Annual Meeting a Success Despite Pandemic |
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I hope you were among our approximately 100 attendees at our 29th Annual Meeting and Award Luncheon Friday, August 21. We completely filled all our available half-tables in the banquet room at the Hurst Conference Center, with a hybrid of in-person and virtual participation via Facebook Live.
The luncheon also gave us the honor of presenting one of our board members – Randy Clinton, CEO of The CEC – with our Distinguished Leadership Award. Randy is a solid example of Johnny’s challenge to consider what opportunities arise whenever we are receptive to change. This former banker is retiring at year’s end after a 25-year career leading The CEC.
Carolyn Sims, representing the Northeast Leadership Forum Foundation, spoke about the $22,000 of matching funds that we received from the Nancy & Alan Hamm Foundation. In this COVID year, our scholarship committee elected to give $2,000 scholarships to each of the 23 honorees.
I want to thank our banquet committee - chairman Randy Clinton (Yes, he DID plan his own party!), along with RaDonna Hessel, Randy McCauley, Shelby Bruhn and John Fletcher - for driving this event to be such a success.
We appreciate the cooperation of the staff at the Hurst Conference Center for setting up the room for social distancing, managing our audio/video presentation, and providing such a delicious meal.
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While this was a late gesture, we finally had the opportunity to express our appreciation to Vanessa Copeland, CFO of O. Trevino Construction, as our outgoing chairman from 2019. Due to social distancing, Vanessa addressed us via pre-recorded video. Thank you, Vanessa, for your incredible year of service to NLF.
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I also want to thank Shannon Watt, our membership director, for planning another very successful year and increasing our membership.
Please remember to invite prospects to our October 13 breakfast that will feature an Entrepreneurs Panel. Guests may attend at no charge.
Also, please know that your board of directors continues to meet virtually during this pandemic. We will have our regularly scheduled board meeting by Zoom as we prepare for our October breakfast, Heart of North Texas Conference and begin conversations about electing 2021 board members and officers.
I urge you to remain vigilant in treating this COVID-19 seriously. Please be cautious with this virus and wear a mask.
-Nick
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Annual Award Luncheon Energizes During Pandemic
Everyone in attendance agreed unanimously: We heard the best speech ever delivered by a Texan Bobsled Olympian insurance agent!
We are indeed grateful to board member, RaDonna Hessel, for recruiting Johnny Quinn to be our keynote speaker, which included rescheduling him two times beyond our original date.
Johnny shared that life will deal us with disappointments – often while we feel that we are on the very cusp of our most defining moments. He told of signing a lucrative contract to play for the Buffalo Bills NFL football team. And no, there were no Buffalo Bills fans at the luncheon.
After an injury ended that career, his agent signed him with the Green Bay Packers – and we had ONE Green Bay fan in the room – before Johnny was injured and cut yet again. Then he signed and played for the Saskatchewan Rough Riders in the Canadian Football League – and obviously, there were NO Saskatchewan fans in the audience, where he scored a touchdown before yet another injury ended his pro football career.
Just as we experience in life, closed doors tend to open additional doors, which led Johnny to try out for, and then make, the 2014 U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team in Sochi, Russia.
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Following his career, he did what any good native Texan Olympian Bobsledder would do: Start his own Farmers Insurance agency. The crowd roared with laughter with the photo of Johnny’s business card that read: “Is Your Insurance Agent an Olympic Bobsledder? They Could Be!”
For life lessons, Johnny said there are three options when facing adversity:
- Blame others
- Give up
- Refuse to quit, and then collaborate – work with others
He was inspired because his agent continually told him, “Johnny, I believe in you.” That attitude helped him move from challenge to opportunity, from the NFL to the Canadian Football League, to Olympic bobsledding. And now to the insurance business.
Johnny challenged us to keep our eyes open and be welcome to change, particularly in this pandemic, because we may not fully recognize what our next opportunity will look like. He said that we need to be available for opportunity even if we don’t know what it is.
Thank you, Johnny, for such an inspiring message!
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We thank our sponsors of our 29th Annual Award Luncheon:
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Gold Sponsors
The CEC
City of Grapevine
Linebarger Attorneys at Law
Republic Services
Texas Health HEB
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Silver Sponsors
The CEC
City of Euless
City of North Richland Hills
Fletcher Consulting Public Relations
Frost Bank
Hurst Euless Bedford ISD
JPS Health Network
ONCOR Electric Delivery
Providence Bank of Texas
Town of Trophy Club
Valliance Bank
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Randy Clinton Receives Distinguished Leadership Award – Finally!
So, how is it to throw yourself a party, and then have to reschedule it again and again? Such was the case with our Distinguished Leadership Award recipient, Randy Clinton, who served in the dual role of honoree and event chairman.
His willingness to chair our annual award luncheon year after year is one of the reasons that he was chosen to receive this high-level accolade: Randy is so busy serving others that he was surprised when he learned he was the honoree.
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Randy shared the phone call when Mary Frazior called to tell him that he would be the honoree: He thought there was some confusion. Mary finally convinced Randy that he would actually receive this prestigious honor.
Randy has served our community well, serving as CEO of The CEC (known until recently as the Community Enrichment Center) for 25 years. He merged the organization with another area nonprofit, Open Arms, Inc., that would expand the presence and services of The CEC.
In addition to chairing numerous nonprofit trade associations, Randy also chaired the Northeast Tarrant Chamber of Commerce. He has definitely left an indelible mark on our community here in Northeast Tarrant County. He may be retiring at year’s end, but we’ll still keep Randy busy!
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FINAL CENSUS 2020 PUSH UNDERWAY
Wednesday, September 30, is the final day to respond to the Census 2020. Currently, Tarrant County has a Census self-response rate of about 66.5%, with an estimated 234,000 households that have not yet responded.
As we all know, federal funding for such things as school lunches, transportation, community food programs, infrastructure enhancements, housing initiatives, public health, hospitals, and COVID-19 assistance, as well as congressional representation and local precinct and district boundaries, are all decided by the Census count.
Tarrant County will focus Census promotion efforts these last 30 days in the areas with low response rates through the use of mobile phone adds and targeted social media.
We ask your assistance in placing reminders for residents to take the Census in your City or Chamber newsletters or social media postings. We even have yard signs to post on your facility grounds, and hats and T-Shirts for you to use as promotional giveaways!
Tarrant County would especially love to see pictures of you or other community leaders wearing a “Tarrant Counts” census shirt and hat posted in your entity’s social media pages like Mayor Price did!
Please contact Russell Schaffner at rlschaffner@tarrantcounty.com to arrange for delivery or pick-up of Tarrant Counts-Census 2020 promotional items.
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Scholarships Recognized During Luncheon
The Northeast Leadership Forum Foundation scholarship committee was honored during our annual award luncheon when Carolyn Sims confirmed that the Nancy and Alan Hamm Foundation matched our $22,000 for a total of $44,000 in combined scholarships awarded to graduating high school seniors from Northeast Tarrant County.
We thank past chairman, Charlie Powell, for proposing the scholarship match and following through with the foundation for these two years.
The Hamm family was successful in business in the HEB area and is leveraging our scholarship program to give back to their community. What a magnanimous gesture!
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Ross Perot, Jr., to Headline Heart of North Texas Conference
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Robert Earley, CEO of JPS Health System, will be our breakfast speaker, sharing insights on how health care systems have faced the pandemic and how they are moving forward.
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Michael Sherrod, Executive-in-Residence at TCU and founding publisher of Texas Tribune, former vice president of Ancestry.com and vice-president of AOL, is a futurist that will share insights on where our area and the nation are moving.
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Ross Perot, Jr. is the founder and visionary behind Alliance, Texas, and so much of the development in that area. This widely-sought speaker will keynote our luncheon.
Eli Mercer and his committee have done a magnificent job of bringing this program together. Once they assemble their remaining panel, the full agenda will be complete.
We appreciate the early support of our sponsors:
- Texas Health Resources
- Texas Health Alliance, Texas Health HEB, Texas Health Southlake
- Tarrant County College - Northeast
- Venture Business Impact (VBI)
- Glen Whitley, Tarrant County Judge
- Gary Fickes, Tarrant County Commissioner Precinct 3
- Linebarger Attorneys at Law
- Republic Services
Table Reservations include:
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Town of Trophy Club
City of Colleyville
City of Haslet
City of Hurst
City of Keller
City of North Richland Hills
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Frost Bank
JPS Hospital
Medical City Healthcare
ONCOR Electric
United Way of Tarrant County
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October Breakfast to Feature Entrepreneur Panel
Small businesses are a powerful driver of our economy in Northeast Tarrant County. On Tuesday morning, October 13, we will hear from three small business owners who will describe how they founded their enterprise, the challenges faced in normal times and how they have dealt with 2020 thus far.
Please look forward to hearing from:
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Sue Schultz – What’s Poppin Texas in Bedford – After working years in retail, Sue was able to combine her passion for popcorn and that retail experience into a career she loves.
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Steve Buyers – Buyers Barricades in Richland Hills – While working on a construction project at DFW Airport, Steve became so frustrated with the terrible service of the company providing barricades that he went home that night and started his own barricade business. He is one of the largest barricade buyers in the Southwest.
- We are finalizing our third panelist
We encourage you to invite a guest/prospective member for this very interesting program. Please RSVP for yourself and your guest when you receive your email reminder.
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Keep NLF Dynamic and Growing
The past five months have taught each of a valuable lesson: Relationships matter! Many of us have been aided greatly through connections made and strengthened through Northeast Leadership Foundation.
As you interact with business and community leaders who impress you, please invite them to our next meeting, which will be our next breakfast on Tuesday, October 13.
These influencers are making a difference in our area, so let's invite them to participate in NLF. Membership is the lifeblood of our organization.
For any prospective NLF members you know, CLICK HERE to download the membership application. We want both established and emerging leaders to continue joining our organization to further the dynamic growth of Northeast Tarrant County.
We ask you to warmly welcome visitors and new members to our breakfast meetings. Growing the power of networks is one of the main benefits of NLF.
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Chamber of Commerce Resources
All our area chambers are reaching out to their local businesses and overall communities to offer whatever assistance they can provide. Our chambers are hosting digital meetings from such platforms as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex and Facebook Live to produce interactive sessions or offer information on a one-way transmission.
Our chambers have helped connect small businesses with area banks participating in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. The chambers have also provided all the information about the Tarrant County Small Business Grant Program to their members.
Our chambers of commerce are the voice of business for our community and we are indeed fortunate to have such committed and caring leaders as their presidents/executive directors and officers.
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817-488-7148
817-421-1522
817-431-2169
817-283-1521
817-281-9376
817-937-1000
817-481-8200
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Breakfast with an Entrepreneur Panel
Tuesday, October 13
7:30 a.m.
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Friday, November 6
8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Click HERE to view this event flyer and see how you can become one of our Community Sponsors!
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