BANKING/FINANCE
Tyler Rosser has joined Lone Star Ag Credit’s Sherman branch as a loan officer. He was most previously a lender in Lone Star’s Georgetown office where he started in 2015.
Before joining Lone Star Ag Credit, Rosser worked in logistics for a cottonseed merchandising company and insurance sales.
Rosser holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics and animal science from Texas A&M University. He served on the board of directors for the Williamson County A&M Club. He and his wife, Tori, look forward to making their home in Grayson County with their two dogs, Astro and Samantha.
Prophet Equity has announced that Donna Raine has expanded her role, joining the firm as principal. Raine has decades of financial and operational expertise for lower and middle market companies across multiple industries.
First Financial Bankshares Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIN) announced the selection of James R. Gordon as executive vice president and chief financial officer to replace J. Bruce Hildebrand upon his previously announced retirement in August 2020. Hildebrand will assist Gordon for several months to assure a smooth transition of his responsibilities, the company said in a news release.
ENERGY
BPS Just Energy Technology LLC has appointed Erik Cooper to the role of chief financial officer to round out its senior-level leadership team. Cooper will oversee finance and accounting corporate functions, and spearhead capital raises for the Southlake company’s operating entities. Prior to joining the Texas-based holding company, Cooper served as a corporate and investment banker with ING specializing in food, beverage, and agribusiness for North America.
Booster, the No. 1 same-day fuel delivery service, announces the addition of Jordan Valdés as head of public affairs to leverage public interest in the company with policymakers across the country. Valdés, a former political appointee from the Obama Administration, joins Booster most recently from APCO Worldwide’s Washington, D.C., office, the company said in a news release. Booster recently worked with the Dallas City Council to help support the unanimous passage of an ordinance allowing mobile fueling in the City of Dallas. In Washington State, Booster worked with the state’s Association of Fire Marshals to pass the first statewide bill enabling operations for the mobile fuel on-demand industry, the company said.
Booster Fuels has raised more than $88 million in funding from firms such as Invus Opportunities, Conversion Capital, Enterprise Holdings Ventures, Madrona Venture Group, Maveron, Perot Jain LP, Total Ventures and Vulcan Capital.
ENTERTAINMENT
Austin-based Alamo Drafthouse Cinema announced that former Starbucks executive Shelli Taylor assumed the role of CEO, effective May 1. Taylor spent almost 20 years as an executive with the ubiquitous coffee giant, and most recently served as president of United Planet Fitness Partners, overseeing over 169 facilities across the country. Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League will assume a new role as executive chairman, where he will lead the board of directors and continue to guide and develop new creative initiatives.
Toyota Music Factory has partnered with one of the nation’s leading credit unions, UNIFY Financial Credit Union. UNIFY will be the official credit union of Toyota Music Factory and entitlement partner of the box office at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory. The box office will be renamed, “UNIFY Box Office at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory.” As the official credit union of Toyota Music Factory, UNIFY members will have exclusive access to discounts for events and entertainment at the Toyota Music Factory; UNIFY ATMs will also be available onsite.
GOVERNMENT
D.J. Harrell has been named to lead the City of Fort Worth’s Development Services Department, which is focused on facilitating sustainable land and building development while providing an exceptional experience to all customers. Harrell holds a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science with a concentration in public policy and urban planning from Southern University in Baton Rouge. He is also a licensed real estate broker. He has worked with the City of Fort Worth since 2010, most recently as an assistant director of the Development Services Department. Earlier this year, he was named interim director of the department. Among other community involvement, Harrell is a member of the Texas Municipal League, the Urban Land Institute, the American Planning Association, the International City/County Management Association, the Project Management Institute, and Leadership Fort Worth, where he serves on the board of directors. Harrell also serves as a board member both to Fort Worth Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi and to the Fort Worth Chapter of Southern University Alumni Federation.
HEALTH CARE
Lori Rice-Spearman, Ph.D., who joined Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in 1987 and has served as interim president since Nov. 1, 2019, has been named the sole finalist for the president’s job. She will become the first female president in Texas Tech University System history.
The Texas Tech University System Board of Regents announced the selection May 14. State law requires 21 days must pass before final action can be taken on employment once a sole finalist has been named. Rice-Spearman’s start date as president is expected to be June 5. Rice-Spearman will become the ninth president in the 51-year history of TTUHSC. Additionally, she becomes not only the first female president of TTUHSC, but also in the history of all four universities within the TTU System.
Community Healthcare of Texas has announced the appointment of Kristy Johnke, LMSW, RN, CHC, CCM, as chief operating officer, overseeing the daily operations of the organization’s six outpatient offices and three inpatient units located in the Dallas, Fort Worth and Waco areas.
Johnke has more than 20 years of healthcare experience, 15 of them in home health and hospice. She joined Community Healthcare of Texas in 2017 as chief compliance officer.
Johnke earned an associate of science degree in nursing from Excelsior College, a bachelor of science in rehabilitation studies from The University of North Texas and a master’s degree in social work from The University of Texas in Arlington.
Sadiant Health, a Fort Worth-based on-demand health care staffing network, has announced it has appointed Casey Robertson as chief executive officer. Sarah Snetzer, one of the company’s founders and former CEO, has assumed the role of president. Prior to joining Sadiant, Robertson was CEO of Longview Regional Medical Center. Previously he was CEO of Woodland Heights Medical Center in Lufkin and also served in administrative roles in hospitals in Florida and Alabama. Robertson earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Texas A&M University in College Station and a master’s degree in health care administration from Trinity University in San Antonio.
LAW
Stephen L. Tatum Jr., a partner with Cantey Hanger LLP, has accepted the assistant – the chief of staff – position to Ken McQueen, the regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Region 6, which covers Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, the law firm said in a news release. Before joining Cantey Hanger, Tatum was a deputy commissioner of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
With Cantey Hanger, Tatum’s areas of practice included issues involving the environment, energy and eminent domain, as well as government and regulatory matters.
Tatum graduated from Wake Forest University with a bachelor of arts in history and from The University of Texas School of Law. He is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Eastern and Southern Districts of Texas.
MILITARY
The USS Fort Worth held a change of command ceremony while pierside at Naval Base San Diego recently. Cmdr. Jeremiah Petersen, a native of Laurel, Maryland, assumed command of the ship from Cmdr. Colin Corridan, a native of Springfield, Massachusetts. Corridan completed a successful command tour with Fort Worth, which included multiple shipside certification events, the successful installation and testing of an anti-submarine warfare package and tasking in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of operations.
REAL ESTATE
SRS Real Estate Partners has hired Kaylyn Murray as associate in the Dallas/Fort Worth office. She will focus on tenant and landlord representation. Murray graduated from the University of Oklahoma in December. Her introduction to the retail real estate industry came through an internship with The Retail Connection.
TECHNOLOGY
ECI Software Solutions, a Fort Worth cloud-based business management solutions company, has appointed Traci Johnson as chief marketing officer.
Johnson – who has been with ECI for nearly two decades – was previously senior vice president of Global Communication and Brand, focused on global marketing strategies for each of the company’s divisions.
In her new role, she will be responsible for continuing to build the ECI brand, creating customer value and driving global digital marketing and demand generation strategies, the company said in a news release.