BUSINESS BUZZ The lowdown on what’s up with neighborhood businesses

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A $3.2 million grant means a bright future for Richland College and local businesses

Our neighborhood’s community college recently received a $3.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor , part of an effort to help prepare students for immediate employment in manufacturing and electronics technology careers. Richland is one of only two Texas institutions to receive the “trade adjustment assistance community college and career training grant.” It was awarded during a recent ceremony in Washington, D.C., hosted by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez, and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “With these funds, Richland College is strategically positioned to bridge critical gaps of two kinds: one between the workforce and specialized employment training and the other between that workforce and local employer needs,” notes Dr. Kathryn K. Eggleston, Richland College president. The grant will boost Richland College’s existing manufacturing and electronics technology programs and facilitate partnerships with the City of Garland, the City of Richardson, the Metroplex Technology Business Council and 14 Dallas employers. Employer partners have committed to hiring students that complete the program, supporting curriculum development, offering internships, and providing on-the-job training for students.

Developer hopes to build new townhomes

If zoning is approved, developers plan to turn nine acres of vacant land near Abrams and LBJ into up to 55 townhomes, according to a zoning request. The 9.5-acre site up for rezoning is located behind an office park that houses Catholic Charities of Dallas and Chase Bank (about a half mile southwest from Richland College) and is located off an easement that connects the LBJ Freeway frontage road and Forest Lane. A creek crosses the site along its eastern boundary, and the land contains hundreds of trees. The property is zoned Neighborhood Office district, meaning only office buildings can be built there. But a potential buyer has hired Masterplan Consulting, who filed the zoning change application for a planned development based on Townhouse Residential zoning and seeking allowance for “55 lots for single family use,” according to the application.

Switching Gears Cyclery opening soon

Lake Highlands couple Andee PittmanClark and Colin Clark opened their charming bicycle supply and repair boutique Switching Gears Cyclery near Fair Park, where they have thrived, but now they are planning a move to the former First National Bank building at Shoreview and Ferndale as soon as they finish a few repairs and receive the Certificate of Occupancy from the city. Sometime in November, Andee guesses.

The community of Lake Highlands has a logo

The Lake Highlands Branding Committee, a subcommittee of the nonprofit Lake Highlands Public Improvement District, in September presented the Lake Highlands neighborhood brand Designers and committee members hosted a meeting to explain the “brand story” and answer questions from neighborhood residents. The forum came a few months after the committee launched its first idea for a logo. After receiving feedback from the community, designers and committee representatives went back to work and returned with what is presumably the final draft of Lake Highlands’ first logo.

School builds much-needed playground with Exchange Club grant

This school year, Stults Road Elementary, a Richardson ISD school in west Lake Highlands, has a new playground specially designed for its preschool program for children with disabilities (PPCD) students. Several members of the community chipped in to move the project forward, including the school’s staff, the PTA, volunteers and the Lake Highlands Exchange Club, which contributed a $3,800 grant. “We never expected that we would receive this generous grant which covered the rest of the cost,” Stults’ principal Amber LeBlond says. “We are so excited about what this playground means to our students.”

Dave Perry-Miller & Associates, already the Real Estate market leader for East Dallas and Park Cities, officially comes to Lake Highlands with these two long-term residents.

Johnson Holmes Group

DAVE PERRY-MILLER & ASSOCIATES

ALAN JOHNSON

972.769.2526

ALAN@JOHNSONHOLMES.COM

ERIC HOLMES

214.395.1183

ERIC@JOHNSONHOLMES.COM

9729 BELLEWOOD DRIVE LAKE HIGHLANDS

LISTED AT $675,000 | UNDER CONTRACT