The Fort Worth Chamberletter

Marker placed on Tarrant Co. Courthouse grounds near TCU’s 1910 location

In the late 1870s, Fort Worth’s Hell’s Half Acre had too much rowdy action going on downtown for a Christian school. So the Fort Worth Board of Trade (now the Fort Worth Chamber) teamed with a landowner and Christian churches to bring the school that had become Texas Christian University back here in 1910.

TCU didn’t promise to stay more than 10 years. But 100 years later, the university celebrates a “Century of Partnership” with Fort Worth with a year-long series of events.

In the first public event, the Chamber and TCU team up again with the dedication of a Heritage Trails historical marker sponsored by TCU, Monday, August 30 at 10 a.m. on the east lawn of the Tarrant County Courthouse at the corner of Commerce and Weatherford Streets, near the site where TCU leased space in 1910.

“TCU and the City of Fort Worth have enjoyed a mutually-beneficial relationship for the past 100 years,” said TCU Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. “Through this relationship, TCU has been able to grow and evolve into the world-class, values-centered University it is today. It is hard to imagine TCU without Fort Worth.”

“Partnership is the perfect word” to describe the relationship of the Chamber of Commerce and TCU, said Mac McLain, chairman of the Fort Worth Chamber Foundation, which funds the Heritage Trails project. “With the Foundation’s focus on education – from early childhood to post-secondary studies – it’s fitting that a Heritage Trails marker chronicles a piece of Fort Worth’s long-time support of higher education.”

Bill Thornton, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Chamber, echoed that. “Companies are looking for intellectual capital when they consider investing in or relocating to Fort Worth, and TCU’s rich history and prestige bring positive attention to our area’s strength in higher education.”

After beginning in Thorp Spring, Texas, in 1873, TCU moved to Waco, Texas. A fire destroyed the Waco campus in 1910, leading the University to seek other locations. After receiving proposals for multiple Texas cities, TCU selected Fort Worth based on its generous offer from civic leaders. The University spent a year in a series of rented buildings in downtown Fort Worth until moving to its present location in 1911. TCU will celebrate this return and partnership with the city of Fort Worth over the next year through a series of events and activities.

In about six months, the TCU marker will be mounted on granite and positioned at a two-foot slant in the same location.

For more information on the Century of Partnership, visit www.worthcelebrating.tcu.edu. For information about Heritage Trails, visit www.fortworthheritagetrails.com.

What the Heritage Trails marker says

Texas Christian University and Fort Worth’s partnership dates to 1910, although the connection began in 1869 when Ida, Addison and Randolph Clark established TCU’s forerunner academy in the area known as Hell’s Half Acre. The rowdiness of the area persuaded the Clarks to relocate their school to the country.

So began the moves and changes that led TCU to Thorp Spring, Waco and back to Fort Worth in 1910, after fire destroyed the main building on the Waco campus.

The Fort Worth Board of Trade, an antecedent of the Chamber of Commerce, the Fairmount Land Company and the city’s Christian Churches offered 50 acres, $200,000 and promises of utilities and a street car line, outbidding Waco and Dallas.

Until facilities were constructed on “the Hill” – site of the present campus – in 1911, TCU leased space downtown in Ingram Flats, a series of two-story brick buildings at Weatherford and Commerce Streets.

Background on Heritage Trails

Twenty-three bronze sidewalk markers, concentrated on Main Street from Heritage Park to the Water Gardens, tell the story of Fort Worth’s history, people, places and events. A seven-foot-tall, powder-coated steel kiosk at the corner of Main and Second Streets serves as a downtown directory and provides Heritage Trails guide maps.

A joint project of the Fort Worth Chamber Foundation, Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Downtown Fort Worth, Inc., Heritage Trails plaques educate and entertain residents and visitors who are intrigued with Fort Worth’s history and western heritage. The markers bear a signature cubistic longhorn design from 1936 by Evaline Sellors, a sepia-toned screened illustration, and a brief historical narrative. Each four-foot-tall, freestanding marker is sponsored by a local business or organization.

In 2002, Heritage Trails project was launched as the legendary Sleeping Panther sculpture by Deran Wright was installed on the lawn of the Tarrant Co. Administration Building, recalling the 1873 Dallas Herald column citing Fort Worth was such a quiet town that a panther was seen sleeping on Main Street.

Some Chamber members may be asking “Who moved my cheese?” when looking for their Small Business professional and personal development programs.  But as the best-selling book of that title declares, “movement in a new direction helps you find new cheese.”

The Chamber’s Minding Your Business and Lunch & Learn programs for small businesses have been combined into one series called “Impact Your Business,” which will include breakfast, lunch and happy hour networking events. Presenting sponsor of the series is Sandler Training; platinum sponsor is Charter Business.

Because small businesses comprise about 90 percent of the Chamber’s membership, this segment is critical to our organization and to our local economy.  So members of the Chamber’s Small Business Council (SBC) Committee have re-invigorated the group’s programs.

The committee, chaired by Ray Dickerson, Fort Worth market president of American National Bank of Texas, includes past Small Business of the Year winners, sponsors, regular attendees to SBC programs and some “new blood” that had not been previously engaged.

“This committee is made up of a diverse group of businesses that are a great representation of the overall demographics of the chamber, so we can be most effective,” said Scott Sherwin, president of Sandler Training. “The council focused on topics that would benefit small businesses, putting them as the primary focus and including sessions that are pertinent to them today.”

Lydia Hall, the Chamber’s senior director of business services, pointed out a need to expand the program to a broader membership audience.

“Previously, we had good programming and the participation was steady, but we had a lot of no-shows that would prohibit other members from attending,” she said.  “With the changes, we’ve gone from about 40 to 50 attendees to sold-out luncheons with 100 attendees.”

Hall began the SBC program revamp with a survey of member small businesses with 150 employees or fewer.  Questions about time of day, value and quality of the programs, and desired topics yielded data for staff and the committee to base decisions. The committee focused on topics and speakers, while staff researched affordable venues conducive to networking, learning, ease of parking and other factors.

“I am really excited about some of the changes the committee has made for this year,” said Pepper Hudson, owner of Pepper-L-Specialties. “Reducing the length of time of the morning meetings, starting them earlier and allowing time before the meeting for networking will be a great benefit. It will allow us to be back in the office a little after 9 a.m. to start the day.”

Next up, the SBC committee will look at continuous improvement of the Small Business of the Year award program and encourage more businesses to nominate or apply for the recognition.

“Winning Small Business of the Year has been the biggest boost to Alexander Chandler Realty than anything else we have done,” said Alexander Chandler, president of Alexander Chandler Realty. “The recognition has been nothing short of phenomenal and I encourage anyone who is a member to apply and nominate your peers.”

A schedule of the year’s programs is here. Please contact Lydia Hall with suggestions or comments.

This school year’s opening bell rang in a new era at the Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD).

Beginning now and by the fall of 2011, Gold Seal Programs of Choice will be changing students’ focus from just getting a high school diploma to graduating with certified strengths for post-secondary career paths. Those paths may lead to either higher education or immediate entry into the workforce with marketable credentials for jobs in many industries.

“We are preparing for a world we can’t even imagine, because it’s changing so quickly,” said FWISD Superintendent Melody Johnson. “This is just the beginning.”

Tailored to students’ interests, plans call for each high school to offer Gold Seal programs next year for careers in high-demand areas in North Texas such as health science technology, architecture/construction, aerospace engineering, information technology, arts and audiovisual technology, culinary arts and advanced media.

“Goodbye, old mass-production model of education,” the district’s annual report states. “Hello, new Gold Seal Programs of Choice. These highly specialized courses of study target areas that strongly interest students and provide hands-on, real-world experiences to prepare them for the job market of the future.”

“A workforce pipeline can’t be built by classroom education alone. Students must see a purpose in classroom instruction to remain motivated,” said Cynthia Miller, the Chamber’s senior director of Workforce/Education. “Gold Seal will help employers easily identify high school programs that correlate with their business endeavors.”

Budgets and program lineups should be ready for school board consideration by October, administrators say.

The programs eventually will extend into middle schools where students will select and begin studies for career paths. “We know kids might change their mind, but we want them going into high school with a (career) vision in mind,” Mike Sorum, FWISD chief academic officer, told the school board in a March presentation.

Two Gold Seal programs launched this month:

– Young Women’s Leadership Academy (YWLA) at 1066 W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth’s first single-gender public school, provides 75 sixth-grade students and 75 seventh-grade students with advanced academics and a focus on Science, Math, Engineering and Technology (STEM) courses. Students were selected according to a number of criteria, including academic performance, attendance, student leadership and behavior, teacher assessment and an essay.

A Young Men’s Leadership Academy will open next year. Both single-gender academies will relieve students of social and cultural pressures found in coeducational settings, administrators say, and will help them to concentrate on studies and development of personal strengths. Both academies eventually will extend through the 12th grade.

Led by Principal Mia Hall, YWLA partners with the Addison-based Foundation for the Education of Young Women; Girls, Inc. of Tarrant County, and Motorola, which has provided a $25,000 grant.

– Texas Academy of Biomedical Sciences (TABS) at W.C. Stripling Middle School opened with a $720,000 grant from the Sid Richardson Foundation.

The “school within a school” partners with the University of North Texas Health Science Center in preparing 74 eighth graders gifted in math and science for degree programs and careers in biotechnology, biomedical science research and medical fields.

Administrators expect TABS enrollment to grow to more than 400 students in grades 9-12 by 2013.

A third Gold Seal program, Southwest High School’s Southwest Academy of Petroleum Engineering and Technology, began its second year this month. The academy partners with the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA). Students will graduate fully prepared for college or the energy-related workplace where they can begin careers in areas such as chemical, graphic or computer engineering, geology and computer science.

Industry experts provide extra training for teachers. The IPAA brings engineers into the classroom to mentor students and share special insights. Field trips include visits to production sites where students see how their lessons apply in the professional world.

Such private-sector involvement and mentoring are vital to Gold Seal students’ success, Johnson said.

Gold Seal programs “will require time and resources, human and financial,” Johnson said. “But we owe this to our children, to their future and our own.”

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• Young Women’s Leadership Academy
• Texas Academy of Biomedical Sciences
• Southwest High School’s Southwest Academy of Petroleum Engineering and Technology

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

The Brenham-based dairy and ice cream maker [Blue Bell] recently bought 2,288 acres at 9351 Harmon Road, near Interstate 35W and US 287, where it plans a 12,000 square-foot distribution center, its first expansion in Fort Worth since 1981.
Star-Telegram, June 28, 2010

The Cowboys leased 1,126 square feet at 310 Main St., where the team plans to open a pro shop in time for the first preseason game Aug.12.
Star-Telegram, June 17, 2010

Board members [of the Tarrant Regional Water District] announced the decision to purchase 42 acres just north of the Trinity River and downtown Fort Worth for $17.5 million. The land was part of Cats owner Carl Bell’s 60-acre portfolio surrounding LaGrave Field, which is home to the minor league Cats baseball team.
Fort Worth Business Press, June 15, 2010

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board announced Monday that it is launching a pilot program in Fort Worth and San Antonio to amplify some words of parental wisdom: Go to college…The initial two years of Generation TX is funded by a $3 million federal College Access Challenge Grant.
Star-Telegram, June 8, 2010

Texas Christian University exceeded a $250 million fundraising goal two years before the campaign’s 2012 conclusion…
Star-Telegram, June 23, 2010

You may have seen in last month’s Chamberletter that the Fort Worth Chamber has enthusiastically endorsed Journal Communications as the new publisher for our 2011 Newcomer and Economic Development Guides.

We are thrilled to announce that companion websites will also feature fresh, new expanded content, video, photo galleries and more.

“The Chamber conducted an extensive RFP process, with the guidance of a task force of Chamber members in health care, real estate, education and marketing,” said Marilyn Gilbert, executive vice president of marketing. “We were impressed by Journal’s 22 years of success in both producing and marketing chamber-specific magazines. We think advertisers will be delighted with the quality of the magazines as well as the addition of digital opportunities.”

Journal publications are distinguished by strong photography and video images, attractive graphic design and well-written editorial content. Journal also produces stand-alone websites for additional content and search engine optimization.

Journal’s clients include the Texas Economic Development Division of the Office of the Governor, the Greater Pueblo, Co. Chamber of Commerce, and the Greater Akron Chamber. Last year, they delivered 94 magazines across the United States.

Showcasing the best of Fort Worth’s people, places and progressive business climate, these magazines will reinforce the area’s favorable quality of place while also targeting prospective residents, employees, businesses and visitors.

The magazines will be distributed by the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce as well as through key local businesses, trade shows, conferences and events throughout 2011, including Super Bowl guests!

“Forward-thinking communities like Fort Worth are what every person considering a move, and businesses seeking to relocate, want to find out about,” says Ray Langen, executive vice president for Journal Communications. “What better way to get this information to this specific audience than through a magazine and website containing the exact information they need? We are proud to partner with such a progressive area.”

Journal’s advertising rep Rhonda Graham will be contacting members in August with specifics. For more information, or contact Cindy Hall, Sales Support Manager at (800) 333-8842 or at chall@jnlcom.com.

When Eric Schrader and Gil Laserna sought a name in 1997 for their new fence company, they took their clue from the busy buzz of honey bees’ teamwork and human word-of-mouth news about something exceptional.

The result: Buzz Fence Services, now known as Buzz Custom Fence, a small business that has followed future-focused strategic planning, research and other best practices to expand across the Metroplex while adding new products and services every year and picking up a wide range of awards along the way.buzz 1

They won the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce’s 2006 Small Business of the Year Award in the 1-10 Employees category. This year they won the award in the 11-50 Employees category, reflecting company growth even during economic recession.

Buzz Custom Fence’s President Denise Schrader, Vice President Eric Schrader and General Manager Gil Laserna lead a two-time winner of the Small Business of the Year award.

Presented by American National Bank of Texas, 2010 SBOY winners were announced during Mayor Mike Moncrief’s State of the City address at the Fort Worth Convention Center. Sponsors included the Fort Worth Business Press, The Neely Entrepreneurship Center at TCU and Raymond James & Associates Inc.

Certified as woman-owned, Buzz Custom Fence serves a diverse mix of residential and commercial customers, including producers in the Barnett Shale natural gas play.

“I am proud to say that we work for every major producer in the Barnett Shale and many other suppliers and vendors that support the industry here,” said Mishelle Lancaster, Buzz Custom Fence marketing manager.

President Denise Schrader, Vice President Eric Schrader and General Manager Laserna focus the company on customer satisfaction, strong relationships with suppliers and building employees’ expertise. “A knowledgeable and experienced employee is a premium,” Lancaster said, “and the key to the Buzz success story.”

During winters, she added, “we spend countless hours designing and developing our game plan for the upcoming year. By doing this we can be staffed correctly, resolve weaknesses, have viable goals and targets for the new year and have a map that keeps us pointed toward our original vision.”

Quality control measures involve a 6-step program that includes Sales Quality Audit cards with which customers evaluate the design specialist’s performance after the initial presentation. Customers also receive Service Quality Audit cards after completion of a job.

Buzz Custom Fence gives high priority to community involvement. “We are fortunate that our industry lends itself to being able to help others,” Denise Schrader wrote in the SBOY application. The company has donated materials and labor to numerous non-profit operations, from churches and charitable agencies to downtown Fort Worth events.

Such involvement reflects character, Lancaster said, as does the SBOY award. “Winning the award shows a high level of integrity, and we are most proud of that. It’s our goal to promote small business, and all business, in Fort Worth. Winning the SBOY of 2010 has given us a magnificent platform from which to do that.”

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Buzz Custom Fence website.

2010 Small Business of the Year Award winners.

A bilateral trade partnership between Fort Worth, Germany’s Free State of Lower Saxony and its capital, Hannover, is taking shape in moves that may pay off within a year.

“Our goal is to have Fort Worth companies doing business with Germany by 2011,” said David Berzina, the Chamber’s executive vice president of Economic Development. “Germany is the No. 1 economy in the European Union. They have a history of producing quality product,” and their businesses and industries match up well with Fort Worth’s.

There’s also interest in expanding trade relationships between Fort Worth and cities in China, Berzina said.

China

In early May, representatives from the Chamber and the City’s Economic Development Department joined a six-day Fort Worth Sister Cities trip to Zhaoqing, China, just northeast of Hong Kong — a “small town” with a population of more than 4 million.

They also visited the modern, industrial “forest city” of Guiyang, population around 4 million, more than 400 miles farther northeast in the Guizhou Province. Guiyang’s green mountainous setting makes it one of China’s top tourist destinations.

Both cities were finalists to become Fort Worth’s eighth sister city. Guiyang won the recommendation.

Chamber Research Manager Lacy Kreger posted daily blog descriptions of developments as the delegation explored each city’s rich cultural and education strengths and business possibilities with help from Fort Worth executive Walter Chaing, CEO of CP&Y engineering consulting firm, who served as translator and advisor.

Germany

In Lower Saxony and its capital city of Hannover, the June 21-25 trade mission established numerous relationships that are opening a path to bilateral trade.

Berzina and Melonye Whitson, the Chamber’s director of Local Business Development, met with business, industry and university representatives who are key players in the state’s recovery from global recession-related challenges.

Ulrich Hartmann, a Hannover native who holds a B.A. and MBA from Texas Christian University and who considers Fort Worth as his second hometown, began discussion with the Chamber last year about the trade mission.

Hartmann supports and facilitates business development for key businesses in Hannover Region and Lower Saxony – a role that involves monthly trips to Fort Worth for meetings with business and industry leaders here.

“I have always been interested in seeing a business exchange between Fort Worth and Hannover Region since my days at TCU business school,” Hartmann said. “The dominant industry sectors in Fort Worth and Hannover Region are complementary: production technology, logistics, energy solutions, IT and communications technology.”

Whitson reported on the trade mission with daily blog posts on the Chamber website, including sessions with Deutsche Messe, which manages Hannover’s 11-million-square-foot, 27-hall convention complex, the world’s largest and home of CeBIT, the world’s largest computer trade show, and Hannover Fair, the world’s largest industrial show.

At every meeting, Chamber representatives “were enthusiastically welcomed, and the conversations were positive and productive,” Hartmann said. “We are encouraged.”

Deutsche Messe will share its massive database of participants with the Chamber and will assist with other details as Kreger, Whitson and Berzina refine matchups between businesses and industries here and in Lower Saxony and Hannover.

Hartmann will bring a trade delegation from Hannover and Lower Saxony to Fort Worth October 26. Part of the mission will include sessions on Texas accounting rules, laws, banking and real estate.

The Chamber is weighing a trade exchange in the spring of 2011, Berzina said, and is considering how to communicate with members who may want to participate in the 2011 CeBIT in March and Hannover Fair in April.

“You’ll see us get behind an awareness campaign with Germany,” he said, while searching for additional domestic and international business. “We’re out there looking for opportunity.”

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Trade Mission details, Oct. 24-28

Hannover economic report.

Lower Saxony state profile.

As you know, our City is facing a $73 million budget shortfall for 2011 and City Manager Dale Fisseler has asked for community input regarding both short- and long-term solutions.

News articles in the Business Press and the Star-Telegram provide good background. Also, the City website has a thorough presentation here.

We would like your opinions on specific actions and solutions you would support for the 2011 budget. The Chamber will present this collective feedback from our membership to the Mayor and City Manager.

We also invite you to attend public hearings on Aug. 17, Aug. 24 and Sept. 7.

Please take a few minutes to answer several questions at this link:
http://www.fortworthchamber.com/survey/index.php?sid=95675&lang=en

A separate questionnaire will be sent in several weeks specifically regarding modifications to the City’s pension, benefit and retirement plans and how that impacts the budget.

Your participation is vital to the Chamber’s advocacy efforts on behalf of local business.  Thank you.

When Sherry Green and Allen Spinner founded Technology Team, LLC, in 2003, they were sure they’d plugged into a wide-open niche in the moving business – helping companies dismantle, relocate and reinstall their information technology.

Green had owned a catering business, working part-time disconnecting and reconnecting computers for Spinner, who was a technical services manager for a local moving company. They pooled their technical and business expertise to form Technology Team with Green as majority owner.

“Relocation of data centers had the potential to be a booming business, because no one was doing them,” Green and Spinner said in a joint statement.

Revenue growth of 1,132 percent validates not only their idea, but also the innovative entrepreneurship they’ve practiced along the way.

Such achievement earned Technology Team the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce’s 2010 Small Business of the Year Award (SBOY) in the 1-10 Employees category, adding another major award in a string of honors the woman-owned company has chalked up.

A key to Technology Team’s approach is the focus on full involvement of employees, customers, moving companies and all other service providers a project requires, all of whom also conduct ongoing evaluation throughout the job and afterward.

“Vendor relationships are the norm in the relocation industry,” Green and Spinner said, but “we see vendor relationships as adversarial, which is the low end of a relationship. We create a team environment where the sum of all is wiser than any one. This creates responsibility and accountability.”

Technology Team’s “smart expertise” is built around nearly 60 results-driven, part-time technicians who prefer flexible schedules and are deeply loyal to the company.

They and other staffers, along with Green and Spinner, give back to the community through involvement with a wide range of organizations such as the National Association of Women Business Owners, Tarrant County College Small Business Development Center, churches and programs aimed at providing business training to low-income women and men.

Entering the Chamber’s SBOY competition refreshed their perspective on Technology Team, they said. “We took a different look at our business. We believed we had made major accomplishments in 2009 and the application forced us to recognize and verbalize our accomplishments.

“We believe the Chamber award is the most prestigious award in Fort Worth,” they said. And in their entry narrative, they noted another belief: “No one has the passion of the entrepreneur.”

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Technology Team’s website.

2010 Small Business of the Year Award winners.

The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and members moved forward on many fronts in 2009.

Advocacy

History was made when the Fort Worth Chamber and the Dallas Regional Chamber traveled for the first time as partners to Washington, D.C., for the biannual Congressional Summit with elected representatives and other policymakers. As allies, the chambers carried significant impact in making sure that regional issues such as transportation, water and air quality are top of mind on Capitol Hill. The chambers introduced another first – use of social media (Facebook and Twitter) during the trip to keep members and the public updated back home.

On the state level, with Chamber officials and members helping to rally support, voters in the November election approved a critical success measure in establishing more Tier 1 universities in Texas when they passed a constitutional amendment that creates a $500 million National Research University Fund. Local institutions moving toward Tier 1 status are the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of North Texas in Denton.

The Chamber presented a Health Care Summit as federal health care reform stirred many questions and issues. Attracting 230 attendees, mostly from the health care industry, the summit included speakers and panelists who examined the future of health care and reforms’ impact on business. Topics ranged from “Health Insurance 101” to “The Physician’s Perspective on Reforming Health Care.”

Dream comes true

The SH 121/Southwest Parkway project was put into motion after lingering for years as only a vision but an ongoing priority championed by the Chamber. Beginning at I-30 near downtown Fort Worth, the four- and six-lane toll road will tap new dimensions of southwest Fort Worth’s development potential while providing long-needed relief from increasing traffic congestion. Southwest Parkway will extend 14 miles toward the Johnson County line where it will become the 13-mile Chisholm Trail segment extending south to U.S. 67 in Cleburne. Officials hope to have the project open to traffic by 2013.

Game on

Planning for next year’s Super Bowl XLV led the Chamber, city officials and leaders from other key local organizations on a high-stakes reconnaissance mission to south Florida for Super Bowl week. The advance team explored how the massive Super Bowl universe works as it engulfs an area. Of key interest was how south Florida entities were balancing normal delivery of services to citizenry with other emerging challenges.

Fort Worth will serve as the American Football Conference (AFC) host city next February, thrusting the public and private sectors and infrastructure into new dimensions of services delivery, tourism management, economic development and international media exposure. Super Bowl-related benefits could enhance the city’s outlook for years beyond game day.

The Chamber joined other local officials for a fact-finding trip to Indianapolis aimed at generating ideas on how Fort Worth can tune its economic engines to pull more economic impact from the million-plus attendance at Texas Motor Speedway events. In Indianapolis, the public-private sector team learned about strategies and practices that have made and keep that legendary auto racing capital an annual destination for fans from around the world.

Tickets to TMS races are sold in all 50 states. Televised races are broadcast internationally, giving Fort Worth exposure in approximately 60 countries.

Honors

Small Business of the Year winners were announced at Mayor Mike Moncrief’s State of the City address. Emerging Business – Alexander Chandler Realty; 1-10 Employees – Technology Team, LLC; 11-50 Employees – Buzz Custom Fence; 51-100 Employees – Worthington National Bank.

Native West Texan Vernon Bryant, Jr., chairman and CEO of Southwest Bank, was inducted into the Business Hall of Fame as Fort Worth’s 2009 Business Executive of the Year.

The Fort Worth Farm & Ranch Club, an independent arm of the Chamber, named Tarrant County cattleman James E. “Jim” Link as the 2010 recipient of the W.A. “Bill” King Award for Excellence in Agriculture.

Grooming future leaders

Vision Fort Worth, the Chamber’s program for young professionals, launched a mentorship initiative that pairs YPs with Chamber board members committed to helping groom Fort Worth’s future business and civic leaders by sharing experience and connections. The ultimate goal is to empower young professionals with knowledge and a network for deeper involvement in community affairs.

Sold on Fort Worth

A wide array of companies moved operations to Fort Worth during 2009. Leading the way were four companies that alone created more than 1,400 new jobs. Q-Edge, a Taiwan-based international giant in electronics assembly and distribution, relocated to Alliance Global Logistics Hub. DT Credit Corporation of Phoenix opened a new call center at CentrePort Business Park. Vetoquinol, France-based international source for veterinary drugs, opened its U.S. headquarters in Mercantile Center. International HVAC leader Coaire Corporation of Los Angeles opened a new manufacturing and distribution center at Northern Crossing Business Park.

The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce was recognized as one of the Top 20 Economic Development Groups in the U.S. by Site Selection magazine.

The Dallas-Fort Worth region was recognized by Southern Business and Development magazine as the top major market of the decade. Each year, the magazine ranks states and markets in the South based on projects that landed at least 200 jobs and/ or at least $30 million in investment or more.

Ten big steps in 2009.
http://www.fortworthchamber.com/letter/?p=1369

 After 50 years as a dream, Southwest Parkway gets the green light.
http://www.fortworthchamber.com/letter/?p=1537

 Dallas, Fort Worth chambers form historic partnership for Congressional Summit.
http://www.fortworthchamber.com/letter/?p=1593 

Planning for Super Bowl XLV leads a local advance team to Super Bowl Week in south Florida.
http://www.fortworthchamber.com/letter/?p=1421