Banking & Finance Texas Capital Bank hired Rick Jenkins in Fort Worth as senior vice president in the Commercial Real Estate Group. Jenkins previously was a senior lender with Texas Exchange Bank and was formerly market president for Southwest Securities in Fort Worth. Jenkins received his bachelor’s degree in real estate finance from the University of Texas at Arlington. Jim Morse will serve as executive vice president at Worthington National Bank’s Arlington location. Morse will initiate and manage commercial real estate as well as commercial, industrial and consumer portfolios. Morse previously was executive vice president and commercial loan officer at Worthington. He recently was chief credit officer and lending manager at both Community National Bank and Texas Savings Bank. He graduated from the Graduate School of Banking and also earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Texas Tech University. Dan Roberts joined Burgher Haggard to lead the firm’s new land and ranch division. Roberts’ professional experience includes 20 years as a general contractor, farm and ranch real estate agent, and rural asset manager in a large trust department. As a ranch owner himself, Roberts understands the financial concerns of owning property, liability and risk insurance, monitoring and appealing property taxes, government agriculture program opportunities, livestock, wildlife and land stewardship.
Brokerage firm Benjamin F. Edwards & Co. opened three new offices in Dallas, Denver and Midland, Mich., and hired Lois Powell as a senior vice president and director of the Texas market. Powell is a financial services industry veteran with nearly 30 years of experience, including several as a regional manager responsible for Texas and New Mexico. At Benjamin F. Edwards & Co., she will help broaden the firm’s footprint and client service model to investors in Texas and New Mexico. She also will serve on the board. Previously, Powell worked in branch management for more than 10 years in the Dallas area, before being named head of regional sales and later a regional manager. She also was a market manager in Fort Worth and West Texas before retiring in 2011. New financial representatives at Northwestern Mutual’s Fort Worth office are Patrick Powers and Christian Soberanes. Powers, a native of Fort Worth, received his undergraduate degree in telecommunications at Pepperdine University and his law degree at Texas Tech School of Law. Soberanes graduated from Texas Wesleyan University with a bachelor’s degree in business marketing.
Boards & Organizations Pier 1 Imports Inc. elected Cynthia P. McCague, Michael A. Peel and Ann M. Sardini to the board. John H. Burgoyne said he will not stand for re-election as a director of the company. He will serve the remainder of his term through the company’s 2014 annual meeting of shareholders in June. The board comprises the following directors: Terry E. London, chairman; Claire H. Babrowski; Cheryl A. Bachelder; Burgoyne; Hamish A. Dodds; Brendan L. Hoffman; McCague; Peel; Sardini; Alexander W. Smith; and Cece Smith. McCague retired from The Coca-Cola Co. in May 2010 having served as senior vice president and director of global human resources from June 2004 through November 2009, concluding a 28-year career with the company. From 2000-2004, McCague led human resources at Coca-Cola Hellenic, a publicly traded Coca-Cola bottler. Prior to that, she led human resources for Coca-Cola Beverages Plc in Great Britain, the predecessor to Coca-Cola Hellenic. McCague serves on the board of Monster Worldwide Inc. Peel has been vice president for human resources and administration at Yale University since October 2008. He spent 17 years at General Mills, where he was last executive vice president of human resources and global business services. From 1977-1991, Peel served in various capacities for PepsiCo Inc., including as senior vice president, human resources for PepsiCo Worldwide Foods from 1987-1991, and as senior vice president, human resources for the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Group from 1984-1987. Peel serves on the board of Select Comfort Corp. Sardini has more than 20 years of experience in senior financial management positions in branded consumer products and media companies. Most recently, she was the chief financial officer of Weight Watchers International Inc. from 2002 until her retirement in 2012. She was CFO of Vitamin Shoppe.com Inc. from 1999 to 2001, and as executive vice president and CFO for the Children’s Television Workshop from 1995 to 1999. She also served as controller and CFO at QVC Inc., Chris Craft Industries and the National Broadcasting Co. Sardini serves on the board of TreeHouseFoods Inc., the advisory board of LearnVest.com, and the board of Promise Project Fund for the city of New York. Pearson Partners International’s board elected Keith Pearson, vice chairman and president, to succeed Bob Pearson as president, CEO and vice chairman. Bob Pearson will remain as chairman and Keith Pearson will manage the firm’s strategic direction and day-to-day operations. Prior to launching Pearson Partners International with his father, Bob, in 2002, Keith was with executive search firm Whitehouse & Pimms as a managing director in the consulting and technology industry sectors, and with TMP Worldwide Executive Search as a principal in the professional services practice. He began his search career as a consultant with Merritt, Hawkins and Associates. Keith earned a bachelor’s degree in management from the University of North Texas and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Texas at Dallas. He is the vice chairman of the board of the North Texas Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, chairman of its Corporate Development Committee and part of its Team in Training. Pearson Partners is a Dallas-based executive search firm with an office in Fort Worth. David Berzina, executive vice president of economic development for the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, was awarded Fellow member status by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) during the organization’s 2013 Annual Conference in Philadelphia on Oct. 8. Berzina was recognized for his substantial economic development accomplishments for the city and for his leadership role in IEDC. He serves on IEDC’s national board and on its Advisory Committee for Performance Oversight and Monitoring. He also is a board member for the Texas Economic Development Council and was appointed by then-Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief to serve on a Minority/Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) ordinance committee responsible for developing the city’s policy on city contracts with MWBE vendors. Prior to joining the Fort Worth Chamber in 2004, Berzina held executive positions in chambers of commerce and economic development organizations in Texas, Michigan and Louisiana. He is a graduate of the University of Texas with a bachelor’s degree in economics and has the designation of certified economic developer from the International Economic Development Council. He is also a graduate of the ACCE Institute for Organizational Management at the University of Delaware. Robert Hower, professor and chairman of the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Texas at Arlington, has been elected to the Commission on Accreditation for the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. NASAD is the national accrediting body for the 333 schools of art and design, primarily at the collegiate level, in the United States. Jack Becker and Leon Kappelman, faculty members in the University of North Texas College of Business, were recognized as Fellows for the DFW Chapter of the Society for Information Management at the Oct. 7 meeting. Both professors teach in the Department of Information Technology and Decision Sciences. Becker joined SIM in 1988 as the first academic member of the DFW chapter. He has served as the membership chairman and vice president of the chapter and serves on several other committees. Kappelman, a member of SIM for 18 years, founded the SIM Y2K working group and the SIM Enterprise Architecture Working Group and has served on several other committees. John B. Gaida, senior vice president, supply chain management, of Arlington-based Texas Health Resources, was recently named chairman of Bellwether League Inc. Gaida is a founding board member of the Bellwether League, the health care supply chain leadership hall of fame. Jean M. Mrasek, development director for the College of Education at Texas Christian University and a former national president of Chi Omega sorority, has been named chairman of the National Panhellenic Conference for 2013-2015. The board represents 26 national and international member sororities in the United States and Canada. Andrew Crim, executive director of professional and continuing education at UNT Health Science Center, has been appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to the Statewide Health Coordinating Council. Crim is one of only two university representatives on the 17-member council, which guides policy makers in meeting Texans’ health care needs. New officers for Don’t Forget to Feed Me Pet Food Bank are: president, Amber Blair, Pier 1 Imports Inc.; first vice president, Susan McConocha, Pier 1; second vice president, Patti Chiaramonte, Mercedes-Benz Financial; treasurer, Leigh Atkinson, Thomson-Reuters; development coordinator, Terry Woodfin, Amon G. Carter Foundation; and immediate past president, Michael Parker, Lockheed Martin Corp. Active and retired city of Fort Worth employees elected new board members to the Fort Worth Employees’ Retirement Fund Board of Trustees. Benita Harper was elected by Group C active general employees to Place 3 and Marsha Anderson was elected by all retired general (non-Civil Service) employees to Place 7. Harper, a Municipal Court judge at the city’s Southwest Municipal Court, and Anderson, who served for 24 years as public information officer for the library and public events, were elected to two-year terms starting Sept. 1. For the past two years, Anderson also has served as president of the Coalition of Retired Employees of the City of Fort Worth. Members re-elected for a two-year term include Matt Anderson, Place 1, corporal/detective with the Fort Worth Police Department, and Lance Usrey, Place 5, retired battalion chief with the Fort Worth Fire Department. On Oct. 7, board members Jarod Cox, Place 9, and Bill Crawford, Place 11, were re-appointed by the Fort Worth City Council to serve a second term. Billy Samuel, a retired police sergeant representing Place 6, was elected in September as chairman. Glenn Balog, an active city employee representing Group D in Place 4, was elected vice chairman. Other board members are: Todd Cox, Place 2; Jesús Payán, Place 8; William Gordon, Place 10; Mike Bickley, Place 12; and Susan Alanis, Place 13, a standing seat for the city’s CFO. Engineering & Construction Rey Morales joined Struhs Commercial Construction as a project manager. Morales will manage multiple projects and assist in the development of the business operations. He spent the last five years working for Adolfson & Peterson Construction, providing pre-construction services. Morales received his bachelor’s degree in construction science from Texas A&M University and his MBA from Texas Christian University. Government Andy Kancel is the new chief of police for the town of Flower Mound. Kancel comes to Flower Mound from the city of North Richland Hills, where he served since 1989, most recently as assistant chief of police of the Management Services Bureau. While working for the NRH Police Department, Kancel was project manager for the implementation of shared detention and emergency communication services for the cities of North Richland Hills, Haltom City, Watauga and Richland Hills. Kancel is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy, Leadership Command College, and Law Enforcement Executive Development College. He graduated summa cum laude from Mountain State University with a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership and is working toward a master’s degree in administrative leadership from the University of Oklahoma.
Honors & Awards Daisha Cipher, associate director of the University of Texas at Arlington’s Center for Nursing Research, has been honored nationally for her work on a study of ways to support injured veterans in the workforce. Cipher was part of a research team that recently received the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine’s Elizabeth and Sidney Licht Award for Excellence in Scientific Writing in Rehabilitation Medicine. The paper recognized was titled “Effectiveness of Supported Employment for Veterans With Spinal Cord Injuries: Results From a Randomized Multisite Study.” Sue Johnson of Printing Plus in Fort Worth received the top management award from CPrint International during its biannual board meeting in Nashville, Tenn. Each six months, CPrint selects the printer who has demonstrated the most significant positive changes in his/her company during the past six months from among its participants. Kelvin and Angi Rogers, owners of Aire Serv of Fort Worth, received the Top Gun Award from the Aire Serv Corp. during The Dwyer Group International Conference Sept. 29-Oct. 3 in San Antonio. This award goes to franchise owners who achieve sales and operation benchmarks. The Top Gun recipients represent the top 10 percent of Aire Serv franchise owners across North America. Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth, Klabzuba Cancer Center and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center captured national 2013 Innovator Awards given by the Association of Community Cancer Centers. At the 2013 Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) National Convention and Bridge Conference, Hamilton Form Co. of Fort Worth was recognized as the PCI Associate Member of the Year.
Law Amarillo-based Underwood Law Firm PC’s new office in downtown Fort Worth will be headed by the firm’s newest shareholder, Melissa Ballou Kates. Kates, an Amarillo native, has practiced in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for more than 10 years and most recently was a partner at Shannon, Gracey, Ratliff & Miller LLP. Kates graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in business management. She went on to become a research assistant for the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives before attending Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law, where she graduated in 2002. Michael W. Sweet joined Brackett & Ellis in Fort Worth. Before joining the firm, Sweet worked at a large international tax and consulting firm and a boutique tax firm in Arlington. His practice is focused in the areas of estate and business planning, probate and corporate transactions. Real Estate Chris Petta joined CASE Commercial Real Estate Partners as a director focusing on new business and client development for the specialized health care service line. His 25-year career includes development, leasing and investment sales as well as supervision and management of medical real estate portfolios, development programs and health care projects nationwide. Previously, Petta was a director for Texas Health Resources Healthcare System. As a development manager for a health care REIT (real estate investment trust), he was an adviser to physician practices and health care systems coordinating design, development, construction and operations for outpatient clinical projects and health care services in five states. Some of Petta’s professional/personal designations and affiliations include certified property manager, Society of Commercial Realtors, Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors, Texas Christian University Alumni Association and Sigma Alpha Epsilon alumni.
Transportation Anthony (Tony) Johnson, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, The T, will serve as interim president and executive director during the board’s search to replace Dick Ruddell, who retired Oct. 4. Rob Harmon, The T’s CFO, will continue to serve as officer in charge of TEX Rail, The T’s planned commuter rail from downtown Fort Worth to Grapevine and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Johnson has more than 20 years of experience in public transportation. He began his career with The T in 1991 as director of operations for all aspects of bus operations.
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