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More than 80 members came together at the Petroleum Club for the Central Area Council meeting last Thursday. City of Fort Worth folks Robert Sturns, economic development director, and Roger Venables, assistant director of property management, informed members about the new economic development plan, city bond election, and a project unique to downtown Fort Worth.  

From left to right: Shonnah Driver, Baird, Hampton & Brown Inc.; Sandi Mitchell, APEX Leadership Mastery; Dione Kennedy, Performing Arts Fort Worth.
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99 pints of beer on the wall...: Mr. B is wondering if Fort Worth's bike sharing  had its wheels turned asunder while planning the inaugural Bikeshare 4 Brews tour. It's really Bikeshare & Brews x4. On March 28, you and your swag bag will hop on your BCycle and the tour will stop at Wild Acre Brewing Company, The Collective Brewing Project, Rahr & Sons and Hop Fusion Ale Works. At each stop, pour down a pint and enjoy tasty snacks. After four stops, you might consider Uber or Lyft to get back to your car. Proceeds benefit the First Mile program, which provides low-cost access to the bike sharing system for low income and transit-dependent travelers. On a bike for two, Mitch Witten of Visit Fort Worth and Malorie Sarsgard rode over with tickets for two.

Extra special Easter: Erica Ashinhurst and the team at Gordon Boswell Flowers already has or can create momentos for any occasion. Not the ones packaged like Life Savers, but the ones decorated delightfully for all kinds of occasions. The Boswells, unofficially the official florist of B2B Insider, have prepared special arrangements for Easter. Erica says peruse the offerings and select one to make your holiday a bit more special.

This Kap stands tall in his field: Mr. B's Daddy B was an accountant caricature, including his pencil pocket holder. Daddy B would tell accounting bedtime stories and Mr. B was asleep by "Once upon a time ..." Lei Testa, a CPA with Averett Financial, has more personality and pizzaz, enough to be the chair-elect of the Texas Society of CPAs -- Madame Chairman for 2019-20. She also has the dubious distinction of moderating the discussion with Robert Kaplan, CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, at the Fort Worth Society of CPAs' 2018 CFO Controllers Conference March 28 at The Riley Center at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. This program is designed for professionals in corporate accounting and finance. A ticket includes lunch, free parking, the interview with Kaplan, WiFi and professional credit for CPAs. A taxed Kathy Kelly accounted for our spot to give away.

This place has turned into a zoo: The movie did $500-million-plus at the box office and had two spinoffs. Casa Mañana brings birthday boy Marty the Zebra, Alex the Lion, Melman the Giraffe, Gloria the hip hip Hippo and some hilarious, plotting penguins to its Central Park Zoo stage, where an adventure is on. Madagascar - A Musical Adventure follows Marty, who lets his curiosity get the better of him and makes his escape -- with the help of some prodigious penguins -- to explore the world. Casa Mañana has shows March 23 through April 8 and Lindsey Rushen-ed over a family four pack for the opening-night 7 p.m. performance.


Congratulations to the March 7th Prize Winners: 
  • Mary Sharpe, Buzz Custom Fence
  • Melissa Mata-Valadez, Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County
  • Keishi High, Southside Bank
  • John Jakob, Taylor's Rentals
  • Lori Balcar, Tina Hearne Realtors
  • Richard Brooks, MedStar Mobile Healthcare
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HE SAID, SHE SAID, THEY SAIDSoundBytes
Easy for you to say: Susan Roberts, never taxing as a speaker from her perch as a Partner with CliftonLarsonAllen accounting, points out the "simplification" of the 2018 tax act. Its title went from The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to "To provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018."                                                                            
By any name, just call: Jason Duling carries around two business cards ever since Johnson Controls bought Tyco Security.  Cold calling is Johnson Controls, but some of his long-term clients still are more comfortable with the Tyco name. Jason is the March 22 speaker -- he plays a thief attacking your building security -- during a free breakfast at the Business Assistance Center.

Shop 'til you drop: CEO Terry Montesi, Trademark Property Company, the developer locally of Waterside, WestBend and Alliance Town Center, grew up in Memphis working with family in its independent grocery store. "To get a leadership position, I would be waiting for family members to die," he said. "That did not seem like a noble idea." Speaking at a breakfast at TCU for the Neeley School of Business, Montesi said:
  • Amazon is one of the two or three most innovative retailers of all time.
  • In the past 2.5 years, one of his ongoing developments has gone from a planned three department stores to none. "Fashion is getting killed by e-commerce."
  • "Malls are changing not dying. People still will go to extraordinary destination centers."
Fame fades fast: John Chawner at Pointwise was featured in the Chamber Update in the Star Telegram as a Chamber Small Business of the Year honoree. His name was spelled wrong. A good sport, he said: "I will have explaining to do when I take the newspaper to my mother."

Extended stay ideas: In its Destination Master Plan, Visit Fort Worth delivers some interesting "enhanced experiences," such as working with the Fort Worth Zoo Association "to operate an iconic aquarium attraction." Or how about creating a Cultural District event to promote art and architecture? Or advocate for development of the Botanic Garden as a visitor attraction? The committee also has an idea to "create programming for the Water Gardens so more visitors experience its beauty."
"Most efficient part of my day? From 2:30-4 p.m., I'm a maniac."  

-- Chad Snyder
Colliers International 
    
Sounds like Moneyball: Ben Gatzke of BorrowWorks, a Chamber Small Business of the Year, says the company's core values include "get things done" and "take chances." Hiring is all about "no jerks." BorrowWorks uses technology, data and science to guide lenders to qualified borrowers for personal credit.

Dishing out the truth: Dawn King, a family law attorney with Decker Poole, says she is not THE Don King. "Mine is D-a-w-n, like the detergent." Dawn works in the Mutual of Omaha building on Camp Bowie and drives over from "east of Dallas."

Early birds get all the fun: Mr. B's GoFundMe page is up to $3.32, about nine hours of Chamber pay, but it's less than 1 / 1,000th of what he needs to join Chamberites Oct. 20-29 in South Africa, part of the Chamber's bi-annual tour de forces.  Spend your days discovering the gourmet restaurants, impressive art and nightlife scenes and fine beaches of Cape Town; enjoying a typical local braai (barbecue) in the Soweto township; browsing the bustling Indian markets in Durban; or sampling some of the world's finest wines at the myriad wine estates dotted around the picturesque Cape Winelands. Mr. B just has added a GoFundMe lie about this being the 50th anniversary of the newsletter and the South Africa trip sure would be a nice gift. Click here for tour info.  
 
Foat Wuth, ah luv yew: Sean Donohue, the person piloting Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, has been in north Texas four years. "What always impresses me about Fort Worth is its authenticity," he said. "It's the most genuine, most authentic place. (Visitors) believe it, see it and know the value in it."

Jobbing & hob-nobbing: So valuable were the Chamber's many years of Job Links get-togethers for employers sharing their job opportunities that it has been taken private. Cyndy Tonniges of TriQuest Technologies says the first is tentatively scheduled April 4 at Tarrant County College South. Betty Harvey, the jobber who headed it for the Chamber, has news herownself. She is the new Diversity Recruiting Program Manager for North Texas LEAD.
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