Author Archives: UTRGV SBDC

The UTRGV Small Business Development Center (SBDC) seeks to promote growth, expansion, innovation, increased productivity, and improved management skills for small businesses in the Rio Grande Valley through quality, business advisement and business training. The UTRGV SBDC is a partially funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration, hosted by The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), and in partnership with public and private partners throughout Deep South Texas. It is a field center of the South-West Texas Border SBDC Network and accredited by America’s Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC). Within UTRGV, the program is a part of the Office of Economic Development, under the Division of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development. All opinions, conclusions, or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the SBA.

Values Create Strong Cultures

values graphic

Reinforcement of values means success When evaluating the organizational culture of a business, it is important for owners to ask themselves two vital questions. Am I living and leading the values and expectations I wish for my employees to emulate? Am I communicating these values and expectations clearly throughout the chain of command? Regardless if the business is brand new or well established, it is essential to develop and maintain an organizational system that nurtures the purpose and values of the company and, by de facto, its leadership. Successful business owners do not take their organizational cultures for granted or underestimate how much these shared values impact long-term success. Instead, astute owners clarify…

Read More

‘Fab Lab’ Plants Seeds of Creativity

UTRGV students Vilma Flores and Alissa Flores with Dr. Emmett Tomai, UTRGV Computer Science Associate Professor, on Monday, July 17, 2017 at the UTRGV Fabrication Lab in the Visual Arts Building in Edinburg, Texas. (Photo by Paul Chouy, UTRGV)

Lab serves underprivileged areas Technology, science and art will come together in a learning laboratory setting to design new products. Two faculty members at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley are teaming up to create what will be known as a fabrication laboratory, or “fab lab.” Donna Sweigart, associate professor of art, and Dr. Emmett Tomai, associate professor of computer science, received an Internal Seed Research Program grant from…

Read More

Op-Ed: SBA honors our veterans and their entrepreneurial spirit

  By Angela R. Burton, District Director, Lower Rio Grande Valley District Office, Small Business Administration As the U.S. Small Business Administration celebrates National Veterans Small Business Week Oct. 31 – Nov. 4, it reminds me of the thousands of service members transitioning each year from military to civilian life many of them looking to start a new journey … their own business. We know that veterans succeed in entrepreneurship.…

Read More

Marketing to Millennials 

Did you know that the Rio Grande Valley has over 330,000 Millennials? This is approximately 25% of the local population, according to the Texas State Data Center. In 2015, Millennials — individuals between the ages of 18-34 — also became the largest, generational segment in the United States, numbering 83.1 million, per the U.S. Census Bureau. As a small business owner, it is important to note that Millennials exert significant…

Read More