🔑Opal Lee to return to familiar ground; Andre Mendes is back in Tarrant; Brumley energized by purchases

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Fort Worth-based ELSR, owned by Presta Petroleum founder Jonny Brumley, has purchased Alabama and Oklahoma mineral and royalty assets of an undisclosed family-owned oil company. The assets are spread over 30 counties in Oklahoma's Scoop play, and two counties in Alabama. 

Energy Domain, the tech-enabled online marketplace for oil and gas based in Fort Worth, has acquired Energent from U.K.-based Westwood Global Energy Group.

Ben E. Keith Manufacturing has a new name, Keith Valley Packing Company (KVPC). It will serve all current Ben E. Keith Foods manufacturing divisions, the products from these divisions, and any future expansion and acquisitions.

With rent prices rising quickly the past 18 months, Fort Worth's City Council is signaling it will adopt a measure that could help ease the problem. It will be voting on making a change to the neighborhood empowerment zone policy and removing the option for developers of multi-family complexes to pay $200 per unit in lieu of setting aside affordable housing.

Opal Lee was gifted the land of her childhood home by Trinity Habitat for Humanity, and a new home is to be built. 

The land Mark Cuban bought in 2016 to build an arena for the Dallas Mavericks has been sold to the new majority owners of the Mavs, according to The Dallas Morning News. A company set up by Miriam Adelson and Sivan and Patrick Dumont, the majority owners of Las Vegas Sands Corp., purchased more than a dozen acres from Cuban directly across Interstate 35E from the American Airlines Center. Cuban has owned the land in the Dallas Design District since 2016.

Andre Mendes has started his new post as Chief Information Officer for Tarrant County. For years, he had been commuting from his home near Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., where he had been the top tech official for the Commerce Department. He emigrated to the U.S. from Portugal at age 17 with $300 to his name. He planned to study biology and genetics but ran out of money, so he turned to technology for a career. See the interview here.

Hospitals are re-instating mask mandates and opening additional units as respiratory virus, COVID and flu cases surged among children under four and adults older than 65 during late December. Cook Children's has opened a second unit that was previously being renovated. It recently saw more than 600 patients in its ERs and urgent care centers in a 24-hour period.

General Motors reported that fourth-quarter sales were up slightly despite the strike. Overall, sales for the year rose 14.1%, and the company says momentum is building. For the quarter, roughly 625,176 cars and trucks were sold. Standouts included the Buick Enclave (up 41.6%), Encore GX (+52.0%), Chevrolet Equinox (+20.1%), Chevrolet Camaro (+15.8%), and GMC Sierra pickups (+9.8%). Laggards were the mid-size Chevrolet Colorado pickup (down 39.8%), Suburban (-36.8%), and Cadillac XT4 (-down 17.2). Approximately 2.6 million vehicles were sold in 2023, the best year since 2019. The automaker said it grew its market share by 0.3% to 16.3% in the U.S.

Bell-Boeing, a joint venture including Bell Helicopter, has secured a $21.4-million contract related to the MV-22 Osprey from the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD. The contract is expected to be completed by June 2027. Bell-Boeing will produce and deliver 59 line clearance kits, 18 integrate aircraft survivability equipment (IASE) A-Kits, and install 16 IASE A-Kits.

Montana Rail Link has ceased operations and has become BNSF Railway’s MRL Subdivision. Burlington Northern leased the former Northern Pacific main line from Jones Junction, Mont., to Sandpoint, Idaho, in 1987. In January 2022, BNSF and MRL announced a new agreement that would void the lease and finally received regulatory approval.

The U.S. Marine Corps has signed a $127-million deal with Fort Worth-based Elbit Systems of America for a squad binocular night vision goggle that could extend to $500 million. The lightweight, helmet-mounted goggles are designed to augment night-time visibility in diverse environments, enhancing U.S. warfighters' situational awareness and performance. Production is expected by 2028.

PSA announcement: North Richland Hills residents can start raising chickens in the backyard of their residence. No longer does your lot have to be a minimum of one acre, a restriction that had been in place for 38 years. Fill out the free permit application at the city website.

Despite Texas employment growing rapidly and jobless rates remaining low during 2023, the Dallas Fed says mass layoffs may be heading higher, according to notices of pending workforce reductions filed with state officials.  

The Federal Aviation Administration released 2023 data about unruly passengers — people who fought or threatened violent behavior. The report said there are fewer incidents this year than in 2022, but there are still more than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

People on the move:

• Ben E. Keith: Announces move of James Hallam from VP-Marketing and Legislative Affairs to newly created role of Chief External Affairs Officer. Promotes Jason Bush to VP-Marketing and Legislative Affairs and Philip Ward to VP-Sales and Branch Management

• TechFW: Hires SJ Murdock as Engagement Manager

• D-FW Business Group on Health: Names Joanne Hinton, City of Fort Worth, Programs Chair, and adds Mike Ray, BNSF, as a Board Director

• Association of Air Medical Services: Names Steve Soliz, Bell-Textron to Board

• Stitch N Swag: Announces Shawna Haught-Koloa as Partner-Managing Director

Snippets:

• Soleful giving: TCU medical student gives back to the community with free shoes through his and his brother’s nonprofit, Dayna’s Footprints.

• More Americans than ever own stocks (58%). The pandemic and zero-commission trading created a whole generation of investors. (WSJ gift article)

• What is skijoring? It’s essentially cross-country skiing, but you’re holding a rope attached to a dog, a couple of dogs, or a horse if you’re up for it.

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