by Legislative Media | Oct 27, 2016 | Politics
Featured, from left: During the Tuesday, October 18, 2016 unveiling for Bob’s Steak and Chop House at The Shoppes at Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg are Elías Longoria, Jr., Member, Board of Directors, Edinburg Economic Development Corporation; Dr. Peter Dabrowski, Member, Board of Directors, Edinburg EDC; Councilmember J.R. Betancourt; Councilmember Homer Jasso, Jr.; Mayor Pro Tem Richard Molina; Harvey Rodriguez, Jr., Vice President, Board of Directors, Edinburg EDC; John Toic, President, First Hartford Realty; and Peter J. Higgins, Vice President/Director of Leasing of First Hartford Realty.
The groundbreaking on Tuesday, October 18, 2016, of the multi-million dollar Bob’s Steak and Chop House, which is being built at The Shoppes at Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, also drew attention to the ongoing development of a major “entertainment corridor” in South Texas that is designed to create jobs and improve the quality of life for the city. The Shoppes is located at 591 E. Trenton Road in Edinburg, right off U.S. Expressway 281, a six-lane highway which has become part of U.S. Interstate Highway 69. The Shoppes and Bob’s Steak and Chop House are perfectly located to draw business from at least three major entertainment venues now under construction along U.S. Expressway 281/IH 69C: H-E-B Park, which features a soccer-specific,9,700-seat stadium that will serve as home for the Rio Grande Valley FC Toros of the United Soccer League; the IMAX Theatre, which will be part of the existing Carmike 2o Cinemas; and Bert Ogden Arena, the 8,700-seat, 189,000 square-foot enclosed venue, which will be home to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, a professional basketball team associated with the D-League of the National Basketball Association.
Photographs By RONNIE LARRALDE
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by Legislative Media | Sep 16, 2016 | Politics
Featured: A frontal view of the 50,000 square-foot building that will feature a Trane dealer sales office and warehouse, which is set to open on October 1, 2016 at the Owassa Lakes Business Park in Edinburg.
Photograph By DANIEL J. GALVÁN, CCIM
Edinburg is joining San Antonio and Austin as the latest sites for Trane, a world leader in air conditioning systems, services and solutions, to open company-owned dealer sales office and warehouse complexes that locally will eventually create as many as 200 jobs at the Owassa Lakes Business Park, located near Interstate Highway 69C. The announcement, made by leaders with Trane, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, and Coldwell Banker Commercial, brings with it more positive news – the business park, which was first built in 2000, will now be at 100 percent occupancy, allowing CTC Distribution Ltd., which owns the complex, to begin planning for another 50,000 square-foot expansion. “‘Nothing stops a Trane’ is the famous slogan for this U.S.-based, global company, which sees Edinburg and deep South Texas as the place to be and in which to invest millions of dollars,” said Mayor Richard García. “Well, nothing stops Edinburg in protecting and promoting economic development in our city, from the Mom-and-Pop small businesses to the giants of industry, such as Trane, and many other Fortune1,000 businesses which have a strong and proud presence in our rapidly growing hometown.”
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by Legislative Media | Aug 23, 2016 | Politics
Featured, from left: Rep. Eddie Lucio, III, D-San Benito; Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg; and Claudia and Matthew Martínez of McAllen, on Thursday, August 18, 2016, at the Legislative Report Card luncheon, hosted by the Rio Grande Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, at the Embassy Suites in McAllen.
Photograph By MARK MONTEMAYOR
The Texas Tribune will host a free, open-to-the-public lunchtime event — A Conversation with Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa and State Reps. Terry Canales and Bobby Guerra — from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, August 26, at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley – Edinburg campus. The event will be held in the Community Engagement and Student Success (CESS) Building, located at 407 E. Freddy Gonzalez Drive, near the UTRGV campus in Edinburg. Parking will be available in front of the building (parking pass required; map). General registration is open at texastribune.org/events. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. Conversation begins promptly at 12 p.m. The discussion will be followed by an audience Q&A session. A light lunch will be provided. This session is presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, supported by Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas and hosted by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Additional support is provided by the Hatton W. Sumners Foundation. This series of conversations is generously sponsored by AT&T, BP, PepsiCo, Walmart and Southwest Airlines, the official airline of Texas Tribune Events. The conversation will be live streamed at texastribune.org/livestream, and the video will be available for viewing afterward. Evan Smith, the Texas Tribune’s co-founder and CEO, will serve as the moderator for the event.
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by Legislative Media | Aug 22, 2016 | Politics
Featured: Approximately 5,000 teachers and staff attended the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District’s General Assembly on Wednesday, August 17, 2016 at the McAllen Convention Center. The school district is the largest employer in the city and in Hidalgo County. Ellie M. Torres, Secretary/Treasurer of the Board of Directors for the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, serves on the Board of Trustees for the Edinburg school district.
Photograph By MARK MONTEMAYOR
For the second time this year, Edinburg registered the lowest unemployment rate among Valley cities, coming in at 5.5 percent for July 2016, tied with McAllen, according to statewide figures posted on Friday, August 19, 2016 by the Texas Workforce Commission. Edinburg’s 5.5 percent figure also represents the best showing for that month in the city since July 2008 (5.4 percent), the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. Edinburg and McAllen, with their respective 5.5 percent monthly unemployment rates, along with Harlingen (5.9 percent), were the only three cities in deep South Texas to post figures for July 2016 under six percent, the Texas Workforce Commission also found. In addition, the Texas Workforce Commission reported that there were 35,655 people employed in Edinburg during the month of July 2016. That performance represents an increase of 567 jobs in Edinburg when comparing the employment figures for July 2016 (35,655) and July 2015 (35,088). The state’s unemployment rate in July 2016 was 5.1 percent, compared with 4.8 percent during the same month in 2015.
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by Legislative Media | Aug 19, 2016 | Politics
Featured, from left: McAllen Mayor Jim Darling; Edinburg Mayor Richard García; Pharr Mayor Ambrosio Hernández, M.D.; and University of Texas System Chancellor William H. McRaven on Thursday, August 11, 2016 at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance. The leaders participated in a panel discussion about the UT Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine, which has a major component in Edinburg. The Edinburg Mayor, Edinburg City Council, and Edinburg Economic Development Corporation played key roles in 2013 in securing a full-fledged medical school from the Texas Legislature for deep South Texas. In July 2016, the first class of medical students began their education at the $54 million Medical Education Building, which is located on the UTRGV campus in Edinburg.
Photograph By DAVID PIKE
Construction and related building activities in Edinburg from January through July 2016 have passed the $152 million level, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has reported, with the month of July 2016 accounting for almost $21 million of that amount. The Edinburg EDC, of which Agustín García, Jr. is Executive Director, is the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg Mayor and Edinburg City Council. The Edinburg EDC Board of Directors is comprised of Mark Iglesias as President, Harvey Rodríguez, Jr. as Vice President, Ellie M. Torres as Secretary/Treasurer, and Mayor Richard García and Richard Ruppert as Members. Combined, building permits from January through July 2016 were issued for work valued at $152,426,011 compared with $78,554,684 for the same seven months in 2015. During July 2016, building permits for work valued at $20,681,153 were issued by the city, compared with $13,330,130 in July 2015. The top construction projects in Edinburg for July 2016, not including the value of the land, are: $9,430,920 – Wisconsin Street Housing LP, 2132 E. Wisconsin Rd., John Closner Subdivision; $2,800,000 – Edinburg Village Apartments, 701 S. 4th Avenue, Maverick Subdivision; $960,000 – Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District, 1202 N. Monmack Rd., Tex-Mex Subdivision; and $379,259 – South Texas Independent School District, 510 S. Sugar Rd., Tex-Mex Subdivision.
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