The Fort Worth Chamberletter

The Fort Worth Chamber has partnered with the Fort Worth Independent School District to present Hiring Fair 2013, where area businesses may recruit graduates for entry-level positions.   Employers may sign up now (FREE registration and booth) for this 20^th annual event.

This event targets job opportunities for recent graduates of Fort Worth ISD ages 17 to 21.  More than 800 job seekers seeking entry-level jobs in a variety of industries for full-time, part-time, permanent and temporary positions are anticipated.

Booths go quickly and space is limited. To register for a free booth or obtain additional information, employers may contact Lila Boydston at 817-814-1813 or Lila@esc11.net before May 24.

• What:     Hiring Fair 2013
• When:   Thursday, June 13 (1 p.m. – 4 p.m.)
• Where:  Will Rogers Memorial Center, 3401 West Lancaster Ave, 76107
• Cost:      No cost for registration or booth

Event partners for Hiring Fair 2013 are the Fort Worth Chamber, Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber, Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber, Girl Scouts of Texas Oklahoma Plains, Volunteer Center of North Texas, and Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County.

L-R: Judy McDonald, Workforce Solutions
Lacy Kreger, Fort Worth Chamber
Melonye Whitson, Fort Worth Chamber
James O’Donley, BNSF
Terry Preuniger, Oncor
Janie Havel, Governor’s Office
Aaron Demerson, Governor’s Office
David Berzina, Fort Worth Chamber

Fort Worth and Westlake were among five Texas cities honored with the Texas Economic Development Council’s (TEDC) annual Community Economic Development Awards (CEDA) for 2012. The Community Economic Development Award program recognizes the exceptional contributions of TEDC member cities toward the economic vitality of their communities and the State of Texas through creativity, leadership, and partnership in the achievement of business retention, business recruitment and community improvement.

The awards were presented Wednesday, September 26 at the TEDC’s Annual Conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Austin.

Fort Worth was recognized for attracting GE Manufacturing Solutions, the world’s leading manufacturer of rail and transportation products to the city, as the site for a state-of-the-art locomotive manufacturing facility. GE purchased a 670,000-square-foot facility and is expanding to approximately 900,000 square feet to accommodate the production of 250-300 locomotives per year. The $100 million capital investment will bring more than 500 jobs with annual salaries averaging over $40,000 per year. GE received a $4.35 million Texas Enterprise Fund grant, $3.3 million in tax abatements and a $785,000 Skills Development Fund grant.

“The City of Fort Worth, the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, Denton County, Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County, Workforce Solutions for North Central Texas, Tarrant County College and our many other partners went above and beyond all expectations to secure the GE Manufacturing Solutions locomotive facility because they understood the economic significance of GE’s presence in North Texas,” said David Berzina, executive vice president of economic development for the Fort Worth Chamber. “We are pleased that TEDC recognized these extraordinary efforts. This deal demonstrates to the world that North Texas, and Fort Worth in particular, is continuing to build on its strong tradition of manufacturing by attracting widely recognized, global brands that are producing a wide range of products customers know and trust.”

Westlake was recognized for leveraging a scenic 107-acre site to attract Deloitte University, a 700,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art teaching facility. Deloitte University will train the firm’s employees who serve their clients in finance, auditing, taxes and general consulting. Westlake used a development agreement and a ten-year tax abatement to help secure the $300 million project. The project boasts 100 Deloitte jobs and an additional 350-400 hospitality professionals to maintain the day-to-day operations of the facility.

The Deloitte University site is located at AllianceTexas, a 17,000-acre master-planned development spanning north Fort Worth, Westlake, Haslet, Roanoke and other communities in northern Tarrant and southern Denton counties. It includes the Alliance Global Logistics Hub, Circle T Ranch, Heritage, Alliance Town Center, Saratoga and Monterra Village projects. AllianceTexas is now home to over 300 companies, which have built nearly 32 million square feet and created more than 30,000 jobs.

The CEDA committee received applications from 26 member communities.  Nominees were then judged on five criteria: innovativeness, transferability, community commitment and leverage, measured objectives, and secondary benefits.

“As the largest state economic development association in the county, our members continue to develop unique approaches to creating, retaining and recruiting jobs to our state,” said TEDC Chairman Greg Last.

CEDA recipients in the five population categories are:

Westlake (Population less than 5,000) Pop. 992

Westlake, Deloitte University

Marble Falls (Population 5,001-15,000) Pop. 6,077

The Marble Falls Economic Development Corporation, CorWorth Building Systems

Belton (Population 15,001-40,000) Pop. 18,216

The Belton Economic Development Corporation, CGI Group

Missouri City (Population 40,001-100,000) Pop. 68,447

Missouri City, Niagara Bottling Company

Fort Worth (Population 100,001 and above) Pop. 741,206

Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, City of Fort Worth, Denton County, Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County, Workforce Solutions for North Central Texas, Tarrant County College, GE Manufacturing Solutions

About the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce

The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, with 2,000 member businesses, is the second-largest chamber in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.  The Fort Worth Chamber has repeatedly been recognized as one of the nation’s top economic development organizations.  Through business-to-business marketing, educational events, economic development, workforce development and government advocacy, the Fort Worth Chamber assumes a leadership role in making Fort Worth, the 16^th-largest city in the U.S., a premier location in which to live, work and do business.  For more information, please contact the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce at (817) 338-3391 or visit fortworthecodev.com.

About TEDC

The TEDC was organized in 1961 and provides information, education and legislative services to its members to foster the expansion of existing businesses, the location of new firms and the development of strategies that promote a positive business climate in Texas. With 800 members, the TEDC is now the largest state economic development association in the nation.

For veterans who are degreed engineers, returning from harm’s way in Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere lands them alongside every civilian contending with one of today’s toughest battles at home – finding a job.

About 28,000 veterans using Monster.com are seeking engineering jobs, a spokeswoman said. About half are degreed.

In North Texas, their service earns help from Engineer Job Connect (EJC), a four-year, $5 million U.S. Department of Labor grant.

The grant gives companies in the aerospace, defense and manufacturing sectors an alternative to importing foreign engineers, officials say.

Through EJC, companies are assisted with on-the-job (OJT) training costs linked to hiring unemployed or underemployed degreed engineers who are veterans, women or minorities and who are either U.S. citizens or permanent residents who hold green cards.

Typically, all newly hired engineers must undergo OJT to learn their new jobs, said grant director Judy Bell of Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County, the local resource for employers and placement and training of jobseekers.

“Everyone’s systems are different, and there are a lot of things to learn,” Bell said. She said the grant’s formula pays training costs based on a company’s size and the engineer’s salary.

The Fort Worth Chamber is spearheading an innovative outreach campaign to applicants and businesses, said Betty Harvey of the Chamber’s Workforce and Economic Development department.

Among the businesses is the Grand Prairie arm of American Eurocopter, a leading provider of helicopters for U.S. civilian, parapublic and military markets such as the U.S. Coast Guard.

“This (EJC) program actually increases our hiring base,” said Audrey Elliott, American Eurocopter’s corporate secretary and vice president of Human Resources.

“By subsidizing training costs, it adds an incentive for us to look at a larger pool of job candidates,” she said.

One challenge is simply to get the word out about EJC to vets who are engineers, said Efren Villanueva, a Business Site manager for Texas National Guard Job Connection Education Program (JCEP). “So many don’t know about the program yet.”
Commitment to the community drives American Eurocopter’s EJC participation, Elliott said. “We are a Texas-based company, and we believe in helping out our local community and giving back to the local economy. Our participation in this program provides more opportunities for us to hire employees locally and increase their knowledge and technical skills. The majority of our training is also done locally, so the effect is doubled.”

“Many veterans may be fully qualified to work in a military setting, but they may not have the qualifications in the commercial environment. With (EJC), we can offset the expense of training and upgrade their skills so that they are fully qualified.”

For more information, businesses or applicants should visit EngineerJobConnect.com.

Workforce Solutions of Tarrant County Engineer Job Connect email:
EngineerJobConnect@workforcesolutions.net

As the Great Recession continues to abate and hiring levels in Texas are back on track, one of the most valuable services offered to local residents and employers is a comprehensive, easy-to-use, online job search resource and matching system.

WorkInTexas.com  (WIT) is a Texas-sized solution for Texans needing either employees or jobs.

The website provides recruiting assistance to Texas employers of all types and sizes, and job search assistance to any individual seeking work in Texas. WIT is a no cost, 24-7  job posting and advanced job matching service to help employers quickly find the best candidate. In addition to personalized job matching, WIT offers resume-building and other career tools.

“For more than 16 years, Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County has overseen and provided workforce development services to employers and job seekers throughout Tarrant County,” said Judy McDonald, Executive Director, Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County.  “We are excited about the new marketing campaign we have just launched for WorkInTexas.com. We feel this partnership with WIT will help us keep our charge to ‘Keep Tarrant County Working.’”

According to the site stats, there were 1,634 jobs posted in one day (July 25), with a total of 65,762 job openings, and 577,346 resumes posted. More than 1.9 million jobs have been filled since the website began operation.

For  information visit www.workforcesolutions.net or call 817.413.4400.

Parents of students attended a June job fair.

Morningside Middle School’s gym saw more than basketball action this summer.

The school hosted a job fair that included resume reviews and employers on site to help students’  family members in Southeast Fort Worth find jobs.

The school, in partnership with the Fort Worth Housing Authority, Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and the Southeast Kingdom Neighborhood Association, hosted a job fair on May 17 at the school located at 2751 Mississippi Ave. Twenty vendors participated and with 130 job-seekers.

The job fair’s goal was to “improve education by empowering parents with employment,” said Glenn Spoons, Go Center Coordinator for the Chamber’s Workforce & Education Department.

Carlos Walker, principal at Morningside Middle, and his staff provided a service and resource to help parents be better parents, said Spoons.

“Career fairs for students are common, but specifically for parents on a school campus may be a first for the FWISD,” she said. “It’s a great example of how schools can be involved in their communities and involve the community.”

Walker grew up in Morningside and became the school’s principal this year moving from vice principal at O. D. Wyatt High School. He’s now principal at Dunbar High School.

See additional feature in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram blog.

Ensuring local quality of life for future generations means deep support for public education — a cornerstone priority for the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and its members.

Vital Link students from Daggett Middle School and Daggett Montessori interned at the Fort Worth Chamber in June and assisted with various projects. (L to R) Doris Becker, Chamber; students Abraham Martinez, Sandra Carranza, Rod Simmons, Katelyn Aguilar, Lydia Vidales, Kendra Young, Charlie Nesser; and teacher Tracey Mince.

Chamber involvement in the Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD) ranges from fundraising and assistance with school events to sponsoring an annual Math & Science Camp, scholarship programs and GO Centers in schools and elsewhere to help students plan for careers and college.

“We’re very proud of our longstanding partnership with FWISD,” said Chamber President and CEO Bill Thornton. “We want to help make sure that students have every possible opportunity to succeed and strengthen Fort Worth.”

The partnership has launched many initiatives such as Project C3 (Classrooms, Corporations, Community) in the ’90s that spawned the Vital Link program. This annual weeklong summer initiative provides half-day internships at participating local companies, many of which are Chamber members, for sixth graders entering the seventh grade.

The aim is to help students connect what is learned in the classroom with what is needed to succeed in the workplace.

Examples, Thornton said, include high-impact initiatives such as involvement by the Chamber’s five area councils, each of which has adopted a school, and employment programs such as Distinguished Employers of Fort Worth Teens (DEFWT) in which participating companies provide employment for students and encouragement to succeed at school.

More than 60 businesses, ranging from restaurants to retailers and entertainment venues, participate in DEFWT as a resource for the more than 25 percent of FWISD teen students who work in either part-time or summer jobs.

The businesses agree to adopt practices and incentives that not only require school attendance as a condition of employment but also maintain an active interest in a student employee’s classroom performance.

Among the Chamber’s South Area Council (SAC) education initiatives is a partnership with First Command Educational Foundation (FCEF) that annually presents a $1,000 college scholarship to a college-bound senior at South Hills High School, SAC’s adopted school. The recipient is a participant in South Hills’ Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program. Twenty-eight Fort Worth ISD high schools are AVID sites.

“Our goal is to grow the program and support for these graduating seniors, encouraging recipients to further their education,” said SAC Chair Clint Sanders, business relationship specialist for Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital. “We hope to continue the program for many years to come.”

Go to www.fortworthchamber.com / Education to learn about all the Chamber’s long-standing education initiatives and area schools. 

List of Mentoring / Youth Services

Education Directory and ISD/SAT scores — 2011

Data provided by Strategic Insight Group
Intelligence Research Partner of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce

TTI Inc, a Fort Worth-based subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, completed the acquisition of Sager Electronics on April 4^th. Sager Electronics will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of TTI.
Fort Worth Business Press, April 5, 2012

ECi Software Solutions, a Fort Worth-based provider of business and e-commerce software solutions, has acquired BlueSky Systems Solutions Ltd, a back office systems supplier for the European office products industry based in Derbyshire, England.
Fort Worth Business Press, April 12, 2012

Lockheed Martin celebrated the delivery of the 4,500^th F-16 jet. Since 1978, over 3,500 F-16 jets have been produced at Lockheed Martin’s plant in Fort Worth, Texas. About 1,600 jobs at Lockheed Martin are tied to the F-16 program.
Star-Telegram, April 2, 2012

 Carter Burgess Plaza, the 40-story green-glass office tower at 777 Main Street in downtown Fort Worth, is being renamed 777 Main.
Star-Telegram, April 12, 2012

 Sales of existing single-family homes in North Texas continued to trend upward in March, improving 13 percent from a year ago.
Star-Telegram, April 10, 2012

Site Selection magazine named the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce one of the Top 20 Economic Development Groups in the United States for 2011. This is the fifth time the chamber has received this designation in the past eight years.
Fort Worth Business Press, April 24, 2012

 For more economic updates and news you may have missed, go here.

The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce is well on the way to retiring its pension debt, thanks to unprecedented financial support from the business community and bold moves by Chamber leaders, according to Patti Steelman, the Chamber’s controller and vice president.

A Texas-size thank-you to supporters is due and offered, she said.

Annual $100,000 payments through 2014 on a $1.2 million loan in 2010 from Chamber past-chairman Vernon Bryant’s Southwest Bank are funded, she said, “and we’re working on a plan to pay the lump-sum payment that will come due in 2015.”

The moves, including a shift to an employee 401(k) plan, stem from a Chamber decision to “bite the bullet,” she said, to correct a pension challenge that has become a common problem nationwide as private- and public-sector employers grapple with funding defined benefit plans.

The Chamber has used part of its reserves along with the loan and pension trust assets to liquidate the pension, Steelman said. Unique support from Fort Worth’s business community made the difference in response to Chamber leaders’ “Retire the Debt” fundraising initiative last year. The first such effort in Chamber history was spearheaded by the past 10 board chairs and several other Chamber leaders.

The initiative was “vital to the Chamber’s future,” Bryant said, particularly in terms of keeping and attracting skilled employees.

With the pension terminated and a financial strategy at work, the Chamber’s top financial priority is to get the debt retired so the staff can continue to drive the Chamber’s value to the business community, he said.

More than 50 companies and supporters responded to last year’s fundraising campaign:

Acme Brick Company; Anonymous (4); AZZ, Inc.; Balcom Agency; Bank of Texas; Bennett Benner Pettit Architects + Planners; BNSF Railway Company; Burnett Oil Co.; Cantey Hanger LLP, and Cash America International, Inc.

Colonial Savings, F.A.; Community Trust Bank; Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc.; First Command Bank; Freese and Nichols, Inc.; Frost Bank; Gachman Metals, and GM Financial.

Harvey Properties; Haynes and Boone, LLP; Healthpoint Biotherapeutics; Higginbotham; Hub International Rigg; Integra Realty Resources DFW; Jackson Walker, L.L.P.; JaGee Holdings, LLP; James R. Harris Partners, LLC, and JBC Funding LLC.

J.P.Morgan, Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP; Luther King Capital Management; Mac Churchill Acura; Moncrief Interests; OmniAmerican Bank; Oncor Electric Delivery; Plaza Medical Center of  Fort Worth, and Quicksilver Resources, Inc.

Roach Enterprises; Sanford, Baumeister & Frazier, LLP; Southwest Bank; Star-Telegram; Sundance Square; Texas Christian University; Texas Health Resources; Texas Jet, Inc.; The Ashton Hotel; The Dike Company, Inc.; The Fort Worth Club & Tower, and The Whitney Smith Company, Inc.

The Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth Hotel; Transwestern; TTI, Inc.; Vernon Bryant; Walsh Ranch LP; Wells Fargo; and Whitley Penn.

Our thanks also to the fundraising committee: Brian Barnard, Vernon Bryant, John Gavin, Allan Howeth, Tim Petrus, Danny Smith, Joe Thompson, Dan Berce, Tim Carter, Albon Head, Jeff King, John Roach, Whit Smith, Rice Tilley, Mike Berry, Arnie Gachman, Bob Herchert, Ben Loughry, Pollard Rogers, John Stevenson and Wes Turner.

In 1882, city leaders organized the Fort Worth Board of Trade to grow the “queen city of the plains.” Local prospects for economic expansion seemed limitless. Just like today. If that pioneer Board, which became the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce in 1912, could glimpse results of its vision 130 years later, there would be celebration, considering these Chamber highlights from 2011-12.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The Chamber’s Economic Development Division secured 15 projects in 2011 with estimated economic impact of $1.2 billion, according to an analysis by Austin-based Impact DataSource. The projects represent nearly 3,500 jobs, more than 3.2 million square feet of real estate and $587 million in capital investments.

GE Manufacturing Solutions announced an expansion of both its locomotive and mining equipment production to Fort Worth’s Alliance corridor.

At the forefront was GE Transportation’s selection of Fort Worth as the site for its new state-of-the-art locomotive manufacturing facility. The move will create about 500 high-tech manufacturing jobs and could add 275 more in the near future.

Bell Helicopter unveiled plans to invest around $240 million for 200,000 square feet of new offices and a 50,000-square-foot training academy at its Fort Worth headquarters; the plan will create 220 jobs. Alcon/Novartis announced an $18 million renovation and expansion to its campus, adding its Financial Service Center and 800 jobs.

FTS, International, formerly Frac Tech, bought a 558,000-square-foot building in Railhead Industrial Park for development as a state-of-the-art manufacturing, repair and testing operation, creating an estimated 800 jobs.

LinkAmerica, a regional transportation and logistics services provider, announced plans to expand to a 24,000-square-foot corporate office and training center in CentrePort Business Park. The move will create approximately 140 jobs.

Online broker TD Ameritrade announced plans for an $11.2 million remodeling and expansion of its 47,000-square-foot Alliance facility, which will create nearly 500 jobs by the end of 2015.

For the fifth time in the past eight years, Site Selection magazine named the Fort Worth Chamber as one of 2011’s Top 20 Economic Development Groups in the United States. The magazine ranked the GE Transportation locomotive manufacturing plant among the Top North American Deals of 2011.

“A Decade of Drilling,” a Chamber-commissioned economic and financial analysis of Barnett Shale impact, found that the gas play has become an im­mense and growing economic engine in the 24-county North Texas region and Texas. The analysis, conducted by The Perryman Group of Waco and released in September, estimated that 38.5 percent of the region’s economic growth since 2001 stems from Barnett Shale activity. Perryman estimated $11.1 billion in annual regional output alone.

International activity focused on exploring business and cultural opportunities in Mexico, Germany, Japan, China and Australia. Qantas Airways’ launch of non-stop service from DFW International Airport to Sydney and Brisbane opened new doors to the South Pacific region.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

The Chamber’s Distinguished Employers of Fort Worth Teens (DEFWT) program set a record for participation in 2011-12, more than doubling since launched in 2007. Some 69 employers in 288 locations are employing nearly 2,000 students in Fort Worth ISD schools.

The U.S. Department of Labor awarded a $4.9 million education and training grant to Workforce Solutions and partners, including the Chamber, to place 385 unemployed individuals in engineering and information technology jobs in the region’s aerospace industry.

Fort Worth Chamber staff provided oversight and technical assistance for GO Centers in all 13 of the Fort Worth Independent School District’s high schools and three alternative campuses as well as schools in other area ISDs. The centers and mentors help 7,500 students annually to research career ideas, college plans and financial aid.

Job Links EXCELerator helped employers to quickly fill openings. Presented by the Chamber and AT&T, the program announces an average of 500-1,200 jobs monthly.

GOVERNMENT AND URBAN AFFAIRS

The Chamber’s legislative agenda overcame budget knives and competing interests in the 82nd Legislature to win key victories. Efforts also blocked initiatives that could have ended the Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) and the Emerging Technology Fund (ETF). Legislation increased the Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) from $67 million to $150 million and transferred $20 million to workforce programs. Meanwhile, the Legislature freed up another $3 billion of bonding authority for transportation projects, which voters approved in 2007 when they passed Proposition 12

Long-awaited work began on the $103 million Tower 55 Multi-Modal Project southeast of downtown Fort Worth. The project will expand rail capacity by 30 percent at one of the United States’ most congested rail intersections. Plans for the public-private initiative led by BNSF Railway and Union Pacific include building a third north-south rail line and improvements at several pedestrian crossings to make them safer.

Groundbreaking ceremonies for Chisholm Trail Parkway in December included (visible l to r): NCTCOG Director of Transportation Micheal Morris, Senator Wendy Davis, Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, Mayor Betsy Price, Johnson County Judge Roger Harmon, NTTA Chairman Kenneth Barr, former Mayor Mike Moncrief, and Tarrant County Commissioner Roy Brooks.

Chisholm Trail Parkway groundbreaking ceremonies on Dec. 20 celebrated a 40-year-old dream come true. The $1.4 billion, 27.6-mile toll road from downtown Fort Worth south to Cleburne in Johnson County will end gridlock along I35 and in west Fort Worth while tapping extensive economic development potential along the way. The project is a collaboration between the North Texas Tollway Authority, Texas Department of Transportation, the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), Tarrant and Johnson counties, along with the cities of Fort Worth, Burleson and Cleburne, and Western Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad.

Fort Worth Chamber officials and members teamed up April 16-18 with the Dallas Regional Chamber for the bi-annual Congressional Summit with North Texas’ congressional delegation and policymakers in Washington, D.C.

MEMBER PROGRAMS

The Chamber expanded its membership benefit levelsto seven tiers to meet members’ business goals. Levels range from a base membership of $435 annually to $30,000+, depending on business size and benefits desired.

Members received more than 3,500 referrals from Chamber staff, and the online member directory was searched 42,936 times.

Archit Sanghvi, Pearl Hospitality, was a table leader at the Big Brainstorm, where Fort Worth’s young professionals shared and refined ideas for the city’s future.

Members of Vision Fort Worth, the Chamber’s program for Young Professionals, played central roles in the Big Brainstorm series, a community visioning partnership with young adults in Mayor Betsy Price’s Steer Fort Worth program. Facilitated by Leadership Fort Worth and incorporating branding research assistance from TCU’s Neeley School of Business, Brainstorm sessions gave residents age 20-40 an opportunity to share their ideas for making Fort Worth more competitive in attracting and retaining young talent.

Women Influencing Business leaders Cynthia Sadler (r ) and Lynn Montgomery (l) welcomed Barbara Pierce Bush as the keynote speaker at the inaugural Best Workplaces for Women Awards in November

A joint research project led by the Chamber’s Women Influencing Business (WIB) program set out to define ideal workplaces for women. With assistance from Texas Woman University’s Small Business Institute (SBI), work was done in collaboration with the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber and Metropolitan Black Chamber. Findings established criteria for the Chamber’s inaugural “Best Workplaces for Women” award.

Mayor Betsy Price sketched city priorities and initiatives in her first State of the City address. The Feb. 23 event at Fort Worth Convention Center drew 1,400 attendees, setting record levels of attendance. Price, who introduced a new Q&A format for response to the public’s questions, covered issues ranging from the city’s budgetary challenges to transportation priorities.

Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley inaugurated the annual State of the Countyreport. In a Nov. 17 presentation at the Omni Fort Worth hotel, Whitley outlined the county’s operations and involvement in a wide range of challenges affecting one of the United States’ fastest-growing counties. The event, originated by the Fort Worth Chamber, was presented by Tarrant Area Chambers of Commerce.

Judge Glen Whitley (l), seen here with Chamber Vice Chair Whit Smith, spoke at the first State of the County address in November.

Federal health care reform and wellness initiatives were explored at the Chamber’s annual Health Care Summit in November. The half-day event at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary focused heavily on reforms that are part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

The Chamber’s Impact Your Business series for small business executives was repackaged to deliver breakfast and lunch meetings with tight focus on professional and business-development topics suggested by members. About 1,000 attendees benefited from 10 workshops with topics like social media strategy, web marketing, selling a business and tax preparation.

The Chamber’s 25th annual Golf Classic Sept. 19 at Ridglea Country Club drew more than 300 players. The event is one of the Chamber’s largest fundraisers.

Dubbed the Sports Series, successful high-profile luncheons included the Colonial Preview, TCU football preview with Coach Gary Patterson and a Texas Rangers Q&A with CEO and president Nolan Ryan.

NEW MEDIA

My Chamber App, a free interactive mobile application, allows smartphone users to carry the chamber member directory in their pockets.  It’s available for iPhone, Droid and Blackberry.

An iPad sales presentation was developed that allows a customized approach for each prospective member meeting.

Digital versions of the Newcomer’s and Economic Development guides are now available along with print versions. Content also is carried on Livability.com and BusinessClimate.com for additional search engine optimization.

A suite of websites for the Chamber, Economic Development and Vision Fort Worth, with fresh design and improved navigation, is in development for launch this summer.

####

Data provided by Strategic Insight Group
Intelligence Research Partner of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce

TTI, a Fort Worth-based distributor of specialty electronic components is scheduled to acquire Sager Electronics for an undisclosed amount. Sager Electronics is a privately-held, employee-owned electronic component distributor. The deal is scheduled to close by April 2. Star-Telegram, March 20, 2012

According to the Texas Workforce Commission, Texas added 258,000 payroll jobs in the past year, and Fort Worth-Arlington added 23,600 jobs. Star-Telegram, March 10, 2012

The Dallas-Fort Worth area ranks fourth nationally in real-estate employment among the 843 metropolitan and micropolitan areas analyzed by On Numbers. Dallas-Fort Worth is the home to 7,172 real estate businesses that employ 57,056 people, On Numbers found by looking at data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The average employee in Dallas-Fort Worth earns $47,100. Locally 7,108 of those businesses are considered small businesses that employ 99 people or less, On Numbers reported. Dallas Business Journal, March 8, 2012

The Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau (FWCVB) in partnership with the Will Rogers Memorial Center (WRMC) has introduced a new ambassador hospitality program for equestrian shows and guests visiting WRMC. As part of the expanded program, a new mobile ambassador center will be placed in various locations around the Will Rogers complex during key events. The Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau has more than 75 volunteers that staff the two primary Visitor Information Centers in Fort Worth. Fort Worth Business Press, March 30, 2012

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport has plans to build a new Terminal A parking garage. This development will help to raise the parking capacity at the terminal by around 54 percent. According to the officials of the airport, construction on the $176.7 million garage would start in June. The initial phase of the garage is scheduled for opening in November. The whole structure is expected to complete by October 2014. Tendersinfo News, March 3, 2012

For more economic information, go here.