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Presented By
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FACES & PLACES 
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Outgoing Chairman Mark Nurdin,
Bank of Texas,
passes the gavel to Incoming Chairman Allyson Baumeister,
CliftonLarsonAllen
, at the April 20 Fort Worth Chamber Board of Directors meeting. Allyson will be the third woman to chair the board in the Chamber's 135 years. We appreciate Mark's leadership and heavy lifting this past year, and look forward to Allyson's leadership as we launch our multi-year strategic plan later this fall.
See the rest of the Chamber's Board of Directors here.
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Mac, no knife:
We could discuss the rib eyes, the Chilean sea bass, the double cut lamb rib chops or even the veal tomahawk chop. We could daydream about the thickest, juiciest burger imaginable, topped with bacon and bleu cheese. All would be capital ideas for lunch. But no, today's Capital Grille testimonial is to the grandest sider of them all, the Lobster Mac 'N Cheese, labeled "as magnificent as it sounds" by menu makers. There is something glorious and magical about the combination of upper crust lobster with kiddie mac 'n cheese. Hostess with the mostest Gloria Starling says to give it a try with this Capital Grille lunch for two.
Mommy dearest: Most moms start a phone conversation (landline) with "Hi." Not the Bodacious Mom B. "Hey B," she says, "you doing your annual gift card giveaway to The Velvet Box for Mother's Day? If so, can you hurry it up. I'm 87 and not sure I'll make it to Mother's Day." Bodacious Mom B forgets that she is ineligible to win. You, however, are eligible and the finest gift items for adults are in The Velvet Box stores around north Texas. Marcelle LeBlanc has built a transparent dynasty and two readers each will get to play with a $50 gift card. Buy your own, mom. Love, B.
 I'm tuned into this! There's lots of great Mexican food in Fort Worth. The best mariachis, however, are at
Los Vaqueros, where Mr. B and the Prospective Ms. B take the niece and nephew nippers, who sing, dance and order the $22 steak. All the Bs are going to
Cruzar la Cara de la Luna at
Bass Performance Hall May 7 at 2 p.m.
Cruzar
blends mariachi and opera music to tell a story of a family divided by borders and its struggle to exist between two cultures. It features the Mariachi Vargas De Tecalitlán, a Mexican folk ensemble of mariachi music that traces its start to 1897.
B2B Insider hummed a few notes and
Fort Worth Opera delivered four sets of two tickets.
Eat, drink & be merry:
When Cristina Ruiz-Goodwin, the Mayor of West 7th, told Mr. B about Bites & Flights, he thought revelers would gather outside between Pinnacle Bank and Fidelity Investments May 7th and count their money while drones delivered food from fabulous restaurants. No surprise, Mr. B was wrong. Cristina explains that for $25 you get a complete sample tasting from every participating restaurant and for $12 you get a commemorative wine glass and five tasting tickets from the wine tasting pagoda. And an afternoon of music. Don't drone on and on while considering; last year, Bites and Flights sold out at 400 peeps. Fly with B2B Insider and you'll get two food and two wine tasting wristbands.
Plant me there: Those BRITS know how to party. Not the Londoners, our BRITS. The Botanical Research Institute of Texas has expanded its free Prairie Day festival (all plants, all day May 13) to include a ticketed Prairie Night (6 p.m. May 12). The inaugural Prairie Night includes interactive games, complimentary photos and props, three hours of live entertainment and much more. Tammie (not Cole or Creole) Crole dished up two VIP tickets to Prairie Night, which includes preferred seating, two drink tickets, hors d'oeuvres by a celebrity chef, a t-shirt and the decision-to-buy clincher ... air-conditioned restrooms.
Congratulations to April 19th Prize Winners:
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Robert Sturns, City of Fort Worth
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Sunny Brous Erasmus, Junior Achievement of the Chisholm Trail
- Melinda Edwards, Life Care Centers of America
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Chris Gebhardt, Lackland Security
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HE SAID, SHE SAID, THEY SAID
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Appetite to sell! Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty realtor Michael Crain says when he sells Texas Rangers owner Bob Simpson's $7 million house he gets a commission -- two season tickets and a nightly Most Valuable Tamale. That's a 2-foot tamale filled with the Rangers' 24-inch Boomstick hot dog and covered in chili and nacho cheese.
Food for thought: Bo Soderbergh, king of all kitchens at Tarrant Area Food Bank, told TCU students the mission wasn't to "end hunger," but to make sure "no one has to go hungry."
Boss bravo! Boss Miserly Mistress asked Mr. B to nominate her BY FRIDAY, MAY 5 for the Chamber's Susan Halsey Executive leadership Award. "Hahaha...lol...hahaha...lol" 12 years without a raise; no way. Hopefully, you've got a better boss, an all-star boss. Halsey, an attorney, was Chairman of the Chamber Board of Directors during 2013. She was a great boss, at her firm and over the Chamber. Her award honors a president, principal or CEO who "strengthens and transforms" an organization they lead. Lillie Biggins, president of Texas Health Fort Worth, was the inaugural honoree last year. Nominate your top exec here.
5 more minutes of fame: Lu Jo Churchill, better half of the founder of Mac Churchill Acura, was featured in a large photo in last week's Wall Street Journal. A photographer getting prepared to shoot a model for a story on the new luxury retailer at Clearfork was taken by her stylin'. Lu Jo was shopping for an outfit for the First Lady's Luncheon last month in Washington, D.C., having been invited by Patty Williams, wife of U.S. Rep. Roger Williams.
 Animal Farm: She has no children, probably because she spends "so much time with a variety of stray or need-to-be rescued animals." Naomi Byrne is president of Fort Worth Housing Solutions and here are solutions of housing she has provided: Farm home for 10 longhorns, 12 border collie rescues, 100+ chickens, hens and chicks that lay multi-colored eggs, and nine donkeys. "I was supposed to only get two donkeys, but the Humane Society of North Texas gave me a deal I couldn't pass up -- adopt six for the price of one. Three of the five females we got were pregnant...lost one baby...giving us eight for the price of one. The longhorns came with a donkey. That's nine. They're all named after music icons - Billie Holiday, Etta James, Bessie Smith, Satchmo (Louis Armstrong), BB King, Janis Joplin, Stevie Nicks, Mama Cass and Elizabeth Cotton."
Better than Shakespeare? Six University of Texas at Arlington students -- couch potato gamers -- finished 29-0 playing Heroes of the Storm video game and won the Heroes of the Dorm National Championship. Their prize from Blizzard Entertainment? Paid tuition through their senior year. Three of the six are seniors; a freshman, a sophomore and a junior round out the team.
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"
Blue collar! - He's going to measure out spices, put bottles into boxes, set out ingredients. He'll be wearing a hair net. I hope he's serious!"
--
Mrs. Renfro's Doug Renfro preparing for
U.S. Rep. Mark Veasey's work day visit
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HR stands for hard recruiting: Jan Riggins of Express Employment Professionals says these results are not rigged for staffing agencies. In a survey, businesses were asked, "How easy is it for you to recruit and fill positions?" Of nearly 2,000 responses, five percent said "very easy," 26 percent said "somewhat easy," 45 percent said "somewhat difficult" and 20 percent said "very difficult."
 Tuned in: Vince Puente, President - Sales & Marketing for SOS (Southwest Office Systems) -- says he never met a microphone he didn't love. "If I could sing, I would right now," he said during a recent Chamber lunch. SOS was a Chamber 2017 Small Business of the Year and Puente had a more sobering explanation for the firm's success. "The recession taught us a lot," he said. "In the 10 years since, we have 30 percent less staff through attrition. And our team members worked harder and smarter to improve our revenues by 50 percent."
This caught on: Health Savings Accounts (HSA) have grown from five million to 27 million in eight years, according to Brian Dowling of Forte Benefits. Savers will have $50 billion in accounts by 2018.
Yay, Texas! WalletHub, a personal finance website, says Texas is the nation's 15th most innovative state for 2017. The data includes 18 metrics, from share of STEM professionals to R&D spending per capita. Texas has the highest ranking of a southern state.
Always on the move: Tarrant County College board chair Louise Appleman has a day job. The relocation expert estimates she has helped 700-plus families move to Fort Worth since 1988.
Bullish! The Fort Worth Zoo has passed a third-party audit to earn the American Humane Conservation Certified seal of approval, joining an elite group of 13 institutions in the United States.
Dr. Bullish: Dear boss Miserly Mistress. Mr. Paul Dorman of DFB Pharmaceuticals gets a huge shout out for covering the tuition of all 60 first-year med students (Dorman Scholars) at the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine. About $3 million. If Mr. B finally could get a raise after 12 years, he could pay the first day of the second year. Anybody else stepping up?
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MARK YOUR CALENDARS
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Date Event Name
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NEW 2017 BOOK OF LISTS AVAILABLE NOW!
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 The 2017 Book of Lists have arrived in our office!
Compiled and published annually by the Fort Worth Business Press, this directory includes lists of top companies in more than 60 industries in Tarrant and Denton counties.
Order a copy for only $95 (members only) from our eCommerce store
here. Members need to login with member ID to receive member pricing on all publications. Email
Christine Gores or call 817-338-3332 with questions.
See our other publications in our
online store.
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