 2016, gave their initial approval to provide a maximum of $30 million – to be spread out over up to 30 years and without raising the city property tax rate – to help in the construction of a $150 million Hidalgo County Courthouse, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. If all goes as planned by the county, construction on the courthouse may begin near the end of this year, if weather permits. The county anticipates a completion date of October 2018. The action took place following a 2 p.m. joint work session with the Hidalgo County Judge and Hidalgo County Commissioners Court, held in the Council Chamber of Edinburg City Hall, and sets into motion a plan that will eventually lead to the construction of a state-of-the-art judicial center, which will be located in downtown Edinburg, next to the current county courthouse complex.

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Day Surgery at Renaissance opens for business as Edinburg approaches $86 million in construction activities from January through August 2015

Mayor Richard García

Featured, Mayor Richard García, who also serves on the Board of Directors for the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, on Wednesday, May 13, 2015, signs documents relating to Edinburg municipal business as Myra L. Ayala Garza, City Secretary, reviews his action at the raised platform used for city council, EEDC and Planning and Zoning board meetings. Those public sessions are held in the council chambers at Edinburg City Hall.
Photograph By MARK MONTEMAYOR

With construction and related building activities in Edinburg from January through August 2015 totaling almost $86 million, area leaders on Thursday, September 17, gathered at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance to celebrate the grand opening of the city’s latest architectural showpiece – Day Surgery at Renaissance. Day Surgery at Renaissance, located at 5520 Leonardo Davinci, immediately east of Women’s Hospital at Renaissance, is a 90,000 square foot, two-story outpatient surgical center that features eight operating rooms, 40 pre-operative beds, 40 recovery beds, and 10 endoscopy suites. Day Surgery at Renaissance, based on the building permit issued more than a year earlier, in August 2014, by Edinburg’s Code Enforcement Department, represents an investment of $14 million for its construction. As a result, the value of Day Surgery at Renaissance is not included in the year-t0-date total construction figures of almost $86 million for January through August 2015. Ellie M. Torres, who serves on the Board of Directors of the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, and who also is a member of the Edinburg school board, was on hand for the 2 p.m. standing-room only event. “This outstanding facility will have significant economic and quality-of-life benefits for our hometown and our neighboring cities,” said Torres. “Along with our other excellent hospitals, physicians, health care professionals, and our University of Texas medical school that will open in the Fall of 2016, Edinburg continues to build on its deserved reputation as a preferred city in which to live, raise a family, work or own a business, and succeed.” The EEDC, of which Agustín García, Jr. is Executive Director, is the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg Mayor and Edinburg City Council. The EEDC Board of Directors is comprised of Mark Iglesias as President, Harvey Rodríguez as Vice President, Ellie M. Torres as Secretary/Treasurer, and Mayor Richard García and Richard Ruppert as Members. Richard García and Agustín García, Jr. are not related. Mayor Richard García noted that Edinburg is blessed with nationally-recognized hospital systems. “In mid-July, Doctors Hospital at Renaissance and South Texas Health Systems, which includes Edinburg Regional Medical Center and Edinburg Children’s Hospital, were ranked among the top 20 hospital complexes in Texas, according to U.S. News and World Report,” Mayor García said. “Across-the-board, from education to health care, from entertainment to construction, these and other economic development advances continue to lead to new jobs and stronger businesses.” EEDC Board President Iglesias said the city’s construction activities so far this year also reflect strong growth in new homes. “From January through August 2015, Edinburg has seen 223 new single-family homes, valued at more than $31 million, authorized to be built – including 41 homes approved for construction during the month of August alone,” Iglesias reported. “During the same eight months in 2014, there were 199 homes, valued at more than $23.8 million, issued building permits. Those statistics and more reflect the overall strength and consumer confidence that speak volumes about our city’s economy.” EEDC Executive Director Agustín García, Jr. added that Edinburg also benefits from another DHR complex, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Family Medical Center, literally located across Owassa Road but in the city limits of McAllen, which was part of the September 17 ribbon-cutting ceremony for Day Surgery at Renaissance. “As a direct result of state legislation passed in 2013, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley was given the authority and resources to build a full-fledged School of Medicine, with a major presence in Edinburg,” said the EEDC executive director. “But in helping shape the creation of the School of Medicine, the Edinburg mayor, Edinburg City Council, and EEDC Board of Directors always took a regional approach in order for the Valley to stay united and strong in order to make the medical school a reality. “That is what the UTRGV Family Medical Center symbolizes, and Edinburg also benefits as a result.” The Family Medicine Center will serve as a physician training center for family medicine medical residents. That newly-constructed facility will serve as a base for integrated programs of health care and education that are built around a team approach to cover a spectrum of health services, including prevention and treatment.

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