Banking & Finance
Bank of the West hired Gary Lewis as the area president for the Denton, Flower Mound, Highland Village and Ponder market areas as part of its lending management team. A commercial lender for over 38 years in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, Lewis brings conventional and SBA lending experience.
Wells Fargo named Nick Salomone – to lead middle market banking operations in the Fort Worth and surrounding West Texas area. As regional vice president, Salomone leads a team of 18. He joined Wells Fargo in 2010 and, most recently, led business development for Wells Fargo in Fort Worth and West Texas. Previously, he spent the majority of his banking career as a relationship manager for the middle market and corporate banking groups at a regional bank.
Joining Salomone’s Fort Worth team are Ryan Merz and David Self. Merz was recently named business development officer for the region. He most recently was business development officer for Wells Fargo supply chain finance group, where he supported retail, energy services, industrials, technology and engineering clients. Before joining Wells Fargo in 2013, Merz worked as a financial consultant adviser for Dell Inc.
Self most recently was principal relationship manager for Wells Fargo’s business banking group, managing client relationships with a focus on health care, investment real estate, commercial and industrial, and professional and executive lending. Self previously was a commercial banker for a regional bank before joining Wells Fargo in 2013.
Boards & Organizations
Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Brent Carr to the Specialty Courts Advisory Council for a term to expire Feb. 1, 2021. Carr is judge of Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 9. He is a member of the federal court’s Northern District of Texas, U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the State Bar of Texas. Carr was an artillery officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. He received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Tampa and his law degree from South Texas College of Law.
The 2017 officers for the Tarrant County Mayors Council are: Chairman Gerald Jourbert, mayor of Forest Hill; Vice Chairman Patrick Jacob, mayor of Lakeside; Secretary/Treasurer Mark Matthews, mayor of Keller; and Past Chairman Jim Griffin, mayor of Bedford. The incoming officers will serve one-year terms.
The officers for the 2017 board of the Fort Worth Public Library Foundation are: Chairman Jacob D. Smith, Vice Chairman Bond Malone, Secretary Becky Bullard, Treasurer S. Martin McDonald, and Assistant Treasurer Kitty Miller. Board members are: Judy Alton, Hayden Blackburn, William M. Booker, Vianei Lopez Braun, Tia Cole, Barbara Cordray, Will A. Courtney Sr., Linda Garcia, Stacy Landreth Grau, Angela Hainsworth, Jennifer O. Henderson, Julia Huseman, Walter Littlejohn, John McKenzie, Carley Moore, Karen S. Precella, Michael Price, Nedra Robinson, Todd Spake, Thomas E. Turner, Priscilla Veeder, Elena Yorio and Stephanie Zavala.
The Ambassadors, the support organization of the Fort Worth Public Library Foundation and the Fort Worth Library, include: Karen Barlow, Delores Buckalew, Judith Carrier, Tim Carter, Elizabeth Doane, Dr. John Freese, Jill Goff, Petra Grimes, Mike Haney, Doug Harman, Nancy Knight, Linda Scroggie, Ann Simms and Gil Zepeda.
New officers for World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth are Chairman Marjorie Adams and Vice Chairmen Darcy Anderson, vice chairman of Hillwood, and James Waters, partner, Haynes and Boone LLP. New board members are: David Bonnette, CEO of Lanyon Inc.; Annika Cail, vice president at Commerce Street Holdings; Michael Capps, director, strategic development for Raytheon; Linda Christie, — photo — director of community and government relations at Tarrant Regional Water District; Naiara “Nai” De Leon Gamboa, principal at Bain & Co.’s Dallas, Chicago, London and Madrid offices; Abid Neemuchwala, CEO of Wipro Limited; and Marvin Singleton, executive vice president and general manager at Hill+Knowlton Strategies. Council President and CEO is James N. Falk.
Funeral Homes
Noble Cremations opened a new office in Arlington at 2401 W. Pioneer Parkway. Managing director is Sonya Giles – and the funeral director is Jim Barrow.
Honors & Awards
Robert Geiger, the resource manager of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District, was named Resource Manager of the Year. Geiger was selected from among the Corps’ 50 districts and centers for the annual award.
Lockheed Martin was named Large Employer of the Year and Klein Tools Inc. of Mansfield was named Small Employer of the Year at the Texas Workforce Commission’s 20th Annual Texas Workforce Conference. Both Lockheed Martin and Klein Tools were nominated by Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County. All nominees were recognized for contributions to their community’s workforce through innovation and collaboration with their local Texas Workforce Solutions network partner. Lockheed Martin also received the Local Employer Award of Excellence for the Tarrant County area.
The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History selected Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District’s Cannon Elementary as the recipient of its 2016 President’s Award. The award recognizes North Texas schools committed to high achievement and creative learning. Five years ago Cannon Elementary became a STEM school, coinciding with the museum’s initiative called the 21st Century Learning Academy. Students from Cannon participated in the first Lego League Competition, in Kids Teaching Kids during Engineers Week at the museum and Parent STEM Nights.
Medical City Arlington, formerly Medical Center Arlington, was recognized by the Texas Department of State Health Services for outstanding newborn screening performance. The hospital received the highest honor – Spotlight Recognition – among high volume facilities in Texas. The award recognizes rapid and accurate newborn screening.
Medical City ER Grand Prairie, a department of Medical City Arlington, received a 2016 Guardian of Excellence Award from Press Ganey for outstanding performance in patient experience.
The University of North Texas was reaccredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
The DEAN & DELUCA Invitational earned an award from the PGA Tour for Best Title Sponsor Integration during the 2016 golf tournament at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth. This award is given annually to the tournament that goes above and beyond in a year-round activation plan with the title sponsor, including brand activation on site and advertising and charitable efforts throughout the year. The tournament worked closely with DEAN & DELUCA to integrate the company’s brand story into the event.
Nonprofit Organizations
Lyn Scott is the new executive director of Guardianship Services Inc. Scott has extensive experience in nonprofits, most recently as vice president and chief operating officer of a local supportive housing organization.
Angela Suhail is the newest hire at Lighthouse for the Blind of Fort Worth, serving in business development for the Lighthouse’s recently launched Optical Lab Services. The organization’s new team of lab technicians and opticians – both sighted and visually impaired – will produce prescription eye glasses and prescriptive safety eyewear. Suhail has over 22 years of sales and technical experience in the optical, optometric and ophthalmic industry. For the last 11 years, she worked for a large multi-doctor ophthalmology group to build the practice’s brand by working with independent optometrists in the Dallas-Fort Worth and surrounding areas. Prior to her business development role, Suhail developed her technical knowledge in the refractive surgery industry, working in sales and as a surgical scrub technician, optometric technician and regional training coordinator after being awarded Sales Associate of the Year.
Retail
Tammy Salter opened a new PostNet franchise at 1303 W. Pipeline Road in Hurst. PostNet offers local businesses full-service printing and finishing services; packaging and shipping with UPS, FedEx, DHL and the U.S. Postal Service; and ancillary business services, such as private mailbox rental. Previously, Salter was a store manager for Office Depot in Dallas, Fort Worth and Mid-Cities for 15 years and a store manager for Kmart in Texas, Alabama and North Carolina for 21 years. She is a member of the Hurst-Euless-Bedford and North Richland Hills chambers of commerce and is involved with the 6 Stones nonprofit organization.
Transportation
Texas Central Partners LLC, the developer of the proposed high-speed passenger train connecting North Texas and Houston, added design-build executive Carlos F. Aguilar as CEO. He succeeds Tim Keith, who had been CEO for the last 16 months, responsible for managing the development phase of the project, including planning, government relations, public and business community engagement, regulatory processes and the raising of equity capital. He will continue as Texas Central president, reporting to Aguilar, and will continue to focus on capital markets and financing, operations and external affairs.
Aguilar, formerly a senior vice president at global engineering company CH2M Hill, has more than 30 years of experience leading major industrial and infrastructure work, and his appointment reflects the project’s focus on the next phase of construction and operations. Before serving at CH2M, Aguilar was president of BrightSource Construction Management and senior vice president at BrightSource Energy, developer of solar thermal power plants. He spent 12 years with Bechtel Corp. where he was principal vice president, Bechtel Power Corp.; president of Bechtel Financing Services; and chief operating officer of United Infrastructure Co., Bechtel’s civil infrastructure investment company. He also was regional operations manager, chief engineer and environmental officer for the private sector equity and financing arm of the Inter-American Development Bank Group.
As COO of United Infrastructure, he oversaw the initial financing of the first five-year program for the $30 billion, 30-year project to upgrade the London Underground’s Jubilee, Piccadilly and Northern lines.
Send Newsmakers to Betty Dillard at bdillard@bizpress.net