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- đź’ŠTarrant pharmacies committed fraud; This happened after 33 years
đź’ŠTarrant pharmacies committed fraud; This happened after 33 years
Plus: Female business starts nearly double
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Fort Worth-based Standard Meat Company is renovating a nearly 70-year-old cold storage facility near the Stockyards for a specialized packing plant. The 166,000-square-foot facility at 1101 NE 23rd St. will have the capacity to house new packing and processing technologies to meet the needs of commercial customers, according to CEO Ben Rosenthal. The new plant will be a historic reminder of two large meat packing plants previously in the Stockyards, Armour and Swift, which closed in 1962 and 1971.
The reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs have reached the AFC championship game for the sixth consecutive year. They will travel to Baltimore to play the Ravens Sunday at 2 p.m. In the NFC, the Detroit Lions travel to play the San Francisco 49ers at 5:30 p.m. Sunday. The two winners will meet Feb. 11 in Las Vegas to determine the Super Bowl champion.
Ability Pharmacy and RXpress Pharmacy (both in Fort Worth) were convicted of fraud in November, with sentencing set for April. According to federal prosecutors, Ability spent about $15 to produce a container of compounded medicine and charged government insurance programs up to $30,000. Pharmacy owners paid doctors kickbacks to prescribe the creams. Ability and related pharmacies filled the orders and billed a federal compensation program and Blue Cross Blue Shield more than $145M between May 2014 and March 2017. Insurance programs paid more than $90M. James Noryian was the mastermind behind the scheme. He also owned Park Row Pharmacy in Arlington and Industrial & Family Pharmacy in Fort Worth.
Panthera BioSolutions has opened its pilot Good Manufacturing Practices facility in Fort Worth, offering manufacturing solutions for life sciences research and innovation. Panthera provides specialty pharmaceutical R&D services, including manufacturing, packaging, product testing, warehousing, logistics, and consulting.
Gary Fickes, Tarrant County Commissioner representing Precinct 3 for the past 18 years, is not seeking another term. Fickes was mayor of Southlake from 1989-96. He spoke with Community Impact about his tenure, the future of the Commissioners Court, and his retirement plans.
A report from WIPP Education Institute says the number of women-owned businesses increased nearly double the rate of men-owned firms between 2019 and 2023. D-FW ranked second among the nation’s metro areas.
With a grant from Arts Tooth, muralist Jan Riggins teamed up with Katrina Carpenter of Carpenter’s Catering (1116 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Worth) to design a mural — Gather — that describes Katrina’s journey.
Nick Dunlap is the first amateur to win a PGA golf event since Phil Mickelson in 1991, winning the American Express by one shot. As an amateur, he can't receive the $1.5-million winner's prize. See what the University of Alabama golfer does receive here.
Sweetheart of a deal: Applebee’s offers a weekly “date night” pass for $200, which includes up to $30 worth of food per week for a year. The popular chain said that the Applebee’s Date Night Pass has a value of up to $1,500. A limited number of the passes will go on sale today at 11 am CT. Details are here.
One of the winners of the inaugural Nature Photography Contest. (Image: Night World by Marc Marco)
As of January 1, 2024, almost all privately owned U.S. businesses must comply with the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). The CTA requires disclosing the beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) from people who own or control a company. The BOI reporting requirement intends to help U.S. law enforcement combat money laundering, the financing of terrorism and other illicit activity. It’s a one-time filing unless there are ownership changes.
Ruh-roh Raggy! Year-end bonuses paid by firms on payroll software company Gusto’s platform averaged $2,145, a 21% decline from the $2,730 average in December last year and a 40.1% decline from the $3,583 average in December 2019. On average, 2.7% fewer workers received a bonus than last year and 6.9% fewer than in 2021. See data on 22 industry sectors here.
Healthcare spending is up by how much? Spending on personal healthcare — including private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, and out-of-pocket expenses — grew from $214.3 billion in 1980 to $3.6 trillion in 2021. That’s a 1,558% increase, outpacing inflation almost seven-fold.
People on the move:
Express Employment Fort Worth: Natalie Blanchard named General Manager
Reeder Construction: Promotes Lane Reeder to CEO and Cole Reeder to President
Sheer Velocity: Adds Jonathan Jenswold as Partner
Goosehead Insurance: David Lakamp named Chief Service Officer
Notable & quotable: “Selling is a transference of feeling. If you transfer the feeling that you must make the sale for your benefit, the chances of making the sale are greatly reduced. If you transfer the feeling that you want to make the sale for the prospect's benefit, your chances for success are dramatically increased.”
Snippets:
Southlake-based Sabre signed a multi-year deal with Hawaiian Airlines to give Sabre-connected agencies and travel buyers access to the carrier’s offers by the end of 2024.
A list of U.S. airlines (and airplane models) with the most legroom in economy puts Southwest Airlines at No. 2. American Airlines did not fare so well.
Wild card: A passenger trapped in an airplane bathroom for the entire flight got a note from an attendant: “Sir, we tried our best. We are landing in a few minutes; please close the commode lid and sit on it and secure yourself.'“ We couldn’t make this stuff up if we tried.
đź’—đź’—đź’—Have you already made your Valentine's Day dinner reservation? |
Last issue poll results: Readers said their favorite fast food chains in 817-land are Texas-born Whataburger (27%), Chick-fil-A (16%), and Burger King (14%).
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