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Presented By
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FACES & PLACES 
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This only appears to be
Mayor Price Is Right explaining to
Chamber Board Chairman and
Bank of Texas President Mark (fancy socks) Nurdin how a verghase crossover leg kick can increase your bicycling speed 12 percent. She actually is answering questions from Chamber members after her State of the City luncheon address last week at the
Fort Worth Convention Center. Some of the highlights can be read below. The comfy chairs are courtesy of Abby Slayton-Tobin, owner of
There's No Place Like Home.
View additional pics from the event here, the Small Business of the Year Reception here and a variety of Chamber events
here.
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Cast my way, please: Mr. B hates to be such a tease, especially so early in your reading, but he was perusing the menu while outside the Cast Iron restaurant at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel. Mr. B only reads the menu; at 39 cents pay he can't afford to eat anything beyond 50 shades of spam. But thanks to this $100 gift certificate from Destiny Row at the Omni, you can. May Mr. B entice you with roasted pork chop with red delicious apple and sweet potato tamales? Chili rubbed chicken quesadillas? Smoked brisket savory pie? Grilled shrimp chipotle fettuccini? Or B's favorite sider -- bacon stuffed hash browns?
 Make it shine: One of the great things about Jerry's Express Car Wash is that express means about three minutes. Another of the great things about Jerry's Express Car Wash is the new cars get 30 days of free cleanings. And even another great thing about Jerry's Express Car Wash is that it uses just 40 gallons of water to wash a car on average. At home, you use about 140 gallons, according to a UTexas study. Chances are your car isn't new. But with this month of unlimited washings courtesy of Mr. Clean, Doug Cookston, for one car only you will knew it's not new.
This is a phat opportunity: Lipo did not give Mr. B the cool sculpted look he desired. So, his well-chronicled losing battle to love handles has taken him to hotelier fav April Dalton at the Fairfield Inn & Suites in west Fort Worth. (You should see the ratings its guests give it. Wow!) Aside from the pillow-top mattresses, the free high-speed Wi-Fi, the big TV and other perks, the Fairfield is a dieter's delight. There's a mini-fridge to keep your appetite mini. There's a gym with a ginormous amount of gear. And there's an indoor pool, where Mr. B is starting his non-profit swim team, Laps for Lipo. This one-night's stay and breakfast March giveaway is good any time through December and is courtesy of April.
S(p)oil me: We're probably not too far away from seeing some serious spring flowers, especially the bluebonnets that dot / overwhelm the grassy knolls of local highways. The Indian paintbrush, the Indian blankets and the drumming phlox (that's easier written than said) brighten our lives. Nobody tells the colorful story of plant life better than Glennscape Landscaping, and green thumber Darrell Samuelson has planted within this B2B Insider a landscape consultation (not design) and four flats of spring flowers.
Congratulations to February 22nd Prize Winners:
- Richie Escovedo, Balcom Agency
- Brian Jolin, Jolin Promo
- Beverly Rozanski, Tarrant Area Food Bank
- Dawn Sprayman, National Ovarian Cancer Coalition
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HE SAID, SHE SAID, THEY SAID
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(Kermit) Green with envy: Big Frog, franchises that print your t-shirts your way in about 60 croaks, has an annual Frog-a-thon convention. The approximately 90 franchisees gather to talk about growing their businesses by leaps and bounds. Fort Worth frogster Jackie Pierce won THE President's Award for 2016. "I do love Big Frog," she said. "Thank you (to everybody)."
Cooking up trouble: The woman who claims to be the original Ms. B, Barbara Higbee, Community Kitchen Manager at the Tarrant Area Food Bank, says all "is going fabulous! It's hard to believe that our Community Kitchen program is 10 years old. We have graduated 274 students."
Price drop on aisle 2: Mr. B was at table 127, which was two blocks over and down the hall from where Mayor Price Is Right was delivering her State of the City address to a huge crowd during a Chamber luncheon hosted by presenting sponsor Southwest Bank. And his hearing aids were on the blink. Here is his unreliable report:
- She's not picking a fight, but the Mayor would like a return to civility. "Compromise is not a bad word," she said.
- Two cents off the tax rate this year, probably another two cents next year and no taxes by 2021. (Maybe she said no tax change until 2021?)
- With the help of FitWorth, obesity is down in the Fort Worth ISD by 6 percent. In total, it is down 310,063,254 pounds.
- Fort Worth is the youngest big city in Texas; the average age is 31.6 years, meaning everybody qualifies for Business Press' 40-under-40 recognition this year.
Kudos: Congratulations to the Chamber Small Business of the Year winners. Emerging business: Alpha Industries; 1-10 employees: Z's Café; 11-50 employees: The Fulcrum Group; 51-150 employees: Southwest Office Systems. "I'm truly surprised we won," said Alpha Industries COO Jason Scoggins. "It's hard to make construction cool."
 Kung Fu dancing: John Hill, a Partner at Iron Egg Web Design, is a fan of anything Kung Fu. OK, a fanatic! He took five-year-old daughter Alice to a kids workout to see if she might like it. "I didn't want to force my will on her," John said. "After one special move, she looked at me and said, 'REALLY!"' Alice is signed up for twice-a-week workouts.
Spoke-n for: One of the key faces of Fort Worth Bike Sharing has rented a bike and ridden yonder down 7th to Summit for a new job. Sales & marketing whiz Tim Halden is the new veep of sales at Fort Worth Business Press. Nick Karanges sold his spot at the paper for a senior veep job at Innovative Developers.
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"If you have any problems with traffic, that's our competitors' (work)."
--
David Dryden, Civil Engineer
Teague Nall & Perkins
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Feeling secure: As landlines phase out and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) becomes more prominent, tyco / Johnson Controls security guy Jason Duling advises to check and make sure your security and fire alarm panels still work. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. Get a pro.
What would you do if...: There is a good chance that any entrepreneur near a TCU business faculty or student, or Frog alum business person, is going to be directed to Mike Sherrod, Entrepreneur in Residence at TCU's Neeley School of Business. Here are some of Sherrod's thoughts on hiring for startups and smaller businesses:
- "Do not hire for skills; you can train. Hire for culture. One bad person can destroy a workplace."
- Make sure it's a match in what you both believe; make sure you trust them; make sure you like them. "You better like them because the average startup lasts about the same as a marriage...seven years."
- Only hire people referred by people you know.
- You can't worry about firing people; you don't have time to wait for people to come around.
Start me up: According to Fort Worth super lender Erika Hersh, 54 percent of non-profit PeopleFund's loans go to startups.
To a healthy future: The Texas Health Resources' 45-foot mobile units with mammography and an exam room cost about $2 million each. The hospital pays for the medical personnel and driver and 100 percent of your charitable giving goes to uninsured patient care. The mobile units are on the road 10-to-12 hours a day.
Remember these Titans: The company out of TECH Fort Worth during the Ebola scare? E-Mist Innovations had portable electrostatic machines to disinfect the home of the Ebola-stricken nurse and Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. It now has its first school district client. Azle ISD has hired E-Mist Innovations and trained its staff to disinfect eleven campuses, athletic facilities and the transportation department. The company says its innovative portable application system uses 35-50 percent less chemical solution than a spray bottle.
 Thimble not nimble enough: The decision is sewn; Hasbro has killed the Monopoly piece thimble. RIP. The company has an online vote to choose the eight pieces that will be part of the real estate game going forward.
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MARK YOUR CALENDARS
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Date Event Name
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DIRECT MAIL STILL WORKS!
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 Use for direct mail to Chamber businesses. (Avery 5160)
Available formats:
- Geographic area set (North, South, Central, West, East; see map here. Contact Christine directly to order.)- $75 for Chamber members
- Full membership set (approx. 2,000 addresses)- $300 for Chamber members
Sorted by zip code. Visit our
eCommerce store to purchase (you must be logged in as a member to view "Members Only" products) or contact
Christine Gores
.
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