1/23/23 Dallas Mastermind Group Meeting Copy

Dallas January 2023 Key Take Aways!

Guest Speaker Paul Mayer is the Chief Executive Officer at Garland Chamber of Commerce based in Garland, Texas. He has been in the business for 45 years, which began in San Antonio, then he moved onto Atlanta, Denver, and Houston.  When he decided he wanted to “run his own Chamber” he moved to Garland and has been with the Chamber since 1989.

• Paul provides strategic direction and resources to the Chamber’s “team” so the organization as a whole can fulfill its dedication to the growth of businesses in Garland.
• The Garland Chamber of Commerce earned its tagline as “The Connecting Source” by diligently working to provide practical, relevant resources to its diverse membership and the Garland business community as a whole. According to Paul, whether you’re an entrepreneur looking to get your start-up off the ground, or an established business owner checking up on regulation requirements, the Garland Chamber wants to help you in your search for business resources.
• As the catalyst for strategic connections in Garland, the Garland Chamber brings together businesses, medical establishments, educational institutions, religious groups, and community members to form partnerships that engage them with each other, expand their potential for economic growth, and improve the Garland community.
• Since 1923, the City of Garland has been providing electric service to its citizens through Garland Power & Light (GP&L), its locally owned not-for-profit municipal utility.
• Garland ISD is the fourth largest district in the Metroplex and the 10th largest in Texas.
• Incorporated in 1891, the city of Garland is home to more than 236,000 residents, making it the fifth largest city in the DFW Metroplex and twelfth largest in Texas.
• Garland’s business community includes more than 350 manufacturing companies,many of which are household names, such as Kraft Foods, Valspar and Daisy Brand. Many products made in Garland are integral components of items people depend on in their every-day lives. This is why the City of Garland adopted the tagline, “Texas Made Here.”
• Garland is served by two interstates (I-30 and I-635) as well as the President George H. Bush Turnpike (190 toll) and two major highways (Hwy. 78 and the Belt Line Loop).  The light rail public transportation system of Dallas Area Rapid Transit System makes getting around easy. DART provides fast, convenient service to work, shopping and entertainment areas in Garland, Dallas, Plano and Richardson.
• The City of Garland is approximately 95% “built out”.

Laila Assanie, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.  Laila is a Senior Economist who focuses on strategic planning, management, and economic research and analysis.  She shared the following updates:

• Labor shortage still remains an issue and Laila feels that it is due to a “mis-match in what appears to be a gap between wage requests and what employers are willing to pay”.
• There has been a slow-down in overall economic growth in Texas, mostly in North Texas.
• There has also been a slowdown in construction on new home builds as builders are holding back/not starting as many new builds.
• Based on “model numbers” the economy should continue to grow in 2023 but the growth will be modest compared to 2021 and 2022.

Cheryl Murphy with Nexa Mortgage, a full-service mortgage company that specializes in every form of real estate financing from home, investment properties as well as commercial financing.  Cheryl is currently very busy with both commercial and residential real estate.

• In the last month, she has been working on getting more hedge-fund access.  She’s also seeing larger deals come in so there is “plenty of money with investors”.  She stated “we have money so if you need money call me”!

John Rhodes, a Principal with The Foresite Group, leads their land development practice area nationwide, with a focus on civil engineering projects.  Foresite Group is a multidisciplinary engineering, planning, design, and consulting firm providing collaborative services to public and private sector clients nationwide. Their services include:  Land development; land architecture; MEP and fire safety; structural engineering; traffic engineering; broadband engineering; and wireless services.

• After many months of struggling to find employees, they hired 11 new employees by the end of 2022.

Mike Lilly, Partner at Griffith Davison, began working at Griffith Davison right out of college, 18 years ago.  His specialties at the firm are contract drafting and negotiation; lien and bond claims; corporate law; and employment law.

• His deep understanding of the construction and real estate industries as well as the legal dynamics within them allow him to predict the impacts and successfully advise his clients.

Stephen Scott, Founder of The Finance Person, has been in the commercial real estate business for 48 years. He specializes in assisting developers/borrowers and raising equity capital.

• His specialty is to represent borrowers for a special kind of real estate development called “Build to Suit.”  He works in the United States as well as Canada.
• Larry Luby has joined Stephen at The Finance Person and is also a new REAL Professionals Member.

Dan Bailey, Founder and CEO of “YES” – Youth Equipped to Succeed, which focuses on “Growing value and vision in youth by combating isolation and imparting hope.”  “YES” is an education nonprofit founded in 2002.

• In 2019, the organization formally merged with Aim for Success, another dynamic nonprofit that provides powerful research-based wellness education programs since 1993. Together, they have impacted over 4.8 million students, parents, and educators in 43 states through our resourced experiences.

James Park, Real Estate, Lending and Business Transactions Attorney at Baker | Lopez, represents clients in commercial real estate acquisitions and dispositions, development and leasing, lending, and other general commercial contract issues.

• In real estate matters, James has extensive experience in drafting and negotiating commercial leases, purchase and sale agreements, development agreements, reciprocal easement agreements, restrictive covenants, and licensing and parking agreements, and review of title and survey issues.

Garrett Cope, Commercial Property Tax Consultant with RETC Group. RETC is a property tax advisory firm offering services for all stages of the asset life cycle. We specialize in identifying and reducing property tax risk during the due diligence phase and ensuring high returns during hold and post-disposition.

John Westerhaus, Owner of Westerhaus Management.  John has over 35+ Years of Project Development and Construction Management in Both Public and Private Sectors.  He has an extensive knowledge of technical construction procedures.

• Westerhaus Management provides a wide range of project management services, while developing a healthy team environment with all the project participants delivering successful results. Their mission is to deliver quality project management with the professionalism and expertise clients expect from a seasoned project management firm.

Christine Stoneking, President of Emerald Ridge Concepts. She consults with organizations in the areas of business planning, integrated marketing strategy, and organizational health.

• Christine is a business professional with more than twenty years of experience, and a record of success in the planning and implementation of B2B market strategy and communications programs.
• She also handles Kimber’s firm’s marketing and all that is involved with Griffith Davison’s social media platform.

Sue Turk, Vice President of Sales with Boston National Title of Texas, which is based out of Charlotte, North Carolina.  Sue works with bankers, developers, loan officers, lenders, etc.

• Boston National has their own “closing company” and they do not charge for remote closings, which has made them very successful with their national clients because it is not necessary to be in their office for the closings.
• She explained a concept she offers called “Zone-Ability” in which she can share information with you that is not always readily handy and/or easy to find, such as location graphs, owner information, square footage, percentages retail/commercial/industrial in the area, local school information, etc. which includes a lot of information that is not found on the MLS.