The ribbon cutting celebrating the opening of NRG Screen Printing And Embroidery drew a who’s who of Mercedes.

The mayor was there, as was the general manager of the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show and the president of the Mercedes Chamber of Commerce. In the midst of the late May 2023 event was Steven Ray Garcia, the co-owner of NRG with his wife, Ashley, all smiles as community leaders congratulated the hometown boy on his growing business.

“I love Mercedes,’’ Garcia said a year later at his business on 601 N. Vermont Ave, Suite 206. “Count us in if there’s anything we can do to give back to the city.’’

Garcia is a youthful and energetic entrepreneur who from an early age had a creative side in designing logos and images and then seeing them come alive on a variety of surfaces. He started as a youngster designing and producing decals before gradually developing his expertise and broadening his services. Starting from home as do many entrepreneurs, Garcia began building a solid client base and investing resources in improving the facilities and technology his business could offer.

Garcia’s NRG Screen Printing today houses high-technology machinery. It can produce hundreds of shirts per hour with the logos and designs that come off his computer screens to enhance the appearance of products representing businesses, schools, nonprofits and athletic teams across the Rio Grande Valley. NRG also offers high quality embroidery work. He does so proudly from Mercedes with NRG’s business logo featuring palm trees and the iconic Mercedes water tank with the black Tiger paw.

“We’re right next to the Expressway in the middle of the Valley,’’ Garcia said. “Mercedes and the Mid-Valley is a great location to do business. We’ve been blessed.’’

No Outsourcing

Walking into NRG Screen Printing, there are caps bearing the tiger paw of the Mercedes baseball team and a white stylish “D’’ on the maroon caps of the Donna Redskins.

NRG’s designs are featured on the football helmets and baseball caps representing the high schools of Mercedes, Donna and Edcouch-Elsa. Doing work for sports teams is a passion for Garcia, which is one segment of a diverse client base. It includes the RGV Livestock Show, nonprofits like the Knights of Columbus and businesses such as the Texas T Barbershop in Edinburg.

“This is something I’ve always loved to do,’’ he said. “We take a lot of pride in seeing people wearing our stuff. We don’t outsource anything. Everything is done through us.’’

Garcia’s precision in making sure “it’s on the dot’’ is borne from his experience and the technology on hand to follow up on what a customer requests. There’s a blue hue to NRG’s backroom when the overhead lights go off and production work begins. A “Freedom Express Workhouse’’ machine can spin shirts round-and-round in quickly producing high-quality print work after Garcia has made the correct settings.

“We try to be fast and efficient,’’ he said. “At the same time, for us, it’s always quality over quantity.’’

It’s that “on the dot’’ quality NRG is known for and a service Garcia is proud to highlight, be it to the mayor or any other customer walking in his door looking for a design to showcase a team or business.

• Ric Cavazos