Abbott trade: $11B for 70 miles of border; Berce, Sturns, Blackburn on the move; NYSE, 🥒Pickleball Kingdom on their way.

Scheduling note: 817 Biz will be off Monday for Presidents’ Day and back in your inbox Wednesday. For those who have a 3-day weekend, enjoy!

Auto Finance News and Auto News are reporting that GM Financial President and Chief Executive Dan Berce will retire in mid-April after 35 years with the lender and will be replaced by Susan Sheffield, the current Executive Vice President and CFO. Berce held several leadership roles at AmeriCredit before General Motors acquired the company to form its captive finance arm in 2010 and named him president and CEO of GM Financial. 

Robert Sturns, Fort Worth's economic development director for more than 15 years, has been named the next Executive Director of Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County. He will start in March and until that time, Jill Navarrete will serve as Interim Executive Director. Sturns has more than 30 years’ experience in the public and private sectors.

Hayden Blackburn, former executive director of TechFW, has been hired as the Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the Arlington Economic Development Corporation. His responsibilities include coordinating with the city and its partners to establish Arlington as a major national hub for corporate innovation centers, and research and development hubs; and for venture capitalists, high-growth high tech firms; and developing as a smart city.

Gov. Greg Abbott was back in Washington this week trying to get $11.1 billion in reimbursements for expenses related to immigration and the border. His offer in return? 70 miles of land along the border. 

The number of top-tier research universities in Texas jumped to 16, according to a new report, making us home to more such institutions than any state. California and New York have 14 and 12, respectively. Tier One universities must spend at least $50 million on research and award at least 70 research doctorates on average per year.

The renewed focus on stopping the manufacturing of pennies by President Trump has traction. It costs 3.7 cents to make a penny. Would nickels be next and merchants would round up all costs to the next zero? The cost of a nickel is 13.8 cents. 

With a unanimous vote, Fort Worth council members approved the transformational re-zoning of the former 150-acre Woodhaven golf course and country club. Details of the development by Will Northern, founder and president of Crescendo Development, are in this release.

Reclectic, a "thrift/new" store approach of the major brands owned by URBN, is opening soon at the former Pottery Barn spot off I-20 in Arlington. URBN brands include Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, Free People and Nuuly.

Pickleball Kingdom has plans for a significant expansion across the D-FW area, led by Arshad Nizam, a resident of Collin County.

Is the Montgomery Street mall going to become its own antique? Fort Worth Report says a planned development has zoning approval. Up next is city approval. 

The Grapevine-Colleyville ISD has a $1-million agreement with Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Grapevine as the sponsor of Mustang-Panther Stadium.

Ya'll Stock Exchange in Dallas is getting competition as The New York Stock Exchange announces it is moving its 143-year-old Chicago branch to Texas. Gov. Abbott applauds the move, reminding all that Texas is "pro business." Nasdaq also is in D-FW, announcing a regional management office to be based in Irving last year. 

Fort Worth passed a resolution to lease city-owned land in the Historic Southside for the construction of the National Juneteenth Museum. The museum will honor Opal Lee and Fort Worth’s role in Juneteenth history and ensures that key community programs housed at the Southside Community Center will remain accessible. 

A "handful" of JCPenney locations will close before mid-2025, adding to the Plano-based retailer's list of shuttered stores since it filed for bankruptcy in 2020. For a JCPenney update, click here.

Prestonwood Pregnancy Center, launched as a pro-life ministry of Prestonwood Baptist Church, will celebrate its third location — first in Fort Worth — next Wednesday. The clinic is at 4732 Townsend Dr. in 76115 and is a by-product of a partnership with Southwestern Theological Baptist Seminary.

Deborah Peoples, who ran for mayor twice and is the former Tarrant County Democratic Party Chair, is running for the District 5 city council seat being vacated by Mayor Pro Tem Gyna Bivens.

The 2025 Grammy Hall Of Fame inducted records are announced and include Cat Stevens’ ‘Tea For The Tillerman,’ JAY-Z’s ‘Reasonable Doubt,’ and Clara Ward’s ‘How I Got Over’.

Fort Worth and Carroll are two of seven area ISDs that are “at greater risk” of failing the state comptroller’s property value study that is related to the Texas school finance system. The other districts include Aledo, Azle, Castleberry, Everman and Grapevine-Colleyville. To address inequitable public education funding, the Legislature requires “an independent estimate of taxable property value in each school district" every two years.

The FBI found 2,400 records tied to President John F. Kennedy's assassination in Dallas that were never provided to a board tasked with reviewing the documents, according to Axios. 

The buyout is over. About 75,000 federal workers accepted the offer to quit in return for being paid until Sept. 30. The deferred resignation program “provides generous benefits so federal workers can plan for their futures,” according to a spokesperson.

Californians are 56% more likely to say they moved to Texas for cheaper housing than new Texas residents from other states, per Realtor.com. And like fellow Californians, Realtor.com is joining them, looking to save money by moving its headquarters to Austin.

Snippets:

• After 5 years in the catering biz, Cultura’s BBQ has opened a brick-and-mortar location in east Fort Worth at 1900 S. Edgewood Terrace.

• Domino’s has launched pepperoni-inspired perfume for Valentine’s Day: ‘What could be more attractive?’

• Tech-driven, mobile ice cream truck concept, Alsies, expands to D-FW partnering with operator Lauren McConaghy.

• Schwab launches 24/7 stock trading for retail investors. 

• The Google calendar has dropped Black History, Pride month events and many others. Read why. 

Significant stat: U.S. private schools’ average annual tuition rose ~7.4% to $49,284 last year, marking the highest increase in at least a decade. (BBG)

Daily digit: The U.S. population grew by 2.6M people in 2024 to 341M as of Jan 1, 2025. This month the nation is expected to have one birth every 9 seconds and one death every 9.4 seconds.

Announcements:

• Texas Monthly: Promotes Sunday Leek to Vice President of Sales.

• Quorum Architects: Promotes architect Trevor Jackson to Associate.

• American Airlines: Hires Heather Garboden as SVP and Chief Customer Officer, overseeing its Customer Experience organization.

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