✈️Lockheed companies in on 3 deals; Arlington home to new company headquarters; $22M+ Southlake estate hits auction block.

Approximately 10 months after agreeing to move and weeks before its Aug. 31 deadline, Mozee, a player in autonomous mobility innovation, has moved its U.S. headquarters into a 63,000-square-foot automotive manufacturing and assembly plant in Arlington. The company manufactures some associated parts through a 3D printing process to assemble 12-passenger shuttles that are road-legal and mosey along at speeds up to 45 miles an hour. The company expects to hire 100 new positions with a minimum average salary of $100,000/year. 

Fort Worth will open applications August 25-November 25 for homeowners to receive federal relief money awarded the city after the 2021 devastating winter storm. There is nearly $27.5 million available from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to be used for mitigation efforts, multi-family housing, and homeownership.

Texas House Democrats who left the state in protest of proposed congressional redistricting said they will return after the Legislature adjourns today. Gov. Greg Abbott said he would continue calling special legislative sessions — starting Friday after both chambers of the Legislature adjourn. House Speaker Dustin Burrows said he would gavel out for the session if the lower chamber continued to lack a quorum, or the minimum number of present members required to conduct business.

As expected, Fort Worth voted unanimously to approve a $15-million incentive package to help Adom Industries, a micro-electronics startup, with its consideration of building its headquarters at 4400 Alliance Gateway Freeway. Additionally, a “cloud factory” would allow users to remotely build digital prototypes of potential hardware projects.  The build would be in four phases, and Adom is expected to invest at least $229.25 million on the project to receive the full city incentive.

Unreal real estate: A 31,234-square-foot estate on four acres in Southlake, listed for $22.95 million, is hitting the auction block in September.

Poland finalized a $3.8-billion agreement to upgrade its fleet of 48 Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets. It plans to allocate 5% of GDP to defense security by 2026 in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The State Department has authorized a potential foreign military sale to Bahrain involving M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and associated gear, the Pentagon announced. The proposed package, valued at roughly $500 million, lists Lockheed Martin as the primary contractor.

Texas A&M's George H.W. Bush Combat Development Complex will receive $59.8 million to develop a way for autonomous helicopters to fight wildfires. The funds, appropriated from the Texas legislature, will go toward acquiring up to four Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters and developing their autonomous configuration. In addition, it covers facilities, tools and equipment for research, testing and integration of firefighting capabilities the next two years. Sikorsky Aircraft is a Lockheed Martin company. 

Fort Worth-based merger and acquisition firm Kasper & Associates facilitated the sale of Dallas-based Innovative Packaging Group to investor/entrepreneur Matt Schmidt. IPG was formed in 2006 by Bill Martin and Bob Moses, who merged their companies. Managing Partner Layne Kasper served as their exclusive agent in initiating, structuring and negotiating terms of the transaction, including a long-term facility lease.

AI-powered answer engine Perplexity has placed a $34.5-billion bid to purchase Google Chrome. Previously, the Justice Department had suggested to Google that it divest of Chrome to avoid anti-trust scrutiny. 

FirstCash completed its previously announced acquisition of H&T Group, leaving the Fort Fort Worth company as the U.K.'s leading pawnbroker. FirstCash operates more than 3,300 retail pawn locations in the U.S., Latin America and the U.K.

The Princeton Review released its list of the "Best 391 Colleges" for 2026 and five north Texas universities are included: TCU, SMU, University of Texas at Dallas, Austin College and University of Dallas. It doesn’t rank colleges overall, but does have students vote on categories. One north Texas campus was the “happiest” in the country.

Dallas Love Field's $250-million taxiway expansion unlocks 14 acres of premium airport real estate, re-defining private aviation infrastructure value. Is it a catalyst for investment?

Fort Worth approved the $1.1-million Eastside Transportation Plan in the upcoming Master Transportation Plan and Comprehensive Plan update. The plan outlines capital projects necessary to inform the design and re-construction of East Lancaster Avenue (SH 180), Brentwood Stair Road and Bridge Street. SH 180 re-construction is funded and 60% designed from Loop 820 to Riverside Drive.

Snippets:

• Traffic tip: Avoid I-30 westbound from Fielder Road to Eastchase Parkway from 9 pm tonight until 6 am Monday for road repair. 

• Woman who went viral for calling Dallas people 'flooty tooty' is honored as Fort Worth mayor for a day.

• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has signed assurances from Kellogg’s that it will permanently remove artificial food colorings from its cereals by the end of 2027. 

Believe it or not: A record share of Americans are giving booze the boot. The percentage of U.S. adults consuming alcohol has hit a new low (54%), according to Gallup data.

Daily digit: The national average retail price for 1 kilowatt-hour of electricity rose from 16.41 cents to 17.47 cents between May 2024 and May 2025, a 6.5% jump, per the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Texas' average price increased from 14.84 cents to 15.49 cents, which is 4.4%.

Significant stat: 122 = Number of years the world's oldest (recorded) person lived.

Announcements: 

• Klein Tool: Promotes Brian Frank to Lead Product Engineer. 

• Texas Wesleyan University: Names Miranda Cervantes head athletic trainer. 

• Supreme Lending: Promotes Jordan Phifer to Marketing Relationship Manager. 

• Texas Bank: Names Jeanine Werberig Tarrant County Retail Market Manager. 

• Dominus Commercial: Names James Franz President. 

• Medical City North Hills: Names Paulette Woodard Chief Nursing Officer.

• University of North Texas System:  Board unanimously votes Dr. Kirk Calhoun as President of UNT Health Fort Worth.

• REV Entertainment: Opens and re-names the Mansfield Sports Park to Fields at Station 63. 

• Goodwill North Central Texas: Adds Lynn Allsup as Director of Finance & Accounting.

• FranFund: Names Eric Schechterman Sales Manager. 

• Oak Iroko: Names Kenneth Reeves Sr. Managing Partner.

817 Biz is formatted for viewing on mobile devices. If this email doesn’t look right, click the link at top right. Some links may expire after initial posting or be paywall-protected.