Small businesses are facing such an increase in pressure to stay profitable that the city of McAllen is collaborating with the McAllen Chamber of Commerce to build a program to help local retailers survive. 

McAllen City Manager Isaac Tawil shared the early stages of the plan with the Rio Grande Valley Business Journal during a McAllen Chamber of Commerce event on Tuesday. 

The idea is to partner with local universities, such as the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, to build a course that would match business school students with small companies to help them develop a new business plan that would likely include marketing. 

Tawil said the idea came after a local retailer reached out to discuss the difficulty of the current business climate, especially after the Trump Administration increased tariffs on imported goods.