February 2015 reporter

Volume 8, No. 2 • February 2015

4410 Fairway Boulevard • Wichita Falls, TX 76308 • P: 940.692.2211 • F: 940.692.2214 www.nthba.com

General Membership Meeting February 5, 2015 Kemp Center for the Arts 1300 Lamar 11:30AM

Speaker: Ashton Gustafson THANK YOU

Dates to Remember • March 4, 2015 TAB Rally Day • March 5 - 6, 2015 TAB Winter Board Meeting • March 15, 2015 Deadline for Parade of Homes Entries.

• May 1, 2015 Deadline for Scholarship Applications • May 7, 2015 Family Night • June 5, 2015 Parade of Homes Kick-Off Lunch • June 6-14, 2015 Parade of Homes.

• July 28-31, 2015 TAB Summer Board Meetings • July 29-30, 2015 Sunbelt Builder Show (Grapevine, TX)

FOR BEING A 2015 SILVER SPONSOR FOR THE NORTH TEXAS HOME BUILDER ASSOCIATION

Please remember to donate to HOMEPAC and BUILDPAC.

From the President Many of you attended the January GM meeting, which we very much appreciate, you may have heard Bobby Teague say there were 86 single family permits pulled in 2013-2014 fiscal year for Wichita Falls. This is not the full story for the building industry in North Texas. We have many projects started in the surrounding communities. The NTHBA encompasses these 8 counties with homes being built by members in towns from Vernon to Decatur, Jacksboro to Olney and Burkburnett to Lakeside City to name a few. The building business in the rural areas is booming with many homes built on acreage. All of these projects help show the real picture of the numbers of homes being built in the North Texas area. I don’t have an exact total but would expect 150 – 200 homes were built in this area in 2014. This does not include all the remodel work done by our members. I would like to think with the continued low interest rates and a little help from Mother Nature in the form of lake filling rains that 2015 will be a great year.

The Parade of Homes committee is in full swing with preparation for the June 6-14th event. We will again be partnering with Habitat for Humanity to put on a great parade. Preliminary numbers of homes this year’s parade show that we will have a great turn out in June. This event is a great way to showcase the work of our builder and associate members as well as help a good cause.

We had some good news regarding our January GM Program. The Lake Wichita Revitalization Project was fully funded by local donations to begin a report and permitting stage to get the initial project started.

I did want to congratulate Kevin Hugman, Wichita Falls Assistant City Manager, who has been hired as the City Manager for Duncanville. Kevin has been a great friend to the NTHBA and has been instrumental in facilitating a close working relationship with the City of Wichita Falls.

I hope Duncanville realizes what a great man they have hired.

Don’t forget! March 4th is Rally Day. The TAB Winter Board Meetings will be March 5th & 6th in Austin. (If you would like to attend please contact Teri).

Help us get the word out, like us on Facebook and get your friends and contacts to like us too! Continue to PRAY FOR RAIN.

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Meet Your Members ATHENA ROOFING AND EXTERIORS "The Skill to do the Job, The Wisdom to do it Right" The overall goal of Athena Roofing and its associates is to bring quality work and materials to the homes and business of Wichita Falls and the surrounding areas. The community of Wichita Falls is the same community Athena Roofing's employees, friends and families all call home. Wanting to take care of the community comes easy because it’s the same community we live and work in.

Athena Roofing does not want to just work on homes and businesses in the area; Athena Roofing wants to create lasting relationship with other Wichita Falls residents that also call this community home. Building strong relationships within a community is the foundation of a strong community.

It is the clients of Athena Roofing that generate the most work for our company through referrals. Athena prides itself on wanting to make its clients happy and satisfied with any work Athena has done for them at a reasonable cost. Athena Roofing uses only the highest quality materials with its clients.

These are the materials that build our community as well as yours; and Athena wants to best for the whole community.

Wichita Falls is the smallest, large town anyone has ever known. Every family is socially connected and every work relationship has the potential of growing into a community friendship. Athena Roofing wants only the best for Wichita Falls because the area is made up of our current and future friends, family, and associates.

Utilizing our skills and experience to provide quality roofing services to the people of Wichita Falls, Athena Roofing & Exteriors takes great pride in roofing the homes and businesses of Wichita Falls and surrounding areas. We create strong homes to set the foundation for strong communities.

From the very beginning we have provided the best roofing, window, siding, and gutter services possible to all of our clients.

Athena Roofing & Exteriors of Wichita Falls offers lifetime warranty vinyl windows with in a variety of sizes, colors, grid patterns and available hardware. Our vinyl windows are energy efficient, double pane windows to lower energy costs and give homeowners the best windows Wichita Falls has to offer.

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Renewals

Best Electric........................................Don Wright Cornerstone Engineering...........Martin Litteken First National Bank...........................Kathie Davis Howard Contracting........Jimmy Lance Howard

Thanks for Renewing!

February Birthdays Delinda Dodd........................................................2 Bobby Diltz.............................................................8 Doug McCulloch....................................................8 Pam Esch...............................................................10 John Thompson...................................................11 Dennis Probst......................................................15 Gordon Drake.....................................................16 Harold Newton...................................................20 Barney Brock........................................................22 Steven Klasse........................................................23 Jerry Fillmon.........................................................27

Happy Birthday!

Calendar of Events General Membership........................................February 5, 2015 Meeting...............................................................................11:30AM Young Professionals Council Meeting.........February 17, 2015 (Guarantee Title, 2806 Midwestern Parkway)..............4:00PM Budget & By-Laws............................................February 17, 2015 Committee Meeting...........................................................9:00AM Board of Directors..........................................February 18, 2015 Meeting...............................................................................11:00AM

2014 /2015 Officers & Directors President – John Harmon Vice President – Eddie Holcomb Associate Vice President – Tim Sawyer Treasurer – Martin Litteken Secretary – Randy Schaffner Immediate Past President – Barney Brock Builder Directors Troy Thompson 1yr Steven Hinson1yr David Bedingfield 2yr Steve Lane 2yr

On the new addition to your family:

Carolina Grace Longo

Carolina & proud sister Victoria

Associate Directors Sharon Tucker 1yr Cindy David 2yr

State Director - Jose Garcia Alternate State Director - Barney Brock Life Director - Chuck Dennis Executive Vice President - Teri Gibson

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Commercial/Residential Plumbing, Builder Sales, Appliances, Lighting

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Fax: (940) 761-5563 (888) 266-1387 www.ferguson.com

The vinyl siding offered by Athena Roofing & Exteriors is easy to maintain and made to withstand the elements. Vinyl siding takes the burden of repainting and rotted siding away from the homeowner. Let our trained professionals help make your house more beautiful and your life a little easier.

Athena Roofing of Wichita Falls is very passionate about getting involved in the community. We believe that those who are capable for helping others have a moral responsibility to help others! "With great power comes great responsibility." - Uncle Ben (Spider-Man).

Athena Roofing believes that everyone can make this community a better place, and Athena Roofing wants to be a part of the ever changing developments. Athena Roofing and its staff have already started its support of foundations like the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the American Legion and Christmas in Action. Athena Roofing is looking to do company wide, community service events monthly or

Lance Cannedy

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bi-monthly. “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” - Mother Theresa.

GET A FREE, NO OBLIGATION QUOTE by contacting Rich Schober at 940-255-1448, the office at 940-264-7663 or visit our web site at www.athenaroofingwichitafalls.com Membership, Meetings & Education Committee - met in January to discuss programs and ideas for the monthly general membership meetings, family night and the annual Christmas Party. In March the GM meeting will be on the 12th and Daniel Nix will be giving the NTHBA an update on the water resources etc. The WFAR have been invited to make this a joint meeting.

Family Night is scheduled for May 7th and the committee is looking at possibilities for this year’s Christmas Party.

Young Professionals Council- met in January and is already working on scheduling their first fundraiser. The purpose is to use these funds to go promote young professionals in the community, recruit membership of young professionals, help with a mentor program for the NTHBA, attend some of the state meetings and have mixers with the young professionals from the TAB area II which consist of the Ft. worth HBA, NTHBA and Abilene HBA. Parade of Homes & Special Events Committee- met to appoint committee members to begin getting proposals for the upcoming parade of homes scheduled for June 6-14, details for the annual golf tournament which the date has not been set at this time and revamp the look of the Housing Guide for 2015.

The committee will begin soliciting members for advertisement in the 2015 Parade of Homes housing guide beginning in February.

Scholarship Committee – met and decided to keep the May 1st deadline for scholarship applications and make only the necessary deadline changes on the application. The application has been sent to area councilors, college career leaders and area colleges. The NTHBA web site banner ads have been designated to fund the scholarships. Any member who would like to purchase a web site banner ad to help with these funds please contact Teri Gibson at 692-2211, cost for these banners is $300.00 annually. The committee will also be raising other funds at the February GM meeting and other meetings throughout the year. Their next meeting will be May 14th at 10:00 A.M. to review submitted applications.

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Government Affairs Committee – met and Barney reported TAB Rally Day will be March 4, 2015. The Winter TAB Meetings will be March 5&6, 2015 in conjunction with Rally Day. Ft. Worth has invited all area II members to join them for lunch on Rally Day so anyone interested in attending will need to let Teri know so she is able to make arrangements. All members are Continues on page 7

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Home Builders hear presentation on Lake Wichita Revitalization & get a sneak preview of Big Brothers Big Sisters event

By Lee Grace “Dancing for the Stars” and “Lake Wichita Revitalization” were the topics of presentations made to the January membership luncheon of the North Texas Home Builders Association Thursday, Jan. 8, at the Kemp Center for the Arts.

The luncheon was catered by Texas Best.

Anthony Patterson and Jennifer Blackwell gave a dance preview for the upcoming “Dancing for the Stars Wichita Falls” fundraising event that will be held Feb. 6, at the Wichita Falls County Club to raise money for Big Brothers Big Anthony Patterson and Jennifer Blackwell made a presentation about the upcoming Sisters. Dance teams will be “Dancing for the Stars” event for Big earning pre-votes prior to Brothers Big Sisters. the competition based on donations received at www.bbbstx.org/stars.

Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Midwestern State University Small Business Development Center are collaborating to bring awareness to the importance of mentoring the youth in our community. Anthony Patterson noted, “Together, we are in the business of developing productive citizens, one child at a time.”

The presentation concerning “The Revitalization of Lake Wichita” was presented by Steve Garner, chairman of the Lake Wichita Revitalization Committee, and Tom Lang, fisheries management supervisor for the Wichita Falls District Fisheries Office of the Texas Parks & Wildlife. Lake Wichita Revitalization Committee member Larry Scott also attended to support his group.

The Originally built in 1901, Lake Wichita is the third oldest lake in Texas. Originally 2,200 acres, the lake lost shoreline after the dam and spillway were rebuilt in 1995. The lake lost 4.5 feet in elevation and 1,000 surface acres. This also affected the aquatic habitat.

The recent drought has nearly dried up the remaining lake.

The boat ramp is unusable. The fishery is completely gone from three fish kill events in 2012.There is little public use and the lake is essentially dry. That is why the ideal time to improve the lake is now .

In May, 2013, the city council created a committee to study the lake and create an action plan. The committee reviewed the lake’s history, gathered information on desired uses, and presented an improvement plan and management document to the city council. To create a long-term recreation destination project, the committee needs a permit from the United States Corps of Engineers. The Tulsa office of the Corps of Engineers said they could approve a project within 90-120 days of receiving a permit application.

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Phase one of the action plan is to remove 110 years or more of siltation from the lakebed. That includes excavating and removing seven million cubic yards of material. Excavating the dry lakebed will cut the cost in half and ease permitting. The Speakers Steve Garner and Tom Lang are plan also calls for shown with NTHBA President John reconnecting to the water Harmon after speaking about the Lake Wichita Revitalization Project. shed and deepening the channels.

The plan includes connecting the city trail from Barnett Road to Lake Wichita Park, building earthen and concrete piers off the trail on the east side of the lake, and adding beach areas at Lake Wichita Park and at emergency spillway area.

The plan also calls for expanding and adding boat ramps, adding a wounded veterans inlet, and building a pedestrian bridge over the spillway and expanding the trail to the east side of the lake to create commercial development.

Phase Two includes the commercial development with shops and restaurants, constructing a pavilion for gatherings, weddings, and other events, providing fishing piers on the dam, and having a water sports complex with kayaking trail and wake boarding park. They also want to add a west side camping area.

Garner and Lang believe the economic impact just from rebuilding the lake will be 700 to 900 jobs, $68 to $80 million in total sales, $42 to $50 million in added value, and additional $31 to $36 million in added income. The total project should take approximately one and one-half to three years.

The cost starts with the USACE 404 permit ($316,250). The largest expense is the excavation and beach area ($36-$42 million). Other costs include the trail and piers ($3 million), boat ramps ($350,000), spillway bridge ($500,000), brush control ($150,000), fish restocking ($250,000 and paid for by Texas Parks & Wildlife), water sports complex ($2-3 million), and three fishing piers ($105,000). These cost estimates are from an independent source, the Genter Consulting Group LLC. The funding strategies include getting federal and state grants, foundation grants, non-profit grants, and business and private donations.

For more information about the Lake Wichita Revitalization Project, visit www.facebook.com/ourlakeourlife.

Garner and Lang stressed that we have a golden opportunity to rebuild the lake and make it a wonderful recreation area for the citizens of this area for decades to come.

Scholarship Applications

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invited to attend Rally Day and are always welcome to attend any of the State and National Meetings. It was also reported the Sunbelt Builders Show is scheduled for July 29&30th. The committee encourages everyone to attend. The show has been moved back to the Gaylord Hotel in Grapevine. If you haven’t ever been this year would be a great year to go. To find more information on the event go to www.SunbeltBuildersShow.com.

Registration will open on March 9, 2015. The committee will also be working out details on having a washer tournament to help raise funds for HOMEPAC. Watch for more information in upcoming reports. A thank you goes out to everyone who continually supports the NTHBA in reaching our goal for HOMEPAC. $590.00 was raised at the Christmas Party to give us a great start for 2015.

Helping Build Our Community Since 1907



Do you know someone who is graduating this year and will be preparing to go to college or a career technical school? Do you know someone who is already attending a college or career technical school? The NTHBA understands how hard it is to secure funds to achieve the education or training required to be successful in the home building industry. The NTHBA will be awarding scholarships this year to those who plan to pursue a career in the home building industry and meet the qualifications and requirements put forth by the NTHBA Scholarship Committee.

To obtain an application with the qualifications and requirements visit our web site at www.nthba.com or call the NTHBA office at 692-2211 and make arrangements to receive an application. Deadline for applications is May 1, 2015.



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NTHBA Members attend Texas Association of Business Breakfast

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Several Members of the North (940) 691-9679 office (940) 691-2560 office Texas Home Builders Harold Newton 6701 Seymour Hwy. (940) 691-9678 fax Branch Manager Wichita Falls, TX 76310 hnewton@acmebrick.com Association took time to attend the Texas Association of Business breakfast sponsored by the Wichita Falls Chamber of Delinda Dodd Mortgage Team Commerce and MSU Small Member Business Administration. CEO of the Texas Association of Business, Bill Hammond, spoke to the audience about some of the key issues that will be +ROOLGD\ ‡ :LFKLWD )DOOV 7; addressed in the 84th Legislative Session that began January 13,

2014 in Austin. )D[ #1 was transportation. In order for Texas to compete for (PDLO GHOLQGD GRGG#XVIFX XV economic growth it is imperative for Texas to find funding for the upkeep of roads as well as building new roads to WINDOWS, DOORS accommodate the high traffic demands. The key is to find funds AND MORE! without having to borrow them. The allowance of some rainy 522 Beverly Drive day funds to go toward transportation will fund only about 1.7 723-1436 Wichita Falls, Texas 76309 million of the 5 million needed. Mr. Hammond said the gas tax is only able to fund DPS but the vehicle sales tax could be possible funding for roads if it is made top priority.

Always Remember Business Association Members! #2 is education.

Texas needsto to do improve educationwith in schools from kindergarten to Senior High so our young people are able BRYAN WAGGONER to begin their secondary education without having to take 3907 Kell BoulevarE t WJDIJUB 'BMMT t Texas 76308 remedial courses. Over 50% of kids going to community colleges have to start with remedial course, this relates to most THE Wood Burning & Gas graduating in 6 years. Texas needs to increase the productivity Wood & Cast Stone Mantels of secondary education. 10% of state funding is based on Outdoor Kitchens productivity. We don’t have the numbers we need walking across the stage. Texas needs to get young people more Fireplaces by JOHNNY McCLANE Xtrordinair Stone Age Vanguard 4101 McNiel Avenue interested into going to trade schools in order to have the Wichita Falls, TX 76308 Monessen Mendota Town & Country skilled workers needed for the workforce for the manual labor Isokern Majestic Golden Blount Serving Texas & Oklahoma jobs. We need to focus on working with higher education in Service and Installation since 1971 Texas. www.TheEmberShop.com

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#3 is the Permitting Process – In Texas it takes 2-3 years and Louisiana it takes 90 days. Texas would like to see permitting reformed. We need to limit the commenting process. Burden of proof needs should be on those protesting about the project rather than those wanting to do the project. This would help bring in businesses wanting to come to Texas. #4 is the Repeal of Franchise Tax – The business community pays 62% of all taxes. Increasing the Homestead Exemption amount would be more of a tax burden on businesses and some legislatures are not in favor of doing this. #5-Texas has a very conservative budget. The budget grew well within the region and is good at meeting the needs but not necessarily the wants.

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#6 – Schools feel the state should be providing $2000.00 per student per year which is outrageously high. This will be brought before the Supreme Court for a ruling but most likely not before 2016-2017. The consensus of legislatures is the state should fund growth but not beyond that.

Mr. Hammond concluded with Texas will support taking the excess Medicaid and bringing it back to Texas and expand eligibility. They also support the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. He said Texas has the 5th largest penal system. We need to focus on using probation more effectively and keep nonviolent offenders in the work place so they can continue to pay taxes and child support rather than locked up costing tax payers over $21,000 per prisoner in low security prisons in 2014. Texas needs to make education more effective in prisons rather than take it out completely.

Overall the legislation sessions goal is to use Texas tax payers dollars well.

The 84th Legislation session was set to begin Tuesday, January 13, 2015.

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10 Statistics on Top Digital Marketing Strategies for 2015 Katrina Pfannkuch – NAHB Discussion

Digital marketing is a bit like dropping bread crumbs for your buyers to find and follow, ultimately leading to your company’s products and services. But, unlike a straightforward road, digital channels allow prospects and customers to venture on a maze-like path toward purchase.

Strategizing for this shifting buyer’s journey can be a bit challenging; especially as the tools you use to connect with customers change along with the ways they want to receive information. But the goal—to communicate effectively with buyers—remains the same.

So how are marketers handling their budgets and strategies for 2015?

Here are 10 digital marketing statistics to help you put together the right blend of tactics and tools to land customers and inspire action.

1. Digital marketing spend is forecasted to increase to 35% of total budgets by 2016.

Every business knows they need to market, but the trick is knowing how to split a marketing budget between traditional and online marketing—then allocate the online portion among various channels. To make the most of your money, shoot for where your target market hangs out online or where your competition has a strong presence. The best strategy is to try something, track results, then tweak your strategy to maximize ROI. Mobile marketing is on the rise as the fastest growing digital marketing channel, making it a budget must-have in 2015.

2. Content creation and management now claim the second largest share of digital marketing budgets.

Between social networks, customer-driven forums, blogs, and video, creating and strategizing around content that’s interesting, timely, and effective is big for 2015.The pressure to fuel the right marketing channels is also increasing, as customers use more digital channels for collaboration, research, and purchase. To stay competitive, focus on online content development. Create a 3. 28% of marketers have reduced their advertising budget to fund more digital marketing.

3. 28% of marketers have reduced their advertising budget to fund more digital marketing.

This signals an important shift away from the old-school way of marketing towards more non-traditional online channels. Strategy changes based on results are much easier to put into action, businesses are able to stretch money further when digital Continued from page 10

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marketing is working effectively, and marketers are confident that online options give them a higher ROI. 4. Search engine marketing (SEM) will continue to capture the largest share of online spend at 47%, or about 14% of the firm’s total marketing budget 2014.

Companies are spending big dollars to capture eyeballs online, which means they are setting the competitive pace. Knowing where to find your customers is the key to connecting with them, and it changes as new apps, software, and mobile devices impact customer habits. Investing money into search engine marketing and SEO is a must if you want to engage or re-engage a customer on their path to purchase.

5. 60% of B2B marketers use web traffic to measure success instead of using sales lead quality or social media sharing.

Success comes down to the analytics. It’s much easier to track performance and measure ROI with reliable website traffic numbers. These solid numbers give you a clear picture of an online campaign’s viability, but traffic isn’t everything. This stat also shows the immaturity of marketing measurement in the majority of organizations, and the need for more in-depth data and analysis. If you can ramp up your content marketing analytics in 2015, you’ll be leaps ahead of your competitors.

6. 84% of top performing companies are using or plan to start using marketing automation by 2015.

The content train is now in perpetual motion—and it’s become almost impossible to manage marketing efforts manually.

Automation allows companies to keep consistent contact through personalized content and meet the needs of customers in a global economy. It also allows organizations to centralize email marketing, web analytics, landing page creation, segmentation, list management, and multi-channel campaign execution, and create a deeper alignment between marketing and sales and find a way to measure performance accountability.

7. Online display advertising (banner ads, re-marketing, and re-targeting) will capture the next biggest share of the online spend at about 34% of total online spend and about 10% of the total marketing budget.

Digital marketing is very flexible; companies can increase the scale of a successful online campaign, tweak a failed campaign, or copy a successful digital marketing strategy from another product or service. With the ability to track success within hours, companies with the infrastructure to be agile can quickly turn around changes or update strategies faster than ever before.

8. 73% of B2B marketers use video as a content marketing tactic, and 7% of marketers plan on increasing their YouTube marketing.

When it comes to video content marketing, large companies rely heavily on YouTube to spread the word on their products Isaiah 7:14and services. However, you don’t have to be big to leverage the power of video. With smart phones in the pockets of most people aged 18-44, access to video is a no-brainer, and that doesn’t even factor in other types of mobile devices.

9. 67% of Twitter users are more likely to buy from brands they follow.

One of the biggest benefits of Twitter is the fast-moving stream of information, which makes it easy to add fresh content throughout

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NORTH TEXAS HOME BUILDERS ASSN.

2015 Parade of Homes scheduled for June 6th thru 14th, 2015. Deadline for Parade Home Entries is March 1, 2015. Please watch your emails, the web site and the Reporter for more information.

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the day. Tweets are easy to automate, repurpose, and use as a tool to share links for blogs, videos, contests, or announcements in a form that is quick to share. Twitter also gives brands an effective way to connect directly with customers to manage customer issues or showcase positive customer service.

10. Organic search leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound marketing leads have a 1.7% close rate.

Organic search is the Holy Grail of web traffic, because it means people are finding you of their own volition—no pushing required. However, it takes lots of little seeds like social media shares, word-of-mouth, engaging cross-platform content, and consistent fresh content to get people there. The benefit is that, by educating the buyer early in the digital marketing pipeline and in little steps, the salesperson can close the deal more quickly.

When all the little “bread crumbs” you plant along the way come together, it can have a big impact on the bottom line. It also makes all the digital marketing data you collect that much more valuable in determining your content strategy, especially as you enter a new year.

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WFISD Host Workshops for Public Input to help Proceed with Career Technical Education Center Bond Proposal Last summer the Chamber of Commerce asked chamber members about their priorities regarding education and workforce development. The overwhelmingly response was to see improvements to our high school career and technical education programs.

The Chamber provided the responses to WFISD, and they listened!

WFISD plans to move forward with a new Career and Technical Education Center so they held a series of workshops designed to elicit public input on a new CTE Center.

The WFISD representatives and their design team held these workshops on January 21, 2015 from 9-11 A.M, 11-1 PM, 4-6 P.M and 6-8 P.M and then again on January 22, 2015 7:30-9:30 AM and 11-1 PM. to discuss the proposed CTE Center and get feedback from the community.

Past President Barney Brock and Executive Vice President Teri Gibson attended the session from 11 – 1 PM on Wednesday, January 21, 2015 to see what the proposed plans are and provide input.

Dr. Frossard opened the meeting by telling the attendees the WFISD listened to what people were telling them last May when the school bond proposal failed by a 3-1 margin. Therefore their goal is to come up with a bond proposal for a new Career Technical Education Center and to make renovations to the junior highs the community will support.

Corgan Associates and Gary Baker were the top two architect firms chosen by the WFISD to begin coming up with a design for a new CTE Center and educating the public. The purpose for the workshop was to explain the project and get input from the community. WFISD wants our community input on overall design and the programs that will be offered in the new CTE Center.

Steve Hulsey with Corgan Associates explained to the group that House Bill -5 initiated by our State Education legislation endorses on-the-job training. Current 9th graders are in the system now but the Wichita Falls facilities do not align with the HB-5. Therefore there is a need for change. The 9th & 10th graders will remain at Continues on page 12

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on-the-job training. Current 9th graders are in the system now but the Wichita Falls facilities do not align with the HB-5.

Therefore there is a need for change. The 9th & 10th graders will remain at the main campus while 11th and 12th graders would go to the CTE Center for specialty training in the career field they are interested in.

Hulsey said 60% of students do not seek a higher education after graduating and 40% do. It has been reported students who have the opportunity to train in their career field prior to graduation are more likely to continue onto college or tech school and graduate.

While it is essential to make these changes, now is the time to build state of the art facilities to sustain us well into the future and have the maximum impact on the education and economy.

When someone tours the city trying to make the decision of whether Wichita Falls is a place they want to reside or not greatly depends on the schools, their appearance and the programs they offer. The goal of the WFISD is to design a facility that reflects Wichita Falls the way the community wants to be perceived as well as inspire our students to excel in their studies and desire to achieve higher education.

It was said the learning environment affects the way students act and learn. The new CTE Center will implement the latest methods of teaching, such as having a collaborative work space environment and learning as teams. All WFISD students would have the opportunity to utilize the facility. WFISD could also partnership with our Community Colleges to train for the local workforce.

Goals are to: Help students discover their interest Receive real world training Provide programs and certifications to meet local, State and National workplace Help students with their pathway to education Accelerate the process for students to work in their choice professions The WFISD will also be looking at moving all 6th graders to the middle school campuses to align them with the middle school concept. This will be the preparatory level for High School. When doing this they will be looking at some additions that will be needed such as additional class rooms, cafeteria size, restrooms etc. These items along with other renovations that will be proposed are being worked on by Secord & Lebow Architects, LLP & Perkins + Will.

In conclusion a key element in the CTE process will be community input. With the five two-hour community input meetings held with business and government leaders WFISD is working on the initial phase of this project.

Through the initial phase, the information gathered from these meetings will be put into an online survey. . The survey will show pictures of other career and technical facilities that have been developed which will give the public an opportunity to give their input on things such as design options. Ultimately the WFISD wants to come up with a design the community wants.

The cost, Frossard said, will depend on that final design.

The workshop Barney and I attended was very informative and interesting.

If you didn’t get the opportunity to attend one of these workshops watch for the online survey and use that opportunity to give your input. Wichita Falls needs this Career Technical Education Center in order to keep our children educated at the level required for today’s workforce.

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