The U.S. Chamber of Commerce honored Southwest Office Systems Inc. (SOS) with its 2018 Minority-Owned Business Achievement Award during its annual Dream Big Awards Celebration on Oct. 3 in Washington, D.C.
Vince Puente, SOS president of sales and marketing, said, “This award is validation of our team’s hard work and dedication.” SOS’s president of finance and operations, Buddy Puente, said, “It’s really an honor to be recognized nationally for our company’s success and contributions.”
The award recognizes a minority-owned small business that has attained outstanding business achievement and exemplifies the contributions of minority-owned businesses in the country. The business must have management and daily operations controlled by at least one U.S. citizen of a minority group.
Award winners were announced as part of the 2018 Small Business Summit, which took place at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The U.S. Chamber named NightLight Pediatric Urgent Care from Sugar Land as the 2018 winner of the $25,000 Dream Big Small Business of the Year Award, presented by MetLife.
BOARDS & ORGANIZATIONS
New officers at Fort Worth Sister Cities International are: chairwoman, Veronica Chavez Law, Brackett & Ellis; chairwoman-elect, Becky Renfro Borbolla, Renfro Foods; past/nominating chairman, Johnny Campbell, Sundance Square; treasurer, Frank Tilley, SeatonHill; secretary, Casey Dyer Oliver, Texas A&M; development chairman, Rich Lowe, Shackelford, Bowen, McKinley & Norton LLP; long-range planning chairman, Pat Miller, Texas Christian University; exchanges and outreach chairman, Sheryl Harris, Tarrant County College; and marketing chairwoman Lydia Rickard, LCOMM Marketing.
New board members included: Jason Brown, Doss, Knight & Associates; Florence Bruner, Firehouse Auto Sales; David Campbell, Huitt-Zollars; Shanna Cate, Trinity River Vision Authority; Jeff Dyer, Crescent Realty; Cindy Johnson; Rachel Malone, Merrill Lynch; Bonnie Melhart, Texas Christian University; Steve Peglar, WhitneySmith Co.; and Andy Roseliep, BB&T.
The Bob Bolen Award for Outstanding Board Leadership was awarded to Michael Roemer. The Rotary Club of Fort Worth was awarded the Eisenhower Award for Organizational Involvement and Matt Graves received the Volunteer of the Year award.
LAW
SettlePou has added Fort Worth attorney Luis Galindo, adding construction law as a new area of practice for the law firm, as well as a new office location in Fort Worth.
REAL ESTATE
Donna Noto with RE/MAX Pinnacle in Arlington recently earned The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing’s Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist designation.
The specialized training and ongoing membership with The Institute give Noto the knowledge and tools to better serve clients. The designation provides evidence of the commitment to service at the highest level.
Noto has been in real estate since 2002 and specializes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. She has been named among the “10 Best Realtors in Texas” for the past three years and is in the top 3 percent of realtors in the nation with her education and training.
Send newsmakers to Robert Francis at rfrancis@bizpress.net.