Jason Ray, the former chief operating officer for Big Brothers Big Sisters, has been named the new chief executive officer for Clayton Youth Enrichment Services, a nonprofit provider of before- and after-school youth enrichment programs.
Founded in 1975, Clayton serves more than 5,900 students in more than 80 public and private schools throughout Tarrant County.
“I want to take it to the next level,” Ray said. “Every hard-working parent in Tarrant County deserves peace of mind knowing that while they are working hard providing for their family, their children are in the best, and safest, learning environment.”
Ray replaces Mary Lee Hafley, who has been interim CEO since May. Ray has nearly 20 years of experience in leadership. His goal is to increase Clayton’s presence in the community through social service, academic and philanthropic partnerships. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Texas Christian University and a master’s degree in public administration degree from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations
Balcom Agency launched a new film and video production team, led by Taylor Potts, multi-media creative director; Aaron Youngblood, cinematographer and editor; Amanda Deering, junior art director and video specialist; and Lynne Swihart, director of production services.
Banking & Finance
John Chace joined Hallmark Financial Services Inc. as president of Hallmark Pro, the professional liability product line, and Barbara Sinclair joined as senior vice president, healthcare group leader. Chace will lead the growth, diversification and operation of the product portfolio. He most recently was the senior vice president, chief underwriting officer at OneBeacon Professional Insurance, where he led the professional, management and health care liability product lines. Prior to OneBeacon, Chace had executive roles with Fireman’s Fund, Munich Re and The Medical Protective Co., specializing in health care and professional liability.
Sinclair most recently was senior vice president of health care for Alliant Insurance Services, working with hospital systems, national physician groups, medical research foundations and health care risk retention groups. Prior to Alliant, she was senior vice president of health care for OneBeacon Professional, overseeing the Healthcare Complex Risk underwriting team. She has had senior leadership and underwriter positions with Darwin and Chubb Insurance Group and spent her early career with Marsh & McLennan and A&A Insurance Services in health care products.
Three certified public accountants have joined the tax services division at JTaylor. Sarah Caldwell, a tax manager, previously worked with Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Before her career in public accounting, Caldwell served in various tax, payroll and benefit functions for CEC Entertainment, CB Richard Ellis and Trammell Crow Co. Matthew Clubb, – a tax senior, has practice areas in personal, corporate, S corporations, partnerships, trusts, estates and nonprofits. Marc Geisler, also a new tax senior, focuses his practice in real estate, health care, oil and gas, nonprofits and individual tax compliance.
Rylander, Clay & Opitz LLP recently promoted seven team members. Promoted to senior were Monty Hudson, Josh Martin, Derek Pfeifer and Mark Robnett. Promoted to supervisor were Neal Helf, April McCool and Michelle Squires.
Boards & Organizations
Southlake Mayor Laura K. Hill has been named to the advisory board for Frost’s Tarrant County region. Co-owner of Downey Publishing and chairman of the National Association of Directory Publishers, Hill is involved in numerous local philanthropic and community activities. Shel is the founder and executor of the Downey Art for Education Trust, past chairman of the Recovery Resource Council of Tarrant County, founder of Students and Parents Against Risks to Kids (SPARK) and a co-founder of Scholars and Athletes Serving Others. She has been named Citizen of the Year by the Southlake Chamber of Commerce.
Marianne Methven, director of marketing for Hamilton Form Co., was elected to a three-year term on the board of the National Precast Concrete Association. Methven has worked in the precast concrete industry for 11 years. Previously, she worked for CertainTeed Corp. as a vice president of marketing. She serves on committees for various other industry groups, is a trustee of the Precast/Prestressed Institute Educational Foundation, is involved with Susan G. Komen and is an active volunteer and supporter of Unbound.
Construction & Engineering
Basecom Construction Services added Anelia Banda, owner of the promotional products company netplay Promotions, as business development director. Banda is the vice chairman of development for the Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas-Fort Worth Chapter, a board member of the Winfree Schools Foundation, the past vice chairman of membership for Baylor University Women’s Council Tarrant County, the past president for Sickle Cell Disease Association of Tarrant County, a member of Women Steering Business and an incoming board member for the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Baird, Hampton & Brown Inc. expanded its Weatherford office team to include land surveyor Lon Whitten and survey technician Steve Black. Whitten has more than 36 years of land surveying experience, nine of which were spent in BHB’s former Granbury office location. Black joins BHB with 14 years of experience, including past work done with Whitten.
Government
Ken Freeman, deputy chief for the Fort Worth Fire Department, will be Burleson’s new fire chief starting Feb. 1. He will succeed Gary Wisdom, who is retiring at the end of 2015. Freeman has spent his 38-year firefighting career with the city of Fort Worth. He was 19 when he was hired as a firefighter in 1977. He was promoted to engineer in June 1980, lieutenant in May 1983 and captain in June 1986. He was promoted to battalion chief/operations division in February 1989, then deputy chief in the educational and training division, where he currently serves, in 2014. Freeman also served as fire marshal from 2003-2005. He has been training coordinator for the Tarrant County College Fire Service Training Center since 2009.
Honors & Awards
Texas A&M University recognized Schwarz Hanson Architects as a member of the 2015 Aggie 100, which honors the fastest-growing companies in the world owned or operated by former A&M students. Schwarz Hanson was ranked 89th with a compound annual growth rate of 34 percent from 2012-2014. The Aggie 100, a program created by the Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship in the Mays Business School, honors graduates from across disciplines for their entrepreneurial endeavors and success as business leaders. This is the fifth time that Schwarz Hanson Architects has been ranked since the inception of the award; it made the list in 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2014.
The North Texas CCIM Chapter recognized 18 chapter members who recently earned the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation, including K.C. Cheah, principal broker at KCC Realty LLC, and Tunisia Sadruddin, portfolio director with the U.S. General Services Administration.
For the second consecutive year, TTI Inc.’s marketing team has received the Best Co-op Marketing and Best Sales Tools awards from the Electronics Components Industry Association. In the Best Co-op Marketing category, TTI won for its creation of the Bourns Power Team campaign, which also received recognition as a People’s Choice Award. TTI’s new video series, Ask the Specialist, won for Best Video Production, while the company received its fourth win in the Best Sales Tools/Sales Incentive Campaign category by partnering with Vishay to construct the Vishay Building 15In15 campaign.
Professional Sports
The Women’s National Basketball Association’s new Dallas Wings announced its front office staff. David Swatzell will serve as president and CEO of the team. He will be responsible for overseeing all departments and shaping the strategic direction and corporate culture of the organization. This includes team operations, sales and marketing, corporate sponsorships, communications, branding and human resources. Robert Anthony, the chief marketing officer, will be responsible for directing marketing and communications, corporate sponsorships, game day experience and digital initiatives.
Greg Bibb has been named general manager of the team and will be responsible for basketball operations. An 18-year veteran of the sports industry, Bibb served three years as the executive vice president of business operations for the Washington Wizards and five seasons as the Washington Mystics chief operating officer. Michael Schetzel will be senior vice president of ticket sales and service. Schetzel led ticket sales teams for Madison Square Garden, the Boston Red Sox and Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer, among other organizations.
The Dallas Wings, formerly the Tulsa Shock, will play home games at College Park Center on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington.
Send newsmakers to Betty Dillard at bdillard@bizpress.net