These 34 entrepreneurs have transformed dreams into reality, ideas into innovations, and challenges into opportunities.
Craig Cavileer Fort Worth Heritage Development
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G ratitude is on the M enu
Our deepest appreciation goes to Fort Worth Inc Magazine for recognizing the long-standing commitment and dedication of Chef Tim Love to his beloved community and the city of Fort Worth.
This acknowledgment alongside our city’s distinguished entrepreneurs is both an honor and an inspiration. Chef Love and our team are driven by the pillars of creating an exceptional hospitality experience and championing the entrepreneurial spirit of Fort Worth. We are endlessly grateful for the continued support of our expanding vision and culinary dreams.
Contents/EOE
Features
30 2023 Entrepreneur of Excellence: It takes a certain panache and personality to be a mover, a shaker, a leader, and an innovator all at once. And our city has managed to produce more than its fair share of people with such traits — we call them entrepreneurs.
52 All in the Family: A printing press, a jeweler, a mattress maker, a tailor, and a boot manufacturer, from generation to generation, these five Fort Worth businesses are keeping it in the family.
6 Publisher’s Note
Bizz Buzz
10 A Small Wonder: The epitome of the American Dream, Benson Varghese, an immigrant from India, has grown his law firm into a 45-employee juggernaut that the Fort Worth Chamber recently recognized as a Small Business of the Year.
14 EO Spotlight: While he’s dabbled in civil engineering and yoga, John Cornelsen’s entrepreneurial endeavors are about to get even more diverse with Juggle, a social platform with loneliness in its crosshairs.
Executive Life & Style
18 Distinctive Style:
Not everyone has a mop like Harry Styles, but according to local stylist Michelle Dollar, that doesn’t mean men can’t apply some tried-andtrue grooming tips to improve their do game.
22 Off the Clock:
Cutting horse champ and Dallasite — though we’ll forgive her for the latter — Jo Ellard’s love of the West is on full display at Bowie House, her soonto-open boutique hotel in the Cultural District.
Bizz Wrap-Up
72 1 in 400: After nearly 20 years serving as the Tarrant County Commissioner, Roy Charles Brooks reflects on his time in office and says he’s got sense enough to know when it’s time to hang up the gavel.
North Texas Community Foundation helps individuals, families, and businesses create tax-efficient giving plans to support the local causes and nonprofits they care about most. We offer a variety of charitable funds to support your giving today and for generations to come.
Fort Worth Entrepreneurs Share Aspiration To Give Back
OWNER/PUBLISHER HAL A. BROWN
In 1995, 20 years prior to launching Fort Worth Inc., I was a founding partner of Magnolia Media Group (MMG), a magazine publishing company consisting of two national titles.
In the three years that followed (1995-98), we launched five additional national magazines and purchased two. At the end of the third year, in December 1998, we launched Fort Worth Magazine.
Needless to say, that was a busy three years.
In the seven years that followed, we moved a little slower, only launching three new national titles. It was in that seventh year, in August of 2005, that I made my true entrepreneurial jump, buying out my then-partner of Fort Worth Magazine, the magazine we started together 25 years ago next month.
There were two primary reasons for my entrepreneurial jump. The first was/is my love of Fort Worth and my desire to have a positive impact on our community, and the second was my desire to own my future.
Community Impact: When it comes to my hometown, no one loves Fort Worth more than I do, and while my former partner was born and raised here, Cowtown was not quite fast enough for him. My decision to separate from MMG with Fort Worth Magazine was substantiated when, three years
after I bought him out, he moved the company to Dallas. Can you imagine Fort Worth Magazine or Fort Worth Inc. being produced out of Dallas? Amon Carter might have just come out of his grave to admonish us.
Looking back over the quarter of a century of serving our readers, I am proud that Fort Worth Magazine and Fort Worth Inc. have woven themselves into the fabric of our city and fostered community development and involvement. The stories, features, and photographs we have shared over the past 25 years are not just ink on paper but reflective of the people, places, and passions that make Fort Worth so unique.
Owning my own future: While I was a founding partner in MMG, I was a minority partner, which meant that if push ever came to shove, I could be outvoted, like, for instance, on the matter of moving the company to Dallas. And, while I was paid well enough, as a minority partner, I was never going to make what I could by taking the entrepreneurial risk that comes with “going all in.”
In speaking with the finalists and winners of our annual Entrepreneur of Excellence program the previous six years, I was not surprised that most of them shared my desire to control their own futures. That is the most common characteristic of an entrepreneur. What surprised me was how many of them shared my desire to give back. As it turns out, entrepreneurs in Fort Worth have a true sense of community and recognize the importance of being good corporate citizens.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons we are the fastest-growing city in the nation.
VOLUME 9, NUMBER 4, WINTER 2023
owner/publisher hal a. brown chief operating officer mike waldum
editorial executive editor john henry creative director craig sylva senior art director spray gleaves advertising art director ed woolf director of photography crystal wise contributing editor brian kendall digital editor stephen montoya copy editor sharon casseday advertising main line 817.560.6111
sales director andrew yeager x 131 territory manager, fort worth inc. rita hale x133 advertising account supervisor gina burns-wigginton x150 advertising account supervisor marion c. knight x135 account executive tammy denapoli x141 account executive james houston x158 senior production manager michelle mcghee x 116
marketing director of digital robby kyser director of marketing and audience development sarah benkendorfer content marketing specialist grace behr executive administrator/project coordinator kaitlyn lisenby
corporate cfo charles newton
To subscribe to Fort Worth Inc. magazine, or to ask questions regarding your subscription, call 817.766.5550 or go to fortworthinc.com.
Fort Worth Inc. is published quarterly by Panther City Media Group LP, 6777 Camp Bowie Blvd, Suite 130, Fort Worth, TX 76116. Postage Paid at Fort Worth, Texas.
POSTMASTER: Send change of address notices and undeliverable copies to Panther City Media Group, PO Box 213, Lincolnshire, IL 60069 Volume 9, Number 4, Winter 2023. Basic Subscription price: $19.95 per year. Single copy price: $6.99
For questions or comments, contact John Henry, executive editor, at 817.560.6111 or via email at jhenry@fwtexas.com.
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Brad Reynolds President, Jo Mill Oil Company, LLC VP, Diamond S Energy Company
Gary Simpson Owner, Jo Mill Oil Company, LLC & Diamond S Energy Company
Bizz Buzz
Innovation in the multimedia sphere propelled Benson Varghese's Varghese Summersett into a growth position in the Fort Worth legal space.
A Small Wonder
Varghese Summersett recognized among Chamber’s small-butmighty companies
WORDS BY JOHN HENRY
Benson Varghese’s climb among business leaders in Fort Worth is as dreamy as James Truslow Adams ever dreamed of his so-called “American Dream.”
An immigrant from India, Varghese, 41, leads the law firm Varghese Summersett with his wife and partner of the firm, Anna Summersett. It’s a firm he started in 2014 in a one-room office with $9,000 he borrowed from an uncle.
Varghese built the brand with a robust multimedia presence and, with his wife coming on board, hired elite trial attorneys across the North Texas region.
Within three years, the firm was recognized as the 782nd fastest-growing business in the country by Inc. 5000 and soon after was named the sixth-fastest growing company in Fort Worth by Fort Worth Inc.
It grew from criminal defense to include family law and personal injury litigation. The firm, now with 45 employees, including 18 attorneys, will soon move into a
15,000-square-foot office space to align with the growth.
The firm has come a long, long way since those initial years when, as he says, he was merely “hanging a shingle.”
Varghese Summersett is a finalist for the 2023 Fort Worth Inc. Entrepreneurs of Excellence program. Profiles can be found in the magazine, starting on Page 30. Winners will be announced at a gala at the Fort Worth Club on Nov. 16.
More recently, however, the firm was one of five companies recognized as Fort Worth Chamber Small Business of the Year Award winners. The firm won in the category of 21-50 employees. The unveiling of winners was made at the chamber’s State of the City luncheon recently. Mayor Mattie Parker presented the keynote address.
This annual award recognizes and honors small businesses that have demonstrated exemplary best practices of entrepreneurship, such as sound business planning, fiscal responsibility, and work process innovation in operating their business.
“Fort Worth has always been a city that champions its small businesses,” says Steve Montgomery, CEO of the Fort Worth Chamber. “These businesses epitomize the entrepreneurial spirit that fuels Fort Worth's prosperity.”
For a guy born into a society of “abject poverty” on the southern tip of India, what has been accomplished here could even leave a lawyer speechless.
“It's a huge honor,” he says. “It’s a culmination of a lot of efforts. But I think about where I came from, I think about the efforts and sacrifices my parents made to help me get an education, and honoring those efforts, and how thrilled I am to be in Fort Worth. When the mayor says this is the fastest-growing city in the United States, I have a lot of pride in that.”
After earning an undergraduate degree from SMU, Varghese went west to study law at Texas Tech University. He interned for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District, in the white-collar division. Having “fallen in love with criminal prosecution,” he began his career at the Tarrant County District
Attorney’s Office. He says that he tried about 100 cases to Tarrant County juries.
He has been recognized as a Top 100 Trial Attorney by the National Trial Lawyers Association and has been named a “Top Attorney” by Fort Worth Magazine every year since 2012. He is also a member of the College of the State Bar of Texas, a distinction held by fewer than 10% of all licensed attorneys in Texas.
He struck out on his own in 2013, deciding “to hang a shingle for as little as possible and figure out how to get the phone to ring.” He says he spent a lot of time thinking about how to innovate in the marketplace.
“It’s hard to believe, but in 2014 lawyers in Fort Worth were still advertising in the Yellow Pages. And if you had a landing page on, yeah, if you had a landing page of a website that was considered cutting edge. That's what the best had.”
It wasn’t only a landing page. He produced content for it, hundreds of pages of articles, he says. The objective was to answer legal questions.
“I started giving out, essentially for free, what for a long time attorneys thought was their only commodity, which was our expertise, our knowledge.
“What ended up happening is it gained attention. People started visiting the website. If you really put in the work to generate real content before [clients] are calling you, they already trust you. They know you're an expert in the field. And that began the firm.”
Varghese had a head for business by the time he came back to the U.S. and business school at SMU in 2000. He had come to the U.S. as an infant with his parents. His mother, a nurse, came to Texas to fill a pressing need for nurses. He spent all of his formative years, up to the fifth grade, here.
He returned to his native country in the sixth grade to live with his grandparents. Having been in the U.S. as an infant, he might has well have been born in America. The only language he knew was English. The only culture he knew was American. He wasn’t familiar with the food. Electricity was a luxury, if it wasn’t raining. The water a household had was whatever one pumped
Benson Varghese, Mayor Mattie Parker, Anna Summersett
into his own tank. No TV or computers. Wi-Fi … dream on, dreamer.
By the time he was in the ninth grade, he was essentially on his own, he says, running a family rubber farm, which, he “essentially ran into the ground.” He was young, and his customers took advantage of his inexperience.
He’d call his father to ask for a “lifeline,” that is, financial support, which his father would give him. After a while of the same phone call, father told the son, “You’re just going to have to figure this out.”
And, so, he did. The experiences were, he says, “extremely valuable life lessons that my parents allowed me to go through and learn from.”
“I always want to go out and build something,” Varghese says of his mindset today. “Whether it's getting the next case resolution that my client's gonna be extremely proud of, or getting the next client, or growing our firm, or hiring the next person, I'm always seeking to achieve something that seemed impossible at the beginning.”
CONNECTING PEOPLE TO THEIR DREAMS®
Corner of the Garage to Corner Office
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The Fort Worth Chamber’s 2023 Small Business of the Year Awards. This annual award honors small businesses that have demonstrated exemplary “Best Practices” of entrepreneurship.
Emerging Businesses: Divine Intervention
1 - 20 Employees: 6th Avenue Storytelling
21 - 50 Employees: Varghese Summersett
51 - 100 Employees: Ampersand Coffee and Auticon USA
Happy Birthday to Us
Four
Fort Worth businesses turn 10.
WORDS BY SARAH JORDAN
Four local businesses are throwing a party to celebrate a major milestone: a decade of keeping their doors open. And Fort Worth-based Studio 97w, Cowtown Cycle Party, Genius House Media, and Martin House Brewing Company are crediting their collaborative environment and close-knit community for their collective staying power.
“Being in a supportive and vibrant community has allowed us to grow and thrive,” says Colleen Fischer of Genius House Media. “We are so proud of the 10-year milestone, and sharing this anniversary with other local business owners is an honor.”
Studio 97w, an architecture firm, was
founded in 2013 by Jason Eggenburger and Steven Halliday, co-workers at a corporate firm. They have helped make dreams come true for local entrepreneurs while also breathing new life into underutilized buildings and urban in-fill lots.
Studio 97w designed Cowtown Cycle Party’s headquarters building and new garage. The firm’s co-founders are also good friends with the husband-and-wife team of Adam and Colleen Fischer of Genius House Media, a full-service video production company whose offices are in Studio 97w’s building.
“Steven, Jason, and their team have built an incredible local presence and are just the coolest neighbors,” Fischer says. “They are the type of community-minded leaders that offered to forgive months of our rent during the pandemic shutdown, have hired us for multiple projects, and are always happy to share after-work cocktails from their beverage cart.”
Genius Media House created 97w’s website video.
Launching Cowtown Cycle Party required Vicki Peden and her daughter, Keely Peden-Morales, to do some convincing. They needed the city of Fort Worth to agree to create a “Group Cycle Ordinance” that allowed their party “bikes” on the street.
The dream was to start a family-owned business that served downtown Fort Worth.
Vicki’s husband, Neal, had read about
16-person, Dutch-made bar cycles in a magazine.
“We all fell in love with the idea of working together as a family,” says Peden.
Cowtown Cycle Party’s pedal-powered “bikes” can seat between six and 16 people.
It’s BYOB, if that’s the two-hour tour you prefer. Each are led by a Cowtown Cycle Party captain, a “Beerless Leader.”
The company started with just one party bike but have expanded to four.
“We originally focused on a pub-crawl experience downtown,” says Peden. “Now that we've expanded, we are able to offer a Fort Worth Murals Tour, an expanded Scenic/Historic Tour, and we can even make stops at coffee shops, restaurants, and local retailers. A lot of our customers are out-of-town visitors, and they love to see all our city has to offer.”
Genius House Media, which offers a wide range of services, from high-quality brand videos to social media content, has also collaborated with Martin House Brewing Company. The brewery was founded by Cody Martin and Adam Myers.
Among the projects the two companies have worked on was an infomercial-style video.
“When both companies turned 10,” says Fischer, “we decided to have some more fun and produce a ‘mockumentary’ about the collaborative beer they were brewing for us. They provided numerous cases of beer for our anniversary party, and once again, there were tons of laughs throughout the filming process with our buddies.”
Says Cody Martin: “The support from our neighbors, including Genius House, Studio 97, and Cowtown Cycle Party, has been invaluable. We've celebrated each other's successes, collaborated on various projects, and leaned on one another during challenging times. This sense of camaraderie is what makes our community so special and has played a pivotal role in our growth.”
Fort Worth-native John Cornelsen has had a full life as an entrepreneur. He launched Evolving Texas, a civil engineering and consulting firm, in 2009. In 2015, he became a partner in Indigo Yoga.
He is also the co-founder of the Fort Worth chapter of Entrepreneurs’ Organization.
Today, however, he is building what he believes is the most important and consequential enterprise of his life: Juggle.
“It's way more important than, you know, getting water to run downhill or yoga,” says Cornelsen, 54.
Juggle is a social platform designed to mitigate personal isolation, a growing social ill that can manifest in life-threatening health issues, by advancing interconnectedness with the “relationships that matter most to us.”
Like, say, connecting with people who have similar interests, such as going to the gym or cycling or playing poker.
“Whatever it is, creating ways to connect with each other and grow those networks to identify common ground between people.”
He says he is in the midst of raising $4 million. He says he has spent more than $1 million of his own money. The goal is a global launch on Jan. 1. Visit www.juggletribe.com/ to learn more.
“The company is around the idea of intentional connection,” he says. “About telling people they matter, about connecting for real, about not getting out and only interacting on social media ‘because we're so busy, let's just keep up with our relationships through Facebook.’
Building Bridges
John Cornelsen’s new bridges have nothing to do with the civil engineering firm he founded.
WORDS
BY JOHN HENRY IMAGE BY CRYSTAL WISE
What in your background fostered that recognition, that relationships and personal contact and human contact are important in people's lives?
“I knew somebody at one point who took their own life. Almost everyone knows somebody, unfortunately. And I think one of the things that I learned through that experience is that we often reflect, and we look back and say, ‘Gosh, I had no idea. If I had only known, I would have called, I would have reached out.’
“Reach out and tell them, talk to them, tell someone they matter. I know how important it is to me when I go through hard days and someone will reach out and say, ‘Man, you've made a difference to me. I know that that gives me strength.
“I want to create as many conversations like that with people as possible, not directed at me but directed to each other. It's important to me. I’ve got like, 10,000 people on LinkedIn, 1,500 on Facebook. I've got all these connections, and yet, we've never been more alone. We work from our cubicles, we sit in our bedrooms with our phones, we lie in bed, and we're both on our devices.
It's something I'm super passionate about. I'm working hard on it. I want to make a mark.”
How many do you have working on the project?
“We have 14 people working full time in Romania developing our code. I have a product manager in Puerto Rico. And then I have a team here in Texas for marketing development. That's about 10 more people. So, we have 25 people or so working on this.”
Why did you go out on your own in civil engineering?
“One of the reasons why we named our company Evolving is because I always wanted to create something that would change with the times, that would be flexible, that would use new technologies and think in new ways. It’s easier to push that agenda on a two-person boat instead of a big one.”
“We're shifting away from that and creating memories and connections for people all over the world and knowing that doing so is saving lives.”
“I know how important it is to me when I go through hard days and someone will reach out and say, ‘Man, you've made a difference to me. I know that that gives me strength.”
David Woolsey President/CEO
Vice President/COO
An Unexpected Take on Meetings & Events
The Fort Worth Zoo isn’t your typical event space. With unexpected wildlife views and a variety of different meeting, event and party venues, you can create a truly memorable experience for your guests. From wild birthday parties to extravagant corporate galas, the Fort Worth Zoo is the perfect backdrop for your next gathering.
The Hair Do’s
If you don’t want the gray to stay, make sure you do it right.
WORDS
BY ELIZABETH SEHON
Should it stay or should it go?
In men, gray can add gravitas, that perception of wisdom, maturity, distinction, and life experience. Not to mention, going gray early like George Clooney is, well, cool, even if you’re not cool like George Clooney.
There is, of course, a temptation to dye it, however, to avoid societal expectations and, possibly, ageism. There are employers who might worry that older candidates are closer to retirement and may not commit to the job as long as a younger candidate. Other employers might have a preconceived notion that younger workers equal cheaper workers. Younger candidates might also be perceived to fit better with the company culture.
Appearances matter in today’s world, and it doesn’t only have to do with the color of your hair.
In the ever-evolving world of fashion and style, trends come and go, but when it comes to men's hairstyles, there are timeless techniques — and some emerging trends — that seamlessly blend the old and the new.
Unlike clothes and home décor, the trends for men’s hair are more complex because of the different hair types and stages that men experience during their lifetime, which may alter their grooming choices.
As we dive into 2024, Michelle Dollar, a stylist and owner of Parlor E11evin, the award-winning beauty and barber boutique on Camp Bowie Boulevard, has shared her expertise in the trending styles for mature hair.
“Men need to go with the flow and work with what they have,” says Dollar, who frequently assists her older clientele in navigating the challenges of thinning, balding, and graying.
The Art of Subtle Gray Blending
For those not quite ready to embrace the full force of gray — you know who you are — Dollar offers the subtle color treatment, Glow and Go, which blends gray hair with a touch of natural color. The 10- to 20-min-
ute treatment ensures up to 70% gray coverage and fades well, she says, as the regrowth will appear gradual and softer. It’s priced between $45-$60.
Tame the Beard and Elevate the Game
Beards have been popular for years and are here to stay but with a caveat. We think it’d be cool to be ZZ Top, too, but we’re not. You’re also probably not a mountain man feasting on coyotes in Montana. Dollar emphasizes that grooming your beard is paramount. Trim the beard or mustache with grooming scissors to tame strays and maintain the shape. For those struggling with maintaining a beard, Michelle's pro tip is simple: Understand the proper lines and edging techniques, invest in beard oils and exfoliation, and take advantage of beard combs.
“Having a clean and well-shaved beard can elevate your style with a more polished look that adds some sophistication,” says Dollar.
Classic Haircut Techniques: Scissor-Over-Comb
When it comes to haircuts, one technique seems untouched by the passage of time — the classic "scissor-over-comb” technique, as they say, the cornerstone of a good haircut. According to Dollar, it's not just a haircut but artistry. This technique is versatile and works well with varied hair types and lengths. The scissor-over-comb method ensures consistency and blending while offering a tailored finish.
Oral appliance therapy is a great option for Obstructive Sleep Apnea and snoring patients who find CPAP uncomfortable or inconvenient when traveling. OSA and snoring have been linked to serious health problems such as heart attacks, strokes and obesity, so the quality of your sleep does matter. Our appliances are custom fabricated, medical grade devices designed to be comfortable, effective and easy-to-use. All oral appliances we prescribe are FDA approved.
A Hotel After Her Own Heart
Jo Ellard strays a minute from the horse business to build a winner in the hotel space.
WORDS BY JOHN HENRY IMAGES BY STEVE WRUBEL & NOE DEWITT
The day decades ago when Jo Ellard hopped on a cutting horse in Winona, Mississippi, was a lightbulb moment for her.
She wanted some horses for a cattle farm she and her husband had recently purchased there, but she didn’t know which flavor.
“I had friends in that town who had cutting horses, and they said ‘We're gonna go show you cutting horses,’” she recalls for me in a recent Zoom meeting. “I had
never heard the term cutting horses. I did not have any idea about what they did as a sport. They took me to a ranch and let me ride my first cutting horses. And I said, ‘Yep, that's it. That's what I'll do.’”
Love at first sight.
“Love at first sight,” she repeats after me. “It’s the most thrilling thing you’ll ever do. It’s just amazing to ride those athletes.”
They are indeed majestic beasts of flesh and bone cloaked in rich colors, these cutting horses, all of them with minds and,
ahem, mystery all their own.
Her deeply imprinted, giant footprint is a testament to the Ellard’s presence in the industry.
To wit, Ellard, a Dallasite, is a National Cutting Horse Non-Pro Hall of Fame Rider with earnings of more than $700,000. Her success on the circuit included its rookie of the year award in 1991. Her work in cultivating the National Youth Cutting Horse Association earned her a coveted place in the NCHA Member Hall of Fame, the youngest member ever inducted.
She recalls fondly during a self-deprecating moment her first time in a cutting competition.
“I had my hat on backward, and my trainers thought it was so funny. They didn't tell me my hat was on backward, and I rode around for two hours, my hat on backward. I was pretty green at this, and my friend, fortunately, came up and she said, ‘Jo, your hat’s on backward.’”
She has gone from that experience to building a little cutting empire. Her tentacles of leadership extend to service on the NCHA Board of Directors and the NCHA Executive Committee.
Her EE Ranches in Whitesboro, the breeding facility she founded with her late husband, Bill, is a leader in the industry. Cat Ichi and Laker Doc are both sons of superstar broodmare Laney Doc, who has sired multiple champions in the NCHA and American Quarter Horse Association.
Cat Ichi’s progeny has earnings of more than $7 million, according The Team Roping Journal’s 2023 Breeder’s Guide. Cat Ichi is the son of Highbrow Cat, the sire of acclaimed stallion Metallic Cat.
“We did everything in the horse business that you can do,” she says of EE Ranches. “We had a breeding program. We had a training program. We had huge competition program. If it could be done, we did it.”
EE Ranches is part of Ellard family-owned businesses. Ellard sold the company that Bill founded in 1973, National Teachers Associates Life Insurance Co., for a reported $400 million in 2018.
In addition to cutting horses, the Ellards developed nationally acclaimed registered Hereford cattle. The Ellards are givers.
Bill’s obituary tells the story of the family’s philanthropy. In addition to what they
gave to youth Hereford and cutting horse programs, the Ellards’ passions were in giving to underprivileged children, including providing gifts at Christmastime to area orphanages.
Bill was one of those guys you wished you had met. A seemingly positive, can-do guy. His obituary included: “Ask Bill Ellard, ‘How are you today?’ and chances are his response would be, ‘I feel healthy! I feel happy! I feel terrific!’”
Bill was a rodeo guy growing up, a bull and bronc rider. After he was honorably discharged, his obituary reads, he returned to Arkansas and rodeo. That is, until a bull riding accident left him with broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and, worst of all, a large hospital bill.
“His mother told him, ‘You have to get a job!’”
“You don't have enough paper in your magazine to write what an incredible individual and businessman he was,” she says. “Bill was not a highly educated man, but he had the most incredible business instincts. He could literally shoot from the hip and make the right decision.
“But the one thing that Bill really did is, and he was very fortunate in this, he found people to help him, people that knew what he didn't know. And he surrounded himself with those people and he took their advice and, fortunately, he chose the right people and they're still with us today.”
Suffice it to say, it’s because of horses and her love the West that Ellard spends a lot of time in Fort Worth, though her spirit is always here. She said in an interview more than 20 years ago that she was somewhat out of place in her North Dallas neighbor-
hood, particularly if she’s on the way to the ranch.
“When they see me dressed this way in Dallas, they want to know what kind of [Western-themed] party I’m going to.”
It’s also why she has called Fort Worth her heart, even though she lives in Dallas.
Fort Worth is host to the NCHA Triple Crown each year with the Super Stakes in March, the Summer Spectacular, and the World Championship Futurity in November and December.
It’s the Super Bowl, the trinity of cutting horses.
All of them are at Will Rogers Coliseum, “Amon’s barn,” as Franklin Roosevelt called it. We call it the grand dame of horse arenas.
And it’s here, not far from the Will Rogers Memorial Center, that she is making her commercial development debut, which, it appears, she has hit out of the park.
Ellard has done something a little different “off the clock.”
She is behind the Bowie House luxury boutique, Western-themed hotel, which is opening its doors to guests this fall, one of two highly anticipated hotel openings within a half-mile of one another. The Crescent Fort Worth is hosting its first sleepover this fall, too.
The Bowie House sits in the Cultural District on the bricks at 3700 Camp Bowie Blvd. On the site once sat a church and then more secular establishments, including Rick’s on the Bricks and, more recently, the Ginger Man, a beer bar, which closed in 2018. A bulldozer wrote the final chapter on the structure.
The interior of the hotel features
elements reminiscent of the West. No surprise, considering who built it and where it stands. This is a place where, well, Jim Bowie might want to stay.
“The character of the hotel meets my vision,” Ellard says. “I want people that come here from all over the world, or even the locals, when they walk in here, they realize that they are in Fort Worth, Texas, and that it has a unique culture. I want it to have a Western influence and an equestrian influence. But I want those influences to be subtle and very sophisticated in their presentation. We have achieved that.
“I want it to be very warm, very inviting, but yet strong in character, beautifully anointed, but not overdone. I want the cowboys to come in and sit down on the furniture and not feel like they're gonna mess something up. It doesn't feel like a hotel. I am really, really pleased that the feeling I get when I walk the halls and walk in those rooms is that it just feels like a big grand Texas home.”
The hotel is comprised of four stories and 106 rooms over three buildings, starting at $609 a night. The Goodnight Suite, which features a 10-person dining room, three bedrooms, and a breathtaking view of downtown, goes for several thousand a night.
The hotel will be managed by Auberge Resorts Collection, which operates 26 luxury resorts and 89 restaurants across the U.S., Europe, and Central America.
“Fort Worth is a culturally rich gem with some of the best parks, gardens, museums, restaurants, and entertainment in Texas, and we are excited to help open up this city to global travelers while providing a new and exciting home base for our beloved community,” says Gaylord Lamy, the hotel’s general manager.
Eleven unique townhomes separated by a central courtyard sit in the back. A 225-stall parking garage sits underneath the hotel.
The restaurant, Bricks and Horses, will be a “contemporary chophouse specializing in dry-aged local beef that will soon be the social hub of Fort Worth,” the hotel says. Laney’s Room, named for Ellard’s prized broodmare, is a private space in the restaurant.
Another on-site restaurant, Whinny's, will include a light-bites menu of frozen
Jo Ellard
OUR
GREAT MOTIVATOR HISTORY IS A
"As a fourth generation Texan, the Texas spirit was embedded in my upbringing and I care deeply about the need to preserve and restore our city's heritage and legacy. The new Mule Alley and Hotel Drover project transcends typical development, and will be an iconic destination for generations to come."
Craig Cavileer, MANAGING PARTNER
"Through a $175M public/private partnership with the City of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, Hotel Drover and Mule Alley has re-emerged as a carefully restored destination within the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District. Since opening, it has hosted over 9 million visitors, up from 3 million visitors prior to our investment. We are proud to have played a role in making a difference in the future of Fort Worth."
drinks, salads, and ice cream sandwiches.
The Mulberry Room is a library “venue for discovery, sipping bourbon as you read or engaging in deep conversation over drinks and snacks." (A really cool spot for a smaller meet-up, by the way.)
The Bar at Bowie House features a 150-year-old bar, which “fell into my lap.” It had been passed through a few antique dealers, landing finally with a gentleman in Waco. It’s been restored, “every inch of it.”
“We’re telling everybody that John Wayne drank whiskey at this bar,” she says with a wink.
The Duke certainly would have had a drink at the bar even if he didn’t, but he’d likely have left his timeworn callouses for some other kind of treatment different from the Ash, the hotel’s spa. However, for those more-than-willing 21st century clients, the Ash will have a steam room and sauna, nail studio, fitness center, boutique, relaxation lounge, and five treatment rooms. Services available include apothecary, water dancing, infrared therapy, synergistic skin treatments, massages, and fitness classes.
With more than 10,000 square feet of outdoor and indoor event space, Bowie House can host up to 400 guests at a time for weddings and corporate retreats, and such.
“It wasn't something that I've always wanted to do,” Ellard says of her role of hotel developer. “I think I’m like many
people who embark on these adventures sometimes with not a great deal of planning. And it's like buying a ranch. You know, it becomes an idea, and you start talking to people and friends. And those conversations lead to more conversations. Then you start seeking advice, and then you start realizing, ‘Hey, this, this might be an idea. This might be something we really want to do.’”
“It was a fairly spontaneous decision and, and the path just kept getting wider and leading us to more people and more information, and four years later here we are.”
Fort Worth-based firm BOKA Powell was the architect of record. Dunaway provided structural engineering, civil engineering, and landscape architecture services. Austin Commercial was the general contractor.
“They've been great, great to work with,” Ellard says. “They have a tremendous reputation and have built amazing projects here in Fort Worth. They were really the right choice for this project.”
Of those she met during the initial phases was a gentleman named Michael Crosby, whom Ellard called “an incredible talent.” Ellard was introduced to him by Tom Stone, a Dallas developer.
“I’ll give you an example about Michael, and it’ll help you understand how he helped this project,” she says. “Michael has a photographic memory, and he can translate
what you’re saying and what he’s visualizing on paper as fast as you can speak.”
Crosby has designed some of the most sophisticated, award-winning luxury retreats in the world, including The Palazzo at the Venetian in Las Vegas.
“Tom had worked with Michael on several of his projects, and he said you've got to meet him,” Ellard says. “And, so, that's where we started and we just kept throwing out ideas, and Michael, as fast as I could talk, was drawing these beautiful rooms and these concepts. That's where it started. From there, we started choosing our team.”
Choosing a management company was the one decision Ellard says she “agonized the most over.” Ellard’s “homework” included vetting and interviewing half a dozen companies, with field trips to different properties all over the country.
“That’s where you don’t want to make a mistake,” she says. “You can build the grandest hotel in the world, and unless you've got the right people running it, it will never achieve your vision.
“Auberge was always at the top of the list. They never lost the No. 1 spot. There was a close second. They deal with the client on an unbelievably professional but personal level. They hire the most amazing people. They want to bring your vision to life. They are an amazing team, and it's fun to watch. It’s more than fun to watch. It's amazing to watch.”
I ask her finally what, if anything, in her journey in developing the Bowie was like cutting horses. Did she ever have a moment when her hat was on backward?
“Building hotels is a business for a lot of people, but this was project of passion. And just like horses or yachting or ranching or all of those things that people get into, it's a passion. It takes a tremendous amount of teamwork with all the different teams, the ability to get along and compromise and encourage people to be the best they can be … to step up and take that extra step to be successful. And all of those things are the same regardless of what you get into.
“I have to say, I have no regrets,” she says of the process of building the hotel. “I told someone the other day I have no regrets and everything lined up the way it was supposed to and the team came together. It's just been a beautiful partnership.”
Your ambition’s as big as Texas and that’s why you’re here.
You came to Texas for the opportunity. For the untapped potential and intrepid possibilities. So why are you still banking like before? Come to Texas Capital and you’ll find more than products and services, you’ll find people who understand how to make them work in Texas and understand your needs. You’re here, your community is here, and at Texas Capital, you can bank like you live.
LIKE NOBODY’S BUSINESS
Thirty-four individuals stand out as entrepreneurs of excellence.
IBY JOHN HENRY / PHOTOGRAPHY BY CRYSTAL WISE
n the realm of entrepreneurship, the ordinary transforms into the extraordinary, and the entrepreneur is the alchemist, the person who creates through seeming magic. They transform dreams into reality, ideas into innovations, and challenges into opportunities.
With unwavering determination, they carve their path through the uncharted, shaping the future with every step they take.
Fort Worth Inc.’s 2023 Entrepreneur of Excellence is a portrait of such people who jumped head first into their dreams. For many, it was a leap of faith.
These 34 entrepreneurs are in commercial and residential construction, consumer and durable goods, health care and life sciences, hospitality, private equity, professional services, real estate, and three who lead up-and-coming companies.
This is Fort Worth Inc.’s seventh annual Entrepreneur of Excellence edition. As in past years, applications were
judged independently of the ownership and staff of the magazine. The judges — business leaders from across the region — reviewed each application confidentially, based on sales and profit growth, best practices, ethical business practices, innovation, perseverance, and community involvement. The judges made their decisions this summer, choosing finalists and winners in each of nine categories. Financial performance data in the applications is confidential and not made available to the magazine staff for use in the biographies in this issue.
The category winners’ identities were kept secret until they were revealed Nov. 16 at a gala dinner at the Fort Worth Club. There was no cost associated with applying for, or being considered for, this award.
Eligibility criteria included ownership, co-ownership, or lead of a privately owned business in the Greater Fort Worth area; at least two years in business; and $2 million in annual sales, except for the Up-and-Coming category for businesses that don’t quite meet the annual sales threshold.
Whitley Penn is Presenting Sponsor, TCU Neeley School of Business is Gold Sponsor. Texas Capital Bank is the Platinum Sponsor, and Justin Boot Co. is Boot Sponsor.
Brett Young and Casey Corey Ultimate Tool and Safety
CATEGORY WINNER:
Brett Young and
Ultimate Tool and Safety
In 2020, Brett Young led a small group of local investors to acquire Ultimate Tool & Safety, an all-in-one supplier of tool and safety products and services for the electric utility industry, from its
In the 2 ½ years that followed, Young and partner Casey Corey, the vice president of sales, have grown revenue by 299% and equity by 104%.
The company is on track to meet its 2023 goal of $20 mil-
Young’s journey here began with a decision to pursue entrepreneurship through
“I quickly found and closed on UTS by scraping together cash from friends,” Young says. “Then the hard work started. I was leading an over-indebted business at 27 in an industry I knew nothing about. Luckily, I met Casey and convinced him to join as an equity partner.”
While growth came quickly, it “brought new problems.”
“Our growth consumed $2 million of capital in 2021,” Young says. “Our bank cut us off. We struggled for six long months trying to service customers, struggling to pay vendors, until we found a bank to support us.”
CATEGORY FINALISTS:
Twelve years of corporate America and the feeling of being unfulfilled were enough for Indu Sanka. Sanka, who has an MBA from SMU and is the mother of two children, purchased a small retail print shop six years ago, but it wasn’t
long before “I found myself on a sinking ship.”
“The initial years were incredibly challenging,” she says. “As a first-generation immigrant without a support network of established family or friends, building a business and finding the right partners to put the infrastructure in place proved to be daunting. It took considerable time and effort to assemble the right team of employees and vendor partners.”
Red Elephant, she says, has demonstrated exceptional sales, profit, and equity growth, combined with financial balance and workforce stability in the last five years. With the exceptional growth it has seen, the company made it onto the INC 5000 list in 2022.
Red Elephant has expanded from five employees at the time she purchased the business to 40 today.
Jonathan Gaspard and Sonny Menon Restoration Roofing
Jonathan Gaspard recently endured the hardest of his days at Restoration Roofing, a business he founded in 2004.
Gaspard, who brought on Sonny Menon as a partner in 2021, says the company was defrauded of $2.5 million by an individual who has been successfully prosecuted by the state and sent to live for a while at one of Texas’ prison facilities.
“We absorbed that in 2022,” Gaspard says. “We had a drop of revenue due to this individual as well to less than $8 million [in sales] for the year of ’22.”
“However, we have come out of the slump dynamically with a new and improved team.”
The company has approximately $40 million in contracts through 2024 and is looking to be $100 million in annual sales by 2027, Gaspard says.
“Our vision is to be a premier contractor in the private and public sector, and an innovator among our peers in the industry,” Gaspard says.
Jonathan Gaspard and Sonny Menon Restoration Roofing
Indu Sanka Red Elephant
2023 Entrepreneur of Excellence / Consumer and Durable Goods
CATEGORY WINNER:
John Clay Wolfe
GIVEMETHEVIN
John Clay Wolfe says he is “possessed” of two things: an indomitable entrepreneurial streak and a sharp wit that would get him into “trouble on a regular job.”
“So, self-employment works out well for everyone,” he likes to say.
He has cracked the code on buying and selling cars through GiveMeTheVIN.com. Since 1996, he has bought more than 518,500 cars — and counting. Since 2021, Givemethevin has made $1.5 billion in vehicle purchases.
Selling your car is apparently so easy you can do it in your underwear.
Wolfe, an EOE winner in his second try, has a vision to buy and sell 100,000 cars a year.
“Everything it takes to accomplish that is the daily decision-making,” he says.
Givemethevin, headquartered in the more centrally located North Richland Hills, has more than 150 employees.
Wolfe has hosted a nationally syndicated radio show for more than a decade. He can be heard on more than 60 radio stations from coast to coast each Saturday. That’s where Givemethevin began. Living in Vernon, he began purchasing vehicles from customers on-air.
CATEGORY FINALISTS:
Stephen Gilchrist
Gilchrist Automotive
Gilchrist Automotive has experienced strong growth in units, revenue, and profits over the past three years. Gilchrist has grown from No. 132 in the Top 150 New Vehicle Dealers in the nation in 2020 to No. 99 in 2022, retailing 7,444 new vehicles the first year and 8,922
in the most recent 12 months.
This growth has yielded a 176% increase in revenue from 2020 to 2022, to almost $1 billion.
“This growth is also attributable to the attraction and retention of the best talent in North Texas to be part of our team,” says Stephen Gilchrist. “I have created an entrepreneurial environment within our dealership group that fosters experimentation and innovation in how we manage our stores and how we go to market.
“I believe that what sets us apart in our industry is that I allow our general manager/managing partners the latitude to set up processes within their stores to control their destiny. They can seek out new technology, vendors, and practices to improve their business.”
Cameron Kirkpatrick Wyreline Transformation
Cameron Kirkpatrick established Wyreline Transformation in 2018, founded on a handshake agreement with its first customer. In 2019, the company raised additional capital to expand its wireline asset base, and then in 2021 it acquired distressed assets that doubled the size of its business.
Today, Kirkpatrick, a Tarleton State University graduate, says Wyreline enjoys a portfolio of 18 wireline units servicing customers across multiple locations with a team of more than 100 employees who generate $50 million in annual sales.
Correspondingly, in 2022, Wyre’s revenue increased by 136% year over year, and gross profits increased 173%.
Says Kirkpatrick: “Our vision of being thought leaders in wireline services is more than just words — it’s a way of life. We strive to be innovative and provide solutions that set us apart from our competition. Our commitment to this vision is reflected in every aspect of our organization, from the way we conduct ourselves to the way we interact with our clients. Whether it’s developing cutting-edge technologies or finding creative solutions, we believe in pushing boundaries and challenging ourselves.”
Stephen Gilchrist Gilchrist Automotive
Cameron Kirkpatrick Wyreline Transformation
John Clay Wolfe GIVEMETHEVIN
2023 Entrepreneur of Excellence / Health Care and Life Sciences
CATEGORY WINNER:
Robin Carson
Carson Hearing Care
Robin Carson had been an audiologist for 15 years or so when she suddenly became that technician.
“I was that technician who had an entrepreneurial seizure,” she says. “I decided to go into business for myself. I quickly learned to surround myself with people that have my weaknesses as their strengths but still share the same goal.”
Within the first 12 months of opening in 2013, Carson Hearing Care grew into a $1 million practice. It hasn’t stopped growing. That its financial health has excelled is evidenced by its going from one doctor to four.
The industry standard for patients who return to their first hearing provider is 43%, Carson says.
“Our rate is nearly double that average because of our care, the trust that patients have in the practice, and the providers,” Carson says. “I choose to lead my practice with love, both with my team and with my patients. Our team looks for opportunities to be remarkable in our care and to turn our patients into raving fans as a result of building deep relationships.”
CATEGORY FINALISTS:
Trevor Theriot
ManaMed
ManaMed, a medical supply company serving all 50 states, has brought to the marketplace innovative products that capture market share while delivering tools to improve and sustain quality of life for customers and patients.
The company has eight patents and six others pending.
Its PlasmaFlow device was the first prescription-only FDA portable
sequential device that helps prevent blood clots. The patented “Step-Up Technology” is changing the gold standard of blood clot prevention after surgery.
The company is led by founder and CEO Trevor Theriot, who has a track record of increasing sales and growing the net revenue bottom line while spearheading the development of innovative ideas that drive productivity and ease costs.
He is a champion of social media tools and technologies, with a multiplatform approach to creating and implementing successful social media programs.
Theriot, a former football player at UCLA, is a native Californian who got to Texas as fast as he could.
ManaMed was a member of the Inc. 5000 in 2021 and ranked No. 137 in the Southwest in 2022.
David Woolsey and Ramon Cazares
Integrated Ultrasound Consultants Inc.
Integrated Ultrasound has exhibited sales growth every year since 2012, says David Woolsey, president and CEO. “We have managed to maintain a profit in every year since 2012 except in 2018, where we experienced a 14% decrease in revenue. We have never required any outside investment to this date. Our year-to-year revenue increases have been anywhere from 5% to 165%.”
Integrated Ultrasound Consultants is a company founded and operated by sonographers with a mission to offer comprehensive ultrasound and temporary radiology staffing services.
The company was founded by Woolsey and Ramon Cazares in 2012.
Woolsey was a co-founder of D2 Imaging in 2000. Cazares was an employee. The business succeeded and was sold in 2008.
“Fast-forward to late 2012, after leaving a national ultrasound systems manufacturer," Woolsey says, "I had heard from many of my former clients and area facilities of different companies overpromising and underdelivering in regard to providing ultrasound services 24/7.”
Integrated Ultrasound Consultants Inc.
Trevor Theriot ManaMed
David Woolsey and Ramon Cazares
Robin Carson Carson Hearing Care
2023
Tim Love Love Management
CATEGORY WINNER:
Tim Love
Love Management
Tim Love was introduced to food through his father’s 1-acre garden at home in Cookeville, Tennessee.
“I didn’t really know anything about it, just that it was something I had to do,” Love says.
As a first-year college student, he applied to be a bartender, host, and server to help with bills. The restaurant offered him a job making salads.
“I told them I didn’t know how to cook, but once I started, I realized I knew so much about the food — I just didn’t know how to cook it.”
Suffice to say, he learned.
Today, his brand is Chef Tim Love, and he’s president of Love Management’s 18 concepts, all of them designed to achieve its mission: “To cultivate an extraordinary food and beverage experience through multiple channels and price points, high levels of fun, and tremendous hospitality.”
Love has helped reshape the 21st century Stockyards, not to mention the industry itself, with five new concepts in the past two years.
CATEGORY FINALISTS:
Trevor Armstrong and Larry Auth Game On Sports Complex and Game On Arena Sports
Trevor Armstrong and Larry Auth developed a second sports facility on the far West Side in 2015 on adjacent property they had acquired while making the original purchase of Game On Arena Sports, an indoor soccer arena.
This new, expanded Game On Sports Complex would step out of its indoor soccer lane to become “The Home of Athletic Potential,”
providing Fort Worth recreational athletes of all ages with access to world-class facilities, training, and leagues.
Armstrong and Auth have more than 60 years of combined experience in hospitality management. They met through networking in downtown Fort Worth 15 years ago and discovered a mutual passion for athletics and a shared vision to combine that passion with their know-how and expertise in the hospitality industry.
“The sports facility industry is uniquely challenging,” they say. “We place a great deal of emphasis on our partner relationships, making every effort to encourage and grow mutual long-term success which adds greatly to both the athlete and family experience as well as the year-round stability our business requires.”
David “Rex” Benson Ol’ South Pancake House
The venerable Ol’ South Pancake House, the legendary dining spot that has sat perched on University Drive, serving up its class Southernstyle cuisine for more than 60 years, has expanded in recent years under David “Rex” Benson.
In the 11 years since Benson has taken over the Ol’ South, sales have grown at that location from $3 million to $5.7 million a year. Add to that a second location in booming Burleson, and those figures grow to more than $8 million, serving 8,000 guests a week in a 24-hour, 365-day operation.
This is a family venture for Benson, who at the age of 5 appeared in Ol’ South commercials.
Off at Texas Tech University as a full-time student, he co-owned his first restaurant at the tender age of 19.
When he assumed control of the Ol’ South in 2011, he embarked on reform, revamping the menu, embracing digital point-of-sale systems, and implementing digital inventory management solutions.
He has a vision, too: Benson has a plan to expand to multiple locations across North Texas.
David “Rex” Benson Ol’ South Pancake House
Trevor Armstrong and Larry Auth Game On Sports Complex and Game On Arena Sports
Russell English Trailhead Exploration
CATEGORY WINNER:
Russell English
Trailhead Exploration
Trailhead has grown from a minority investor in other operators' wells into an operator generating meaningful investment project returns with increasing scale. Gross revenue from crude and natural gas production has grown from $68,000 for 2019 to more than $23 million in 2022.
“Despite severe headwinds faced in the foundational years, we have carefully and steadily grown our employee count from three to eight, without any workforce reduction through the pandemic,” CEO Russell English says.
English, who has an MBA from TCU, began his career in the land department at XTO Energy in Fort Worth. With XTO’s move to Houston, “I determined it was time to scratch my entrepreneurial itch,” he says.
Silver Hill Energy Partners of Dallas, which had built an operating company in the Permian Basin, provided initial G&A funding. Silver Hill accomplished an “outstanding exit result” in 2016. The company also raised a “substantial private equity commitment” from Old Ironsides Energy.
“After carefully navigating the pandemic, we are now well-positioned to capitalize on the opportunity with industry resurgence and domestic and global growth.”
CATEGORY FINALIST:
Frank
Starr Crimson Energy Partners IV
An Enid, Oklahoma, native, Frank Starr had intended to go to law school one day until he realized he had no real driving enthusiasm
or conviction for it.
“So, I began working and ended up roughnecking in the oil patch,” he says, “and fell in love with the industry.”
He returned to school at the University of Oklahoma to pursue a degree in petroleum engineering. He began a career with Champlin Petroleum, which later became Union Pacific Resources, where he stayed for 17 years.
Serendipity intervened in the form of a meeting with a “high net worth individual,” he recalls.
“I mentioned that I had always wanted to start my own company. He encouraged me to put a business plan together, and he would back me if he liked it.”
Crimson Energy Partners sprang to life in 1998. In the 25 years since, Starr has built and sold four companies, Crimson Energy Partners I-IV.
“We are now beginning our new adventure in building Crimson V and will be working on our own equity capital raise.”
Frank Starr Crimson Energy Partners IV
2023 Entrepreneur of Excellence / Professional Services
CATEGORY WINNER:
Lisa Hall
Bene-Marc Sports Insurance
Lisa Hall lives by a mantra: “Life is not about how you survive the storm, but how you dance in the rain!”
As a youth sports and special events insurance company, Bene-Marc Sports Insurance was uniquely — and negatively — impacted by COVID-19 timeout.
More like a 14-monthlong tsunami, as Hall, the president and CEO, recalls it.
Although Bene-Marc lost 52% of its profits in 2020, all employees — the Bene-Martians, as they’re fondly known — retained their jobs, insurance benefits, and matching 401(k).
“Not only did Bene-Marc survive, but truly begin to thrive as our faithful clients started purchasing insurance once again,” Hall says.
Bene-Marc was founded by Hall’s father, Wally Kemp, in 1973. After witnessing a soccer teammate of Hall’s suffer a compound fracture, Wally wondered who would pay for the injury. He jumped into an untapped market — sports insurance.
CATEGORY FINALISTS:
Craig Barnes and Jean Marie Alexander Shield Engineering Group
In 2018, Shield Engineering Group, a civil engineering firm, developed a five-year financial plan.
“Our sales growth has been so tremendous that we surpassed our five-year goal in only four years,” says Craig Barnes, president of the company.
The Shield group has been overachieving for a long time now, starting with opening the firm during the one of the world’s great economic downtowns. Barnes, who had just been laid off, joined with Jean Marie
Alexander, the chief operating officer, to open the firm in 2009.
In those 14 years, the team has grown from two — Barnes and Alexander, a UT Arlington alum — to 50 employees.
That five-year plan, of course, coincided with the unexpected interruption of the pandemic.
In 2020, “we were able to keep our company running with the same workforce, while maintaining our sales and profit goals,” Barnes says.
Shield Engineering Group is also a regular on the MAVS100, a list of recognized 100 fastest growing UTA alumni-owned or UTA alumni-led businesses.
Managing Partner Benson Varghese fell in love with criminal law early in his career. He left the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office to hang a shingle. His prosecutor wife joined him soon after.
In the past three years, the firm has enjoyed a 120% increase in revenue and a 100% increase in staff. It has achieved this kind of growth through a robust multimedia presence centered around education and empowerment, including hundreds of informative blogs on several websites, a comprehensive and educational YouTube channel, and podcasts engaging community leaders in the legal space.
The firm has also added the practice areas of family law and personal injury.
In the first quarter of 2023, the firm boasted a more than 100% increase in revenue from the same time in 2022, and projections show a minimum 50% jump by year’s end, the firm says.
Pursuing new practice areas hasn’t curbed the growth of Varghese Summersett’s original mission. The Criminal Law Group continues to swell with five of its highest grossing months occurring in the last six months.
Anna Summersett and Benson Varghese Varghese Summersett
Anna Summersett and Benson Varghese Varghese Summersett
Craig Barnes and Jean Marie Alexander Shield Engineering Group
Lisa Hall Bene-Marc Sports Insurance
2023
Craig Cavileer Fort Worth Heritage Development
Photo provided by Bruno of Snap the Picture.
CATEGORY WINNER:
Craig Cavileer
Fort Worth Heritage Development
Craig Cavileer is co-owner and managing partner of Fort Worth Heritage Development LLC, a joint venture between Majestic Realty Co. and the Hickman Companies, created for the redevelopment of the Stockyards Historic District.
The masterplan development and operation includes the award-winning Hotel Drover, Hyatt Place, the Stockyards Hotel and H3 Ranch, as well as Cowtown Coliseum, Mule Alley, Stockyards Station and Cowboy Channel/Cowgirl Channel and PBR headquarters.
Heritage has invested $280 million into the early phases of its Stockyards projects and intends to invest another $850 million over the next five years.
The Fort Worth Stockyards enjoyed an average of three million visitors annually prior to the opening of Mule Alley and Hotel Drover in 2021 with the majority of visits from out of the local area. Since Mule Alley and Drover opened its doors in 2021, visits to the Fort Worth Stockyards have grown to more than 9.3 million annually, including many from the local area.
Revenues and profits from 2021-23 are all higher year over year and at exponential levels of growth.
CATEGORY FINALISTS:
Jessica Miller Essl and Susan Miller Gruppi M2G Ventures
M2G Ventures is a commercial real estate private equity and advisory development company based in Fort Worth led by sisters Jessica Miller Essl and Susan Miller Gruppi, who serve as founders and copresidents.
“M2G Ventures is proud to have experienced strong sales growth year over year, resulting in profound impact throughout DFW and Central Texas,” say Miller Essl and Miller Gruppi, both TCU Neeley School of Business graduates.
In a difficult environment the past two years, M2G has acquired and redeveloped more than 2.68 million square feet, representing more than $290 million in capitalized value.
In 2023, M2G is raising its first fund designed to provide M2G and its investors the ability to execute its best-in-class strategy on a larger, more efficient scale with a more opportunistic approach.
“As we look toward the future, while others may see challenges, we see opportunity. We believe the market will create opportunities for nimble and entrepreneurial groups like ourselves who can move swiftly, strategically, and opportunistically to take advantage of the dislocation of the 2022 market.”
Ty Williams and Carmen Williams
RJ Williams & Company Real Estate
The husband-wife led RJ Williams & Company Real Estate is headquar tered in Fort Worth, with an office in Las Colinas, and an expansion team in Houston.
“Year over year, we continue to see sales grow,” says Ty Williams. “We continue to uptrend in overall sales price, as well as our listings continue to give our clients a solid return.”
Ty Williams and Carmen Williams founded the agency in 2016. They named it after Ty’s late father, Ray J. Williams.
“Throughout my entire life, I have learned the hard way that mistakes lead you to opportunities for growth. I have worked hard to stay true to my values and my beliefs.
“We both came from the retail in dustry and learned quickly that creating loyalty and a positive culture was a very important cornerstone in our business. We learned that build ing genuine relationships would lead to success.”
Ty Williams and Carmen Williams RJ Williams & Company Real Estate
Jessica Miller Essl and Susan Miller Gruppi M2G Ventures
2023 Entrepreneur of Excellence / Residential Construction
CATEGORY WINNER: Christine Figley
West Fork Landscaping
Through acquisition, Christine Figley entered the landscape space in 2017 with a vision to “flip the script.”
West Fork Landscaping is a full-service landscaping company providing design, soft and hardscapes, installation, and maintenance for all landscaping services.
“I had a well-established vision with it performing 70% commercial installation and 30% regular maintenance,” she says. “My vision was to flip the script and work toward a larger percentage of regular maintenance. Changing the source of revenue would provide a more stable revenue stream and create a stronger workplace for good teams.”
The company put in place more infrastructure to handle the projected growth, which included personal and leased trucks. The company also opened West Fork Garden Market, a retail store.
“This investment has paid off as we have seen a 40% increase in revenue for the first four months of 2023 compared to 2022,” she says.
Since the first year following acquisition, Figley says revenue has increased 165%, and profit has increased an average of 57% the past three years.
CATEGORY FINALISTS:
Ginger Curtis Urbanology Designs
Ginger Curtis came out of grueling chemotherapy treatments in 2015 with renewed life and a vision to build a luxury interior design firm.
What she lacked in formal training — she had none — she more than made up for in sheer will and a natural entrepreneurial streak.
In less than a year, she had enough business to hire her first employee.
The firm “did not finish 2022 where we thought we would,” but … “We started out 2023 strong and on pace to have a record year in sales, forecasted above $3 million,” Curtis says.
Out of the firm’s offices in a reimagined fire station in North Richland Hills (which Urbanology renovated) are two other enterprises. Urban Design Works oversees the leasing of executive offices to local entrepreneurs in the building, which also has leasable venue space.
In 2022, Curtis further expanded the Urbanology brand to start Urbanology Properties, which will offer luxury short-term rentals across the nation. The first investment property in the portfolio launched in October 2022 in Weatherford, Urbanology Cottage.
Bryan Braswell Braswell Homes
Bryan Braswell’s life in construction began at age 14, working on a remodeling crew. Today, he has grown his own company into one of the largest homebuilders in Fort Worth, a dream 22 years in the making.
It all happened very much on-the-fly. Braswell, then 20, had a roofing business when a friend asked him to build a house. That wasn’t exactly in his forte.
“I didn’t really know what I was doing, so I read some books,” says the Arlington native. “I built him a house, and we did it really costeffective. Then we built five houses over the next year and a half and sold them all.”
Impromptu acts of creativity often produce the most authentic and beautiful art.
Or, in this case, a business.
“We have enjoyed continual growth from 2011 with an expanding employee base of highly talented workers,” Braswell says.
Part of the reason his business is healthy today is because of the turmoil of the 2008 financial crisis.
“That was one of my greatest learning periods for my life, and it has shaped me,” Braswell says.
Bryan Braswell Braswell Homes
Ginger Curtis Urbanology Designs
Christine Figley West Fork Landscaping
Lindsay Jones The PlaySpace
CATEGORY WINNER:
Lindsay Jones
The PlaySpace
Lindsay Jones launched The PlaySpace in 2017 to fill the critical, unmet need for creative, play-based, drop-in child care in the Greater Fort Worth area.
Hers was among those businesses the most roughly treated by pandemic shutdowns.
She pivoted, temporarily hiring teachers and reimagining the school’s physical space to offer “learning pods” — staff-led small groups that facilitated online learning.
The PlaySpace persevered and rebounded from the losses.
“The PlaySpace is on track to have our most profitable year yet,” Jones says of 2023.
The PlaySpace is about to open its third location later this year, and she says potential for growth is in its favor with the company’s unique position as the only drop-in play care facility in the area.
“I am proud to maintain a stable and loyal workforce,” she says. “The child care industry has a notoriously high turnover rate, which I mitigate by offering competitive wages, flexible schedules including evening and weekend hours, free child care, and free training opportunities.”
CATEGORY FINALISTS:
Katy Kothmann Abraham Construction Cost Management
In 2012, Katy Kothmann Abraham acquired the company her father, Keith, founded in 1979.
She set out to her own mark in a male-dominated industry. And she has.
Since her ascent, Construction Cost Management has experienced over 500% in revenue growth, she
says, in part because of certifications that have opened a multitude of opportunities to work on federal contracts.
Construction Cost Management provides cost estimating and construction consulting to a broad base of professional architectural and engineering firms across the U.S.
When public tax dollars are used to complete construction projects, companies such as CCM are hired alongside the design firm to act as an independent cost estimation consultant.
CCM’s sales suffered in COVID, of course, but from 2021 to 2022 yearover-year sales increased by 12%, and this year the company is projecting a 26% increase from 2022.
The company’s workforce has also expanded, from three in 2012 to upwards of 15, depending on the work demand.
Christie K. Moore Mansfield Funeral Home
Mansfield Funeral Home has maintained a strong sales, profit and equity growth foundation since she acquired the business in 2016.
Christie Moore has done so partly through exceptional service.
For example, the funeral home provides free cremations to families who have experienced miscarriages. It was also adorned with national attention for providing free services for families who have experienced gun violence.
Moreover, Moore and her staff offer funeral service information to veterans and seniors in their homes, civic centers, and churches.
“The vision of Mansfield Funeral Home is to meet the needs of the community consistently and thoroughly through education and proactive involvement in the community,” Moore says.
“Our presence in the metroplex, and beyond, also provides an opportunity for aspiring and budding entrepreneurs to see someone, who is dedicated to their craft, change the face of the industry by bringing innovation to those who were not aware of the possibilities of change — for good — in the funeral service industry.”
Katy Kothmann Abraham Construction Cost Management
Christie K. Moore Mansfield Funeral Home
Supporter of Entrepreneurship Award: Stella Robertson
WORDS BY MARK MOURER
Dr. Stella Robertson, co-founder and partner of Bios Partners in Fort Worth, is the recipient of the 2023 Fort Worth Inc. Supporter of Entrepreneurship award.
The Supporter of Entrepreneurship award is presented to an individual who has provided support and advancement to the entrepreneurial community in the Greater Fort Worth area by helping entrepreneurs succeed through economic, academic, or business means.
She’s receiving these accolades, in part, thanks to recognition among her peers and community members. The Supporter of Entrepreneurship award is an open-nomination process along with Fort Worth Inc.’s Entrepreneur of Excellence honors.
“I am truly honored to be able to give back to the next generation and work with amazingly smart, driven, innovative researchers as they develop their ideas into new medicines and disease treatments,” Robertson says.
The Goucher College alumna completed her doctoral work at Johns Hopkins University. She earned her doctorate in biology and immunology, going into research and development roles, notably with Fort Worth-based Alcon Laboratories. As a vice president for R&D at Alcon, Robertson developed pharmaceutical ophthalmic products from research through formal development, seeing their progression through regulatory filings for registration in and outside of the U.S.
After retiring in 2009, Robertson established Arrochar Consulting in 2013 in an effort to help those early-stage emerging tech concepts “tighten up” their business models in preparation for success.
In 2015, she joined forces with Bios co-founders Les W. Kreis, Jr. and Aaron G.L. Fletcher to establish Bios Partners, a Fort Worthbased private equity investment firm that mentors and invests in early biotech companies with life-giving technologies. Moreover, Bios focuses on identifying advanced biotech in overlooked and under-invested markets in the U.S. The Bios team, located off University Drive in Fort Worth, helps cultivate new pharmaceutical products and bring them to market.
ALL IN THE FAMILY
These family-owned businesses have built something lasting.
Afamily-owned business is a sanctuary of not only innovation but tradition, too, the place where generations of dreams, sweat, and, yes, some blood and tears, fuse with a determination to create something enduring.
At the heart of the family-owned business, you find the family itself, woven into the fabric of the enterprise. They invested not only capital but also their hearts and souls into the venture.
Their descendants carry the torch forward.
Fort Worth is a breeding ground for dreamers whose ambition is to build something generational for descendants.
Harry Keeton Sr. moved here from Tennessee in 1894. His business was brooms. John Hernandez’s parents were Mexican immigrants. He built a business out of a trade he learned as a young man. Joseph Kubes, a native of Minnesota, could have taken a conventional path. U.S. Marines don’t do conventionality.
Andrew Luong’s journey to the land of opportunity began from his native home in Vietnam. Randy Watson simply wasn’t ready to quit making boots.
All of them shared one thing in common: their dreams.
We profile five family-owned businesses whose hopes and dreams have been achieved, though the work endures forever.
WORDS BY JOHN HENRY IMAGES BY CRYSTAL WISE
The Hernandezes of John Sons Press, from left, Philip, Edward, Marc, and Adrian.
Trey Duncan, Tami Duncan, and Peter Duncan make up the familial leadership triumvirate at The Original Mattress Factory.
Three members of the Kubes family, from left, Miranda Kubes, Brittany Marshall Parker, and Katie Kubes.
Andrew Luong of Pro Tailor made the American dream come true for his family. He stands with his wife Dang.
The R. Watson Boots family is, from left, sons Reed and Ryan, and their father Randy, center.
JOHN SONS PRESS
John Hernandez, the son of Mexican immigrants and a graduate of Laneri Catholic High School, worked as a printer as a young man and then as a salesman. Then he took a leap — going into the printing business for himself.
He and his son, Philip, had an opportunity to buy a small printing company, Markem Printing, in the mid-1980s. Philip was put in charge of the business, which evolved into John Sons Press, with all four of John Hernandez’s sons working as officers at the company.
Philip is COO, Edward is head of production, Adrian is head of sales, and Marc oversees the prepress operation. Their base of operations is at a plant at 3300 South Freeway in Fort Worth. Walking around the back is the sweet smell of ink. For someone in the business of publications, it is as sweet a smell as the aromas of a bakery.
The brothers have expanded the company to include mailing services and diversified into batteries, scooters, and power chairs. The Battery & Scooter store is at 6627 Hawks Creek Ave.
John has said in the past that his sons learned every aspect of the business before they worked their way up to become company officers.
John Hernandez was a longtime member of the Fort Worth Stock Show’s International Committee and its Hispanic Advisory Committee, formed to provide Stock Show officials more insight into broadening the show’s appeal to Hispanics.
“I see John as a true ambassador,” Stock Show President Brad Barnes said of him some years ago. "He works year-round and always has this on his mind: 'How can I get these people all together better, easier?'”
U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth) spoke on his behalf in the House in 2000.
“I rise today to pay tribute to John Hernandez, one of Fort Worth, Texas’, finest sons. In honor of his receiving the Ohtli Award from the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs for his lifetime service to the Hispanic community.”
Philip Hernandez is the company's chief operating officer.
If it's machinery in the shop, chances are Edward Hernandez has his hands on it.
Marc Hernandez spies a proof, looking for imperfections.
KUBES JEWELERS
While in service to his country as a U.S. Marine in the Philippines during WWII, Joe Kubes learned how to repair watches, and he began fixing the watches of fellow servicemen. He and his wife, Rita, moved to Fort Worth from St. Paul, Minnesota. Joe was to be honorably discharged here. The couple had only $35 to their name.
Joe eventually got a job at American Airlines. During the war, he had worked on instrument panels of fighter planes.
Instead, Rita talked him into starting his own business in watch repair.
Kubes Jewelers today is in its 78th year of operation, including the past more than 65 years on West Berry Street near TCU. There are seven family members who work at the store, which just recently turned over management to the third generation of Kubes. Four generations work there. Six are gemologists.
Joe Kubes was self-taught in jewelry repair and how to make jewelry and restring pearls.
“He taught himself how to pretty much do everything,” says Brittany Parker, his great-granddaughter.
He was, however, certified as a gemologist. Parker estimates that he was probably one of nine at the time in Texas.
Like Will Rogers, Joe was said to have never met a man he didn’t like. He always found a commonality with a person, his family says. He insisted on his family calling anyone they interacted with by their name. That habit served as a reminder of the respect to which a person was entitled.
Today, the family says the business remains grounded in their ancestor’s drive and determination, integrity, love, and Christian focus.
Jewelers Casey Kubes, left, and Paul Marshall.
Joe Don Kubes, watchmaker.
Miranda Kubes strings pearls.
A tray of gemstones, left, and watch crystal cabinets.
THE ORIGINAL MATTRESS FACTORY
A newspaper ad in 1905 declares: “A Sweeping Assertion but true. Harry Keeton, proprietor of Fort Worth Broom Factory, makes brooms that cannot be beaten. Ask your grocer for them.”
Keeton had come to Fort Worth from Tennessee in 1894.
Keeton’s family-owned outfit expanded to upholstery and then mattress supplies in the 1930s, with the entire brood of eight children working there at one point in time. One of those was son J. Frank Keeton, named for the stalwart Southern Baptist Fort Worth firebrand. Frank Keeton served on the Fort Worth City Council, including a term as mayor pro tempore.
Frank Keeton and Harry Keeton Jr. would expand the business throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Florida. Keeton Jr. began building spring air mattresses in Oklahoma City and West Texas in the 1950s.
As CEO, a position he has held for 40 years, Peter Duncan oversees the operation of The Original Mattress Factory today, 127 years after his great-grandfather began selling brooms in 1896. His wife, Tami, and their son, Trey, are on the staff, too. Tami is the administrative assistant, extraordinaire. She handles the books and ties up all the frayed knots. Trey is head of sales and shipping.
The list of active Fort Worth businesses in operation that long is a short one. Duncan innovated the business by selling his products directly to the consumer at wholesale prices, creating a great demand for his products.
The Original Mattress Factory produces between 8,000-10,000 pieces each year, Duncan says.
The plant is at 900 E. Vickery Blvd.
The company ships all over the country and into Canada. It is a major supplier for camps, like Camp Longhorn in Burnet. Bed and breakfasts, model homes, and interior designers are all notable clients.
“Everybody has to sleep, you guys,” he reminds.
Tami Duncan, right, and Melanie Duncan — Trey's wife — watch a piece of machinery at work.
More than 8,000 pieces come out of this warehouse, which include giant spools of fabric and other tools of the trade.
Peter Duncan Jr., great-grandson of Harry Keeton Sr., has been at the helm of The Original Mattress Factory since 1983.
Trey Duncan will one day be the fifth generation of management. He is the son of Peter and Tami Duncan.
PRO TAILOR
The Luongs escaped the tyranny of communism in their home country of Vietnam as soon as they could. Hung Luong and his wife, Ly Vo, brought their six children here in 1993. Husband and wife were tailors in a town outside of Saigon. They owned their own business, but, of course, you don’t really own anything under the thumb of Ho Chi Minh’s grand design.
“If you raise a pig on the farm, you can’t kill the pig for food,” says Andrew, 47, the Luong’s third child. “You have to sell it to the government, who processes it and sells it back to you.”
Andrew, at age 16, finished his last couple of years of high school and went to UT Arlington to study electrical engineering. In America, rather than own their own business, his parents went to work as tailors.
Andrew put his engineering degree on hold to live the American dream and to help his family.
Pro Tailor and Ace Tailor are literally enterprises of love.
“My parents were making minimum wage,” Andrew says. “I felt like that had lasted long enough. So, I stepped up to help the family.”
Andrew opened Pro Tailor, which does business in a storefront on Overton Ridge in southwest Fort Worth, and Ace Tailor on Camp Bowie.
Andrew says he was a reluctant tailor, only learning the trade from his mother for spending money as a child.
In both businesses are his parents; his wife, Dang; his brother, Tony; and Tony’s wife, Nga.
Thirty years after arriving on American soil, the Luongs are free, happy, and flourishing.
And thankful. Just ask them.
Sewing, stitching, alternations, and pattern making — you name it, it happens at Pro Tailor. Here are Duc Doan, right, and Mobin Sediqi making clothes fit.
Fahd Nehme uses a pair of scissors to find the right length.
Tailors help clients choose suitable fabrics for their clothing. Swatches assist the customer in choosing.
Thread is a fundamental component of a tailor shop. Pro Tailor has a wall full of it. One thing a sewing machine does is hems on the edges of fabric, such as those found on the bottom of trousers, skirts, or sleeves.
R. WATSON BOOTS
Though Randy Watson was ready to retire as president and CEO of Justin Brands, he soon discovered that vendors, retail partners, and factories weren’t ready for him to leave. All of them reached out asking for an opportunity to work with him again.
Watson had spent decades in the industry making relationships. In addition to executive roles at Justin, he also served as vice president of sales for the Lucchese Boot Co. Justin, of course, included the boot-making operations Nocona Boot and Tony Lama.
He had joined Justin Boot Co. in 1993 as vice president of sales and marketing.
“His leadership skills are proven,” said a one-time Justin Industries CEO JT Dickenson, who died in 2019. “His understanding of the Western and footwear markets is proven.”
With demand for services comes opportunity.
Watson teamed with his son, Ryan, and “a small band” of longtime friends in the field to open R. Watson Boots, a small family-owned business based in Crowley. Another son, Reed, joined the company a little later.
Randy Watson got into the business as part-timer trying to support himself while attending tryout camps for major-league baseball teams. When he discovered he “wasn’t good enough,” he had a new passion in place: boots.
Watson says his sports background gave him the tools to succeed in business. In 2013, he was selected Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in the southwest region.
“You learn how to be resilient when bad things happen,” he has said in the past. “You don’t always have good games or good years. You learn how to respond to all that in athletics.”
Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, which acquired Justin Brands in 2000, once said of Watson: “He thinks like an owner and delivers on his promises.”
Reed Watson in the warehouse marking inventory.
The design room is full of leather swatches.
A bootmaker is a skilled artisan who specializes in designing and crafting the footwear of the cowboy. That includes designing and creating custom footwear based on a client's specifications or their own designs.
A dedication to craftsmanship is apparent.
With every cookie purchase, you help unbox the future and create a world envisioned uniquely by Girl Scouts. Through the Girl Scout Cookie Program, the largest girl-led entrepreneurship business in the world, they learn the skills they need to be successful entrepreneurs and build the future of their dreams.
Find a cookie booth near you by scanning the QR code from January 12 to March 3.
Unthe ture
VISION | CREATIVITY | INTEGRITY
Thank you to the 2023 Entrepreneur of Excellence program sponsors.
Presenting Sponsor Platinum Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor
Silver Sponsors
Braswell Homes Inc.
Crimson Energy Partners IV, LLC
Fort Worth Heritage Development, LLC
Game On Sports Complex and Game
On Arena Sports
Gilchrist Automotive
Integrated Ultrasound Consultants, Inc.
Ol’ South Pancake House
Restoration Roofing
Varghese Summersett PLLC
West Fork Landscaping
Gold
Boot
Family~ Owned Business
Greater Fort Worth’s family-owned businesses are the pillars of the local economy, contributing to the city’s identity and prosperity. Employing and serving the community, these businesses play a critical role in the city’s growth. Beyond their economic impact, these families embody the values of hard work and community involvement. The following pages showcase some of the small businesses that have made Fort Worth much more than just a place to call home. The information in this section is provided by the advertisers and has not been independently verified by Fort Worth Inc.
Gilchrist Automotive
FOUNDED: May 1986 by Charlie Gilchrist. MOTTO: Drive the Difference. MISSION: To be the leader in the retail automotive industry. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Gilchrist Automotive gives back to each community in which it has dealerships or where they live by supporting local schools, sports programs, and more than 20 education-related organizations where its stores are located. Both Stephen and Charlie have held multiple positions in local leadership boards, including education and related initiatives to invest in their communities’ futures. They want to make a lasting difference where they live and work. GOALS FOR THE FUTURE: Creating a culture of leaders that can impact local communities and the industry. PRODUCTS/SERVICES: Gilchrist sells and services both new and pre-owned vehicles. Gilchrist dealerships offer dozens of models from top brands including Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, Honda, Jeep, Ram, Cadillac, Buick, GMC, Lincoln, Dodge, Volkswagen, Nissan, and Mazda. Whether you’re from Weatherford, Fort Worth, Granbury, Burleson, or from east of DFW, Gilchrist Automotive appreciates the opportunity to earn your business. MOST SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE: Interest rates. The Gilchrist family feels blessed with growth in their business and communities. With growth, people need vehicles, but with interest rates today, it is getting more and more expensive for customers to purchase. WHAT SETS THEM APART: They put the customer first and operate with five core values to provide customers with a different buying experience that their competitors cannot replicate. Gilchrist Automotive reinvests in supporting their communities and people to help them grow and succeed. PICTURED: Stephen Gilchrist, Dealer Operator; Reese Gilchrist, Sales Director, SouthWest Ford; and Charlie Gilchrist, Dealer Principal. Gilchrist Automotive | 3000 Fort Worth Highway | Weatherford, Texas 76087
19 Locations Available in Texas and Oklahoma gilchristautomotive.com | gilchristautomotive.com/dealerlocator
Amarillo National Bank
AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: ANB has been named Amarillo’s Best Bank for 20 consecutive years and Best Mortgage Company for 17 years. It’s also regularly recognized with other local market awards, including Best Financial Planner, Best Customer Service, Best Customer Culture, and Best Bank in Texas by American Banker Magazine, 2013. Texas Monthly named the Ware family “Bankers of the Century” in 1999. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: ANB prioritizes giving back in big ways, having donated over $5 million to local communities across Texas last year and donated countless hours to serving those in our community as board members, committee members, leaders, and volunteers. SERVICES: Commercial loans, personal checking accounts, debit cards, financial planning, mortgages, and more. And when it comes to rates, we are committed to paying customers a fair rate and are paying more than most other banks in Texas. WHAT SETS THEM
APART: ANB is the largest 100% Texas family-owned bank, and that sets us apart. Family ownership means quick, local decisions, zero bureaucracy, and no red tape. Our top priority is building relationships and understanding our local customers.
PICTURED: Emily Arce, Eric Reed, Allyson Hundley, and Crystal Daffan. Amarillo National Bank 4501 Camp Bowie Blvd. | Fort Worth, Texas 76107 | 682.354.2700 | anb.com
Eli Golemi, Owner – Café Bella
AWARDS: Numerous awards for Best Italian Restaurant, Best BYOB, and Best Outdoor Dining. ESTABLISHED: In 2000, I worked as a waitress with little or no English and serviced customers by pointing to the menu for their order. The majority of those first customers are still my customers. COMMUNITY EFFORTS: I believe in giving back to the community that helped my business grow by supporting local fundraising efforts and charities. GOALS: To keep Café Bella family oriented and for my customers to have that “at home” dining experience while providing the best authentic Italian entrees. MOST SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE: 2020 was a challenging year. We are still navigating through some of those challenges. My loyal customers and growing new customers have helped me weather through those challenging days. WHAT SETS HER APART: Quality and service are a typical reply, but I truly love to take care of my customers by providing that personal touch and connection. I want my customers to feel they are my family, and, in many ways, they are. PICTURED: My mother, Millo, and me in Epirus, Greece. My mother and her two sisters were exceptional cooks. Café Bella | 3548 S. Hills Ave. | Fort Worth, Texas 76109 | 817.922.9500 | cafebellaftw.com
Dorsett Johnson, LLP
J.C. Johnson, Esq., Kim Johnson, and Cutter Johnson
AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: Super Lawyers; Top Attorney Fort Worth Magazine; Top Rated Lawyer (Texas) – Lawyers of Distinction. MISSION: We are business-minded attorneys serving businesspeople. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: J.C. Johnson ‒ Fort Worth Stock Show Syndicate Vice Chairman of Membership, Executive Committee; Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo International Committee member; Tarleton State University Foundation, Inc.; Bleed Purple Athletic Alliance. Kim Johnson ‒ Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, board of directors; Ladies on the Lamb, president; Ronald McDonald House of Fort Worth. Cutter Johnson ‒ Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, Greeting and Vine 2 Wine committees; Lone Star Film Society. GOALS: Our goal is to keep serving the businesspeople of the Great State of Texas. MOST SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE FACING BUSINESSES: Uncertainty. No matter the time period or circumstances, business is an ever-changing space of uncertainty. Our team of attorneys serve as trusted advisors that can help anticipate and react to the many variables that always exist. WHAT SETS THEM APART: Our team members are business-minded and offer practical legal solutions that make sense financially. PICTURED: J.C. Johnson, Esq., Kim Johnson, and Cutter Johnson. Dorsett Johnson, LLP | 407 Throckmorton St., Ste. 500 | Fort Worth, Texas 76102 817.900.8202 | jcjohnson@dorsettjohnson.com | dorsettjohnson.com
The Original Mattress Factory
AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: Recognized as a top small business in Tarrant County by the Better Business Bureau. FOUNDED: 1896 by Harry Keeton, Sr. MOTTO: Quality Bedding at Dream Prices. A Texas Original since 1896. CHARITIES SUPPORTED: Young Life Ministries and Union Gospel Mission of Tarrant County. ASPIRATIONS: The goal that my children and grandchildren would continue the tradition of serving the bedding needs that my great-grandfather started. PRODUCTS/SERVICES: Custom-built mattresses, box springs, oddsized mattresses, bed frames, comforters, and pillows. CHALLENGE BUSINESS FACES: Letting people know that we are here for their bedding needs. WHAT SETS THEM APART: Better quality and construction, as well as know-how since 1896, set us apart from our competition. Our buying power, prices, custom sizes, no sales commissions, along with the “no middleman” concept give maximum savings, which are passed along to the customer. PICTURED: Trey Duncan and Peter Duncan. Harry Keeton & family, circa 1940s. The Original Mattress Factory | 900 E. Vickery Blvd. | Fort Worth, Texas 76104 817.334.0361 | peter@themattressfactory.com | themattressfactory.com
Ol’ South Pancake House & Japanese Palace Restaurant
FOUNDED: Benson family-owned businesses: David Benson founded Ol’ South Pancake House in 1962 and Japanese Palace Restaurant in 1975. MOTTO: “Friends don’t let friends eat at chains. Support your local independent restaurants.” RECOGNITIONS: Over the years, Ol’ South Pancake House has been featured in many publications; voted Best Breakfast and late-night restaurant for six consecutive years. Japanese Palace Restaurant was featured on Trey’s Chow Down, Episode 4, and Fort Worth Today TV; named Best Tableside Restaurant Preparations in DFW by CBS News. SERVICES: Ol’ South Pancake House, a 24/7, family restaurant with signature Southern cooking, has a full-menu selection from waffles to chicken-fried steak to delicious pecan pie. Japanese Palace, open for evening meals, features authentic Japanese teppanyaki cooking tables and sushi bar. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Japanese Society, Fort Worth Memories Toy Drive, Toys for Tots, and many other organizations. WHAT SETS THEM APART: The quality of the product and extraordinary service set us above the crowd. PICTURED: Pam Benson and Rex Benson, sister and brother. Ol’ South Pancake House | 1509 South University | Fort Worth, Texas 76107 | 817.336.0311 225 E. Renfro St. | Burleson, Texas 76028 | 817.989.9090 | olsouthpancakehouse.com
Japanese Palace Restaurant | 8445 Camp Bowie West Blvd. | Fort Worth, Texas 76116 | 817.244.0144 | japanesepalace.net
Standard Meat Company
FOUNDED: 1935 by Ben H. Rosenthal (great-grandfather of current co-presidents Ashli Rosenthal Blumenfeld and Ben Rosenthal). MISSION: To inspire connections and breakthroughs that ultimately feed our life. AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS: Fort Worth Business Press, Top 100 and Great Women of Texas; Fort Worth Inc., Entrepreneur of Excellence; AA+ BRC Certification. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: We support causes that are important to our team, such as Susan G. Komen Foundation and Tarrant Area Food Bank. GOALS: Continue to grow and evolve our fourth-generation family business through innovation and serving all of our stakeholders, from our employees and customers to our suppliers and shareholders, as well as the community. CHALLENGE FACING LOCAL BUSINESSES TODAY: It can be incredibly hard to keep up with quickly changing technology. Our business is hands-on, but we rely on technology for every step and process of our business, from digital resources and online platforms to processing equipment and more. WHAT SETS THEM APART: Our culture. We may be in the protein business, but we’re ultimately in the relationship business. Our deep, trusted connections power everything we do at Standard Meat. PICTURED: Ashli Rosenthal Blumenfeld and Ben Rosenthal. Standard Meat Company 600 E. Exchange Ave., Ste. 200 | Fort Worth, Texas 76164 standardmeat.com
Don’t Be a Stranger County
Commissioner
Roy Charles Brooks stepping into retirement next year.
WORDS BY JOHN HENRY IMAGE BY CRYSTAL WISE
Roy Charles Brooks’ bow ties are as distinctive as his style of articulation.
He makes every syllable count.
The longtime Tarrant County Commissioner, representing Precinct 1, announced this summer that he will not seek another term, closing a 20-year career on the dais. Brooks, 74, won the seat in 2004 held by the retiring Dionne Bagsby, whom he served as precinct administrator for 14 years.
“One should never sit in these seats for so long that the next generation never gets a chance to show what they can do,” Brooks says. “I don't believe in term limits for political offices. I believe that an office holder should have sense enough to know when to limit their terms of office.”
Brooks is among the list of Fort Worth Inc.’s The 400, the most influential people in Fort Worth. It is published each summer. Brooks’ term ends on Dec. 31, 2024.
“I also believe that if that office holder doesn't have enough sense to do that, the public certainly does. And I don't want to sit here long enough that I make the people take this office away from me just to get rid of me.”
Brooks, a graduate of Columbia University and Fort Worth’s I.M. Terrell, has endorsed Roderick Miles Jr., one of the commissioner’s executive administrators, to be his successor.
Brooks’ announcement marked additional change on the Commissioners Court. Gary Fickes, Precinct 3 commissioner, had already announced that he would not seek another term. Also, G.K. Maenius, the longest-serving county administrator in Texas, said he would retire.
Brooks, the son of Fort Worth civil rights icon Dr. Marion Brooks, says he is most proud of the work he helped foster that tackled the issues of health-care disparities and equitable access, accessibility for the homeless, and infant mortality.
“I'm proud of all those things, but I'm most proud of the people who come up to me on the street or at public events or in the grocery store and tell me that I helped
them, that they're proud of me for my service, that I actually did things to impact their lives in positive ways. That is more precious than silver and gold,” Brooks says.
Brooks says that he is sure that he’ll stay active in retirement. “I believe the right thing will find me, and I will commit to it.”
He pauses and then says there is one right thing that he has already committed to. A three-month-old grandchild.
“I believe that it is my responsibility as a grandparent to pass on the values of my family to this grandchild and make sure that he knows not only who he is but what he owes. And that's the major thing that I'm gonna spend the rest of my life doing.”
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