Banking & Finance
UMB Bank N.A., a subsidiary of UMB Financial Corp. hired Kaleb Curtis as vice president of commercial banking in Fort Worth. He will be responsible for business development and commercial banking activity in the North Texas market. Curtis has more than 19 years of experience in banking and financial services. Previously, he was vice president of middle market banking at BBVA Compass and vice president loan team manager for commercial banking at Wells Fargo in Fort Worth. Curtis is a graduate with top designation of the Wells Fargo Credit Management Training Program. He serves on the membership committee for the Association for Corporate Growth-Dallas/Fort Worth chapter, advisory board for the Keller Independent School District Education Foundation and the board of Housing Opportunities of Fort Worth; and is an incoming member of the advisory board for Tarrant County College District Northwest Campus business, accounting and entrepreneurship program.
Boards & Organizations
Gov. Greg Abbott appointed 10 student regents to their respective universities for terms effective on June 1 and expiring on May 31, 2017. Local students appointed include: Lindsey Shelley of ¬¬¬¬¬¬Fort Worth, who is pursuing a master’s degree in nursing from Midwestern State University; Tramauni Brock of Mansfield, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Texas Southern University; and Jeremy Stewart of Arlington, pursuing a medical degree from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso.
Armin Mizani, managing attorney for the Mizani Law Firm in Dallas and a Keller city councilman, has been appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott to the Automobile Burglary and Theft Prevention Authority for a term to expire Feb. 1, 2021. Mizani is a member of the State Bar of Texas, Tarrant County Bar Association and the Texas Young Lawyers Association. He sits on Keller’s Crime Control and Prevention Committee and the Municipal Court Committee.
The North Texas Community Foundation recently elected new officers, committee chairmen and incoming board members. Officers are: Chairman James DeMoss, president, The DeMoss Co.; Vice Chairman Bill Dismuke, shareholder, Dismuke &Waters PC; Treasurer Michael Appleman, managing partner, Cantey Hanger LLP; Corporate Secretary Al Saenz, president, Multatech; and at-large Ralph Heath, retired president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. Incoming board members include Stewart Alcorn, Joseph DeLeon, William Slater, and Mark Walton. Returning board members include Cindy Adams, Liz Fleischer, Anne Holland and Beth J. Rivers. Chairmen emeriti include Chris Huckabee, Ann Louden, Jeff Alexander, Tom Cravens, Allen Hodges, Leland Hodges, Phil McCrury, Bill Landreth, Garland Lasater and Nick Martin.
Engineering
Kenneth R. Fulmer will succeed Edward M. D’Alba as president and CEO, effective July 1, of Urban Services, a multidiscipline engineering firm with an office in Fort Worth. D’Alba will remain on the firm’s board. Since beginning his career with the firm as an intern, Fulmer has served in several leadership positions, including deputy director of construction services and general manager for transit and passenger rail. Most recently, Fulmer managed all aspects of the firm’s operations, including serving on the board and leading the executive committee. He is a professional engineer in five states: Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Government
Rob Denkhaus has been named manager of the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge, replacing Suzanne Tuttle, who will retire at the end of June after 11 years as manager. Denkhaus, a native of Akron, Ohio, has had a 30-year career in the wildlife profession, including stops in four states: Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee and Texas. Denkhaus joined the Nature Center staff in 1997 as a program naturalist and later became natural resources manager. His accomplishments include creating the Canoe Fest and Bison-Feeding Hay Ride and implementing the center’s internationally recognized model for feral hog control.
Health Care
HCA appointed Troy A. Villarreal as president of HCA’s Gulf Coast division, effective June 20. Villarreal succeeds Maura Walsh, who will retire after a career of nearly 30 years with HCA. Villarreal will be responsible for 16 hospitals and numerous other free-standing facilities serving communities in greater Houston, Corpus Christi and South Texas. A 23-year veteran of HCA, Villarreal had been CEO of HCA’s Medical City Dallas Hospital since 2013. Previously he was CEO of HCA’s Medical Center of Plano for five years. Before that, he was CEO of HCA’s Plaza Medical Center of Fort Worth. He is a graduate of Leadership Plano Class 27 and served on several committees for Leadership Plano. He also served on the board of the Plano Chamber of Commerce and on the advisory board of the United Way of Greater Dallas.
Honors & Awards
United Way of Tarrant County named Glen Sirles Individual Volunteer of the Year, Alcon Laboratories as the United Way Large Corporate Volunteer Group of the Year and Lhoist North America (LNA) the Small Corporate Volunteer Group of the Year. Sirles is chairman of the United Way-Northeast Steering Committee, serving on both the United Way board and Community Development Cabinet. He also has served on the United Way Public Policy Committee and is a graduate of the United Way Blueprint for Board Service program. Alcon is involved with United Way year-round, hosting lunch-and-learn events to inform employees about the agency’s work on education, income and health impacts. More than 1,000 Alcon employees volunteer at United Way agencies and other nonprofits annually on Alcon Community Partnership Day. Lhoist established a LNA Community Involvement Committee and invited a United Way representative to serve with them. The group meets monthly to plan and implement volunteer and fundraising activities that engage employees and benefit United Way partner agencies.
The Fort Worth Chapter of TSCPA recently honored seven certified public accountants for service to their profession. Steven G. Newcom was named CPA of the Year, recognized for many volunteer leadership positions he has held over 30 years in the association and its statewide parent, Texas Society of CPAs, and for his leadership of the Eagle Mountain Saginaw Independent School District over several terms as trustee. Norman B. Robbins III, Mark M. Jones & Associates PC, was named Young CPA of the Year. He will chair the Texas Society of CPAs young professionals group in 2016-2017. Keith Hollar of Auldridge Griffin PC and Kevin Saller of American Airlines received Meritorious Service awards for performing a reenactment for a statewide audience of the two pivotal events in Fort Worth in 1915 that formed the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy (the profession’s regulatory agency) and the Texas Society of CPAs. Aaron Grisz of Weaver and Chelsea Johnson of LiveBeyond received awards for outstanding committee leadership for the 2015 Fort Worth CPA Softball Tournament. Joshua Willson of The Walton Group was named Outstanding Community Volunteer for his leadership in the CPAs’ 100 Year, 100 CPAs, 100 Hours Campaign in 2015. He organized a Habitat for Humanity build in Hood County, manned by certified public accountants, in October 2015.
Alcon Laboratories received the Global Nexus Award and The Cliburn received the Global Citizens Award from Fort Worth Sister Cities during the annual Mayor’s International Dinner on May 5. Alcon was honored for its positive connections globally and for its long history with the city’s international efforts through the Sister Cities organization starting in 1985. The Cliburn was honored for promoting Fort Worth around the world and creating a positive view of the United States through educational and cultural initiatives.
Livestock Auctions
Beth Brian is a new marketing assistant at Superior Livestock Auction Inc. Brian owns and operates a horseback riding school, Slant Top J Horsemanship School, in Weatherford, where she and her husband also raise and train horses and operate a small cow/calf operation. She previously was communications manager for NewScope Marketing Inc. Brian competed in many rodeos and rodeo queen pageants across Texas, winning the title of Miss Rodeo Texas in 2005.
Nonprofit Organizations
The Cause Agency recently opened as a nonprofit specializing in design, marketing and public relations work for other nonprofits. Jennifer Henderson, the agency’s executive director and board president, is joined by Vice President Mary Ann Henker, president of The Henker Group (Maryland); Treasurer John Singleton, director of international services at Texas Christian University; and Secretary Suzin Hines, communications director at Christ Chapel Bible Church in Fort Worth.
Courtney Kimberling Radcliffe joined the Foundation for the Young Women’s Leadership Academy as its executive director. She brings 15 years of nonprofit experience in the areas of health care with the JPS Foundation, public broadcasting with KERA, and education with Southern Methodist University. The academy is the first single-gender school in the Fort Worth Independent School District, operating in partnership with the foundation and the Young Women’s Preparatory Network.
The North Texas Community Foundation hired Stan Ninemire, a former executive vice president of operations and chief financial officer for Tandy Brands Accessories Inc., as its new finance director. He succeeds Rob Miller, who is retiring. Ninemire’s background includes experience in both public accounting at PwC and varied industry experience in oil and gas, retail and manufacturing. A certified public accountant, he brings more than 20 years of accounting experience to the foundation. Ninemire will have oversight responsibilities for the foundation’s investment portfolios as well as all financial transactions, reports and audits. He will also assume responsibility for personnel and benefits administration.
Please send newsmakers to Betty Dillard at bdillard@bizpress.net