🚁Defense flight finalists are 2 locals; TCC South President leaving; TCU students land $375k in funding.

Two companies -- helicopter manufacturer Bell and aviation training services specialist M1 of Denton -- remain in the competition to train the next generation of helicopter Flight School Next. Lockheed Martin had been a finalist but said it had been informed it did not advance. Bell is offering its 505 model and would be the prime trainer. M1 is using the Robinson R-66 helo. The award is expected in September. 

The board of HACC in Harrisburg, Pa. voted unanimously to approve an employment contract for Dan Lufkin as the college's next President. Lufkin is President of the South Campus of Tarrant County College and will assume his new role June 3. 

Education and productivity technology startup FastrFlow, founded by TCU students Kavish Soningra and Madhavam Shahi, raised $335,000 from Mucker Capital and $40,000 from Telora Fellowship, a program that accepts fewer than 1% of applicants. In a competitive AI tools market, FastrFlow has scaled to more than 2,000 users across 20+ universities.

Recently launched and Fort Worth-based, industrial acquisition firm Valrock partnered with Austin-based Evergen Equity to acquire a 194,255-square-foot manufacturing facility at 10600 Fischer Road in Von Ormy, about 15 miles southwest of downtown San Antonio. This is Valrock's first acquisition and was led by founders Pete Van Amburgh and Pete Sanborn. 

John “Jack” Wendell Renfro, Chief Operating Officer of Renfro Foods and second-generation son of founders George and Arthurine Renfro, passed away Monday in the midst of treatment for a recent throat cancer diagnosis. He was 89. He leaves behind his three children - Doug, Andrea and Jill - along with eight grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and a living sibling, Linda Renfro. He was married to Connie Renfro for 60+ years before her death in 2023.

Fort Worth-based Aeromax Industries acquired The Ely Company, a manufacturer in Torrance, CA., known for its precision machining and expertise in aerospace component manufacturing. With the purchase, Aeromax said it is expanding its machining capabilities, deepening its expertise in aerospace component manufacturing, strengthening its ability to support customers, and gaining traction to expand into new markets.

Fort Worth-based TPG and Blackstone completed their acquisition and took private Hologic, Inc., a Massachusetts  company and leader in women’s health. The transaction includes significant minority investments from a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. After the transaction, Hologic appointed José (Joe) E. Almeida its Chief Executive Officer.

Universal Music Group, the entertainment giant behind acts such as Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Kendrick Lamar, received a takeover offer estimated at $64.3 billion. Bill Ackman, head of US investment company Pershing Square, is offering to buy Universal in a merger that would see the new company listed in America. 

Houston angler David Esslinger sits atop the Texas record books after landing a monstrous Atlantic bluefin tuna, an 884-pounder that is officially the largest tuna recorded in the state. Esslinger and his crew battled the fish for roughly five hours about 160 miles off Galveston.

The Fort Worth City Council was presented with requests from D-FW International Airport to borrow up to $3 billion this year and up to $9 billion the next four years for construction projects, according to Community Impact. Brian Butler, airport Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, made the presentation. Council members scheduled it for a vote during the April 28 meeting.

Lockheed Martin's AIM-260 air-to-air missile program is poised for a major funding increase and quicker deployment under the administration’s proposed $1.5-trillion budget. The Air Force and Navy are requesting about $2.9 billion for the still-classified missile in fiscal 2027, a sharp jump from roughly $894 million allocated this year.  The AIM-260 is expected to become the most advanced air-to-air weapon in the U.S. inventory, succeeding RTX’s AIM-120 AMRAAM, which entered service in the early 1990s.

Mansfield is expecting a full house when the North Texas Tollway Authority brings its 360 Tollway plans to the public April 16 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Mansfield High School. Residents will be able to walk through design exhibits, talk one-on-one with project staff and leave written comments. The project would stretch the 360 Tollway with two lanes in each direction and a center median from U.S. 287 south to U.S. 67. 

A state law going into effect July 1 has the Department of State Health Services creating an operating permit that will apply to any food truck in Texas. Currently, food truck owners must pay each city’s permitting fees, which can cost time and several hundreds of dollars per jurisdiction, even though inspection requirements are largely the same across cities and counties. 

A collaboration between Burleson ISD and UNT Health Fort Worth will enable students at Burleson and Centennial high schools interested in a future in healthcare and biomedical science to begin their college careers through an Accelerated Biomedical Careers Initiative.

CanTex Capital, a real estate investment firm specializing in infill industrial assets, sold a majority interest in a shallow bay industrial portfolio of 20 assets across 61 acres in D-FW to Partners Group and a New York-based investor. It includes approximately 1.3 million square feet of single- and multi-tenant assets, some in the D-FW Airport sub-market. 

Primark, which advertises unbeatable quality fashion at value prices, will open a location in North East Mall in Hurst at 11 a.m. April 30. It opened its first area store in Grapevine Mills late last year. 

The Fabletics athletic clothing store at Tanger Outlets in north Fort Worth, announced in December, is scheduled to open soon after its May 7 renovation, according to city permits. 

Believe it or not: A California man facing auto theft charges was arrested after driving a stolen car to his court hearing.

Snippets:

• 12 D-FW universities have graduate programs ranked in the 2026 U.S. News rankings.

• Delivery driver Tanner Horner pleads guilty in Athena Strand death trial. 

• Texas reported an additional 40k jobs in January to reach record employment with 14.38 million jobs.

• Fort Worth’s Log Cabin Village is turning 60 and you’re invited to the free party between 9 a.m.-2 p.m Saturday April 18.

• Amasé is a privately owned collection of exclusive luxury escapes in extraordinary places. The family office has selected Dallas-based Icon Global to lead its international marketing campaign. 

Daily digit: 30.5% = Percentage of people in 2023 who filed a tax return that paid zero in federal income taxes. The top 5% of earners paid nearly 60% of federal income tax collected that year.

Significant stat: $20,600 = What the federal government spent per person, or about $7.05 trillion in FY 2025. That's 25% more than before the pandemic and three times what the government spent in 1980 (after adjusting for inflation). 

Announcements:

• Euless: Hires Reagan Rothenberger as Director of Planning & Economic Development.

• TTI: Promotes Mintee Bautista Hicks to Vice President of Passive & Discrete Product Management.

• Toyota Financial Services: Announces CEO transition from Scott Cooke (23 years) to the company's Executive Advisor Alec Hagen, effective immediately.

• Lockheed Martin: Transitions Katie Hand Ciccarino to Vice President of F-35 Production Programs from VP of F-22. 

• Lockheed Martin: Promotes Nadine Hernandez to Program Integrator for F-22.

• ÙNT Health Fort Worth: Hires Breck Gavin as Director of Alumni Engagement and Advancement Communications. 

• Trademark Property Company: Promotes Tristan Ross to Director of Asset Management, Avery Oh to Sr. Marketing Coordinator, Savannah Sulack to Leasing Representative and Jeron Bodin to Sr. Associate of Development. 

• Susser Bank: Appoints Jamie Kile as Senior Vice President, Treasury Management Solutions Officer.

• NBT Financial Bank: Hires Taylor Potts as Senior Vice President of Brand and Marketing in its Operations Center. 

• Texas Wesleyan University: Hires Jhonniece Meeks as Director of Employee Engagement and Student Readiness. 

• Stryker: Promotes Alexia Heist to Project Manager on the Corporate Marketing Team. 

• Schwab Wealth Advisory: Promotes Mary Nelson to Wealth Advisor.

• Workday: Adds Chase Martin as account executive.

• Glaukos: Hires Trevor O’Neil as Interventional Glaucoma Business Manager. 

• Adobe: Hires Geovanny Bonilla as Enterprise Account Director. 

• Dallas Area Rapid Transit: Board fires CEO Nadine Lee when separation agreement talks collapsed. Promotes General Counsel Gene Gamez to acting President and CEO. 

• TCU PRSSA: Names Ella Darlak as Vice President of Membership.

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