💰$9M: First Cash 'settles' over lending violations; $687M: Wistron coming to FW/Denton; $3.1 billion: Visitor 2024 spending in Arlington.

Frank Kent Motor Co., a family-owned group of automotive dealerships for 91 years, is being sold to Autobahn Fort Worth, according to Fort Worth Inc. The agreement includes the remaining two dealerships—Frank Kent Cadillac Fort Worth and Frank Kent Cadillac Arlington—and could close in October with Cadillac's approval.

The Consumer Financial Protection Board has reached a settlement for up to $9 million with Fort Worth-based First Cash Inc. and its subsidiaries for military lending act violations.

The University of Texas basketball arena $338-million bid-rigging story has ensnared Tim Leiweke, Jerry Jones and the New York Yankees. Oak View Group CEO Leiweke has been indicted on a federal criminal conspiracy charge. The company will pay a $15 million fine. Legends Hospitality, founded by Jones and the Yankees — Jones remains invested under new ownership — agreed to pay $1.5 million.

Wistron Corp., a Taiwanese manufacturer of components used in smartphones, computers and servers, and a major partner with Nvidia, is bringing its first U.S. manufacturing sites to Fort Worth and Denton County. It plans to purchase land near Texas Motor Speedway and Alliance, at 15200 Heritage Parkway and 14601 Mobility Way. The $687-million project is expected to generate 888 new jobs with an average starting salary of $63,000.

TechFW graduate Nanoscope initiated the filing process for a Biologics License Application for its lead asset to treat severely blind patients suffering from retinitis pigmentosa (RP). An injection would be performed by retina doctors in their office with no surgery. If approved, this would be the first gene-agnostic therapy to restore vision in legally blind RP patients.

Gov. Greg Abbott has signed into law several pieces of legislation designed to increase regulatory oversight of artificial intelligence and quantum industries while also strengthening their development. Texas Standard profiles the laws that soon will be taking effect.

The Regional Transportation Council of North Central Texas Council of Governments has provided $3.5 million funding as a stopgap measure to keep the Heartland Flyer Amtrak passenger rail service operating between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth for another year. It was facing an October shutdown because of a lack of state funding from Texas.

LanCarte Commercial Real Estate has listed several properties owned by Ed and Sasha Bass for lease within Sundance Square, according to Seth Bodine of the Dallas Business Journal. Previously, leasing has been done in-house. The firm is advertising office space for lease within the Schwarz Building at 505 Main St., the Burk Burnett Building at 500 Main St., the Chase Bank Building at 420 Throckmorton St. and the Cassidy at 407 Throckmorton St.

Fort Worth serial entrepreneur Jordan Johnson has launched Pecos Automations, a technology partner delivering AI-driven workflow solutions across industries by identifying where AI and automation can impact sales, administration and customer service. Previously, Jordan founded Xpressdocs, eRealty, NTX Drone and Lonestar Gourmet. 

Gary Fickes, one of the longest-serving members on the Tarrant County Commissioners Court, has died at 75. Fickes also served as mayor of Southlake and chairman of the planning and zoning commission.

Floyd Carroll Baird, former CEO of Fort Worth's Mrs Baird's Bakeries, passed away from natural causes at the age of 97.

Congress made Opportunity Zones permanent and the next iteration begins in 18 months. The first created 8,764 zones across the U.S. At the end of 2024, an opportunity zone funds tracking fund showed roughly $40 billion raised since 2017.

Former Fort Worth council member Cary Moon and David DeWald, the co-owners of Keller Tavern, are transforming what used to be Chop Shop Live in Roanoke into a brunch place, a food and bar concept and a ticketed outdoor music venue. They anticipate the first concert Saturday. Roanoke Tavern is expected to open mid-August, followed by Cafe Republic in September, Moon said.

Azteca Concepts’ Polanco Fine Cuisine is now open in The Tower, at 570 Throckmorton Street in downtown Fort Worth. Serving authentic upscale Mexican cuisine, Polanco is open for dinner daily. See menu here.

The Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau has final 2024 visitor data. It shows visitor spending grew 10% to $3.1 billion and the number of visitors grew 5% to 16.3 million.

The GameStop stapler that punctured a Nintendo Switch 2 console is on eBay and the bidding reached $250,000 Saturday. CEO Ryan Cohen is hoping for more. 

The crime gap between Dallas and Fort Worth downtowns remains substantial. Data from the Metroplex Civic & Business Association shows Dallas logged a crime score five times higher than Fort Worth during June 2025.

After 34 years chasing stories as a local TV news reporter—dodging hurricanes, deadlines, and countless stories about dogs, and 11 years wrangling media inquiries, writing press releases, and producing videos, Steve Stoler officially is off the clock. 

Instagram Reels, carousels and captions from public professional accounts are now being indexed by Google and other search engines. Your Instagram posts can appear outside the app in organic search results.

Daily digit: Last year, more than one-third of the U.S. population over age 5 either played golf, followed golf on television or online, read about the sport or listened to a golf-related podcast, a 45% increase from 2016, according to the National Golf Foundation.

Significant stat: 54,200 (approx.) = Tennis balls that are used during the two weeks of Wimbledon. The balls are sold to fans after the tournament.

Announcements:

• Origin Bank: Adds Ryan Mordecai as Region Executive.

• First Bank Texas: Adds Ed Greenlee to its Board of Directors. 

• UMB Bank: Adds Brent Fescenmeyer as Senior VP Commercial Banking.

• JPS: Adds Board members Demetria Bivens and David Mansdoerfer, who were appointed by the Tarrant County Commissioners Court.

• Texas Women’s Foundation: Selects Cris Zertuche Wong as Chair of the Board of Directors.

• Auction in a Box: Hires Eric Zarko to lead its strategic growth and partnership initiatives.

• Goodwill Industries International: Selects Ryan Osborn of Fort Worth as its 2025 Achiever of the Year. 

• Texas Health Resources: Promotes Samuel Mickens to Administrative Fellow. 

• Leadership Fort Worth: Adds Schavion Graham to its Board of Directors. 

• Association of Fundraising Professionals: Selects Beverly Powell for 2025 Catalyst Award.

• American Advertising Federation- Fort Worth: 2025-26 Board of Directors are Taylor Prince, Avalere Health, President; Nicki Ketcham, Big Future Consulting, Vice President & President-Elect; Bessy Segovia, Quorum Architects, Immediate Past President; Susan Cook, COOK, Treasurer; Lindsey Raifsnider, Neslihan Chandler, Secretary; Christanne Knorr, Balcom Agency; Alexandria Ortiz, UNT Health Science Center; Max Klinedinst, Bluebird Creative; Chad Ketcham, Big Future Consulting; Kristen Jurmu, Balcom Agency; Elisa Rode, Kearley & Co.; Taylor Bryant, Bluebird Creative; Ed Giddens, Texas Health.

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