54 minute read
INNOVATION
from D CEO October
by DCEO
INNOVATION
Eden Green Technology CEO Eddy Badrina Gives the Vertical Greenhouse Company a Fresh Start
story by
KELSEY J. VANDERSCHOOT
eddy badrina knew he wanted to run a redemptive “THE VISION IS organization after selling his digital marketing software com- TO HAVE A MESH pany BuzzShift in 2016—an organization where “leaders eat last,” employees are treated with care, and societal culture is renewed. So, when investors at Eden Green Technology called NETWORK OF GREENHOUSES about joining the company as CEO in 2019, Badrina answered. ALL ACROSS THE
Eden Green’s technology reduces the space needed to grow UNITED STATES.” mass amounts of leafy greens, allowing for farming in urban areas and addressing many problems with other growing methods. Traditional greenhouses harness sunlight well but require at least 10 acres to produce 550 tons of leafy greens, making growing in urban areas next to impossible. Because the operations are typically in outlying areas, it also means longer delivery times. Conversely, traditional vertical farms need an abundance of artificial light to nurture crops on the farm’s lower layers, creating high power demands that drive up costs. “We’ve solved that by combining the best of both worlds—a greenhouse with vertical farming,” Badrina says.
The company opened an R&D facility in Cleburne in 2018 and launched a pilot program selling greens at Walmart. But then trouble with a former chairman, who had questionable connections with Donald Trump Jr. and was accused of mismanaging $19.4 million, stalled Eden Green’s momentum. “They had been through a few CEOs,” Badrina says. “The vision was lost. The mission was not clear.” Badrina had served as executive director for the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders before winding his way through business development at Wells Fargo, other marketing leadership roles, and launching two companies. At Eden Green, he was tasked with resetting the course and rallying the troops. His first move? Dissolving the Walmart program. “The company was not set up for it,” Badrina says. Instead of building out a local produce label for Eden Green, he marketed its technology to other growers. “The vision is to have a mesh network of greenhouses all across the United States,” he says. The company also is adding an 83,000-squarefoot vertical greenhouse in Cleburne. When finished in April 2022, it will produce 550 tons of arugula, kale, and spinach per year, with 11 to 13 harvests. Nearly all of the greens are already spoken for. “It’s akin to pre-selling a building and its rent rolls before even breaking ground,” Badrina says. ON THE GROW Next, he aims to bring similar greenhousEddy Badrina says his compa- es to the nation’s top 10 metropolitan areas. ny’s new facility will allow it to “We’re eyeing the Northeast,” Badrina says, produce more adding that he’s about to launch a new capital than 550 tons of greens each year. raise to help fund the expansion.
ASK THE EXPERT
Planning Your Office Post Pandemic
CHRIS JOYNER, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT - FISCHER
What have you found to be true about the current work environment?
We have endured this current pandemic for nearly a year and a half, and it has lasted longer than we ever expected. We have learned to transform our workplace from officeto the home. Most companies have surprisingly found that productivity was not as severely impacted as they originally thought. But now, as we morph into this strange, new territory of continued life, everyone is searching for the magic answer.
Will working from home become the new standard?
There are many articles that reference studies supporting work from home. However, beware of studies performed pre-pandemic. While they are decent reference points, they don’t take into consideration the layers of impact related to pandemic issues, such as continued social distancing and continuous home- related stress factors brought about from situational events, like sharing your workplace with children all day. For young single adults, there is stress from trying to work in a confinedarea with roommates doing the same. Additionally, there needs to be more analysis of the impacts working from home will have over long durations of time, including possible influnces due to isolation from the general workforce.
Yes, our virtual calls have dramatically improved our social interaction, but it doesn’t replace the impact of physical presence, especially within a competitive environment where corporate advancement may be viewed as more attainable within the corporate office sting. In addition, it is important to continue to monitor corporate attrition caused by employees being more available for the next employer willing to pay a little bit more money without taking into consideration any other intrinsic values their current employer may provide. Isolation may very well erode loyalty. How do we plan and prepare for the future? Our clients are taking the approach of applying what seems appropriate now, to a test case. Deliver that test case and monitor the results. Poll often and re-engineer other locations prior to build-out. Each time a certain planning ratio is calculated and utilized, test how this ratio affects the entire real estate portfolio. Then, be ready to adjust. In addition, know that every location may be diffrent. For instance, you may have diffrent planning ratios for certain specific mployee types. However, the planning ratios for that same employee type may diffr between Dallas and New York. This type of application and adjustment presents a need for business analytics that can help companies adjust on the fl.
So, your technology is helping them redefine their osts going forward? Yes. We have developed a business analytics platform specificallydesigned for real estate that allows our clients to quickly aggregate all their real estate data and help establish these long-term plans going forward. We have been working with our clients to develop portfolio strategies that support their expected occupancy ratios in the future along with achieving savings goals that have been established.
How does Fischer achieve this?
Fischer’s business analytics platform and consultative practice has allowed these types of adjustments while reporting the overall impact they may have on the portfolio. This way, companies are not planning in the dark. It provides vision on how their real estate portfolios will perform even beyond the current unique pandemic model. So, be proactive and set out on a test, poll your people, and adjust on the fl. Of course, be ready with analytics tools that can support you’re need for flexibilityin planning.
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Yuko Kitamura, Anita Fujii Priscilla Anthony, Corey Anthony
Nonprofit & Corporate Citizenship Awards
more than 550 guests gathered in july to celebrate D CEO’s fourth annual Nonprofit and Corporate Citizenship Awards, presented in partnership with Communities Foundation of Texas. The festive evening, held at the Frontiers of Flight Museum, brought together the outstanding leaders, organizations, and corporate citizens who work tirelessly to make Dallas even better. A huge thank you to title sponsors Amazon, Capital One, and Texas Mutual for their help in making this event possible.
Terry Loftis, Brad Pritchett
Anna Sampang, Ellen Farell Taylor Shead, Olivia Taylor Trisha Cunningham, Steve Miff
Bill Jackson, Deanna Widner, TJ Lebrun
Dave Scullin
Gregory Davis, Kim Noltemy, Andy Smith A. Shonn Brown
THE BUSINESS OF BEAUTY 2021
One of the best-kept secrets in the industry, North Texas cosmetics and skincare brands are giving major players in New York and Los Angeles a run for their money. Up next: dominating market share.
032
THE BUSINESS
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OF BEAUTY
story by BIANCA R. MONTES
AND KELSEY J. VANDERSCHOOT
portraits by SEAN BERRY
THE BUSINESS
20 21
WWith a celebrity following, prestige skincare brand
Natura Bissé can be found in luxury spas all over the world.
OF BEAUTY
WHILE COASTAL CITIES soak up the spotlight in the cosmetics and skincare markets, Dallas-Fort Worth is quietly becoming a powerful force in the $62 billion U.S. beauty industry—from product development and packaging to logistics and retail sales. Home to legacy and indie brands alike, North Texas firt emerged as an industry player in the 1960s when Mary Kay Ash launched her company with four skincare products and a foundation.
Twenty years later, Sally Beauty moved its headquarters to North Texas. Today, the industry giants report roughly $8 billion in annual sales. More than 15 notable brands call DFW home, including packaging giant FusionPKG, Swiss lab Galderma and its subsidiary Cetaphil, Goodier Cosmetics, and a growing list of luxury skincare labels such as BeautyBio, Revision, Jack Black, and Natura Bissé.
With its lucrative beauty counters, Dallas is a top consumer market for many of them. Barcelona’s Natura Bissé established a North American offi in Irving because Neiman Marcus, the company’s top retailer from a revenue standpoint, is based in North Texas. Curran Dandurand, co-founder and CEO of Jack Black, says Dallas is a top-volume producer for the men’s skincare brand. “Nordstrom NorthPark is our No. 1 volume door in the country, and that one door makes up 4 percent of our total Nordstrom volume,” Dandurand says.
In the wake of COVID, a mass migration of beauty companies relocating to DFW is underway and under the radar. Jamie O’Banion, whose BeautyBio is one of the fastest-growing skincare lines in North America, calls DFW the new beauty capital. “I think people forget the DNA of Texas and the beauty roots that are already here,” she says. “There’s an incredible gold mine of amazing chemists and amazing formulators for your brand—whether it’s color [makeup] or skincare, there’s nothing you’re missing here. There has been this interesting migration under the beauty umbrella for skincare and color in Texas, and I think that’s only going to continue.”
As evidence, O’Banion points to a handful of acquisitions involving North Texas brands in the past few years. Addison-based EltaMD sold to Colgate in a $730 million deal that included Physicians Care Alliance. Coppell’s Edgewell acquired Fort-Worth men’s skincare brand Jack Black in 2018. That same year, BeautyBio accepted a minority investment from Dallas private equity firmKainos—the same company that purchased Nutrisystem for $575 million in 2020. “It’s hard to find,outside of fintech,these types of revenue multipliers,” O’Banion says, adding that acquisitions are also evidence of the industry’s resilience during economic downturns. “You never want to use the word recession-proof, but I will say that beauty and pet are two sectors within the consumer-packaged goods world that tend to be very stable in volatile economic environments,” she says.
Referred to by economists as the “lipstick effet,” it’s when consumers eschew big-ticket, luxury item purchases during downturns and instead seek solace in small indulgences, such as premium lipstick and skincare. Last year was no exception; several North Texas companies reported massive gains during the pandemic, particularly in online sales. Jack Black saw its e-commerce sales double. Farmhouse Fresh tripled its B2C (business-to-consumer) sales. Natura Bissé saw a dramatic channel shift from brick and mortar to e-commerce. And luxury skincare line Revision saw a 96 percent rise in online sales. “You see yourself in a mirror every day, recession or not,” says Maria Carrell, the company’s CEO.
THE BUSINESS OF BEAUTY 2021
Founder and CEO CURLS
Momentum in the market for multicultural beauty products.
A year into founding Curls, CEO Mahisha Dellinger could not get a buyer at Ulta Beauty, an older White man, to understand the promise of the multicultural market. Target picked up her products in 2008; they’re also now carried by CVS, Walmart, Kroger, Amazon, and others. Last spring, Ulta reached out to Dellinger about a new initiative to designate 50 percent of its shelf space to products for women of color. “It was a full-circle moment,” she says. Although progress has been made, it’s still a challenge to find iems that specifically addess the concerns of women of color, says Yangu Beauty Founder Sipho Gumbo (below), whose products are sold by Neiman Marcus and Amazon. “We still need more on the market.” To help fill gaps in the industry, Dellinger has started a program to provide services and resources to an estimated 25,000 women entrepreneurs of color.
THE BUSINESS OF BEAUTY 2021
Indie brands tap into the demand for clean products.
Serial entrepreneur Shannon McLinden founded clean beauty brand Farmhouse Fresh after success with her firt endeavor, Summer Soles—liners that keep sandals from slipping. She started with foot scrubs, which took off afer Oprah featured them on her “O List.” From there, McLinden followed consumer demand and began making lotions and other skincare products that used clean ingredients— often growing her own herbs or plants to produce extracts. “It mattered to me, and I found that it also resonated with the spa industry,” she says. In the past few years, what was once a concern for spas has become top of mind for consumers, as many luxury, clean beauty brands, including Tata Harper, Ilia, and Colleen Rothschild, flooded the market. McLinden’s direct-to-consumer base grew roughly 10 times during the pandemic. Founder and CEO
BEAUTYBIO
RISING ABOVE THE TIMES
The pandemic sparked profound changes in consumer behaviors. It caused them to bring the spa into their homes and created surges in health-focused personal care purchases. Other fast-moving trends illuminate the importance of ethics, inclusivity, sustainability, and young consumers. One of the biggest sweethearts to emerge from the pandemic is skincare, with clinical skincare being one of the fastest-growing subsegments within the niche.
“I think there is a paradigm shift in the consumer; now is our time,” Carrell says. Consumer searches for products with antioxidants, vitamins, and anti-aging compounds skyrocketed, prompted by the pandemic’s push for health and wellbeing. “Ingredients like Vitamin C, niacinamide, hyaluronic acids are really big,” says Shannon McLinden, founder of McKinney natural skincare brand Farmhouse Fresh.
Med spas, projected to have a market value of $47.1 billion by 2030, also are rapidly gaining popularity. A big part of the growth comes from younger millennials and Gen Z consumers, who are more educated than their parents and making an earlier entry into prestige skincare—even when it comes to preventative treatments and fillers
Another driving force is what industry experts refer to as the “Zoom effet,” an increase in face and neck procedures as consumers get up close and personal with their own features more regularly through virtual platforms during the pandemic. Louise Proulx, who founded Renew Beauty at NorthPark Center the day the stock market crashed in 2008, says the category is seeing double-digit growth year over year and that injectables are driving the market for the 25-plus consumer. “The difference today is that people need some self-care; we are in a very high-stress world,” she says. “I see no end [to growth] in the business of beauty.”
The “Zoom effet” is driving the use of neurotoxins and fillers,says Stephanie Ortiz, CEO of Dallas’ It’s a Secret Med Spa. The aesthetic injectables market is predicted to grow by 11.8 percent per year and hit $21.6 billion by 2027, according to Grand View Research. Ortiz says one of her vendors saw a nationwide increase of 7.8 percent in injectable sales in the fourth quarter of 2020. Botox holds more than 70 percent of the market and stands as It’s a Secret’s No. 1 product.
Ortiz says since reopening this past May, sales have outpaced pre-pandemic numbers by 60 percent. In addition to vertical sales growth, the med spa has grown its EBITDA by more than 20 percent. Internal statistics parallel social media’s infl ence on the brand’s clientele; Ortiz says marketing campaigns contributed to 47 percent of sales during the firt half of 2021.
THE BUSINESS
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OF BEAUTY
Some of the notable beauty brands that call DFW home.
Men’s skincare in the United States is now a $403 billion market.
Twenty-one years ago, Curran Dandurand and a Mary Kay colleague, Emily Dalton, saw an opportunity to fill a hole within Dallas’ luxury skincare market—products for men. “Nobodywas catering to the affluent male wh wanted quality, luxury, and effectiveness in his personal care,” Dandurand says. She and Dalton launched 10 skin, beard, and haircare products under the brand Jack Black in 2000. Today, it’s the leading player in a $403 billion global market segment. Dandurand says the men’s market began to accelerate in 2010, with new competitors in the wake of the 2008 downturn. “Men viewed taking care of their skin, shaving, cleansing, and showering as something you don’t skip when there is a recession,” she says. The pandemic’s onslaught in 2020 has led to similar growth; Jack Black’s online sales were up nearly 100 percent over 2019, and overall sales grew 8 percent. Dandurand hopes that new acne products aimed at Gen Z consumers and strong holiday sales will boost what is turning out to be a good year. “We’re up over last year, about 30 percent, and we’re even up over 2019,” she says. BeautyBio Bed Head by TIGI Cherry CURLS Farmhouse Fresh FusionPKG Galderma and Cetaphil Goodier Cosmetics Jack Black Joanna Czech Mary Kay Natura Bissé Reina Rebelde Renée Rouleau Revision Skincare Sally Beauty
Jack Black helped pioneer the industry when the company launched in 2000.
THE BUSINESS
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OF BEAUTY
Revision Skincare launched its popular Nectifirm in 200 to treat aging skin of the neck and décolletage.
FAST-MOVING INDUSTRY TRENDS
The rise of social media has also helped push consumers and retailers to prioritize ethics and inclusivity. Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, for example, are actively sourcing products with clean ingredients and those explicitly marketed to women of color. Historically, beauty retailers’ shelf space has not equitably represented the consumer group’s more than $1 trillion buying power. “Women of color are the No. 1 spender when it comes to beauty products,” says Sipho Gumbo, founder of Yangu Beauty. Neiman Marcus picked up her skincare brand for women of color at the end of 2020. Yangu’s sales have jumped 30 to 40 percent since partnering with the retail beauty giant.
Brands also are embracing the natural characteristics and beauty of women of color. “Eighty percent of businesses creating haircare products for women of color are Black-owned,” says Mahisha Dellinger, founder and CEO of Curls. The brand just landed a deal with Ulta Beauty as part of an initiative to allocate half of Ulta’s shelf space to products for women of color.
Although progress has been made, there is still plenty of room for improvement. “There isn’t anything that’s talking directly to us, saying ‘This was made with you in mind,’” Gumbo says.
Regina Merson, founder of Dallas-based Latina cosmetics brand Reina Rebelde, agrees, noting that poorly executed attempts at bilingual ads are too often the norm. “I hope this is what’s coming: more inclusivity. It’s more authentic inclusivity, not just a token photo. And I hope that there’s more of an integration into the mainstream,” Merson says.
Experts say ethical sourcing and clean ingredients have also taken center stage as younger shoppers lean toward vegan and sustainable brands. Revision’s Carrell notes more consumers also are latching on to products manufactured by companies with good environmental, social, and governance scores. “Consumers are becoming more concerned about where products are manufactured, who is behind them, how do they run the company, do they treat their employees fairly, do they buy the standards I expect,” she says. “I think that has become even more important, and COVID just fueled that.”
Natura Bissé, for example, launched its vegan Diamond Well Living line in 2021. “As younger consumers come into this category, they are all about natural, organic, vegan because they are much better read than we were when we were growing up,” says Jaime Vasquez, who heads up Natura Bissé’s operations in the Americas. Globally, the clean beauty market is estimated to reach $22 billion by 2024, according to Statista Research.
In Dallas, large legacy brands and smaller indie players are opting in, spurred by a societal health and wellness push and matching demands from spas. McLinden of Farmhouse Fresh says spas, which made up 80 percent of her clientele before COVID, would turn her skincare products around, inquiring about various ingredients, their sourcing, and their effet. Today, her products have stickers that display each product’s percentage of natural ingredients; most are in the 90s. Many of the botanical extracts McLinden uses are sourced from microgreens grown on her farm. Packaging players are also following suit, opting for recyclable resins and plastics wherever possible. “Half of our product line today is sustainable,” says Derek Harvey, co-CEO of FusionPKG, a Dallas company that supplies packaging to nearly every large luxury cosmetics retailer. “Within the next few years, probably 80 percent of the products will be sustainable.”
PROBLEM AREAS NO MORE
As trends and consumers have evolved over the past year, so has North Texas. Growth obstacles of the past, such as talent challenges and a lack of private equity, are becoming less of a hurdle, drawing in new players and expanding market share. “Remote work opens up an entirely new pool of talent because now we all have the infrastructure to work in a remote environment,” says O’Banion, who has recently hired several off-siteemployees. And as challenges of the past clear up, the region’s central location (which means better shipping and business travel costs), lower property taxes, and inexpensive warehouse space are becoming even more appealing to coastal companies.
Those same lures are attracting more financia companies and investors to North Texas, expanding capital opportunities for new and growing beauty brands. “One thing that will continue to bolster all new brands is deepening our venture and private equity partners that are here,” O’Banion says.
Funding will also propel innovation, which will boost growth in the sector, adds Vazquez of Natura Bissé. “The depth of innovation, creativity, and research is going to flourish here in orth Texas.”
THE BUSINESS OF BEAUTY 2021
CEO
IT’S A SECRET MED SPA
Packaging giant FusionPKG cuts launch time with turnkey services.
Cosmetics manufacturing is a big undertaking that typically requires brands to sign separate contracts with formulators and packaging professionals. Dallas-based FusionPKG combines both under one roof through a turnkey beauty lab. Founded in 2004, FusionPKG made a name for itself by creating packaging for massive cosmetic clients. With an estimated $80 million in sales, it was acquired last year by personal care giant Aptar to focus more on the burgeoning turnkey market. Derek Harvey, co-founder and co-CEO of FusionPKG, expects the group to go from 10 to 50 percent of the company’s business in the next three to fie years. A team of scientists and designers can pull together product, marketing, and packaging concepts and come back in six months or so with an entire product line. “This is huge for brands,” Harvey says.
Where touchdowns are born
How Chris Calandro and Farmers Branch-based Big Game USA became synonymous with college football.
story by BEN SWANGER
photography by SEAN BERRY
Footballs are stitched from the inside out. The most strenuous part of the process is flipping the balls so they’re leather side out.
The company manufactures footballs for big-name college programs that have partnerships with Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, and more.
CHRIS CALANDRO NEVER MADE HIS HIGH
school’s varsity football team, but his dream of infl encing the sport never left him. After tearing his ACL in an adult flagfootball game, Calandro idly recovered in bed, but his mind churned with ideas. He had grown up in Baton Rouge with his stay-at-home-mom, Bettie, and his father, Joe, a World War II veteran whose homebuilding business made just enough to support a family of 11. With seven daughters and two sons, the Calandros could field a gridiron team by themselves
For Chris and his older brother, Joey, football was the dream. He was never the biggest, fastest, or strongest kid, but he still envisioned himself someday playing under the open roof on a beautiful Sunday, sporting the star for America’s Team. “Here comes No. 12, Roger Staubach,” Joey would shout, imitating a game announcer’s voice. Then, as imaginary smoke cleared from the garage door opening, Chris would come running onto the driveway wearing a well-worn white t-shirt adorned with “Staubach” and the No. 12, written in Sharpie.
Today, Staubach’s Navy Midshipmen and 108 other NCAA Division I programs use footballs made by the company Calandro founded, Big Game USA. The Farmers Branch-based business dominates the college market, making an impressive 85 percent of gameready footballs for FBS teams.
Using high-quality American cowhide and composite materials, Big Game USA produces 600 footballs a day for the sport’s biggest programs and players. The company’s roots are in commemorative balls that celebrate player performances or significantevents, with some
With his football manufacturing company, Calandro has impacted the game off the gridion more than he ever would have on it.
even findingtheir way to shelves within the Oval Offic Big Game has gifted trophy pigskins to every U.S. Commander in Chief since President George H. W. Bush.
The company now ships up to 500 footballs per program, per season. The University of Texas, The University of Alabama, LSU, the University of Michigan, and countless other powerhouse programs are clients. Big Game’s high school market is also booming, with more than 2,000 schools throughout the Southwest and Midwest ordering custom game balls.
Calandro gives his team full credit for the company’s success. Just like a quarterback cannot play every position on the field,the CEO cannot perform every function within the business. “Everybody has a significan contribution on how we do this,” he says. “Everyone on the team touches every single ball we make.”
ALWAYS THE UNDERDOG
Calandro, who describes himself as a late bloomer, was not great at sports growing up, nor was he great at school. He skated by in high school and was limited to spectator status on the playing field.“I was not someone you would have picked out and said, ‘Watch this kid become something special,’” he says.
Today, Calandro’s teammates see him as an MVP. Mike Boniol, who attended college with the CEO and is now Big Game’s FBS Division I account manager, praises his boss’ leadership skills. “Chris is relentless,” he says. “He is in constant pursuit of excellence. He strives to improve 1 percent each day, and that mentality has carried Big Game.”
After graduating from Broadmoor Senior High in 1984, Calandro had no clue where his life was headed. A stroke of luck, he says, led to him being accepted into LSU. Four years passed, but he still was unsure about his future. Despite the college degree that would open plenty of doors, all he could focus on was the door he never opened. “Not joining the military is my biggest regret in life.”
Calandro gained his admiration for the Armed Forces from his father. Raised during the Great Depression, he served the United States overseas in World War II, then pursued his American dream through homebuilding. When walking through Big Game’s factory, that respect is on display, with several mannequins sporting Navy, Army, and Air Force football uniforms.
Entering the job market in 1989 with a degree in general studies, Calandro was intent on traveling just one path: Interstates 49 to 20. This led him to Dallas in pursuit of a girl, Christiann, who would eventually become his wife. Calandro’s firt job in Dallas was with Beckett Media, which has since evolved into the world’s most trusted source for grading and pricing sports cards and memorabilia. “Just give me a job. I’ll work for free. All I need is a chance,” Calandro pleaded with the higher-ups at Beckett. He scored a job in the warehouse, put his head down, and got to work. Before long, he climbed the ladder to become manager of sports products. In 1992, he took his firt steps toward helming his own team.
His alma mater, Broadmoor Senior High, earned its way into the Louisiana High School Football State Championship at the Superdome in New Orleans. Calandro, his love still burning bright for the school and the team he never made, wanted to celebrate the accomplishment for three coaches he knew on staffby gifting them with commemorative footballs.
Although the team lost the championship 37–22, Calandro still felt the tribute was necessary. “I called all the big sporting goods companies and said, ‘I want to buy three footballs.’ The big brands that answered told me they didn’t take orders for just three balls. ‘If you want to get an order for 100 together, we’ll do something,’ they said. The big brands that didn’t answer or told me to get gone fueled me. They insulted me.”
A NEW BEGINNING
Calandro ended up purchasing three footballs from the local sporting goods store and painted them. “The firt prototypes were dreadful,” he says. Not long after, recovering from the ACL tear, his entrepreneurial gears turned. He worked up the nerve to call every major col-
PENNSYLVANIA Avenue piGSKINS
Commemorative footballs by Big Game head to the White House.
Football is as American as it gets. So, it only made sense for Big Game USA to capitalize on its expertise to send pigskins to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Every year, college football national champion teams are invited to the White House. As a gift from the team to the President, a personalized, or in some cases bronzed, game ball made by Big Game USA is presented as a trophy. In 2003, the LSU Tigers defeated the Oklahoma Sooners to claim the national championship. Mike “Bones” Boniol, now an account manager for Big Game, was an equipment manager for LSU at the time
threading the needle
Big Game’s process combines high-tech innovation with the artistry of hand craftsmanship.
STEP one
Leveraging specialty software, a computer projects the ball’s shape onto premium leather.
STEP two
A high-tech die-cut press cuts the outlines into panels.
STEP three
A press plate embosses the leather with a team’s logo.
STEP four
Workers fuse a three-layer, cross-laid reinforcement with natural outer materials and stitch a fabric reinforcement under the location of the laces.
STEP five
Sewers stitch the football’s panels together.
STEP six
A rubber bladder is placed within the leather shell and aired up.
STEP seven
The ball is laced with the customer’s color preference.
STEP eight
The ball’s shape is perfected to 10.5-11.5 inches in length, a length circumference of 28 inches, and a width circumference of 21 inches.
STEP nine
An electric brush buffs th ball, providing the perfect game-ready adhesion.
STEP ten
The ball is ready to be tossed for touchdowns. lege football program and NFL team to tell them he was painting commemorative footballs.
“I told them who I was and what I wanted to do. I got hung up on a lot, got cussed out a couple of times. But I got ahold of some nice guys at Purdue, The University of Texas, and Dallas Cowboys, and they asked me to send them a sample.” Calandro started with those teams, built strong relationships, and grew his client base from there. While maintaining his post at Beckett, he honed his painting skills, and other teams took note.
His model was simple. After a game, NFL and college football teams would ship him their game-used footballs. He’d paint a white panel then cover it with the score, key stats, date, and more, commemorating what the team or player desired to spotlight. Then, he shipped each ball back just fivedays later for $25 per ball. Through the years, Calandro adorned touchdown balls scored by local greats: Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, and many others.
Feeling optimistic about Big Game’s prospects, he quit his job at Beckett and hired his firt employee. They were quickly neck-deep in footballs. “I was painting game balls, and I had a bunch of accounts—the Atlanta Falcons, the Dallas Cowboys, and more,” Calandro says. “But I’m starting to get more than I can handle. I’m painting all these in my garage and working 70plus hours a week. I start to hate it because it’s monotonous. I’m tired of sniffin paint fumes. It was work I couldn’t do anymore. So, I thought the only way to scale this thing is for me to learn how to stitch a ball.” The decision turned out to be a game-changer.
In 2008, Calandro saved enough money from his 70-hour work weeks to put down the paint, hire a star sewist, and bring eight additional employees on board. He watched college football game tapes for hours a day, keying in on how and why players fumbled, threw interceptions, or struggled to handle the ball in any way. By improving the football, he realized, he could enhance player performance.
When sourcing materials, he didn’t shy away from paying up. Premium leather is not cheap, but making the best product requires the best materials. Still, he took no outside funding to get the new iteration of Big Game off the ground. Every dollar he invested he had earned from painting balls in his garage.
As the products evolved, Calandro and his team spent hours working with quarterbacks, coaches, and other personnel to perfect the feel, shape, laces, durability, and every minute detail of a ball. “Speaking directly to coaches and players is crucial,” Boniol says. “Whereas other companies’ overseas factories are only given a spec sheet and a picture, they don’t understand what makes a football better. We study everything all the time.”
After a lot of constructive criticism, many failed attempts, and flt-out rejections, Big Game hit the big time. Nike received word of Calandro’s innovations and hand-produced footballs, and that ultimately led to the stamping of a Swoosh on some pigskins. Sporting one of the most iconic logos in all of sports, TCU, Ole Miss, the University of Colorado, Georgia Tech, and the University of Florida were chosen to receive the firt batch of Nike-branded Big Game balls.
HITTING THE BIG TIME
At the start of the 2008 college football season, Big Game footballs made their debut when the Florida Gators faced offagainst the University of Hawaii. Calandro watched from his couch at home, praying the ball did not pop on the opening kickoff. “I was an absolute nervous wreck,” he recalls. “The balls were not fully tested, and every time there was a fumble, I freaked out.”
None of the balls deflted, but there were several fumbles by the quarterback on the snap. Thankfully for Calandro, the team trainer reported a particularly sweaty center as the culprit. From the moment the footballs hit the field,they garnered attention from scores of programs. The proof was in the performance, and Big Game quickly became an ally for major programs. “The most important aspect to product development and improvement is letting your consumers have a say about it,” Calandro says. He knew if he could keep the quarterbacks happy, he’d keep coaches happy. And when you keep coaches happy, word spreads like wildfire
Big Game ensures that its footballs are never one-sizefits-all. eams are able to customize every detail, down to the color of the ball’s laces. The process to make one football takes the team about 18 minutes. With 50 hands touching every ball, about 600 are produced every day. Big Game had fie customers when it started. It grew its base to 80 accounts after just one season of having its balls used at the Division 1 level.
The next year, Big Game USA went from having fivestartup accounts to 80, including The University of Texas. “Big Game produces a ball that makes everyone happy, from our quarterbacks to coaches to the kickers,” says Matt Rutherford, director of equipment operations at UT. “They are always ready and willing to work with us to customize everything from leather, shape, laces, and tackiness, to the color of the ball.”
Other fans include Garrett Riley, Southern Methodist University’s offensivecoordinator and quarterbacks coach, who says, “We can count on their dedication to detail to provide us with the best possible football to compete at the highest level.” That dedication landed the company business it hadn’t even been chasing, and the taste of success led the Big Game team to push on. The company quickly took control of the college foot-
Each year, about 120,000 footballs are produced at Big Game’s 20,000-squarefoot facility in Farmers Branch.
ball market, leaving competitors to wonder what had happened. “What makes us competitive is I do not give a rip about how much it costs to improve a football,” Calandro says. “If it makes the game better, I am going to do it. I don’t answer to shareholders or anyone about profits. his business is about winning.”
Each year, 120,000 footballs are manufactured at Big Game USA’s factory, pushing the limits on the company’s 20,000-square-foot facility in Farmers Branch. A larger operation could be on the horizon. With consistent double-digit growth, Big Game is forcing the ball downfield. Its footballs have been used by the winners of nine of the last 10 NCAA National Championships, and it has broken into the professional ranks through the XFL.
Calandro has held onto humility through the company’s ascension, but he is always looking for the next opportunity. One prize is of particular interest: Big Game’s top competitor currently has the contract to manufacture footballs for the National Football League. Calandro is not fazed. “Every contract comes to an end,” he says. “And the hunger we had as an up-and-coming company is still very much there.”
PENNSYLVANIA Avenue piGSKINS
The bronzed footballs initially sparked a security incident.
continued from page 43
and put in an order for a bronze football for George W. Bush. The strenuous sculpting and letter pressing process took weeks to perfect and was completed just in time. “We got the ball the day before the plane trip to D.C.,” Boniol says. He waltzed into the White House with the bronzed football, but it was quickly confiscted. After security verified tht it was indeed just a football and not a weapon, Big Game’s ball made its way into the hands of President Bush.
The region’s best corporate lawyers are better at their jobs because of their unique personal experiences.
ONE OF THE MOST COMPLEX ROLES IN THE C-SUITE is held by the corporate counsel. Their multifaceted work requires them at different times to be a teacher, decision-maker, defender, risk-taker, negotiator, protector, and more. Above all, they are the chief executive’s most trusted adviser. For the past 12 years, D CEO has honored the best in the business through its annual Corporate Counsel Awards. (See full list of finalists and winners on page 49.) Experience and education are essential to rising to the top of the corporate legal ranks. Still, one cannot discount how experiences outside boardrooms and courtrooms impact how they approach their jobs.
2021 CORPORATE COUNSEL AWARDS
story by WILL MADDOX photography by YAROSLAV DANYLCHENKO
For some, those lessons begin very early in life. That was the case for McKesson Corp.’s Alexandria Hien McCombs. Asking, “When can I get this done?” not “Can I get this done?” is a mindset that helped her and her family escape a collapsing South Vietnam in the spring of 1975. And it’s a philosophy that she applies today in her role as managing chief counsel at the pharmaceutical distribution giant.
Her father served in the South Vietnamese navy. As the North Vietnamese closed in on Saigon, a 19-month-old McCombs and her family were on one of the last boats out as part of Operation Frequent Wind, which evacuated American civilians and at-risk citizens at the end of the Vietnam war. The mission was led by 30-year-old Richard Armitage, a former naval officer who had mastered the Vietnamese language and joined a Department of Defense command. He went on to become Deputy Secretary of State under President George W. Bush. McCombs was able to connect with him later in life and thank him for his leadership.
“I asked him, ‘How did you have the resolve, fortitude, and bravery to pull offsomething like this?’” McCombs says. “He told me that when he approaches any challenge or any obstacle, he always thinks of when can I get this done? He never thinks about whether he could accomplish something. That resonated with me. Sometimes you can limit yourself by thinking, ‘I’m not sure I can even tackle this.’ I think back to Armitage’s words of planning it out.”
After their ship nearly sank and taking shelter on an island that doubled as a prison, McCombs’ family lived in refugee camps in the Philippines and Guam before being sponsored by churches in Pennsylvania. She grew up in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, as one of the small town’s few Asian residents. Other Asians in the community were her extended family, she says. McCombs remembers sitting at the lunch table at school, opening her rice dish and eggrolls, wishing she could munch on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich like her young peers. But the experience would pay dividends down the line. “It definitely elevated my consciousness of being very open and sensitive to others,” she says.
When McCombs’ parents were denied a home loan that would have allowed them to move into a better school district, she wrote an essay in her 7th-grade class that was noticed by her teacher. The teacher reassured her that she was getting a good education in her district but offered to help her earn a scholarship to an elite private school in the area. The time and energy her teacher gave her is reflected in how McCombs views her work as a corporate counsel. “I take on a teacher role in helping my clients, whom I see as my students,” she says. “I want to give them options and help them find solutions that work best. I see the role that we have as in-house counsels as teachers who help our clients think more independently.”
GAINING BY GIVING BACK
A basketball team walk-on at Southern Methodist University, Peter A. Lodwick ended his collegiate career as a three-year starter and captain with a full athletic scholarship. He knows a thing or two about discipline and teamwork, both of which have been essential to his rise to become managing director and general counsel at RGT Advisors, a Dallas-based wealth management Alexandria Hien company. Lodwick also has learned
M c COMBS
the value of giving back. A current member of the executive board of SMU’s Cox School of Business, he has also served on the university’s Board of Trustees, the board of its Dedman School of Law. But it is his work with the Salesmanship Club of Dallas, including serving as president of the club Peter A. LODWICK from 2018 to 2020, that have had the most impact, he says. He joined the Salesmanship Club in 2004, holding various leadership roles over the years, including being elected to the board twice and working on the organization’s strategic plan. As the host organization of the PGA’s AT&T Byron Nelson golf tournament, it foTasha Stringer GRINNELL cused year-round on perfecting every aspect of the event. Since its inception, the tournament has raised $167 million for the Momentous Institute, which works with families and communities to improve social and emotional health of children.
The COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 Byron Nelson, and later that year, the organization announced that the event would move to TPC Craig Ranch. The changes made the usually ceremonial presidency one of the most eventful to date, but it also gave Lodwick valuable experience that serves him well in his current role.
As president of a 620-member club, it was his job to be the decision-maker, take advice from past presidents and other officers, and help negotiate deals with big-time players such as AT&T, PGATour, and ClubCorp, which owns TPC Craig Ranch. As the head of the Salesmanship Club, he needed information to be boiled down to the essential matters and communicated clearly and effectively. He saw stellar examples of those communication skills and others that were less than perfect, but both helped him understand how to do the same as a corporate lawyer.
“I learned a lot in leadership positions that helped me be a better counselor to people who are similarly situated,” Lodwick says. “The club is primarily composed of people who run their own businesses and have strong opinions, so you have to work collaboratively with them. Communication on issues is as important as the solution itself.”
Lodwick’s many roles in board leadership at SMU deepened his connection to the university and led to mentoring opportu-
nities with current students. Lodwick finds these relationships invigorating, and says they help him remember why he entered the legal world in the first place. For the same reasons, he also he seeks out mentoring opportunities at his firm. “It’s important to mentor in the workplace, and I see a parallel between those two things—mentoring students and mentoring the next generation in your workplace.”
EMBRACING DIVERSE STRENGTHS
Tasha Grinnell Stringer was a military brat who grew up all over the country. She leans into her Black Hawaiian roots as she navigates her vice president and assistant general counsel role at Neiman Marcus Group. Her diverse background is matched by the various sectors in which she has worked, including but not limited to the dairy, cybersecurity, and logistics industries. She embraces who she is, and it serves her well.
“It’s impossible to deny who I am,” Stringer says. “When I walk into a room, everybody knows that I’m a woman of color, so I lead with that. Sometimes it’s beneficial, but sometimes it is not. That’s the reality of the world. It’s not like I can pretend not to be a Black woman, so I try my best to use that to my advantage, use it to help others, and to serve as a mentor who other individuals can truly look up to.”
The mother of two has held volunteer leadership roles on the boards of Booker T. Washington School of Visual and Performing Arts, the Dallas Black Dance Theater, and Corporate Counsel Women of Color, among others. The involvement helps her stay connected and understand new perspectives. This, in turn, aids when representing the company in employment issues with its 13,500 employees or being the point person to help Neiman Marcus navigate the pandemic.
“The beauty of immersing yourself in your community is that you can see the bigger picture,” Grinnell says. “When you spread your wings throughout the community, you get to hear what other companies are doing.”
Knowing that those around her look up to her and see themselves in her shoes gives her confidence as a corporate counsel. During the pandemic, her daughters were able to see her work and better understand the impactful role she plays in her company. “It hit home for me that it wasn’t just the less fortunate children in the community who I mentor, but my own daughters were seeing me in this role, and it was impacting who they are and who they ultimately will be,” she says. “For me, that has been the greatest gift.”
That realization helps her bring her best to work every day. “The more that I ascend in my career, the more that I realize my duty to my people,” she says. “I see that people truly are looking up to me.”
All 2021 Corporate Counsel Awards finalists were honored at an exclusive event on Sept. 29 at On the Levee. For a photo recap, visit www.dceomagazine.com.
2021 Corporate Counsel Award Finalists
OUTSTANDING GENERAL COUNSEL, LARGE LEGAL DEPARTMENT
Tasha Stringer Grinnell, Neiman Marcus Group (W) Lisa Staler Gallerano, Guaranty Bank & Trust (F)
OUTSTANDING GENERAL COUNSEL, SMALL LEGAL DEPARTMENT
Clayton Sporich, Tap Rock Resources (W) Grant Adams, Goodnight Midstream (F) Michael Cavalier, Cinemark Holdings (F) Bonnie M. DePasse, HomeVestors of America (F) Bill Dunne, Civitas Capital Group (F) Tara D. Mackey, AZZ (F)
OUTSTANDING GENERAL COUNSEL, SOLO
Peter A. Lodwick, RGT Wealth Advisors (W) Travis O. Foster, Work Shield (F) JeffHansen, Alamo Pressure Pumping (F) Erik Holt, Teal Natural Resources (F) David Mace Roberts, Electronic Transaction Consultants (F) Nick Schanbaum, ParkHub (F)
OUTSTANDING DEPUTY/ ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL, LARGE LEGAL DEPARTMENT
A. Shonn Brown, Kimberly-Clark Corp. (W) Aliya Horne, Cognizant Technologies Solutions U.S. (F) Jane Ann R. Neiswender, Sabre Corp. (F)
OUTSTANDING DEPUTY/ ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL, SMALL LEGAL DEPARTMENT
James W. Bristow, EnLink Midstream (W) Ryan S. Parley, Neiman Marcus Group (F)
OUTSTANDING IN-HOUSE COUNSEL
Christopher J. Pappaioanou, Envoy Air (W) Jenny McCarley, Brinks Home Security (F) Denton Muse, City Electric Supply (F) John A. Poakeart, PepsiCo (F) Laura Tarantino, Oceans Healthcare (F)
CHAMPION OF DIVERSITY:
Alexandria Hien McCombs, McKesson Corp. (W) Olesja L. Cormney, Toyota Motor North America (F)
OUTSTANDING UP-AND-COMER
Wande Elam, Toyota Motor North America (W) Dominic “DJ” Merino, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (F) Jim Phillips, PMG Worldwide (F)
IN OUR 108-YEAR HISTORY, WE’VE LEARNED THAT HONESTY NEVER DEPRECIATES.
Managing your fi nancial needs in today’s complex economic
conditions can be more challenging than ever. You need real advice you can trust, and our record shows stable, consistent growth through thick and thin for more than a century. We thrive on helping you think big picture when it comes to building your business.
Your business goals. Achieved.
UMB.com/Goals
Other than favorable lending rates, what are businesses looking for in a banking relationship?
ERIC POINTER: In today’s world, relationships are often still the most important part of doing business, and companies want to feel that they have a meaningful relationship with their lender. They’re looking for a trusted lender that can educate them about opportunities, be a partner in their growth, and evaluate them holistically. The ability to bring flexibilityand creativity to the meet the unique needs of our members are also diffrentiating factors for us. DENNIS WRIGHT: An important question for businesses to ask is, “Do you know your banker?” Now, more than ever, companies need a banking partner that understands their business and how to support them through their life cycle. After the events and impact of 2020, it’s clear that businesses need a partner with a grasp on the nuances of their company and one that can offr customized solutions to navigate them through good, or challenging, times. BRIAN ENZLER: Businesses are seeking responsiveness, flexibilit, creativity, sound advice, stable relationships, and a financialpartner that will stand with the company when challenges arise. They’re also looking for proactive solutions to drive efficncy and consistent support for growth initiatives. How does a bank in 2021 differentiate itself from the competition? Has the economic climate as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic shifted that?
ERIC POINTER: At Credit Union of Texas, we believe community engagement, listening to the needs of our members, and a willingness adapt to their evolving needs are what diffrentiates us. Where banks pay shareholders, we invest in our members and our communities. CUTX connects people to local resources in the areas of suburban homelessness, domestic violence, food insecurity, intellectual and developmental needs, and children’s advocacy. We started as a teacher’s credit union more than 90 years ago. Our continued partnerships with ISDs have helped us make an impact in the important area of financialliteracy. Our members are best served by our continued focus on education, use of a broader lens when making credit decisions, and by using data analytics to anticipate their needs. BRIAN ENZLER: Our clients value proactive and consistent communication more than ever. With the uncertainty and volatility of the pandemic environment—supply chains, labor, government programs, health concerns, equity markets, etc.— our perspectives on what we see working for others and how we can support the business’ capital needs has never been more welcome. DENNIS WRIGHT: This is clearly a time where relationships matter. Without relationships, there is no way to diffrentiate because you will lack the strong partnership required to offr the right solutions for your clients. Relationships are essential to the way we do business, and we leaned into that even more during the pandemic to ensure clients and customers felt that partnership as they navigated unchartered territory. Our model is built for all economic environments and that has proven out again this past year. We continue to lend and support the economy while remaining nimble, flexible, and esponsive to our customers.
What are the pros and cons of charitable giving for businesses today?
BRIAN ENZLER: Charitable giving and community involvement are, in my view, always important for business. They provide a way to give back, help others, and engage with the community directly in a tangible way. These activities can also help build culture as team members contribute
and participate together. That said, management teams must consider how to prioritize resources to maximize impact and ensure the continued success of the business. When done right, a virtuous cycle is created. ERIC POINTER: At Credit Union of Texas, we firml believe that giving back to the communities you serve is one of the most important things a business can do. Charitable giving not only offrs obvious financialbenefitto a community but it often also provides a community with much-needed, hands-on volunteer support. In addition, we fin that financialand volunteer service to our communities is one of the best ways to connect with our communities and members. In fact, we have a dedicated team of community engagement specialists who focus solely on partnering with their designated communities and addressing each community’s specifi needs through both fiancial support and team member volunteer hours. We promote a volunteer program to all our employees. With each hour that our employees volunteer, they receive an hour of PTO. Our volunteer program allowed our employees to serve over 500 volunteer hours last year alone. How is the current tax landscape affecting your business clients in terms of their banking strategies?
BRIAN ENZLER: Many business owners are expecting increases in capital gains tax rates and are therefore implementing strategies to potentially accelerate execution of their estate planning or to otherwise mitigate the impact of higher taxes. We collaborate closely with our private wealth and corporate advisory teams to provide custom solutions in support of those effort.
In today’s economic environment, which industries and markets show opportunity?
ERIC POINTER: Credit Union of Texas is currently expanding our focus to include rural and underbanked areas in East Texas. With consolidation
BRIAN ENZLER, BMO HARRIS BANK
in the industry, we believe we can provide enormous value to personal and commercial members there. Our community engagement model will also provide a powerful impact to the public and organizations we’re able to partner with. BRIAN ENZLER: It’s good to be in Texas, especially North Texas! If you’re doing business in Dallas-Fort Worth, you’ve got opportunities galore. Are there tools or technologies that your bank has implemented that are changing the way you serve clients or the information and insights you’re able to provide? What excites you about the role of technology in banking?
ERIC POINTER: In looking to create an easier member experience, we have identifiedseveral digital
solutions that push pre-screened offrs and other data to members, rather than relying on them to pull it themselves or submit a standard application. This better serves our members by removing the anxiety associated with the typical approval process and provides them with the real-time data and potential cost-savings details needed to make sound financialdecisions. We implemented a business-to-member texting platform that sends reminders and other communications and allows for the ability to make payments via text. We have also implemented appointment-setting software that allows us to provide a safe environment for our members during the peak times of the pandemic. DENNIS WRIGHT: What has always set us apart is that we will tailor our technologies and solutions to clients’ particular needs. We integrate our technology to build efficncies for a broad range of clients—not just a select few. Based on what you’ve seen with your clients, how does the current state of our economy affect business banking strategies?
BRIAN ENZLER: Communication, communication, tially large shift in tax policy with the new administration, business owners are reviewing their options. Those who were already considering selling their business in coming years could take action this year to avoid unfavorable tax policy changes. What financial ervices products and programs have emerged as popular among your business clients in the last few years?
BRIAN ENZLER: Technology-based solutions continue to see high demand for optimizing liquidity, increasing efficncy, and reducing risk. We’re helping clients continue to move away from paper and manual processes toward electronic payments and workflws. We’re fully automating payments, providing custom accounts to maximize yield on cash, and bringing heightened awareness to fraud risk and prevention measures. DENNIS WRIGHT: We continue to experience growing demand in integrated payables. The need to streamline payments and reduce costs became even greater last year, and seamless, secure, and efficnt payments are being increasingly accepted as a critical part of successful business operations.
DENNIS J. WRIGHT, UMB
communication. More than at any time I can remember, management teams want to hear more from their bankers more often. The perspectives we can bring—whether on new technology, industry expertise, general observations about how businesses are solving challenges, or solutions to maximize shareholder returns—have always been valuable, but perhaps never more so than in today’s incredibly dynamic marketplace. DENNIS WRIGHT: There are a few ways the current economy is impacting the industry. First, being able to findlabor and talent at a desirable cost is a very real concern. Companies are hiring again, but a challenge in our economic recovery and the success of small businesses will be access to talent. Additionally, amid questions surrounding a potenOverall, UMB has been continually investing in our technology. We have built out our innovative digital banking offrings, like our business online banking platform. We have always been nimble and responsive to client needs, and now that businesses have become more flexiblein their operations, we are making sure our solutions continue to enhance their banking experience. During the peak of the pandemic, methods of providing service to clients were modified y most, if not all, industries. Are you finding tha some of the new methods you deployed will remain in place as pandemic conditions ease?
DENNIS WRIGHT: During the peak of the pandemic, as a relationship-centric bank, we really missed the ability to sit face-to-face with many of our clients and customers and have in-person interactions. While those encounters are important to our business and we’re glad to be able to safely conduct them again, the growth of our digital offrings and digital communications over the past year have made us more flexiblethan before, and we will continue to take full advantage of our enhanced technology to benefit our clints. Population growth in Dallas and surrounding areas has been robust. Are your business clients experiencing positive effects?
DENNIS WRIGHT: Dallas has become a prime relocation destination for people and businesses across the country. We’re seeing the benefits,especially for local suppliers who are experiencing a positive impact from increased demand. Over the longterm, the favorable tax environment and business climate in the state could lead to more migration and strengthen numerous industries in the region. How have the events of the past year changed investment behavior and investor decision making?
BRIAN ENZLER: Companies are investing in technology that automates processes and allows teams to be more efficnt, whether in-person or at the site of business. Investment in automation is not just for businesses that manage physical products anymore. We’re seeing investment in technology that streamlines processes in all sectors.
What are some of your clients’ biggest financial oncerns currently, and how are you addressing them?
DENNIS WRIGHT: Many of our clients have done well this past year and feel optimistic as the economy fully reopens. There remains some general caution on investments and supply chain issues for certain industries, but one of the current concerns for clients with cash on their balance sheet is what course of action they should take—and when—with a potential shift in tax policy. We’re working with clients to findthe best financin solutions for their unique situations.
Despite a stronger economy and higher inflation at time of publication), the Fed has indicated that interest rate hikes are unlikely through 2023. They have taken the view that the current
increase is the CPI is transitory as it is largely due in part to the supply chain backlog. Do you agree with their assessment?
BRIAN ENZLER: Many of our customers are experiencing not only supply chain cost increases and delays, but wage pressures from an exceptionally tight labor market (that tend not to be temporary). Supply chain challenges appear to have moderated in some areas but not others, and I expect challenges to continue for some time. With the combination of these two factors, I expect the Fed to raise rates sooner than forecast.
Any trends you are seeing in what Dallas-Fort Worth-based business borrowers are doing with the financin you provide?
DENNIS WRIGHT: Local businesses tend to be expanding and investing more this year due to favorable interest rates, M&A interest, and continued business and residential relocation to the area. Last year, businesses were far more cautious due to economic uncertainty. Now we’re seeing more capital expenditures—with companies taking on
ERIC POINTER, CREDIT UNION OF TEXAS
debt to do that. This is an ideal time to make that move if you’re committing to a long-term asset; business migration to the region and the overall economic climate are driving a lot of capital expenditure investments based on expected growth. BRIAN ENZLER: After coming through the pandemic environment with strong balance sheets and lean operations, many borrowers are utilizing debt capital to grow their business through acquisitions or capital expenditures. We’re also seeing an uptick in financeddividends/distributions as estate and tax planning mechanisms. What is the top question every CFO should ask their current banker?
DENNIS WRIGHT: We’ve heard from local businesses that, in the wake of the pandemic, they learned their bank might not share the same optimism and outlook for their industry. CFOs need to ask their banker, “What is your view on my company’s industry?” and make sure they have the right banking partner in their corner. BRIAN ENZLER: “What are three ways you can help me grow my business?”
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