Newsmakers: Law firm adds two associates

ARCHITECTURE

Elements of Architecture Inc. has promoted two project managers – Mike Smith and Greg Lay – to the position of Associate. Smith, AIA, RAS has been with Elements since it was founded in 1996. Smith is Elements’ accessibility specialist and provides project management and design for a wide range of clients.

Lay, AIA, NCARB has been with Elements for 10 years. Lay has been a project manager for the past three years, managing projects for private and public clients. He also maintains Elements’ technology capabilities, keeping the company abreast of the latest programs and innovations in design and production

COMMUNICATIONS

Taylor Prince has joined Balcom Agency as account director where she will be instrumental to the Smith+Nephew account, managing several brands.

Prince has approximately 10 years of experience in account management with agencies including GS&F, Ignite Partnership and Publicis Groupe, serving major brands such as Samsung, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, USAA and Intel as well as medical and health companies including TriHealth, UC Health and Revision Skincare. She holds a Bachelor of Music with a minor in marketing from the University of Miami.

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Michael (Mike) Dwyer has joined Balcom Agency as digital media planner and buyer and has already been promoted to senior digital media planner and buyer after six months with the agency. With his experience, Dwyer will assist Smith+Nephew, Dairy MAX, ACEC Life/Health Trust, Hippo Sak and other agency clients. Prior to joining Balcom, Dwyer worked at agency Merkle | DWA for clients such as Amazon Web Services and Northrop Grumman.

Holly Hoenke has joined Balcom Agency as staff accountant. Hoenke will handle invoicing and general accounting duties for clients such as Cavender’s, Cook Children’s Health Care System, Kubota Tractor Corporation and more. Prior to joining Balcom, Hoenke worked as a staff accountant for Proxy Payroll and her own company, Crucial Consulting.

HOSPITALITY

Visit Fort Worth announced new voting members of its board of directors:

Robert Ahdieh, dean of the Texas A&M University School of Law
Elizabeth Beck, Fort Worth City Council District 9
Jessica Miller Essl, co-president, M2G Ventures
Carlos Flores, Fort Worth City Council District 2
Drew Hayden, general manager of The Worthington Renaissance Hotel
Ronny Korb, charter president of Pinnacle Bank

Members serve three-year terms. Flores and Hayden will also serve on the Executive Committee.

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These members were appointed as nonvoting ex officio members of the board:

Sultan Cole, chairman of the Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce
Rob Ramage, senior vice president and general manager of Texas Motor Speedway
Ashley Sansalone, director of sales and marketing for the Kimpton Harper Hotel
Gerry Schlegel, president of LKCM Radio Group

Sansalone also serves as chair of the Visit Fort Worth Sales Committee. Schlegel is chair of Hear Fort Worth, the initiative promoting local music performance and production.

Officers for fiscal year 2022:

Chairman Mark Nurdin, Bank of Texas
Immediate Past Chairman Rosa Navejar, The Rios Group
Vice Chairman Brian Newby, Cantey Hanger
Secretary/Treasurer John Yeung, Sheraton Fort Worth Hotel

ClubCorp on Nov. 19 announced that Jim Berra will join the company as Chief Marketing & Innovation Officer to lead ClubCorp’s marketing and innovation efforts across their portfolio of private clubs. In this newly created role, Berra will oversee the full suite of marketing capabilities, including brand strategy, communications, social and digital media, Web development, consumer insights, and product innovation.

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Berra comes to ClubCorp from Royal Caribbean International. He joined as SVP and Chief Marketing Officer in 2015, overseeing all the company’s advertising programs, marketing communications, social media, and customer marketing.

ClubCorp properties include Walnut Creek Country Club in Mansfield, Timmaron Country Club in Southlake and Trophy Club Country Club.

HONORS/AWARDS

The Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame has announced the 2022 Hall of Fame inductees: Patti Colbert, Wilson Franklin, Scharbauer Cattle Co. and Dr. Charles “Bud” Townsend. The Spirit of Texas Award Recipient is Cody Johnson.

The induction ceremony will be held at Billy Bob’s Texas on Thursday, March 3, 2022, at 6 p.m. The event is sponsored by Norris Foundation & Bobby Norris Farm and Ranch Realty.

LAW

Lyndsay A. Newell, an attorney specializing in Family Law, and Jermaine Watson, an attorney specializing in Bankruptcy Law and Business Litigation, have joined Cantey Hanger LLP as Partners. William J. Gober, John M. Kash and Preston R. Polk have joined the firm as associates.

Newell joins Cantey Hanger from her own firm. where she practiced family law since 2016. She received her Juris Doctor from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law (now Texas A&M) in 2012. While at Wesleyan, she was a staff writer for the Law Review.

Watson has represented clients in bankruptcy cases in all federal districts in Texas, the Western District of Arkansas, Northern District of Ohio, District of Delaware, and the Southern District of New York.

Patterson Law Group has added Ty Stimpson to its team. Prior to joining Patterson Law Group, Stimpson was an Assistant District Attorney with the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office and Dallas County District Attorney’s Office. Stimpson served in the White-Collar Public Integrity Division, Elder Financial Fraud Division, and the Intimate Partner Violence Division. Stimpson is an active member in the Tarrant County Bar Association, L. Clifford Davis Legal Association, Rotary Club of Downtown Fort Worth, former Chair of the Criminal Justice Committee of the City of Fort Worth Race and Culture Task Force, and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. He currently serves as the Board Chair for LVT Rise, a project dedicated to supporting Fort Worth’s Las Vegas Trail community.    

In addition, Stimpson is also heavily involved in his community as a board member of the Tarrant Area Food Bank, Boys and Girls Club of Greater Tarrant County, the Arts Council of Fort Worth, Project 4031, the advisory board for the Young Men’s Leadership Academy of Fort Worth and is a graduate of the 2019 Leadership Fort Worth Class.

Lee B. Hunt has joined Kelly Hart & Hallman’s Fort Worth office as an associate in its Intellectual Property practice.

Prior to joining Kelly Hart, Hunt was an attorney at Brackett & Ellis in Fort Worth and was formerly a trademark examining attorney for the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Virginia. From 2013-2014, Mr. Hunt served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Eva M. Guzman at the Supreme Court of Texas.

John B. Phair has joined Kelly Hart & Hallman in the firm’s Fort Worth office as an associate in its Corporate & Securities section.

Phair advises private equity sponsors, management teams and family offices on a range of strategic transactions and investment matters. He also advises clients in matters involving complex mergers and acquisitions, dispositions, internal restructuring, entity formation, equity incentive arrangements, capital raising and deployment, and general corporate governance. Prior to joining Kelly Hart, Mr. Phair was a corporate attorney at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in Dallas.

Kelly Hart & Hallman partner Dana Stayton was recently elected to serve a three-year term on the board of Read Fort Worth. Stayton chairs the firm’s Nonprofit Organizations section and advises clients in the initial organization and ongoing operation of nonprofit organizations and charitable trusts.

NONPROFIT

Goodwill North Central Texas announced Nov. 18 that Renaldo Williams has been promoted to Senior Director, Workforce Development for the nonprofit.

In his new position, Williams will oversee the daily management and operations of Goodwill’s North Texas Institute for Career Development as well as workforce development programs including VetWorthy, E-Squared and the Opportunity Accelerator. Williams will oversee departmental budgeting and manage 40 staff members to ensure all goals and performance standards are met for these mission services.

Goodwill North Central Texas has also announced Marvin Richburg has been hired as Director, Safety & Asset Protection for the nonprofit.

In his new role, Richburg will develop, institute, and manage programs and procedures that assist in the protection and safety of the agency, its personnel and assets. He will also develop programs and procedures that assist in the prevention of merchandise loss and the protection of all assets within Goodwill North Central Texas operations.

REAL ESTATE

Commercial real estate broker Marshall Mays has joined Colliers’ Fort Worth team as vice president of office leasing. He will focus on office project leasing, sales, tenant representation and business development in Tarrant County.

Mays is a Fort Worth native who comes to Colliers with significant commercial real estate experience. Before joining Colliers, he was at Holt Lunsford Commercial and previously served as an analyst for JLL. He has a broad background in leasing and sales across several product types including land, industrial and office.

ENGINEERING

Marking his one-year anniversary as vice president at Peloton Land Solutions, Brian Haynes, – – P.E., CFM, has been promoted to associate principal in the firm’s Fort Worth Alliance office. David Kalhoefer, senior level land planner/project manager with Peloton since 2017, has been promoted to associate principal at the company’s Frisco office.

With more than 23-years’ experience designing and managing public infrastructure projects, Haynes is responsible for growing the company’s public sector services program and has served as city engineer for five municipalities and developed capital improvement plans throughout North Texas. Some notable projects include the Downtown Reconstruction in Roanoke, TX and the $55 Million Solana Business Park Redevelopment in Westlake. He is a graduate of Texas Tech University with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. Haynes is a professional engineer and certified floodplain manager.

As a senior level land planner/project manager, Kalhoefer has more than 24-years’ experience in land development with expertise in residential land planning, commercial and retail site planning, landscape design, and project and construction management. Kalhoefer has led significant land planning business development and expansion efforts for the North Texas region and represents clients during public presentations of proposed projects to area city and county municipalities. He has also served on Celina’s Planning and Zoning Commission, Building and Standard’s Committee Comprehensive Plan Committee and Citizen’s Bond Committee.

Sundt Construction, Inc., added Kevin Graf as a project director in its Transportation Group in Dallas. In his new role, Graf will focus on the growth of Sundt’s government, flood control and transit markets across Texas.

Graf brings 16 years of heavy civil construction experience to his new role at Sundt. Previously, he served as a project manager on a $40 million dam project in Lewisville, Texas and a $73 million dam project in Houston, Texas. Graf has worked on numerous design-build projects. His experience includes a significant highway project in Dallas-Fort Worth, toll roads in Austin, and light rail transit in Houston.

KAI has announced the hiring of Tobin Ezekwesili, MBA, PE as Director of Electrical Engineering at its Dallas-Fort Worth office.

As Director of Electrical Engineering of the DFW office, Ezekwesili is responsible for the overall economic well-being of assigned projects. He comes to KAI with more than 15 years of engineering experience, having successfully completed projects in commercial, healthcare, K-12 and higher education markets.

Jonathan Daniel Russell, PE, has been named the 2021 Engineer of the Year by the Fort Worth Chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers (TSPE). This award is presented to individuals who exhibit outstanding contributions to public welfare and advancing the profession of engineering. Russell obtained his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University’s Dwight Look College of Engineering in 2006. He became a licensed engineer in the State of Texas in 2011. Russell began his professional career at Halff Associates in Fort Worth in 2007, working on a variety of municipal and TxDOT transportation projects, and federal hospital projects. In 2014, Russell worked in the Halff Grand Prairie office learning business development and working on private industrial development projects. He accepted a position as project manager at Dunaway Associates in 2016. At Dunaway, he worked on a wide-ranging scope of private development projects including the Dickies Arena, Riverhills Single-Family development, Sun Valley Industrial Park, Reeves County Hospital District Replacement Hospital and much more. Jonathan advanced in Dunaway to an Engagement Manager and Associate Principal.

In November 2021, Russell joined Manhard Consulting to open a new Fort Worth office. Manhard is an employee-owned, multi-discipline professional services firm. Manhard has offices in Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Nevada.

Russell has been an active member in TSPE since 2008. He is currently the State Director for the Fort Worth Chapter of TSPE. He was the Chapter President for the year 2016-2017 and was the Chapter’s MATHCOUNTS coordinator for five years. MATHCOUNTS is a middle school math program, which is sponsored by TSPE to help promote engineering to students who may not be familiar with engineering as a potential career path.

Teague Nall and Perkins Inc. (TNP) announced several promotions and transitions earlier this year.

• Ty Hilton, PE will assume the responsibilities of CEO of the firm, where he will provide strategic direction to expand the firm’s client base, employee base, and service offerings. Prior to this promotion, Hilton served as an Executive Vice President in charge of multiple business units within the firm, including teams specializing in large-scale transportation and highway design, municipal public works projects, traffic engineering, subsurface utility engineering, and construction engineering/inspection. Ty joined the firm in 1995 as a Project Manager.

• Scott Wilhelm, PE, CFM will be promoted to President of the firm and will also serve as Secretary of the Corporation. In this role, Wilhelm will oversee operations of several of the company’s key business units and focus on growth opportunities for the company. Prior to this promotion, Wilhelm served as an Executive Vice President in charge of multiple business units within the firm, including teams specializing in the design of municipal public works projects, linear water/wastewater conveyance systems, water resources (stormwater) engineering, surveying, landscape architecture, single family residential design, and site development projects. He joined the firm in 1995 as a Project Manager.

• Tom Rutledge will be promoted to Executive Vice President of the firm. Rutledge previously served as a firm Principal, during which time he successfully built and managed one of the state’s leading teams specializing in the site design of educational facilities, including K-12 ISD projects, private/charter institutions, and higher education facilities. He also managed teams specializing in municipal public works projects. He will continue to actively oversee and provide strategic direction to these groups in his new role. He joined the firm in 1983 as a Staff Designer.

• Mark Berry, PE will transition out of his current role as CEO and into his new role as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the firm. He will also serve as the Treasurer of the Corporation. Berry joined the firm in 1993 as the first partner and shareholder to join the original three namesakes of the firm. Since that time, he has provided vision, strategic oversight, and leadership that has resulted in record growth and transformation of TNP into an industry leader providing a multitude of civil engineering, surveying, and landscape architecture services to public and private-sector clients.

“These changes represent the culmination of an intentional and planned leadership transition amid our continued and record-breaking firm growth and prosperity,” said Berry. “I have had the pleasure of working with Ty, Scott, and Tom for more than twenty-five years each, and I look forward to seeing them take TNP to new heights. Ty Hilton is immensely qualified and prepared to lead TNP. He is a patient and deliberate decision maker and a man of impeccable character with expert level competency in multiple engineering disciplines. I look forward to supporting him and experiencing the success his leadership will undoubtedly bring the firm.”

Newly appointed CEO, Hilton, commented, “I am excited to lead the next chapter of this company’s journey. I appreciate having the continued help of Scott, Tom, and Mark in executing our company’s mission, which is to “improve our communities and meet our clients’ needs by doing the right things, right.”