The Fort Worth Chamberletter

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

The DFW Delegation from the Dallas Regional and Fort Worth Chambers pose on the steps of our nation’s Capitol before the day’s briefings.

The Fort Worth Chamber’s bi-annual Congressional Summit put a delegation of Fort Worth Chamber members face-to-face with elected officials and other policymakers in Washington, D.C., last week.

Discussions covered a wide range of issues. While the Chamber group arrived with priority concerns, they placed a premium on briefings from policymakers.

“We have always left it to the legislators to talk candidly to us,” said Brinton Payne, the Chamber’s vice president of Government-Urban Affairs. “We wanted a sense of what’s happening in Washington and how it may translate and affect our members.”

Andrew K. Johnsen, assistant vice president of Governmental Affairs for BNSF Railway, said the trip was important because “competition occurs not just in the marketplace but among states and regions of the country.”

The trip demonstrated that “our community is united and committed to the priorities of a bright future,” Johnsen said, adding that he was looking for “a confirmation that we have alignment with our congressional delegation on the region’s priorities.”

Fran Eichorst, vice president of public affairs for Fidelity Investments, agreed, noting: “Fidelity welcomes any opportunity to meet with policymakers to discuss issues of interest or concern to them and to serve as a resource for them whenever possible. Likewise, we appreciate the chance to raise and discuss issues and concerns of the business community with Members of the Texas Congressional delegation and explore ways in which we may work together.”

Pollard Rogers, managing partner at Cantey Hanger, said the trip facilitated “a better understanding of the issues affecting our region and businesses.” Rogers said he wanted to gather “concrete ideas for creating support for political initiatives on a local level” and then communicate those ideas to clients.

Summit sponsors were Lockheed Martin, Cantey Hanger, LLP, North Texas Commission and TXU Energy.

For the first time, the Fort Worth Chamber’s summit trip was carried out jointly with members and staff of the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce and Dallas business leaders.

“The joint trip came out of a relationship that formed around shared interests related to water issues two Texas legislative sessions ago,” Payne said.

“Going to Washington together made sense in light of the importance that regionalism has attained as we all address matters of common interest, such as infrastructure and other growth-related priorities. Together, we created an opportunity to hear from a multitude of legislators and strengthen our relationship with our neighbors to the east.

“For the most part, the chambers have the same goals.”

Another first involved the Chamber’s use of social media to give members real-time reports.

“In addition to reporting the trip in our newsletter, the ‘virtual DC experience’ was communicated in real time via Facebook and Twitter to Chamber members and fans who are on those networks,” said Andra Bennett, the Chamber’s director of Communications.

“This allowed those followers to give immediate feedback to the staff and member delegation while they were in D.C.”

Members of Texas’ congressional delegation and Texas Senators John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison met with the Chamber groups April 21. An international dinner that night was keynoted by Ambassador Ron Kirk of Dallas.

On April 22, the Department of Defense briefed the Chamber delegations at the Pentagon, followed by a tour of the memorial there. They also visited Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors and received a private tour of the USS Fort Worth model.

Prior to the trip, the Fort Worth Chamber conducted an informal poll of membership to get a general sense of issues that were top-of-mind among members.

More than 400 responses focused primarily on energy, transportation, labor policy, economic policy, health care, national defense and tax policy.

Economic policy was the leading priority among more than 32 percent of respondents followed by taxes and health care, which were both identified as top priorities among more than 23 percent of respondents.

More links

• Fort Worth Chamber’s congressional issues poll results.

• Pentagon Memorial website.

• News about the USS Fort Worth.

• Fort Worth Chamber’s Facebook reports.

• Fort Worth Chamber’s Twitter reports.

Debate over health care reform echoes across the United States, from the White House and Congress to the grass-roots level, as the private and public sectors seek solutions to skyrocketing costs, questionable quality and uninsured Americans.

Fresh light will be thrown on the situation Nov. 2 when the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce convenes the 2009 Health Care Summit at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

Local, state and national experts will explore proposed reforms’ potential impact, including how changes could affect industries, governments, small businesses and consumers. Elected officials statewide have been invited to attend.

Keynote speaker will be Travis E. Baugh, president and COO of Fort Worth-based Healthpoint, Ltd., known widely for its research, development and marketing of branded pharmaceuticals, over the counter drugs and medical devices for tissue management and surgical indications. Healthpoint, with 270 employees, is an affiliate of DFB Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Baugh’s career spans nearly 30 years as a global operations and financial executive in several industries, including medical devices, oil and gas services, industrial retail and international publishing, according to H. Paul Dorman, chairman and CEO of Fort Worth-based DFB Pharmaceuticals.

His expertise in the health care industry gained depth while CEO of MicroMed Cardiovascular, Inc., a medical device manufacturing company that developed the DeBakey miniaturized heart pump in collaboration with NASA and famed heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey and his team at Baylor College of Medicine.

Other speakers will include John R. Graham of the San Francisco-based Pacific Research Institute, a non-profit, nonpartisan free-market advocate involved in public policy analysis and solutions development. Its Health Care Studies research center examines public policies’ effect on access to affordable, high-quality health care and advocates market-based solutions.

Dr. John C. Goodman, president and CEO of the Dallas-based National Center for Policy Analysis, which develops alternatives to government initiatives, will look at health care solutions within the private sector.

Tim Lee, a principal with Seattle-based independent actuarial consulting firm Milliman, Inc., will guide attendees through health care and health insurance issues for payers and providers.

The summit also will include perspective from CEOs of six local hospitals on how their budgets are affected by Medicare/Medicaid, emergency care for the uninsured, contracting with private insurance and other health-care forces.

Breakout sessions will include a physician’s view of health care reform by Dr. Susan Rudd Bailey of Fort Worth Allergy and Asthma Associates. Dr. Bailey is president-elect of the Texas Medical Association.

More Links

• National Coalition on Health Care.
• A federal government look at health care costs.

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