🍸Guess who is drinking less; All you need is $3.35M; Texas population growth soars

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🎄Scheduling note: 817 BIZ will be off on a holiday break until January 3. We hope you and yours enjoy the season - we'll see you in the new year!🍾

Seven high-speed rail projects have been selected for funding from the Biden administration, including up to $1 million for the Fort Worth-to-Houston project submitted by The North Central Texas Council of Governments. Also included was Amtrak's submission for the Dallas-to-Houston line.

Soy Cowboy, the signature restaurant for the new Loews Hotel Arlington, plans a February opening. The 10,716-square-foot indoor/outdoor restaurant will feature pan-Asian cuisine. The concept is from Houston-based Berg Hospitality, which opened B&B Butchers in Fort Worth in 2018.

Big Chicken, a fast-food chain owned by NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, is opening this spring at 9755 North Freeway. According to a state filing, the 2,510-square-foot fried chicken sandwich restaurant will include a bar and a drive-thru. Multiple sources have reported that O’Neal plans to open more than 50 stores in Texas.

Westland Restaurant Group has acquired Pulido's Mexican Restaurant, a fixture in Fort Worth's dining scene since 1966. Pulido's announced the closure of its five locations in mid-October. A Spring 2024 re-opening is planned, according to Westland partners Gigi Howell and Bourke Harvey. Westland previously has revitalized and transitioned JD's Hamburgers, Margie's Italian Gardens, and West Side Café.

This fast-food giant is in bankruptcy and Fort Worth’s Ben E. Keith is one of the creditors.

A Dallas builder has partnered with the Bass family-owned Keystone Group LP to work on a 35-acre mixed-use development near the intersection of University Drive and White Settlement Road.

Westlake-based ECI Software Solutions, a provider of cloud-based business management software and services, has completed the acquisition of Treetop Group, a specialist in business software solutions for the residential construction and craft industry in the Netherlands. It is ECI’s first foray into the residential construction industry outside of North America.

General Motors buys out half of its Buick dealers. Those leaving the network chose not to sell electric vehicles; about 1,000 independent Buick dealers remain.

November’s housing report for Tarrant County is shown below. For individual data on Fort Worth, and Parker and Johnson counties, click here.

Why a bet on Grapevine-based GameStop stock is a bet on CEO Ryan Cohen. Is he on the verge of transforming the video game retailer into a holding company?

The following individuals recently received patents on their products:

• Iron-type golf club head or other ball-striking device (Patent No. 11819742). Inventor(s): Jamil Jacaman (Fort Worth), Matthew Neeley (Fort Worth), Michael Pinto (Fort Worth). 

• Oxidation-resistant nickel braze putty (Patent No. 11819919). Inventor: Paul Pellet (Arlington). 

• Heating tool (Patent No. 11820500). Inventor(s): Bruce Bacon (Euless), Christopher Gravelle (Fort Worth), Frank Allen (North Richland Hills), Jahanzeb Tareen (Grapevine), Tom Chiang (Dallas) 

A settlement has been proposed to resolve a class-action lawsuit that was filed in response to a 2022 data breach that affected 612,000 patients of MedStar Mobile Healthcare.

Today’s top-of-the-market listing: This modern one-story home at 6101 Merrymount Rd in Westover Hills has 4,882 square feet, four bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, and a spacious backyard with a pool perfect for swimming laps. It’s listed for $3,350,000.

Based on registrations, can you guess the most common new vehicles sold this year in the U.S.? Through the third quarter, the top three were the Ford F-150, the Tesla Model Y, and the Toyota RAV4. See the top 10 here.

Trending: Young adults in the U.S. drink less than 20 years ago. Older Americans drink more. The findings come from an analysis of Gallup trends.

Significant stat: Texas’ population grew more than any other state last year, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Out of the 1.6 million people the nation gained between July 2022 and July 2023, nearly 30% are Texas residents, or 473,453 people.

Home building surged in November as mortgage rates came down. Housing starts jumped 14.8% versus the previous month, rising for the third month, according to the Census Bureau. The rate of starts hasn’t been this high since May.

Nothing to do with business: It’s almost like being there. GoPro compiled a 3-minute highlight video of camera users’ best surf, ski, bike, climb, BASE, travel, and other unique experiences from 2023. Watch it.

On this date (Dec 22, 1882): The first Christmas tree was lit with electric lights. Edward H. Johnson had a set of red, white, and blue electric incandescent light bulbs wired together for his home tree. Johnson was an associate of Thomas Edison and VP of the Edison Electric Light Company. Electric bulbs were too expensive for the average home, and tree candles weren’t replaced until the 1930s.

Rick Merrill, President and CEO of Cook Children's Health Care System, has been named board Chairman of the International Children's Hospitals' Solutions for Patient Safety. 

People on the move:

• Design & Co: Hires Scott Kirk as Brand Strategist

• DeFy Tickets: Hires Dylan MacNevin as Account Manager

• Tarrant Appraisal District: Selects Joe Don Babbitt as chief appraiser

• Valor: Hires Carmen Viramontes, Anastasiya Prokhorska, and Cathy Gossett in its oil and gas accounting department

• RS Americas: Promotes Debbie Lemons to Brand and Proposition Marketing Manager

Snippets from around the web:

• In an unprecedented move, the IRS forgives nearly $1B in penalties for taxpayers.

• Middle-class Americans want to know more about how the wealthy make money. Here’s the answer.

• The U.S. grows and sells more than 25 million Christmas trees a year. Here's where they come from.

👉🏼Reminder: 817 BIZ will be off until Wed, Jan 3. See you in 2024!👈🏼

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