The Texas Rangers on Nov. 17 announced that a veteran executive in sports facility management and construction development, Jack Hill, has been named senior vice president, project development.
Hill will oversee the construction management and development of the new Rangers’ ballpark to be built just south of the existing ballpark and scheduled to open for the 2020 season. Hill was instrumental in the construction in the early 1990s of The Ballpark in Arlington, now Globe Life Park and current home of the Rangers.
The design for a new ballpark will include a retractable roof for climate control and shelter for fans during the hot summer months. The new park is expected to have design concepts similar to those used in the construction of Globe Life Park.
Hill, who also managed the construction of American Airlines Center in Dallas and AT&T Stadium in Arlington, will also work with The Cordish Companies as the Texas Live! Entertainment development evolves, and he will be involved in other Rangers’ projects, including the repurposing of Globe Life Park in Arlington.
“There is no one more qualified to manage the construction of our new ballpark than Jack Hill,” said Rob Matwick, the Rangers’ executive vice president for business operations. “Jack had a huge role in the construction of Globe Life Park in Arlington and has had a major impact in the building of many successful sports facilities projects over the last 25 years. The Rangers are very happy to have him on board.”
Hill joined the Rangers’ organization in August 1991 as vice president, ballpark development, and served as the principal development manager for a $191 million project that included The Ballpark in Arlington, a 140,000-square-foot office building and a youth sports park. The project was completed on time and on budget when it opened in April 1994.
From 1995-98, Hill was the vice president of development for Hammes Development Corp. and was centrally involved in the planning of Miller Park in Milwaukee. He was the principal manager for Hillwood Development while managing the construction project for American Airlines Center from 1998-2002. Hill then spent three years as associate superintendent of construction for the Dallas Independent School District.
In 2005, Hill joined Blue Star Development and the Dallas Cowboys and spent the next five years overseeing the construction and development of Cowboys Stadium. Once the $1.2 billion multi-purpose facility opened in 2009, he oversaw all operations of the building for its first three years.
Most recently, Hill was project executive for the San Francisco 49ers’ new Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. That $1.3 billion sports and entertainment facility opened in July 2014 and was the site of Super Bowl 50 last February.
Overall, Hill has spent over 35 years in the construction and development industry. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University and has lived in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for many years.
The design phase of the Rangers’ new ballpark is underway and construction is expected to begin next summer.
On Nov. 8, Arlington voters agreed to give $500 million in tax revenue to help the Texas Rangers build the new ballpark in the city the team has called home for decades.
Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations
Warren Douglas Advertising recently promoted Cassidy Newton to director of data science. Newton began her career at Warren Douglas in 2012 as a business analyst where her responsibilities included quantifying and qualifying the information gathered through the agency’s proprietary Premium Brand Index.
Boards & Organizations
Skiles Group has four team members taking leadership positions with industry associations. CEO Clay Harrison has been elected to the board for TEXO Association for a three-year term to begin in January. Kolby May, project manager, is the incoming chairman for TEXO Association’s Young Constructors Council. Frank Coln, superintendent with Skiles Group, has been named chairman for the Dallas/Fort Worth Community of Practice of the Lean Construction Institute. Dara Davulcu, senior marketing coordinator, is president-elect for the Dallas chapter of the Society for Marketing Professional Services. Her term begins in September. She currently is its director of education.
Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Doug Jennings, a principal at William C. Jennings Co., to the Real Estate Research Advisory Committee for a term to expire Jan. 31, 2021. The committee reviews and approves proposals submitted to the board of the Texas A&M University System relating to staffing and general policies of the Real Estate Center. The committee decides the priority ranking of research studies the center conducts. Jennings is a member of the National Association of Realtors, Texas Association of Realtors, Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors and the board of the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation. He is past chairman of the Texas Association of Realtors Commercial Committee and a member and past president of the Society of Commercial Realtors.
Clay Yearsley, senior vice president of data analytics at Texas Trust Credit Union, has been appointed to the OnApproach Client Advisory Board. Yearsley has nearly 30 years of experience in financial services. He has been with Texas Trust since 2002 and is an authority on the Symitar Episys platform, one of the core systems that OnApproach supports. Texas Trust is deploying the OnApproach data analytics platform as part of its data management strategy.
Education
Ana Galaviz joined the marketing and communications team at Texas Wesleyan University as creative services manager. She will interact daily with other departments and organizations on campus to ensure that marketing and branding initiatives are met.
Galaviz has more than five years of project management, marketing and sales experience. Prior to joining Texas Wesleyan, she was an account executive for Bioworld Merchandising, and before that she had numerous positions in the marketing department at Dallas Market Center. Galaviz freelances as a stylist for local fashion shows and is an active member of DIFFA Dallas, a nonprofit that raises funds for HIV/AIDS service organizations.
Funeral Homes
Greenwood Funeral Homes and Cremation named Tim Brown as managing director at Greenwood’s Mount Olivet Chapel, and Les Pinkerton as managing director of Greenwood’s Arlington Chapel. Both Brown and Pinkerton are veterans in the funeral business and longtime employees of Greenwood. Brown started at Greenwood Funeral Home as a courier in 1995. He soon moved into various office support positions, and in 2011, after receiving his funeral director’s license from the Dallas Institute of Funeral Service, he became Mount Olivet’s assistant managing director. In 2014, he was named Greenwood’s managing director at the Arlington Chapel, and he returned recently to Mount Olivet Chapel.
Pinkerton has worked for more than 40 years in the Arlington, Mansfield and Grand Prairie area. He worked in funeral homes in Oklahoma and Washington, D.C., before coming to Arlington. He has been with Greenwood since 2002.
Honors & Awards
The Women’s Alliance of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce honored several women during its 6th Annual Inspired Women Luncheon. Tarrant County Justice of the Peace Mary Tom Curnutt received the 2016 Hero Award. Curnutt has a history of public service. She has contributed as president or a board member of organizations such as Junior League of Arlington, Texas Health Resources, Arlington Chamber of Commerce, River Legacy Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Miracle League Fields DFW, Arlington Independent School District Education Foundation, Rotary Club of Arlington and many other city and school-related groups. She spent a decade as sales director with Software Spectrum in Dallas, where she trained staff at the first international branch in Dublin, Ireland, and was named Employee of the Year.
The Women’s Alliance also honored Arlington Deputy Police Chief LaTesha Watson as the 2016 Rising Star. Watson, who oversees the East Police Division, is an 18-year veteran of law enforcement. She worked first with Hutchins police, then the Lewisville Police Department and joined the Arlington Police Department in 2002. Watson was named Supervisor of the Year in 2007 and 2010. In 2014, she was promoted to the rank of deputy chief, becoming the department’s youngest chief in tenure and age. The International Association of Chiefs of Police named her a 2016 recipient of the Top 40 under 40 Award. Watson mentors future leaders and works to advance women in policing. She lectures frequently on diversity in the recruitment, retention, selection and promotion of women in law enforcement.
The Women’s Alliance also presented six students with Dr. Judith J. Carrier Scholarships of $1,500. Recipients from the University of Texas at Arlington were Katherine Dixon, Christina Greene and Megan Solomon. Tarrant County College recipients were Christiana Agbo, Adedoyin Opara and Jocelyn Ruiz. A seventh scholarship from Medical Center Arlington was awarded to nursing student Tiffany Kim.
The Moslah Shrine Circus and Score-A-Goal-In-The-Classroom School Incentive Program presented the 2016 Holt Hickman HERO Award to Sue Testerman as outstanding special education dyslexia teacher in North Texas. Testerman has been a dyslexia therapist-teacher for nine years and serves Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District’s Bryson Elementary and Wayside Middle schools. The Hickman family also presented Testerman with a $1,000 honorarium for her work.
Law
New attorneys at Harris, Finley & Bogle PC are James E. (Jim) Griffis, Blake C. Billings, Michael K. Reer and Brent R. Doré.
Griffis, formerly of Brown Pruitt Wambsganss Ferrill & Dean PC, has a decade of employment and labor law experience, in addition to a significant background in commercial real estate and corporate law. He is on the board of the Fort Worth Chapter of Society of Financial Service Professionals, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Fort Worth and the Concho Valley Center for Entrepreneurial Development.
Billings joined HFB’s business transactions section from Wilson, Robertson & Cornelius PC. His corporate practice supports businesses at all stages, from formation and planning to acquisition or dissolution. In addition, he assists businesses and individuals with contracts, agreements and compliance. He has also represented financial institutions in secured transactions, operations, workouts and dispute resolution. Billings serves on the board of the Lighthouse for the Blind.
Reer, formerly of Babst Calland in Pennsylvania, has a background in environmental law and natural gas regulation. He will concentrate on civil and commercial litigation, with an emphasis in energy litigation, and is licensed to practice in both Texas and Pennsylvania.
Doré is a 2016 graduate of Texas A&M University School of Law and will focus his practice on civil and commercial litigation, including oil and gas litigation.
Nonprofit Organizations
FitWorth Healthy City Initiative named Noah Drew as director. Drew has been with the Fort Worth Independent School District for eight years as a physical education teacher, curriculum specialist and, most recently, as a project director for a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He will be responsible for marketing and communications, program and event management, mission strategy development, and volunteer and donor relations. He has been a member of the advisory board of Foundation for Wellness, Texas; education committee chairman, North Texas Alliance to Prevent Teen Pregnancy; chairman for professional learning, Texas Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance; and a leader in the Stonewall National Education Project.
The Communities Foundation of Texas named business adviser and financial industry veteran David Scullin – photo – its president and CEO. A certified public accountant, Scullin has had various leadership postions at Deloitte and Arthur Andersen. During his 40-year career, Scullin was Deloitte managing partner for Fort Worth and Phoenix, the lead client service partner for major global audit and non-audit clients, and the creator and leader of Deloitte’s nationally recognized North Texas CFO Forum. He retired in May as a senior partner at Deloitte and was working as a consultant when he was approached by Communities Foundation of Texas. He has extensive leadership experience with public, private, nonprofit and civic groups including the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, Greater Phoenix Economic Council and Greater Phoenix Leadership.
Restaurants
MAX’s Wine Dive in Fort Worth named Jenna Kinard as its new executive chef. Kinard began cooking at an early age, recreating her Czech family recipes passed down from her grandmother. Her official culinary career began at age 14 at a local pizzeria. Eventually, she received her big break while working for a catering company serving meals to performers on the Warped Tour and Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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