As your trusted business organization, the Chamber wants to limit the spread of misinformation related to COVID-19. We recommend
Tarrant County’s website
for all official news and updates regarding COVID-19.
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Hope your Easter is eggscellent!
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YMCA of Fort Worth
is partnering with local vendors to provide free Grab & Go meals in Tarrant, Hood and Johnson counties while schools are closed due to the Coronavirus crisis. These meals are provided by
Tarrant Area Food Bank
and Purple Hearts Inc.
Additionally, The Y is offering free childcare for essential employees and first responders.
Way to go, YMCA!
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PRESS YOUR LUCK
Click on the links below to enter for prizes
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Meals of a deal:
This is not their grandmother’s salsa.
Renfro Foods
, maker of multi-platinum, award-winning
Mrs. Renfro’s salsas, relishes, peppers, cheese dip and barbecue sauce,
is so much more than chips and dip. Its website has eight pages of recipes, with collaborating chefs, including Stefon Rishel; brewers, including Rahr & Sons; and even Uncle Dicky and peachy Paula. Grits, pork tenderloin, steaks and pies. Sweet, just a bit spicy or Carolina Reaper hot. There’s something for everyone. Mrs. Renfro’s Virginia Patron – we’ll drink to her – has a package for one reader: six jars of new taste salsas (craft beer and blackberry), a bag of chips, a stress reliever, a t-shirt, a cap and a coffee mug.
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Bid while biding:
What if you could celebrate a non-profit during an annual gala in your jammies? Check it out at 7 p.m. April 21 on Facebook Live when
Camp Fire First Texas
streams its 2020
Camp El Tesoro de la Vida
benefit. Marketing magician Christy Jones is hopeful 500 or more “guests” will peruse the auction “tables” beginning April 14 at FB Events. Dollars raised drive awareness and financial support for Camp Fire’s week-long summer camp for about 100 grieving children that have lost a loved one. Justin Frazell of
95.9 The Ranch
radio will host the event and Christy has $25 for two readers to get you started. (The Camp El Tesoro de la Vida gala is tentatively planned for July.)
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Wild ride on the wild side:
Way before its time, all the way back to 1984 and Big Brother,
Fossil Rim Wildlife Center
has been practicing social distancing. You’d better not get within six feet of that rhino during your self-guided tour! Fossil Rim is where Africa comes to Texas, and unfortunately for visitors, the approximately 1,100 animals, including cheetahs, zebras, giraffes, rhinos and more, are sheltering in place. More like a six-mile distance.
Animal planeteer Jennifer Smith is safari searching
everywhere to maintain the superb care and food the animals are receiving as they await your return. Jennifer has a car pass for two readers to drive the 1,800-acre park any time this year after it re-opens.
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Congratulations to the April 1st
Prize Winners:
- Kelly Beck, Simmons Bank
- Riza Nolasco, FW Housing Solutions
- Doug Clayton, Cantey Hanger
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HE SAID, SHE SAID, THEY SAID
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Best birthday gift…EVER:
March 28, 2020, Sonya Cisneros Wierzowiecki, on her birthday, gave birth to Amelia Catherine Wierzowiecki, six pounds one ounce and 19 inches long. “She and I will share a birthday forever, “ said Sonya, the membership and events manager at the
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
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Changing of the guard:
For 14 years and 49 weeks
of her 30 years at the
Chamber,
Mr. B was assaulted by Miserly Mistress' red lines and red markups of his brilliant writing and ranting. No more. This
B2B Insider
is retiring EVP-Marketing Marilyn Gilbert's last ambush. But B's sigh of relief isn't long. Coming from San Antonio in time to have her Bryn Mawr paw prints all over
B2B Insider
next week is new Chamber
EVP-Marketing Katie (not related to Frederick) Douglass.
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Mr. B asking for a friend:
Do I have to shave my legs for Zoom meetings?
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Helping is contagious:
What started as a Facebook request March 4 to Carlo Capua at
Z's Cafe
for help finding hand sanitizer, turned into WOW! by the end of March for Tony Formby at
Acre Distilling
. “This has become a full-time gig,” Tony said. “We are making it in bulk to complete orders for nursing homes, hospitals, Fed Ex drivers, postal workers, etc. We bottle at the distillery for smaller donations and complimentary 4-oz. squeeze bottles that go with Acre retail liquor bottle sales. Just gave 40 bottles to the
City of Fort Worth
building inspectors. Now filling 300 bottles for
Meals on Wheels
volunteers. We are working to supply 1,000 gallons a week to
Baylor Scott and White
.” Only hitch? He can’t get enough isopropyl alcohol.
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Join us; don’t be passed over:
Mr. B’s family of 63 (though some are stragglers that haven’t converted) will celebrate its 96th Passover tomorrow night via Zoom. The prophet Elijah, who always is late for his matzo and glass of wine, will have a tough decision on which Jewish house(s) to visit in this era of sheltering and could be overly imbibed by night’s end. Happy Passover, and BTW, there is a .pdf of The Maxwell House Haggadah.
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Jetting to the forefront:
Lockheed Martin
took a broadside last week in a local publication for not doing enough in north Texas during the pandemic. Here’s a bit of what Lockheed has done: It’s helping multiple school districts fund the technology they need for distance learning. It is providing 2,000 meals a day for organizations that provide meals for the elderly, children, veterans and the homeless. That enables Compass, its food provider, to retain its workforce. It has made grants to multiple north Texas food pantries. This giving is not something new. During 2019, Lockheed Martin employees in
Fort Worth
volunteered more than 64,000 hours and donated more than $1.3 million; the company donated an additional $2.3 million to support
Tarrant County
nonprofits.
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“People, I am not qualified to be an elementary school teacher.”
--Michael Ryan (sheltering)
Four Thirds Creative
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Workplace & COVID-19:
Steve Peglar, senior veep at
Whitney Smith
and a member of
Chamber
partner FW HR, says a company could be liable if an employee were to contract the coronavirus at work. "Employees, particularly healthcare workers, may be entitled to collect workers’ compensation,” he said. He also says an employer may screen job applicants for symptoms of COVID-19 after making a conditional job offer, as long as it does so for all applicants for that job.
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Thanks for the memories!
The feast of fun, folly and food stories from the Original Ms. B are over.
Tarrant Area Food Bank
, swamped with the urgent need for packaging and delivering food to the community, has ended its Community Kitchen culinary arts job training program, which Barbara (Ms. B) Higbee headed. Side note:
EECU
, a long-time partner with TAFB, purchased 10,000 cloth bags to help with the increase in food distribution.
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A little Jolly during spring:
Diane Willingham, Director of Sales and Events with Eight O Management, which owns
Bird Café
, Flying Saucer, Flying Fish and Rodeo Goat, says eGift cards are Flying out the door “…on par with typical Christmas volume.”
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Kit a fit:
Amanda Kit Tollett is the new Chief of Staff to
Tarleton
President James L. Hurley, and veep for University Relations. She also will coordinate legal and policy issues, and oversee Tarleton’s marketing and communications area. She will not have any spare time. Dr. Kim McCuistion is now dean of
Tarleton’s Fort Worth
campus and veep for External Operations.
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Kudos:
Wendy Shabay, veep and Group Manager of Urban Planning + Design at
Freese and Nichols
, has been inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Planning Association. Just 53 were inducted nationally for 2020.
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To comply with Tarrant County's recommendations on public gatherings, our in-person programs are currently on hold while we re-assess and determine next steps for planning.
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Leaders Online:
Marketing & Messaging
Shifting Your Strategy
April 8 - 2:00 p.m.
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Leaders Online:
Leading Through A Storm
Managing & Motivating
April 9 - 2:00 p.m.
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Online Office Hours:
Marketing & Selling While Sheltering In Place
April 10 - 2:00 p.m.
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The
Media Directory
is an annually updated publication that provides detailed contact information for more than 150 local media outlets in the Greater Fort Worth Area.
Order a copy for a limited time for $25 from our eCommerce store here, regularly priced at $75. Members need to
login
with member ID to receive member pricing on all publications.
For sponsorship inquiries in
B2B Insider
, contact
Leah Hersey
or call (817) 338-3371.
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You are receiving the Fort Worth Chamber's B2B Insider because you are subscribed on
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