• 817 BIZ
  • Posts
  • 🐼A Black Bear in Alliance? Southlake teen makes Olympics; UT Arlington gets $900k grant

🐼A Black Bear in Alliance? Southlake teen makes Olympics; UT Arlington gets $900k grant

➕More bite-size news so you can save time and be informed

November 17, 2023

817 BIZ is a free newsletter bringing you a quick read of local business info every Mon, Wed and Fri. Were you forwarded this email? Sign up and get the next issue with this link. If this email isn’t looking quite right, click the link at top right.

📣NEWS OF THE DAY:

UT Arlington is developing a more powerful rocket engine for space travel.

“Rotating detonation rocket engines” are turning up new possibilities, with the potential to make in-space propulsion more efficient, compact, and powerful. A team of researchers at UT-Arlington has been awarded $900,000 by NASA to help move the technology forward. NASA chose nine institutions for the project, awarding a total of more than $8 million. Liwei Zhang, an assistant professor in UTA’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, is leading the project at the university.

The Tarrant County College student newspaper is calling out administrators. Chancellor Elva LeBlanc emailed to notify Northeast faculty, staff and administrators that Kenya Ayers-Palmore would no longer be president of the Northeast Campus. TCC employs students for The Collegian newspaper. They did not get the memo and wrote, "Do student employees not deserve the same information as faculty and staff? According to the administration, they don’t."

WhiteHawk Energy LLC has acquired additional Marcellus Shale natural gas mineral and royalty assets for $54 million. It doubles WhiteHawk’s mineral and royalty ownership in its existing 475,000 gross acre position in Pennsylvania. Approximately 95% of production, cash flow, and present value associated with the Marcellus Assets are operated by Fort Worth-based Range Resources, EQT Corp. and CNX Resources Corp.

Bell Textron Inc. announced a signed purchase agreement with Caverton Helicopters Limited for a Bell 429, which will be utilized for offshore operations in Cameroon. It is the first Bell 429 to operate in the oil and gas market in West Africa.

Fort Worth has no transportation plan. The City Council has approved an agreement for up to $2.2 million with AECOM Technical Services Inc. for the Fort Worth Master Transportation Plan project.

What is the Stop Six Initiative Plan and why are seniors happy? Fort Worth Housing Solutions, the city and federal government open Cowan Place.

Kung fu in Cowtown: This weekend, North Texas welcomes the HYX 16th  World Wushu Championship to the Fort Worth Convention Center Arena. This international sports event will attract 1,000 participants, including athletes from 80+ countries. It’s the first time to be held in the U.S. since 1995.

The Capital Grille is opening a second Tarrant County location in Southlake, according to the Star-Telegram. The fine dining steakhouse will open next year and be located at the southeast corner of Highway 114 and North Carroll Avenue in the Carroll Pointe development.

Black Bear Diner has opened in the Alliance area at 9501 N. Freeway. Fort Worth is the first city in Tarrant County to have the popular northern California diner known for its hearty breakfasts and house-made pies. Another location is scheduled to open soon in Burleson.

“Well, it’s time to head off for the holidays.”

The US Patent and Trademark Office will create a design patent bar that expands the admission criteria for attorneys seeking to practice in certain administrative proceedings at the agency. A single patent bar encompasses utility, plant, and design patents. The change would lead to forming a distinct bar for design patent practitioners.

According to new research, the No. 1 industry Gen Z wants to work in is not tech. Gen Z is gravitating toward media and entertainment careers partly because more young people see social media influencing as a viable career path.

🏆AWARDS & HONORS:

  • Holland collective topped 22 competitors for Best of Show of strategic Public Relations programs and tactics at the Greater Fort Worth Chapter of PRSA 10th annual Worthy Awards. The winning campaign was its Fort Worth Food + Wine Festival: A Campaign of Integrated Success. The principals of the firm are Holland Sanders and Ivy Lopez.

  • Texas Producer, a Fort Worth-based video production company, won the Lone Star Emmy's top prize for its work on the video "Collective Effervescence." The video, set the tone for Visit Fort Worth's annual breakfast last February, won in the “Branded Content Program - Short Form Or Long Form Content” category.

  • Audiolo, a company that accelerates the animation and podcast production pipeline and saves studios millions of dollars per show, won the Simmons Bank $15k first prize in the Eosera EmpowHERment Pitch Competition. Audiolo was founded by Sarah Morgan. Higginbotham's second-place prize of $10k went to Hangio founder Ayo Aigbe. Her company is in market with a hanger that can be bent in six ways to store delicate tops such as turtlenecks and knitwear. Bairitone Health, founded by Meagan Pitcher, was third. Her device unlocks a bottleneck in sleep apnea therapeutic delivery.

  • Saucy serenade: The Fort Worth Food + Wine Festival presented the Walter Kaufmann Lifetime Achievement Award for significant culinary contributions to Renfro Foods. The Renfro family has overseen the salsa and hot sauce empire that began in Fort Worth more than 80 years ago and produced products for several other local companies getting their culinary start. 

Bosses rock: While a small share of U.S. workers say they are highly satisfied with their pay (34%) and opportunities for promotion (33%), a Pew survey found that 55% rate their bosses positively. A majority consider their boss to be capable (69%), confident (66%), fair (61%), and caring (58%).

Luxury watch prices falling: It might be the time to spring for that fancy watch as pre-owned Rolex and Patek Philippe prices hit two-year lows, thanks to rising supply. They’re 42% below pandemic-era highs, according to Bloomberg.

Daily digit: U.S. retail sales fell 0.1% in October from a month earlier, the Commerce Department reported. It’s the first decline since March and comes after a 0.9% increase in September. With slower hiring and easing inflation, the figures indicate that the economy is cooling off.

Nothing to do with business: Southlake’s Sam Watson, 17, has qualified for the U.S. Climbing National Team for the August 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. He had the fastest qualification time by winning the Men’s Speed event during last month's Pan American Games.

🪜PEOPLE ON THE MOVE:

  • LanCarte Commercial Real Estate: Hires Jordan Johnson as Senior Vice President

  • Pathlab: Hires Morgan Buckley Welch as VP of Marketing

  • First Financial Bank: Hires Megan Dobbs as EVP of Marketing

  • Jupiter Ridge Partners: Hires Kyle Murray as Sr. Compliance Officer

  • BioNTX: Adds Dr. Jon Weidanz to its Board

  • Uncle Julio's: Names Scott Lawton CEO and RJ Thomas President

  • U.S. Small Business Administration: Hires Elijah Vo as Outreach & Marketing Specialist

  • Edmond Public Schools: Hires Ann Thaxton as Community Mobilization Coordinator

  • Trademark Property Co.: Hires Kevin Kessinger as President and CEO

Some links may expire after initial posting or be paywall protected.