METRORGV

MetroThe firstof Metro

Juan Eliseo GonzalezPUBLISHER

Raul OrozcoOPERATIONS DIRECTOR

Elicer A. LiceaGENERAL MANAGER

Quetzalli BenitezEXECUTIVE EDITOR

Jesus VivarMARKETING MANAGER

Victor Hugo HoyosCREATIVE DIRECTOR

Cristina RenteriaAD SALES COORDINATOR

Jaime NuñezAD SALES CHIEF FORCAMERON COUNTY

Sergio VillarreralPHOTO COORDINATOR

Juan Raul ValdezDISTRIBUTION CHIEF

Jose Ines FigueroaREPRESENTANT IN MEXICO

In your hand is the first edition of Metro, a newspaper made for you, having in mind those who believe the Rio Grande Valley is a great place to live. We are, as region, one of the most prosper-ous and dynamic metropolitan areas in the country and that is why we are starting this supplement with a clear vision: to edit a newspaper that inspires, entertains and informs each and every one of you, showing the reality of what is happening in this area.This project starts in our effort to make a newspaper with a

journalistic focus, very different from what is already been distributed in the area. The history of our editorial group has its origins in a tradition of more than 26 years in the world of communications media with the Magazine Progreso, that was presented in the Mexican State of Tamaulipas in 1985 and nowa-days continues to be a leader been recommended around due to its editorial management.In December 2010 we successfully launched the magazine City

in the Valley, in a Spanish language format and designed to create content focused on leaders, without caring if it’s a brand or a person, just people and businesses that stand out for their hard work and effort among the others. Today City, thanks to the support of the advertisers and the preference of the readers has consolidated itself as one of the most unique and creative magazine in this area of South Texas.Metro is now added to those products, a newspaper that in each

edition will offer news, stories and rankings that will be a re-semblance to what we live in the Valley. For all that a group of editors, columnists, photographers and reporters will travel all the cities in the area in search of the best news and personalities.At the same time Metro will be a supplement where you will

find what to do or where to go on your free time, a guide that will get you closer to places and people. For example the next concerts or events that will take place in your city, what clubs to go to and of course what are the best restaurants with their most delicious plates.In each edition of this newspaper, you will find articles about

politicians, businesses, personalities, entertainment, sports, nightlife, shopping and many other interesting stories.Due to its high editorial content, design and finish, Metro will

be a newspaper to be read, collect and consult in the future. We hope you like our opening edition and we can assure you that in the next editions we will continue giving you the best of the Valley.

Sincerely,The Editors

This project starts in our

effort to make a newspaper with

a journalistic focus, very

different from what has

already been distributed in

the area.

20,000Bi-weekly editions

For Advertising:

(956) [email protected]

METRO.- The newspaper of the Rio Grande Valley with distribution in the Hidalgo and Cameron Counties. Corporate offices: 801 E. Fern St. Suite #168 McAllen, Texas. Zip Code 78501, EBC At District Building, Phone: (956) 683.7335.

The publisher does not necessarily share the authors opinion. All rights are reserved. Metro is a publication of 2 Rios Media Group, LLC. Company who is legal responsible for the liability and content of this newspaper.

This editor house is not responsible for the promotions or information in the advertisment inserted in this newspaper.This edition started it’s circulation on October 13, 2011.

Printed in Mexico.

McAllen’s mayor wakes up every day at 6:15 a.m., he says to be a simple person, plays pool, uses IPhone and

without a doubt he says he’s family is everything for him.

RICHARDCORTEZ

Richard Cortez started the interview with our edito-rial team by telling us how he describes himself: “I am a simple man, a person raised in the Rio Grande Valley, Mexican blood since my grandparents came from Cadereyta and from my mother’s side her roots came from Queretaro. I was born, raised, educated and got married here in the Valley, my children live here and I am still here in McAllen,” narrated who has been elected a few times to continue as the city mayor.“I am very happy with what life has given me, I give

thanks to God every morning for all the blessings given to me and my family,” added Cortez.For Mayor Cortez, the most important aspect of his

life is his family. “They are everything in my life, I dedicate all my free time to my wife, children and grandkids.” His family includes his wife Elba and their four children: Rick, Jaime, Laura and Sandra, all grown, professionals and married.The man that governs McAllen indicated that he

never dreamed or thought of becoming a mayor of this city, “This idea of becoming a city mayor came to me in an advance stage of my life.”Cortez indicated that when he’s not working in his

accounting bureau or as a city mayor, he loves to play sports, “I like to play golf, tennis, bowling, pool, I love

spending time with my family on my backyard, in the swimming pool and also spending time with my friends.”As his favorite sports, to

practice he prefers Tennis in which he admires the Spaniard Rafael Nadal and to watch and enjoy noth-ing more than Football with the Dallas Cowboys.

Cortez loves music especially romantic Mexican, jazz and country but says he could enjoy all other styles. His favorite food is the Mexican dishes “I can get tired of Chinese dishes, beef, steaks, Italian food, but when it comes to Mexican, I can eat it every day”.He has a variety of preferences when it comes to

drinks, depending the occasion, but his favorites are a beer, scotch or “a good wine never harms anyone”.On the other side, when asked if he enjoys been

a mayor he said “I enjoy it in the sense that I see that we advancing in many things that we want for McAllen. It’s like an architect that built a house in a way that is going to give it value in the long term. That’s the way I enjoy it, because I don’t see McAl-len the way it is today, I see it how it will look in the future.”He wasn’t shy to talk about his salary as a mayor,

which includes $50 per month and “That’s not it, some of the benefits are that I get my medical insur-ance, they pay several expenses such as the car pay-ment, its maintenance and the cellphone bill.”To this, our editor mentioned “this means you do

the job for the love to the cause” and the mayor an-swered “Yes, I tell everyone if you want to be the mayor of McAllen, you better have some savings or other income because here don’t expect money.”The idea to run as a mayor candidate didn’t came

to his mind until he started serving as a city commis-sioner, he was advice to run for a position to be in charge of the Services Department taking the place of someone who ran for city commission. “That’s where I tried myself out, I said I’m going to

do these two years if I don’t do right I won’t try to be reelected. The two years passed, nobody else wanted the seat, and so I was reelected and served for eight years there. After that I decided to run for mayor.”

A very humble mayor

Profile

50Dollars

receives assalary

October 2011

Day: October 20Time: 7:00 pmPlace: State Farm Arena

Day: October 21Time: TBAPrice: $25Pharr Events Center

Day: October 25Time: 6:30 pmPrice: $29.50 plus S/CPharr Events Center

Day: October 27-30Time: TBAPrice: $21 - $57State Farm Arena

Day: October 27Time: 7:00 pmPrice: $37 - $75Pharr Events Center

Whattodo?

Two iconic American rock bands together for one in-credible night live at the State Farm Arena.

ZZ TOP & LYNYRD SKYNYRD

Figueroa (Weslaco, TX) VS Cruz (Puerto Rico) for the World Lightweight Championship.

FIGUEROA VS CRUZ

DIERKS BENTLEY

Alternative Rock is back. Bush - Chevelle - Filter - Dead Country

BUSHCHEVELLE

With Eli Young Band & Jarrod Niemann

Sesame Street Live presents Elmo’s Super Heroes live at the State Farm Arena

SESAME STREET LIVE

EntertainmentMovies | Books | Music | Television | DVD’S | Concerts | Gadgets

The Steve Jobs Biography

‘Two and a Half Men’ remains TV’s most-watched series

BOOKS

TELEVISION

“To call someone the most visionary, perceptive and inventive leader of their time world, under any circumstance, be considered hyperbolic bluster, Steve Jobs comes closer than almost any modern figure to defying that law of adjectives.” Superla-tives like this swept through the net even before Apple co-founder Jobs resigned as its CEO in late August, but gaining a deeper sense of a man who combines the talents of a master inventor, designer, and entrepreneur requires the skills of a multi-talented biographer. Walter Isaacson fits those specifications perfectly: Not only is he a former managing editor of Time and chairman of CNN; he is also the acclaimed biographer of polymaths Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin.For this major venture, Isaacson enjoyed the full cooperation of his subject. This authorized biography, the first ever of the “digital wizard,” benefits from more than forty exclusive interviews with Jobs himself, as well as interviews with over a hundred family members, friends, foes, col-leagues, competitors, and critics.

While its three main rivals all averaged fewer view-ers for the second week of the television season than the first, CBS registered an increase to again finish atop the ratings.CBS had four of the six most-watched prime-time

programs between Sept. 26 and Sunday, and av-eraged 12.24 million viewers for the week, accord-ing to live-plus-same-day figures released Tues-day by The Nielsen Co.CBS averaged 12.12 million viewers a week ear-

lier.CBS’ “Two and a Half Men” was the most-watched

program for the second consecutive week, av-eraging 20.53 million viewers, 28.6 percent less than the series-record 28.74 million viewers a week earlier for the ninth season premiere that featured the funeral of Charlie Sheen’s character and the introduction of Ashton Kutcher as its new star.CBS also had the week’s most-watched new se-

ries, the crime drama “Person of Interest,” which averaged 12.52 million viewers, finishing 15th overall.The five major broadcast networks finished in the

same order as during premiere week. ABC was second, averaging 8.67 million viewers, 12.2 per-cent less than its 9.87 million average for premiere week. Fox was third, averaging 7.39 million view-ers, 11.7 percent less than its 8.37 million average

for premiere week.NBC was fourth, averaging 7.09 million viewers

5.5 percent less than its 7.5 million average for premiere week. The CW was fifth, averaging 1.83 million, 11.6 percent more than its 1.64 million av-erage for premiere week.The ABC comedy “Suburgatory” was the most-

watched of the week’s three premieres, averag-ing 9.81 million viewers to finish 31st overall. The two-hour premiere of the Fox science fiction series “Terra Nova” averaged 9.22 million viewers, finish-ing 35th overall.The CBS comedy “How to be a Gentleman,” aver-

aged 8.98 million viewers for its premiere, finish-ing 38th overall.Ratings for premieres are often unrepresentative

of how the series will fare because of the heavy promotion they receive and viewers who tune in who are interested in the concept, but do not re-turn for future episodes.CBS led among viewers ages 18-49, the group

ABC, Fox and NBC target and advertisers covet because it watches less television and is harder to reach. CBS had six of the 10 most-watched pro-grams in the category, topped by “Two and a Half Men,” which was second. NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” game between the Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets was the most-watched program in the category.

The Ides of March

Amazon Kindle Fire

MOVIES

GADGETS

Open Nationwide: 10/07/11Runtime: 102 minMPAA Rating: R for pervasive language.Starring Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Philip Seymour HoffmanGenre DramaDistributor: Sony PicturesOfficial Website:www.idesofmarch-movie.com

Synopsis: The Ides of March takes place during the frantic last days be-fore a heavily contested Ohio presi-dential primary, when an up-and-coming campaign press secretary (Ryan Gosling) finds himself involved in a political scandal that threatens to upend his candidate’s shot at the presidency.

The all-new Kindle Fire will be released on November 15, 2011. Orders are prioritized on a first come, first served basis.Ships from and sold by Amazon Digital Services. U.S. only.

9ENTERTAINMENT • METRO

A mischievous ghost makes life miserable for his former best friend in this fantasy comedy starring the late Ryan Dunn (Jack-ass). Back when Belcher (Dunn) was still alive, he partied hard every day. Now Belcher is dead, but he’s not resting in peace. When Belcher learns that his cousin Krista (April Scott) has started dating his best pal and former roommate Will (Gerard Haitz), the restless spirit makes it his mission to drive the happy couple apart. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Rihanna isn’t one to shy away from controversy -- or from showing a little skin. And after her summer of scantily clad onstage outfits and provocative dance moves during her tour, it’s not hard to imagine how

she was voted Sexiest Woman Alive by Esquire. In the magazine’s newest issue, she chats about acting sexy, letting go of her anger toward Chris

Brown, and more.

Running Time: 102 minsComplete Cast Of Living Will: Ryan Dunn – Belcher, Gerard

Haitz – Will, April Scott - KristaDirector: Matthew Lauyer

Categorie: Comedy

ON DVDLiving Will

MUSICRihanna

named Esquire’s

sexiest woman

alive

Movies, apps, games, music, reading and more, plus Ama-zon’s revolutionary, cloud-accel-erated web browser

• 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books

• Amazon Appstore - thousands of popular apps and games

• Ultra-fast web browsing - Am-azon Silk

• Free cloud storage for all your Amazon content

• Vibrant color touchscreen with extra-wide viewing angle

• Fast, powerful dual-core pro-cessor

• Amazon Prime members enjoy unlimited, instant streaming of over 10,000 popular mov-ies and TV shows.

Welcometo south

sPI BikeFest is expecting between 10,000 to 15,000 participants from texas, California, North Carolina,

south Dakota, oklahoma, ohio, Louisiana, even New York and many others that either ride or trailer their

motorcycles all the way to the island.All you bikers in the Rio Grande Valley, the fun days of the Bike Fest 2011 at the South Padre Island are just around the corner, an opportunity to reunite with many other bikers not only from South Texas but from the rest of the country in a four day festival.“The purpose of Bike Fest is to ride and have

fun, we get motorcyclist enthusiast that come from all over the United States to come and join us”, explained the festival coordinator, G.J. Reyna.This is a three to four day event that includes a

variety of not only biker but also family oriented activities, entertainment, food booths and many vendors that come down from all around the country to participate in this annual event.From concerts with bands such as Albert T.,

Solance, Southern Train, Whiskey D., The AliCat Project, Thyrium, Gatos Locos and Addiction, to 12 step meeting, bra decoration party, Ms. BikeFest Competition, Harley Davidson Demo Ride, BikeFest Decathlon, Team Extreme Trial Show Case, Motorcycle Free Style Stunt, K.O.T.C. Bike races, Bike Show Competition, Bike Parade and much more.This festival has become a tradition for bikers

all over the country, since it’s not only an op-

portunity to show case their motorcycles, learn about the new accessories or products for them, but also to get to know other bikers or reunite with old friends. “It’s a way to hook up, to make new friends and

get reacquainted with old friends. Motorcycle rallies basically consist of a central location where the vendors are going to be at, then we also do field events, test skill events that we do with the motorcycles, poker runs and scavenger hunts, just have fun. It is like a big party but not just a party”, Reyna assured.It’s important to mention that all the profits of

the fest are donated to charity, an effort that has been part of this annual festival since the start around 20 years ago, donating over $650,000 to organizations such as Mujeres Unidas, Laguna Boys and Girls Club, South Padre Island Foun-dation, Vamos Scholarship Foundation, Stars Foundation and many others.“Anything that has to do with kids, we like to

give our part back, all the staff of BikeFest are volunteers, nobody gets paid at BikeFest, so we have a really strong volunteer base and they all come in and donate their time, come to meet-ings all year round volunteering to organize this event. It’s just a way for us to give back to our

community. Our mission statement is to give money back to our local communities,” Reyna explained.This festival will take place from October 13th

to the 16th, where for only $40 the participant get to be part of the all four day events, receive a t-shirt, entrance tickets, tickets for the cage fight, 10 free tickets for a bike giveaway, rally pin and a dog tag. For people that cannot be there every day due to work responsibilities or any other reason, they also have the one day pass for only $15 but it doesn’t include a t-shirt.Reyna mentioned that this year they worked

really hard for all the well-known hotels to of-fer discount on stay, giving the participants of BikeFest the off season rates instead of the Peak rates. Five of the major hotels in the Island complied: Hilton Garden Inn, La Quinta Inn, La Copa Inn, Holiday Inn Express and The Inn at South Padre.SPI BikeFest is expecting between 10,000

to 15,000 participants from Texas, California, North Carolina, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, Louisiana, even New York and many others that either ride or trailer their motorcycles all the way to the island.Preregistration ends September 30th, but

Bikerstexas

Reyna encourage everyone that don’t have time to pre-register or buy VIP passes, to still attend and buy their either one day or all four day passes at the door. “My invitation to come on out and have a

great time with us, we’re going to show you a good time, it’s really good, clean, inexpen-sive fun for the Valley and at the same you’re helping local charities all up and down the Rio Grande Valley, we’re talking 20 to 25 different organizations get money from BikeFest,” Reyna concluded.For more information

about SPI BikeFest 2011 visit www.spibikefest.com or call (956) 668-7484.

Friday 14thAll Events at SPI Convention Centre unless otherwise noted: 9:00 am Doors & Registration Open - Convention Centre9:00 am BikeFest Decathlon Check In - SPI Convention Centre Lobby9:00 am Harley-Davidson Demo Rides Begins - Parking Lot10:30 am 12 Step Meeting - Theater Room11:00 am BikeFest Decathlon Last Bike Out - SPI Convention Centre

Lobby12:00 pm Southern Train - Bud Main Stage12:00 pm Team Extreme Trials Showcase1:00 pm Motorcycle Freestyle Stunt Show2:00 pm STFC Weigh-In - Theater Room2:00 pm Albert T Band - Bud Main Stage3:00 pm Team Extreme Trials Showcase4:00 pm 12 Step Meeting - Theater Room4:00 pm Motorcycle Freestyle Stunt Show4:00 pm Harley-Davidson Demo Rides End - Parking Lot4:00 pm Alley Cat Project Band - Bud Main Stage5:00 pm K.O.T.C. Packet Pick up - Convention Centre6:00 pm Whiskey D. Band - Bud Main Stage6:00 pm BikeFest Decathlon Last Bike In - SPI Convention Centre

Lobby6:30 pm VIP Reception - VIP Room7:00 pm Team Extreme Trials Showcase / Motorcycle Freestyle Stunt

Show8:00 pm Biker Bras Auction - Bud Main Stage10:30 pm Rock & Roll Over - KISS Tribute Band - Bud Main Stage12:30 am Convention Centre & Registration Closes Convention

Centre

Saturday 15thAll Events at SPI Convention Centre unless otherwise noted:

6:00 am K.O.T.C. Registration Opens - Port Isabel High School7:30 am K.O.T.C. Race Begins - Port Isabel High School8:00 am Bike Show Lineup - Paid Rally Participants Only - North-East

Lot9:00 am Doors & Registration Open - Convention Centre9:00 am Harley-Davidson Demo Rides Begin - Parking Lot10:00 am Team Extreme Trials Showcase10:30 am 12 Step Meeting - Theater Room10:30 am Gatos Locos Band - Bud Main Stage11:00 am Motorcycle Freestyle Stunt Show12:00 pm Bike Show Winners Announced - Bud Main Stage12:30 pm Tattoo Contest - Bud Main Stage1:00 pm Field Events - North-East Lot2:00 pm Thyrium Band -Bud Main Stage2:00 pm Team Extreme Trials Showcase3:00 pm Motorcycle Freestyle Stunt Show4:00 pm 12 Step Meeting -Theater Room4:00 pm BikeFest Decathlon Ends - SPI Convention Centre

2011 SPI BIkEFESt SChEdulE

4:00 pm Harley-Davidson Demo Rides End - Parking Lot4:30 pm Solace Band - Bud Main Stage5:00 pm Parade Line Up Port Road in Port Isabel5:30 pm K.O.T.C. Bicycle Race Staging - Morning Side Road6:00 pm K.O.T.C. Bicycle Race6:15 pm Iron Horse Memorial Sunset Parade6:30 pm VIP Reception - VIP Room7:00 pm $10,000 Ms. BikeFest Competition - Bud Main Stage7:00 pm Team Extreme Trials Showcase / Motorcycle Freestyle Stunt

Show7:30 pm K.O.T.C. Awards - Theater Room7:45 pm BikeFest Decathlon Awards - Theater Room9:30 pm STFC Cage Fights After Last Fight, Motorcycle Giveaway - Bud Main Stage After Motorcycle Giveaway Convention Centre Closes

Sunday 16thAll Events at SPI Convention Centre unless otherwise noted: 6:00 am K.O.T.C. Registration Opens -Schlitterbahn7:30 am K.O.T.C. Bicycle Tour Begins - Schlitterbahn8:00 am KOTC Triathalon Starts - Louie’s Backyard9:00 am Biker Church By C.M.A. - Bud Main Stage10:00 am 1st Crossing - KOTC10:00 am Doors & Registration Open - Convention Centre10:30 am Sonic Soul - Bud Main Stage11:00 am KOTC Triathalon Awards - Bud Main Stage11:30 am K.O.T.C. Ride Across Bridge - Pelican Station12:00 pm KOTC Poker Run & Door Prizes - Bud main Stage12:00 pm Team Extreme Trials Showcase12:30 pm Thyrium Band - Bud Main Stage1:00 pm Motorcycle Freestyle Stunt Show Freestyle Show1:00 pm Kid’s Field Events2:00 pm Team Extreme Trials Showcase3:00 pm Motorcycle Freestyle Stunt Show Freestyle Show3:00 pm Whiskey D. Band - Bud Main Stage5:00 pm Team Extreme Trials Showcase / Motorcycle Freestyle Stunt

Show6:00 pm Hysteria - Bud Main Stage

13BIKE FEST SPI • METRO

Since Red Mango open the doors to the public over a year ago in the city of Mission it is always full of cus-tomers waiting to have a spoonful of deliciousness. The person behind the idea to bring this franchise was Jose ‘Pepe’ Ayala, who at the age of 25 is already an entrepreneur, and the best is that it’s going well.

Jose mentioned that this idea was inspired when he went on a trip with his wife, Alejandra Garcia, to the city of Los Angeles, California; a metropolitan area full of these types of dessert places. “From all the places we tried Red Mango was the best, and when we saw that there was no place like that in the Valley we decided to bring the franchise,” said Ayala.

He added that everything happened with the support of his parents and his wife and finally he brought the franchise home. “My wife had the idea to sale yogurt ice cream in the Valley and now she helps me with the business. My parents encouraged me to open my own business and gave me the advice needed. Thanks to all of them I was able to open a business I like and that has succeeded.”

According to Ayala the difference between them and other similar stores in the area is that although they sale flavorful products, generally they have a lot of calories, sugars, fats and artificial ingredients.

Red Mango offers ice cream made of 100 % yogurt, low in calories, fat free, gluten free, no preservatives and no artificial flavors.

“All our products contain probiotics that help the digestive system,” he remarked.

THE SUCCESSAyala mentioned that the key to their success has been based in offering great quality products and that at-tracts people that nowadays try to take better care of their health.

“Valley people have received us very well because they like our variety; we have smoothies which are ideal to drink before or after the gym since it can add energy, vitamins and proteins. Many of our customers order parfaits for lunch because it only has 300 calories and it satisfies them,” said Jose while waiving at a customer that was entering the store.

Besides giving high quality products, Ayala assured that customer service is very important for him and his employees, making sure the customers have the best experience when visiting Red Mango.

“When they come in we welcome them with a smile. The first time they come to the store we explain the con-cept, the products we have and we let them try all the flavors available. Once they choose the flavor we serve it with their choice of fruit slices. All to make sure they leave happy and wanting to come back another day.”

THE APPEARANCEAlthough the main decoration and look of Red Mango is determined by the franchise, Pepe explained that the concept of his business is full of red everywhere.

“The slogan is ‘Treat Yourself Well’ and the main color is red which means love, life and energy. The furniture is red, green and gold, colors that go well with the concept of the place. All these make it look contemporary but comfortable, a place you can get together with friends and have an enjoyable time,” said Ayala.

THE FAVORITEAyala informed us that the most ordered products are

Red Mango has become a popular

spot for desserts in the Sharyland Area and to discover the

secret to success of this yogurt base

ice cream business we visited with the

owner, who opened the doors for us

and explained how they conquered

their customers with delicious products.

Jose “Pepe” Ayala &

Alejandra Garcia

It’s good for you!!

the all natural Pomegranate Yogurt, Vanilla Yogurt and the Mixed Berry Parfait, the last one includes original yogurt, strawberry, banana, blue berry and granola.

He recommended the new customers to try the Straw-berry Coconut and Oreo yogurt, the key Lime Pie and the Pineapple Kiwi. But if you want a Smoothie, you got to try the Berry Blend that includes strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.

“I really like my business because I enjoy talking to my customer and getting to know new people every day”, he concluded.

TYPES OF“PARFAITS”

TYPES OF YOghuRTIcE cREAm

TYPES OF “SmOOThIES”

TYPES OF“IcED TEAS”

“From all the yoghurts we tasted Red Mango was the best and knowing there wasn’t that kind of business in the Valley we decided to bring the franchise”.

They offer eight flavors

of yogurt, four are

permanent and the

other four are changed

often. Currently the permanent flavors are

the original, vanilla,

pomegranate and key lime

pie. The temporary flavors are coconut,

acai berry, peach and strawberry.

– Jose Ayala

The tallest buildings in the Valley

1

We present you the list of the tallest buildings that Metro found in the Rio Grande Valley area, including locations from South Padre Island all the way to McAllen.

The research to find the tallest buildings in the Valley was not an easy task, up to the point that at the day of closing the edition we had to verify all the information to make sure we were given the most accurate facts. People might think that the height of every building in the area can be accessible to any-one and that whoever is looking for that information can find it the same day, but it’s not that easy, not as easy as goggling to find the answer. Finding out the amount of floors is simple, you don’t need to ask since you can just take the elevator and see the floors enu-merated there. But to find the exact building’s height can’t be measured by its floors, the height is determined by how many feet tall it is including any antennas,

which became a hard task. In many cases not even the city offices could give us an answer or guidance as of where we could find it, not even the building ad-ministrators, a few could give us an exact answer and many even said they had never thought about that, only the architects would have it maybe in their saved files. It was difficult and we had to ask the help of many and even pres-sure a bit to be able to obtain all the information needed. Our staff looked for the facts all over the place, even under the rocks, and the next is the result of a journalistic research to find the tallest buildings in the Rio Grande Valley, South Padre Island has the tallest and McAllen has the sec-ond place building.

Located in South Padre Island and built in 2009, the Sapphire Twin Towers is the tallest building in the Valley since it has a 400 ft. height and includes 31 floors.

4

Sapphire TwinTower400 fT.

BenTSen Tower309 fT

Ubicado en el corazón de McAllen entre tres importantes calles, la Bicentennial, la Business 83 y la ya famosa Calle 17, este edificio que hoy en día alberga oficinas federales tiene una arquitectura bellísima, pocos edificios en el Valle están todos cubiertos en cristales. Es el segundo edificio más alto en McAllen y fue construido poco después del Chase Tower, así es que siempre ha estado en esa posición, la número 2, por las noches su silueta da presencia al distrito del entretenimento del centro de la ciudad. Todos su pisos son ocupados por el gobierno.

2 3

6

5

Sky IS thE lImIt

The Chase Tower is the second tallest building in this region, having a height of 385 ft. This building was the tallest in the Valley until 2008, currently this tower is in second place with a 385 ft. height, it is located in McAllen Downtown area symbolizing how important and potential is the economy in this city. This structure can be seen from almost any tall angle in McAllen and was built over what used to be McAllen High School in 1979 for McAllen State Bank. Today houses the corporate offices of Chase Bank and the rest of its spaces are leased to all sorts of businesses.

Before 2008 this was the tallest, majestic and glamorous building at South Padre Island. Now the Sapphire 400 ft. twin towers came to take away that place. Despite that it is still the second tallest building at the world’s famous touristic SPI. Its magnificent architecture and beauty doesn’t lose presence in the skyline siluette of the buildings in this small city. Constructed in 1984, Bridgepoint continues to be one of the favorite building for the people from Monterrey, Mexico to spend their vacations or buy their condo. They know it as the ‘boot’ building since it resembles a lot with that kind of shoe.

Villa del Sol has an structure that is similar to some buildings in New York but it is located in Brownsville and it is the tallest building in town. It’s construction

was finished in 1972, it has 14 floors and has an estimated height of 165 ft. This building is located

on 700 E. Charles Street in this Texan port. The building is a city property, specifically of the Housing Authority and is dedicated in full to give residence to

senior citizens.

The Compass Tower with 11 stories has the best location in town, right at the corner of Nolana and 10th Street and was built in 1998. The first six floors are taken by the corporate offices of the BBVA Compass Bank, 7th floor has the offices and studio of the Telemundo TV Station; floors 8th to the 10th are mainly for lease offices and the 11th floor is dedicated for the executive offices of the bank and for a small private restaurant.

Sapphire Tower400 ft

Isla del Padre

Blaschka Tower108 ft

Harlingen

Villa del Sol165 ft

Brownsville

Compass Building226 ft

McAllen

Bentsen Tower309 ft

McAllen

Bridge Point319 ft

Isla del Padre

Chase Tower380 ft

McAllen

17LISTS + RANKINGS • METRO

ChaSe Tower385 fT.

BridgepoinT319 fT.

CompaSS Tower226 fT.

Villa del Sol165 fT.

18 METRO • LISTS + RANKINGS

7Located in 106 S. in the corner of Jackson and A Street in Downtown Harlingen we found the Blaschka Tower. It was built in 1927 and since then it has been the tallest building in town, the oldest in its category and for 50 years it was also the tallest in the Valley. During its first years it was known as the Baxter Building and with two elevators back in the days it was the place where doctors, lawyers and entrepreneurs wanted to have their offices. For many years it was also the home of KRGV, one of the main TV stations between San Antonio and Mexico City, taking over the 9th floor as a studio. The current owner is Wayne Blaschka.

BlaSChka Tower108 fT.

[Shopping]

DiSNEy STORERE-DESiGN LA PLAzA MALL LOCATiON.

On Tuesday October 4, Disney Store celebrated the opening of its award-winning new concept store at La Plaza Mall in McAllen. La Plaza Mall is one of many newly-designed Disney Store locations to open in North America this year, providing an interactive shopping destination and magical experiences for Disney fans of all ages. Disney Store’s new design aims to deliver “the best 30 minutes of a child’s day” through immersive experiences, including a Disney Princess Castle with Magic Mirror, Translucent Magical Trees, Disney CARS neighborhood, and the Disney Store Theatre, featuring the latest in Disney entertainment.“The magic and wonder of Disney is captured within

the unique experiences that await families at Disney Store,” said Jim Fielding, President of Disney Stores Worldwide, “More than a store, we’ve created a shop-ping destination where we will bring the magic of Disney to life every day for McAllen families.”Disney Store at La Plaza Mall will have an exciting ar-

ray of new product lines to offer McAllen guests, includ-ing the recently launched line of Wish-a-Little figurines from the Kidada for Disney Store Charming Collection. The newest Disney Store fragrance, Pixie Dust, will also launch at the McAllen location, providing guests with a wide range of Disney-inspired lifestyle products.The McAllen store joins the growing list of newly-

designed stores already opened around the world, including a location in New York’s Times Square. By the end of 2011, the specialty retailer will have 60 new concept stores in 16 major cities in North America and eight countries.With each new store opening in the United States and

Canada in 2011, Disney Store will donate 10 percent of the first day’s sales to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

STORES

PRiCES GO FROM 400

TO 800 DOLLARS

If you like good watches, then you should put in your busy agenda a visit

to the well-known jewelry store Deutsch & Deutsch inside La Plaza Mall and get to know the new line of watches TW Steel. Since February they received the first pieces and up to now they have been a sales suc-cess. TW Steel is a brand that is proudly from Holland and it is unique for its bigger than usual cover, which has the first collection in 2005. Ever since that year it has gain privilege between the people with good taste and sophistication. This brand combines a great design and innovation. TW Steel offers a definite sense of individualism assuring the one that wears it to have style and quality. Today this brand is sold in over 80 countries, having 124 differ-ent models in its collection, creating in just a few years a well-respected brand and recognized prestige all over the world. The best characteristic of TW Steel is something you won’t believe due to its great quality, design and models; it’s very affordable since the price ranges in between $400 and $800. We invite you to pass by the jewelry where you will be serviced by the owner Ito Deutsch, who feels good about representing this brand in the Rio Grande Valley, been at the same time an authorized distributor for Rolex, Cartier, Gucci, Hublot, Corum, Tecnomarine, Bul-gary and Tag Heuer.

La Plaza Mall is one of many newly-designed Disney Store locations to open in North America this year.

If you’re tired of eating the same thing every day, or every time you go out with your family, friends, special someone then get out of the ordinary and try the real Taste of Chicago at Cordon’s.

“To me the Valley has the best Mexi-can Food, I’ve been to San Antonio and other places – they don’t have it, but the thing is that we needed something different, we need variety for example Deep Dish, no one has it, beef sand-

wiches, hot dogs – you want some-thing that taste good…now we offer that”, said Edgar Cordón, owner of the restaurant who moved from Chicago to the Valley in the late 80s.

This new family owned and managed restaurant opened its doors at the be-ginning of the summer and seems like people already feel at home when they go eat there.

“If you want to eat the popular Deep Dish Pizza, this is the place to go, you

won’t find it anywhere else and it is as good as or even better than some of the best restaurants back in Chicago”, assured Mr. Cordón.

He moved to the Valley with a Base-ball Scholarship for what it used to be Pan-American University (now UTPA), fell in love with the Valley, met Cindy – his wife now and business partner, fell in love and has been in the Valley for the past 20 years.

During that time he took his wife

and in-laws to Chicago, they tasted the food and loved it, incorporate it to their eating tradition and for years they have been wanting to bring this culinary experience to South Texas.

CHiCAGO TASTE iS HEREA year ago the dream started to take form, after hearing from friends and family the advice of bringing the Chi-cago style food to the area, they finally talked it over and started planning the

Authentic Chicago taste finally in the Valley

CORDON’S TASTE OF CHICAGO

Food +Restaurants

opening of their new business.This was something different

for them, having a landscaping business and a gift shop, it was time to make the dream a real-ity, so the Cordón’s started doing research, where to buy the best quality 100 % beef franks for the Chicago Style Dogs, the best cheese, the best ingredients and what better idea than to bring it from the source – Chicago.

Not only that, when you come in you feel like you’re in a piz-zeria or lunch shag back in the wind city of Chicago, you see a big painting of that city at night, pictures of famous sports celeb-rities, pictures of snow covered Chicago and even the brick that covers certain areas of the walls was brought from Illinois.

At ‘Cordón’s Taste of Chicago’ offers an ambience for all ages, where you can find from the owner’s sister welcoming every-one, the mother in law servicing and even several of his five kids that do it for the love of their food and the place.

There you can find dishes for all the picky eaters including the classic Lasagna, Chicken Par-mesan, Capone’s Calzone, Thin crust Pizzas, Chicago Style Deep

Dish Pizza Pie all made with fresh sauce from the house, Clas-sic Chicago Style Beef Hot Dog, Classic Polish Sausage, Ditka’s Chili Dog with an attitude, Fa-mous Maxwell Street Dog, Little Ed’s big Beef Sandwich, Combi-nation Sandwich, Gyros, Cubby’s Steak & Cheese Sandwich, wings and for the healthy freak even salads.

If you are a burger fan don’t worry, you don’t have to go anywhere else, they have their Chicago Classic, The Lard Ass that has three slices of bacon and American cheese, Jalapeño and Cheddar Burger, Mushroom Swiss Burger and Grilled Chick-en Sandwich.

GOTTA GOIn business for only three months, it seems to be the place to visit if you’re looking for something original and hard to find but also delicious, that is why they receive customers from the island, Brownsville, Harlingen and the rest of the Val-ley, many of those are originally from Chicago that were waiting for a restaurant like this to open for a longtime and others are food adventurers.

“A lot of people from Chicago live here, a lot of Chicagoans and that wasn’t the reason to open our place, we did it because of the taste of the food and then re-alize that many were down here from Chicago,” said Cordón.

This place is visited by all sorts of customers from the mayor of Edinburg, to the policemen, the firemen, the former base-ball head coach from UTPA and the current head coach; they all come to have a great dish and a unique Chicagoan experience.

“Come for the food, the atmo-sphere and service that we’re giving, but most important the Chicago experience because there’s too many restaurants that are alike, this is some-thing different”, concluded Mr. Cordón.

Wanna go there? Cordón’s is lo-cated close to the north area of 10th street in McAllen, near the corner of that street and Freddy Gonzalez Drive, next to Spoiled Rotten Gift Shop. Open from Monday to Thursdays 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. For more infor-mation call (956) 383-4567 or visit their website www.cordon-stasteofchicago.com

“Come for the food, the atmosphere and service

that we’re giving, but most important the Chicago

experience because there’s too many restaurants that

are alike, this is something different”.

21FOOD + RESTAURANTS • METRO

“The purpose ‘Dinner’s at the Farm’ is to raise awareness of the organic food revolution taking place not only

across the entire United States but right here in our own community, to connect the local community with their

food sources, to spark a health initiative in the community where health concerns are serious reality with the support

of the local farmers, doctors, chefs, and anyone who believes and supports in the localvore philosophy. Also to unveil our future projects with our own organic farm,

the Alhambra underground dinner club, our “pop up restaurant” series and of course to show our appreciation

to our local food growers and supporters”.

He’s Food RevolutionCHEF CANTER

22 METRO • ADVERTISING

23ADVERTISING • METRO

extratime

The Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees are back for their

ninth season and this one gotta be a new beginning

for the team since many circumstances are brand

new for them, expecting to have the same or stronger

support of their region fans.

The State Farm Arena is already preparing to receive over five thousand fans to support their bees as they face the Laredo Bucks for Exhibition Night next Thursday, October 13th.“We are one of the largest fan bases in all of mi-

nor pro hockey. We have a great season ticket holder base, last year we finished second place in the conference for attendance. We have a really good group of passionate loyal fans that support us through anything”, said Keith Lavon, Director for Media Relations of the Killer Bees.

ValleY loVeS hoCkeYDuring the eight seasons that the bees have been a representing team for the Rio Grande Valley, they have been able to reach out the sport fans, introduce them and make them fall in love with a sport that is not very typical for this area.“There was some fear that it would be hard to

attract fans but we’ve been here for eight seasons now, this is going to be our ninth year and I think a lot of people are really starting to enjoy watching hockey and starting to really get on board with it,” Keith commented about Bees winning fans.Residence of the Valley are really starting to get

involved with hockey, not only as fans or support-ers but also by wanting their kids to learn how to play it and practice it as a main sport.“It’s been exciting to see how many fans have

become really passionate hockey fans, even down here in the Valley where you don’t think hockey is been a traditional sport. The youth hockey pro-grams are doing great, the junior killer bees play and they have a lot of kids starting to learn how to play at a very young age which is just great to see,” added Lavon.

new STarTThis team that is part of the seven teams from

Laredo, Allen, Tulsa, Wichita Falls, Arizona and others in the southern conference of the Central Hockey League, in which last year they were able to make it to the playoffs but lost to the Allen Americans.“This year we’re hoping to improve on that and

take the next step on forward for our franchise and really develop a winning tradition because we have a new Head Coach, his name is Terry Ruskowski…we’re really about him taking us to-wards the future,” said enthusiastically Lavon.Originally from Saskatchewan, Canada, Coach

Ruskowski came to South Texas near a decade ago thanks to hockey coaching for the Laredo team until last end of the season Rio Grande Killer Bees offered to join them.“I always thought highly of Rio Grande and what

they’re doing in the community and what they’re doing on the ice and how they conduct them-selves, and I thought it would be a good situa-tion for me,” indicated the new head coach.He added that he’s expecting his new team to

win a lot of games, having a small front but quick, having a bigger defense which means been more physical on the back.“I’m hoping to have a well-rounded team; I like

my team to be physical but also have to be tal-ented. There’s gonna be a little twickin going on here as the season starts. We try to put on a good combination together.”He also remarked that the bees will have a brand

new start since he only kept five of last season’s players.“It does gonna be pretty much a whole new

team, I’m trying to have three lines that can score, trying to have some toughness and good defense. Most players are from northern United States, Canada and one from Czech Republic,” he mentioned.

affordaBle To allTickets are meant to be affordable for all house-holds, price ranges between $14 and $28, and when assistance is arranged in groups’ tickets can become even cheaper at $10 per person in the company, church, and school group. “We have lots of different levels to make it as af-

fordable for everyone as possible,” said Lavon. Of course you can also buy your birthday cel-

ebration admission, party groups, whole season or half season passes if you want to support the bees every time they are playing at home. The first games will be Exhibition Night – October 13 and Opening Night against Missouri Mavericks – October 21st.You can buy your tickets at any State Farm Arena

ticket outlet, at the arena, call the killer bees, or online at the www.statefarmearena.com or www.killerbeehockey.com for more in-formation.“If you haven’t seen a hockey game is

basically soccer on steroids, is a very easy sport to learn, very similar to soccer in terms of the rules, instead of shooting a ball they are shooting a puck and instead of kicking it they’re using a stick. Hockey is very entertaining to watch, very physical, a lot of people really get in love with the sport once they get a chance, so if you haven’t check out our games, gives us a change and you might find yourself enjoying it.”

October 21is the opening night

against Missouri Mavericks

14 - 28 Dollarsare the price ranges for tickets.

“It does gonna be pretty much a whole new team, I’m trying to have three lines that can score, trying to have some toughness and good defense. Most players are from northern United States, Canada and one from Czech Republic,”.–Coach Terry Ruskowski.

25SPORTS • METRO

Just recently fashionising, a website publication published comments about the expansion of the US Brazil-ian denim manufacturer Santana Textiles. The comment read, “The factory is so large, and will employ so many people, that the city is being nicknamed “Denimburg.” But then Fashionising explained, “Okay that’s also partly due to Santana Textiles’s PR campaign. But it makes a point: Denim is big news.”

Fashioning well known throughout the world of fashion, their articles describe so well what fashion is. In this case they noted well that San-tana Textiles may want to capital-ize on the “American made” label, that helped to establish American Apparel as a chic, quality line. “But it’s probable that the company also wants to be able to respond to changes and trends in the US market quickly,” Fashionising wrote.

It has been well announced that Santana Textiles is in motion and heading towards opening in March 2012. Santana Textiles is South America’s largest denim fabric

manufacturer, having operated for more than 50 years, and the fifth-largest such producer globally. Its new operation in Edinburg repre-sents a $171 million investment and is expected to create 800 jobs.

Ever since the Brazil-based denim manufacturer Santana Textiles announced it’s intention to begin construction on its first manufactur-ing facility in North America has been the talk of the town.

According to “Neto” Delfino, Santana Tex-tiles President, the company considered locations throughout North and South America but ulti-mately selected Edinburg because of its proximity to cotton growers and to important denim markets in Mexico and Los Angeles; the value of the “Made in the USA” label; and the

city’s support of the project.Delfino pointed out that after

evaluating the site in Edinburg and the right business attitude from city leaders made it easier to make a de-cision. “From the start, Mayor Rich-ard Garcia, the City of Edinburg, the Edinburg Economic Development Corp. and Hidalgo County made it

clear they wanted our company in Edinburg.”

One of the other factors to start in Edinburg was the fact that Texas authorities ap-proved a variety of incentives for the plant. The State of Texas provided a $1.65

million grant from the Texas Enter-prise Fund. The County of Hidalgo provided a $1.7 million tax reim-bursement. The City of Edinburg provided $ 2.5 million tax abatement and the Edinburg Economic Devel-opment Corporation provided land

and infrastructure grants valued at $5.05 million. The Santana Textiles project represents an important return to the region of a major em-ployer in this sector.

“One of the main reasons Santana Textiles chose Edinburg as the home for their new state-of-the-art facility was the cotton that is grown in the area and in Texas. That cotton will be transformed into denim, of which blue jeans are the most famous – but not the only – product made from this versatile, high-quality, and iconic fabric. This is of great impor-tance not only to us. We in Edinburg believe that Santana Textiles is also going to be the catalyst that returns the cotton industry to what it once was: a major contributor to local economies. Denim is going to be made right here in Edinburg, much of it from cotton grown here in South Texas and Texas, and soon, we will help supply the entire world with this tremendous influence in cloth-ing and fashion,” said Mayor Richard Garcia.

Indeed 800 jobs are very impor-

Money + Business

Santana Textilessoon to open

Santana Textiles will have a direct economic impact of $270 million in the City of Edinburg. The creation of

800 jobs and 3,200 indirect jobs that this significant

project will create will be a regional benefit

tant for Edinburg but what is here in play that these new jobs will make a tremendous impact in the region mak-ing Edinburg the city of job creation. “Santana Textiles will have a direct economic impact of $270 million in the City of Edinburg. The creation of 800 jobs and 3,200 indirect jobs that this significant project will create will be a regional benefit,” said Nelda Ramirez, Interim Executive Director for the Edinburg Economic Develop-ment Corporation.

The manufacturing plant, which will utilize high-technology equipment for converting cotton into the finished product through spinning, weaving, and dyeing, also will bring high-pay-ing jobs to the region, averaging more than $26,500 annually.

It is important to point out that Gov. of Texas Rick Perry made comments particularly about this textile com-pany; “It’s not just about jobs and wealth creation, its about quality of life,” Perry stated. “In this case, there are going to be people in the Valley who will have access to really good jobs, and they in turn will be able to alter things for their families that they could never do before.”

“Santana Textiles will be the first manufacturing plant of its kind to make a comeback to this region and utilize commodities in Texas to manufacture denim in our City,” added Nelda Ramirez.

This is the fabric building or better known as the weaving building. Pictured above workers finishing up the concrete floor. This is the weaving building. The weaving building is where the indigo machine will be installed. At this moment Santana Textiles is receiving the indigo machine at our facility, which is very important for the making of denim. This machine gives the blue denim color to the yarn that then is weaved and made fabric. The machine is one of the most expensive equipment that the plant will have at and it is considered state-of-the art for this industry. It is important to point out that Santana Textiles of Edinburg will be the most modern denim facility in the world.

Facts

In voice of

modern FACILITY

• TripAdvisor’s Top 5 vacation rental hot spots.

• World’s Top 30 Island Beaches, Conde Nast Traveler magazine.

• Top 10 U.S. beaches, Men’s Fitness and Women’s Day magazines.

• No. 2 Spring Break destination, Travel Channel.

• More than 5,000 residents call South Padre Island home, with approximately one million overnighting visitors each year.

• The Island offers more than 4,000 guest rooms and condominiums.

• South Padre Island is a 34- mile long sub-tropical Island located on the Gulf Coast of Texas, 25 miles north of the Mexican border.

South PAdrE ISlAnd

mAyor rIChArd CortEz

“I tell everyone, it doesn’t matter where you come from, I am not originally

from McAllen and I am the mayor. So that means it is

a land of opportunity… if a person that wasn’t born here can govern this city,

what more can I say?”

27MONEY + BUSINESS • METRO

[Real Estate]

RICKBENAVIDESBORN TO SELL

Rick Benavides is salesman by nature and for the past for years helping Valley fami-lies find one-of-a-kind houses to make them home have become his most impor-tant satisfaction. Meet the multitasked and talented man, whose passion consists of “sale, sale and sale.”

“No doubt I’m the number one,” said without hesitation Rick Benavides to Metro’s editorial staff. This young realtor, who’s only 26 years old, already is well-known in the real state world. “Usually I have to tell people my age because they don’t believe I am this young.”

SAlES kIdBenavides, who was born in Reynosa but brought to the Valley at a very young age, and grew up in San Juan mentioned that since he was a kid he started to love sales and was always involved in the houses business since his father and grandfather were construction contractors.

“Since I was a kid I started going to con-struction sites while they were putting the walls up and will help my dad as I could, taking him nails or just picking up stuff,” he remember.

Although he always liked the construc-tion business, he assured us that his thing is Real State because he always liked to sale things, from small things like gum to big things like houses or buildings.

“I liked sales since I was a little one, the snacks sales guy will pass by and I would tell my mom I want to do that, the ice

cream man will pass and again I would tell my mom I wanted to do the same, no mat-ter what I just wanted to sale things.”

So his mom will always tell him that he had to be the best at it, have the franchises of those businesses and succeed. A qual-ity that helped him reach that success was his ability to socialize with others, to be able to talk to anyone no matter their background.

“I always say this, I can become friends with anybody after five to ten minutes of conversation, and in this life you need to have as many friends as possible and things will be better for you”, he remarked.

BEtWEEn CArS And houSESRick, who’s robust complexion and loves to smile, told us in detail how he was able to enter the Real State Business and how he reached the first places in sales after such a short period of time.

He added that the main reason why he was forced to find the right path to success fast was that he got married at the age of 18, which inspired him to research what job options he had and try to find the one he really enjoyed and was good at to be able to race his family formed by his wife Joann and two kids: Ricardo Jose and Ri-anne Rae.

While starting his career as a salesman for a car lot, Rick was able to sale a ve-hicle to a construction company manager who told him “what are you doing in this business; you are good to be selling bigger

things”.That day Rick told the man, who hap-

pened to be the manager of the biggest construction company in the Valley at that time, that he was always interested in the construction business and thought about changing fields but a short period after was offered the job as lot manager and he accept it immediately.

That was not for him, Rick indicated that the hours were too long and the pressure was even more, something that wasn’t meant to be, so after a few months he left the job and decided to look for the construction manager that had offered him a job.

“I called him, told him that I was ready for a change, should I go with you, and he said yes come join us. I went to his office, spoke to the business president, he asked about my experience, I told him I had never sold a house, but was sure I could sale them,” said Benavides.

He received training and just in the first month of real estate he sold 13 houses, “the man gave me all the details neces-sary to sale a house, I went with him while showing a house, heard everything he said, the way he describe the house: doors, windows, and all the terms, I re-peated the info and sold my first hous-es.”

Later on Benavides continue learning, getting training, seminars but the com-pany had to close in 2007, when Rick was already 23 years old. “I wanted to continue selling houses, though of go-ing to another construction company but then decided to become a real estate agent.”

Showing how thankful he is with the individuals that have participated in his road to success, Rick mention that thanks to the support and help of real-tor Nannette Holey, owner of Exit holey Realty, he was able to take the courses to specialize himself in this market and ob-tain the realtor license.

“She told me she need someone local, someone aggressive and wants to join

her business and I took the opportu-nity. She paid for my license, I took the courses and passed the test in the first try,” he said.

He worked with her, his first year as a realtor, but since the market was slow and it was a new business, they didn’t make enough profit and had to close. During that period Benavides struggled financially, having difficulties to pay bills, to the point that he was consider-ing either to change careers or continue struggling in the real estate business.

That’s when an old acquaintance, the real estate broker Nestor Montemayor, called him to ask what was he doing because he needed someone strong to work with him since he had too much work to do in real state. “I told him: you can count on me and the rest was his-tory.”

Why rEAl EStAtE?The young realtor was sincere enough to tell us that at the beginning of his days in this business he just joined it because he knew it involved high volume of money, but as time passed his mental-ity changed and assured that the most enjoyable part of the job is not the earn-ings but the experience of helping people chose a home.

“What I love about this business, is that if you change your focus of sales to helping people choose a home things become way better. The best moment is when you give them the key of their first house, something that they never thought they could have or afford,” ex-pressed Benavides.

He continued saying “those moments when they get emotional and hug you, they invite you to a barbecue and even tell you: you changed my life. That is when you start building love to the job, the people and this business.”

Since then the business has continued to grow, more doors have been opening up to the point that marketing or ad-vertising is not something he absolutely

needs, although he continues investing in marketing just to maintain presence.

“I want them to know that we are out there, that we are strong, a lot of people come to my office and they tell me they see me everywhere,” explained Bena-vides, adding “it’s our way to tell the world we’re here and we’re not leaving, that we are a strong company and things happen by themselves.”

Rick says that the majority of his sales happen by recommendations or refer-rals from former clients, the cousin, uncle, friend, coworker of someone that bought him a house. “Sometime the cus-tomer calls me to tell me they are send-ing me someone who needs a house or property. Also some old customers call me after some years to ask me to sell their house, the one they bought me, be-cause they want to buy a new one.”

Benavides mentioned that during the 2008 recession they didn’t really struggle, they sold many houses, even more than when the economy was doing good.

SAlES In thE VAllEyCurrently Rick is selling properties main-ly in Hidalgo County including the cities from Weslaco to Mission, but mainly in the area of McAllen, Mission and Edin-burg.

“I focus on my area, I know everything that is happening there, the areas where there’s houses been built, the houses that are becoming available for sale, ev-ery day I get a report that tells me which houses were recovered by the banks to foreclosure, good properties that could be sold at really good prices.”

His customers prefer the north side of McAllen, except for the newcomers – investors from Mexico, that prefer the Southside of Mission and McAllen, even Weslaco to be near the border, specially the area of Sharyland Plantation and Ci-marron.

mAkInG FrIEndSBenavides says that his best attribute

1 millionis the most expensive house sold by him.

60 housesis the average of units sold by him in 2010.

150 to 250thousand is the average price house in his sale book.

“Since I was a kid I started going to construction sites while they were putting the walls up and

will help my dad as I could, taking him nails or just picking up stuff,” he remember.

29REAL ESTATE • METRO

is making friends, that is the key point to his success in Real Estate, since usually people like to send their people with someone they know and trust instead of anyone selling properties.

“I treat everyone the same, treat them good, like friends and at the end of the sale I tell them if you like my service send me other custom-ers,” remarked the realtor.

toP SEllErSDuring this year he has sold several dozens of houses, properties that range in the prices of $150,000 and more, even in the million dollar range, some of them bought fully in cash while others are half cash/half credit.

Rick mentioned that in 2009, been part of Re-max Realty, him and his broker Montemayor were the bestselling team in the region and were #1 in sales in Texas for the same com-pany.

Since August of 2009, the broker Montemayor decide to become independent and opened his own company named Nemont Realty where Rick has continued his job with loyalty.

“We have a very strong team with a great leader, Nestor our broker, is an excellent per-son, very intelligent and hardworking that supports me a 100 %. He has been president of several construction companies and knows too much about Real Estate making him the #1 broker in Texas,” said Benavides about his bro-ker, adding that over the past year they have sold around 400 houses which equals to more than 50 million dollars.

“I have a great team, including my two siblings Judith and Joshua, our team is very strong, experienced people, we know what customers want, we know how to help them no matter if they are locals or new to the Valley…and all of that makes us the best.”

30 METRO • REAL ESTATE