💰Colonial Savings agrees to be acquired; A&M Fort Worth gets gift from Mouser; Jetsons were ahead of their time.

Texas A&M has received an undisclosed major gift from Mansfield-based Mouser Electronics to support engineering education and hands-on learning at the university’s downtown Fort Worth campus. The gift supports the Mouser Automation, Controls and Electronics Lab inside the Law & Education Building. The lab gives engineering students a dedicated space to work with tools and equipment used in rapidly evolving industries while applying concepts learned in the classroom.

For 74 years, family-owned Colonial Savings provided savings, financial assistance and mortgaging services. In 2023, it started closing down the mortgage business, and now an announcement on the website is that it has agreed to be acquired by Gateway First Bank. Gateway is privately held and headquartered in Jenks, Ok., with 11 locations in the state. The companies expect to complete the transaction during the first quarter of 2027. Colonial was founded in 1952 by the DuBose family. Jim DuBose is Chairman and Dave Motley President. A what-to-expect Colonial Q&A is here.

Texas Health Resources filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation for an Arlington Centralized Ambulatory Center at 4000 Matlock Road. The 55,000-square-foot, 2-story, ground-up construction is projected at $13,500,000, and expected to be ready by August 2027. Tenants are Texas Health Physicians Group practices in adult and family medicine, orthopedic services, heart and vascular care, on-site lab services, and sports medicine services from Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital

Ryan Cohen, CEO of Grapevine-based GameStop, bought 1.15 million company shares at $22.94, his second seven-figure, open-market purchase in two weeks, pushing the stock up 5.58% on the day.

Significant stat: Ella Langley’s song “Choosin’ Texas,” a country ballad about a two-state love triangle, has spent 23 weeks at the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. That’s the longest any song has held No. 1, surpassing the record set by Mariah Carey’s holiday staple “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Watch the official video.

A public-private collaboration between Trinity Metro and Baylor Scott & White Health is advancing Trinity Metro’s TEXRail extension and creating a regional transit connection to Fort Worth’s Medical District and Near Southside. Trinity Metro plans to break ground on the TEXRail extension Thursday, Oct. 29, at the future Near Southside Station. 

The Bell Boeing V-22 Joint Project Office in Amarillo was awarded $29,674,990 to provide loads and dynamics model data for all V-22 variants before and concurrent with V-22 production cessation. The technical data will support future sustainment decisions, mishap investigations, transition to post-production sustainment, and Fleet Support Team repair and maintenance of V-22 aircraft. Thirty percent of the work will be performed in Fort Worth. 

The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin a contract worth up to $1.2 billion to produce Increment 2 of the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), after a second flight test demonstrated the missile's ability to engage moving maritime targets.

President Donald Trump thanked Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet as the White House inaugurated its granite heliport designed to accommodate the latest generation of Marine One helicopters. Trump took the maiden flight from the newly completed heliport and credited Taiclet with making a “valuable contribution” and thanked construction workers, stone masons and Clark Construction, which supervised the work. Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky helicopter business contributed $5 million through the National Park Service.

AAR Component Services in Grand Prairie is one of three companies to share a combined estimated ceiling of a $96,124,000 Air Force contract for the F-16 Accessory Drive Gearbox and Jet Fuel Starter re-manufacture. This contract provides for the overhaul, complete or substantial tear down, repair, de-bugging, configuration management and restoration of the ADG and JFS components to support the F-16 engine starter system. 

Today in history: 1962 = The Jetsons premiered on ABC, introducing viewers to flying cars, moving sidewalks and a robot housekeeper named Rosey. Its original run lasted just 24 episodes, but its picture of the future outlived the show.

The Surface Transportation Board, an independent agency charged by Congress with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers, ruled against summary denial of Class I railroad Union Pacific’s and Norfolk Southern’s merger application. The decision does not prevent parties from renewing any arguments on the merits in their opening comments and does not reflect any determination on the merits.

Fort Worth-based Vertess Healthcare Partners is ranked No. 1 on the sell-side list of Axial's 2026 publication of the Top 50 Lower Middle Market Healthcare Investors and M&A Advisors. Bradley Smith is the Managing Director / Partner. 

Texas' Attorney General office secured a settlement with Sprouts Farmers Market that ensures none of its produce will be misted with the synthetic anti-microbial pesticide ProduceMaxx. The agreement is for all Sprouts locations. The investigation was launched because synthetic pesticides such as ProduceMaxx were being misted on organic produce. ProduceMaxx is an EPA-registered pesticide containing hypochlorous acid, a chlorine-based compound.

Blue Sky Industrial Solutions, a pharmaceutical company, and Core Collab, a Pilates distributor, have expanded their occupancies in Blue Smoke Industrial Park, located at the I-30 / TX 287 junction in southeast Fort Worth. The companies have upsized to 14,400 square feet and 7,200 square feet, respectively, according to Bradford Commercial Real Estate Services.

The union representing firefighters has reached a tentative agreement with Fort Worth on a contract that calls for pay raises and other provisions. The proposed agreement calls for a 5% across-the-board raise for firefighters and EMS employees, plus annual step pay increases in fiscal year 2027. Additionally, the 4-year agreement would include market raises in fiscal 2028, 2029 and 2030. Fort Worth City Council is scheduled to vote Sept. 29. 

American Airlines has entered a multi-year partnership with Inter Miami CF, a team that features soccer superstar Messi. American will become the club's Official Airline Partner, as well as an Official Partner of Inter Miami CF and a Founding Partner of Nu Stadium and Miami Freedom Park.

Kenya Airways selected Southlake-based Sabre to implement a retailing platform that will become the operational and commercial backbone of Kenya Airways’ business. It will support reservations, ticketing, inventory management and airport check-in for what is considered a major milestone in Kenya Airways’ digital transformation. 

Democrat Ericka Lomick suspended her Texas House campaign for Tarrant County HD 93 seat, clearing the way for Republican Alan Blaylock's victory in November. Protect and Serve Texas PAC had published records showing Lomick was indicted and pleaded guilty to three federal felonies: mortgage fraud conspiracy, bank fraud related to a mortgage fraud scheme and money laundering conspiracy. Without confirming or denying the accusations, Lomick said she wanted to “allow the people of HD 93 to elect someone who can serve the district without the burden of defending against attacks that would threaten to derail the business of the people.” 

Fort Worth’s Bowie House has earned two Michelin Keys, the only D-FW hotel -- and one of only a handful in Texas -- to receive that level of recognition. The rating signifies an exceptional stay; Michelin’s top rating is Three Keys. Hotel Drover in Fort Worth received One Key, as did five Dallas properties: Casa Duro, Hôtel Swexan, Hotel ZaZa, Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek and The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas.

Aviation pioneer and astronaut Wally Funk, a Grapevine native who died this summer at 87, is set to return to space. Some of Funk's cremated remains will be aboard two separate space flights: one to orbit the Earth and return, and another to head into deep space and not come back.

Snippets:

• H-E-B picks Haltom City ice cream brand Sol Dias for big competition.

• The Promise, a 38-year-old live theatrical production of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, has moved to 777 Crowne Point Blvd. at Willow Park Baptist Church through Oct. 11.

• The Massachusetts Institute of Technology stopped Princeton University's 15-year reign as the No. 1 university in the country, according to the U.S. News & World Report 2027 Best Colleges rankings.

Did you know? A "slop grenade" is when you let AI produce the work and pass it on without adding any value (including checking it). Someone else has to wade through it, catch the mistakes, and clean up the mess. You save time and look productive but someone else pays for it.

Daily digit: Texas has moved into the big leagues of big-ticket art. The state ranked fourth among U.S. states in the number of art purchases exceeding $1 million during 2025, according to a report from Bank of America and ArtTactic. Population growth and an influx of wealthy families are fueling the rise as collectors increasingly treat art as a personal purchase and a financial asset.

Announcements:

• BioNTX: Selects Eric Olson as 2026 Dennis K. Stone Award recipient. 

• Fort Worth Academy: Names Bridget Belyeu Head of Lower School, Lauren Parker Head of Middle School and Joe Belyeu as Director of Academic Operations and Student Programs for the 2026-2027 school year.

• Bowie House, Auberge Collection: Hires Melissa Bustillos as Director of Talent & Culture.

• CBRE: Promotes Elliott Dow to First Vice President.

• Worth Engineering: Hires Courtney Summers as Marketing and Sales Director. 

• Fort Worth Chamber: Hires Christie Goodman Duke as Vice President of Government Relations.

• CEC Entertainment: Hires Brian Baran as Director of DOOH Advertising. 

• Calloway Golf: Promotes Janine Fellows to Senior Director, Golf Club Category.

• GoVision: Names JJ Murray Project Manager for its fixed installation team. 

• Fifth Third Bank: Hires Alexander Collins as SVP and Wealth Management Advisor for Dallas and north Texas, Vince Cordero as SVP-Commercial Middle Market Team Lead II, and Gerardo Garcia as SVP and Wealth Management Advisor for north Texas. 

• Vaerion Systems: Adds Wayne Canter as Account Manager. 

• Gov. Abbott's office: Selects Dr. Lisa McIntyre, The University of North Texas, and Dr. Angela Bauer, Texas Woman’s University, among 13 university personnel to study his idea for 3-year degrees. 

• Fort Worth: Names Bryan Bellamy Business Strategy and Performance Manager. 

• Time + Commvault: Select Alex Levy Chief Information Officer at BNSF Railway, as CISO of the Year.

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