Houston Business Journal 09-26-14 by Houston Business Journal

Bank of Texas goes big

Kim Ruth is back in Texas banking and ready to expand in a major way. SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

• VOL. 45, NO. 20 • $5.00

SUZANNE EDWARDS, 8

CENTERPIECE

CONOCO CHANGES COURSE ConocoPhillips won’t stop. In less than two years, it’s added 3,000 jobs and kicked off millions of dollars of Houston construction. In an HBJ exclusive, Jordan Blum sits down with Ryan Lance, head of the largest exploration and production company in the world, to find out about its new direction. 18

CHRIS CURRY/HBJ

ENERGY

Linn and Exxon make a deal Linn Energy’s Mark Ellis has 500 reasons to smile after the company’s major land swap. JORDAN BLUM, 7

BEST CORPORATE COUNSEL

MEET THE TOP LAWYERS IN TOWN SECTION 2

MEET THE $1 BILLION WOMAN AT THE TOP OF THE LIST 26

The deal DresserRand couldn’t ignore Siemens made the major Houston energy company an offer it couldn’t refuse, and here’s what comes next. DEAL OF THE WEEK, 4

news online r Breaking HoustonBusinessJournal.com On Twitter @HOUBizJournal email updates HoustonBusinessJournal.com/email L Daily

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

THE LOOP R

COMING UP

SNEAK PEEK

R Join Houston Business Journal on Oct. 15 at the Hilton Americas Hotel when we reveal the Best Places to Work in Houston. Visit HoustonBusinessJournal. com/Event to attend.

R Oct. 3: Credit Unions; Venture Capital and Private Equity Firms R Oct. 10: Residential Property Management Firms; Office Buildings Now surveying for hospitals, Fast Tech, banks and more. Contact Madison Henry, mhenry@bizjournals.com, to be considered for The Lists.

DIGITAL NEWS R Morning Edition: An email digest of top stories from local, regional and national sources. R Afternoon Edition: Afternoon roundup of the day’s stories. R Energy Inc. Texas Edition: Monday email with Texas’ top energy news R Digital Edition: Print subscribers can access a digital replica of the weekly print edition.

CELEBRATE YOUR WORKPLACE

UH PLANS ANOTHER MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR SPORTS FACILITY With the paint barely dry on the University of Houston’s new football stadium, the Tier 1 university revealed plans for a $25 million basketball facility. Designed by DLR Group and Page, the same duo behind TDECU Stadium, the 52,923-square-foot facility will be built by Austin Commercial and be completed by August.

SOCIAL MEDIA Vote in our Coolest Offices contest on Facebook. We’ve posted 29 photos of Houston offices, and the pic with the most FB likes wins. Check out the frontrunners: http://on.fb.me/1alpoHz Four Houston food trucks were named among the best in the nation, and the news was one of our top-retweeted posts on Twitter. Follow us @HOUBizJournal We posted to LinkedIn the news that the Eagle Ford Shale pumped close to $90 billion into the Texas economy last year. Your clicks and likes boosted the story to top news.

40 UNDER 40 R HBJ’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2014 beat out hundreds of applicants for the coveted awards. Meet these movers and shakers at our awards ceremony on Oct. 29 at Hotel ZaZa. Visit HoustonBusinessJournal. com/Event to register.

SUBSCRIBE Subscribe to HBJ’s print or digital edition by calling 713-688-8811 or at HoustonBusinessJournal. com/subscribe.

ADVERTISE Get in front of our businesssavvy readers. Contact Nancy Brown at nbrown@ bizjournals.com for rates.

PUBLISHER: John Beddow 713-395-9604, jbeddow@bizjournals.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: B. Candace Beeke 713-395-9634, cbeeke@bizjournals.com MANAGING EDITOR: Giselle Greenwood 713-395-9628, ggreenwood@bizjournals.com PRINT EDITOR: Emily Wilkinson 713-395-9629, ewilkinson@bizjournals.com CREATIVE SERVICES DIRECTOR: George Wiltz 713-395-9624, gwiltz@bizjournals.com AD DIRECTOR: Nancy Brown 713-395-9618, nbrown@bizjournals.com AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR: Jill Maxwell 713-395-9603, jmaxwell@bizjournals.com MARKETING PROMOTIONS MANAGER: Aubrey Stuart, 713-395-9613, astuart@bizjournals.com ADMINISTRATION MANAGER:

Allisa Ketchum, 713-395-9644 aketchum@bizjournals.com

Houston Business Journal is a publication of: American City Business Journals, 120 W. Morehead St., Charlotte, N.C. 28202 Whitney Shaw, CEO; Ray Shaw, Chairman (1989-2009) HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL (ISSN 0277-4976) publishes 53 issues a year, weekly, except 2x’s weekly on the last full week in Dec., by American City Business Journals, Inc. at 5444 Westheimer, Suite 1700, Houston, Texas 77056. Copyright © 2014 with all rights reserved. Reproduction or use without permission of editorial or graphic content in any manner is prohibited. Periodicals postage paid at Houston, Texas. SUBSCRIPTION PRICES: 1 year, $101. 2 years, $192. 3 years, $202. Digital subscriptions, $93. Single copies, $4.00. Back issues, $8. Mailed copies, $8. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Houston Business Journal, 5444 Westheimer, Suite 1700, Houston, TX 77056. 713-688-8811

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HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

THE LOOP R

OPENINGS AND CLOSINGS

MUSICAL RESTAURANTEURS

Mixed Use

The Union Kitchen owner Paul Miller plans to open his new concept — Paul’s Kitchen — in the former Haven space in Upper Kirby on Sept. 29. The “chefdriven scratch kitchen” will oﬀer Texas-raised beef, goat, lamb and pork, along with Galveston Bay shrimp. Joining Miller are executive chef Paul Lewis, sous chef Matt Lovelace and pastry chef Kelsey Hawkins. The trio most recently served at Osteria Mazzantini in the Galleria.

Multifamily Ofﬁce Retail Industrial

Randy Evans, co-owner and executive chef of Haven, which closed in July, has reemerged in the local restaurant scene with a new business: Southern Son Restaurant Consulting. Evans will provide statewide foodservice consulting, and one of his ﬁrst clients is James Coney Island. He will develop seasonal oﬀerings, retool some current menu items and create additional menu items as the hot dog chain rebrands to JCI Grill.

Stewart Title is ready to use our commercial expertise to simplify an otherwise complex process. From local transactions to global closings, we can get your deals done.

Main Kitchen and its executive chef, Erin Smith, opened the restautant inside the new J.W. Marriott Downtown on Sept. 24. The hotel is in the Samuel F. Carter building. Built in the 1900s, the building was scheduled for demolition until Pearl Hospitality purchased it and began renovations. Smith is the former culinary director for the Clumsy Butcher restaurant group and the executive chef at Plonk.

See our Spotlights properties at stewart.com/hbj (800) 729-1906

GOOD WEEK/BAD WEEK

BAD WEEK

The 324 full- and part-time employees at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport whose jobs will be eliminated as part of U.K.-based Menzies Aviation no longer providing ground handling services to international wide-body airline carriers as of Nov. 30.

6 3 3

S Q UA R E

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F E E T

C L A S S

O F F I C E

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S PAC E

R E M A I N I N G

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I C O N

AVAILABLE FOR LEASE 9 2 , 0 0 0 S Q U A R E F E E T O F C O N T I G U O U S S PA C E AVA I L A B L E

W W W . I C O N I C P E N N Z O I L P L A C E . C O M

GOOD WEEK

Travelers at William P. Hobby Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport as the Houston Airport System plans to install free Wi-Fi throughout both airports. Currently, free WiFi is only available in some terminals.

DAVID LEE 713.270.3335 | DOUG LITTLE 713.272.1284 | NINA GUERRE 713.231.1575

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

DEAL OF THE WEEK I EWILKINSON@BIZJOURNALS.COM

Print Editor Emily Wilkinson

713-395-9629

@HBJEMILYWILK

German firm buys major Houston energy co. for $7.6B THE BUYER Siemens AG HQ: Berlin and Munich, Germany Founded: 1847 Revenue: $97 billion Top exec: Joe Kaeser, president and CEO Employees: 362,000 What it does: Engineering and industrial manufacturer NYSE: SI

THE TARGET Dresser-Rand Group Inc. HQ: Houston Founded: 1987 Revenue: $3 billion Top exec: Vincent Volpe Jr., president and CEO Employees: 8,100 What it does: Manufactures oil and gas equipment NYSE: DRC

THE SKINNY

German industrial giant Siemens AG is forking over $6.4 billion — $7.6 billion including debt — for Dress-Rand Group Inc. as it makes a belated entry into the U.S. shale boom. Houston will become the headquarters of Siemen’s oil and gas business, and it will retain the Dresser-Rand brand name and executive leadership. The deal is expected to close next summer.

THE BACK STORY

Dresser-Rand has been actively courting offers and earlier this year attracted interest from Connecticut-based General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE). Siemens beat out Swiss rival Sulzer AG — whose CEO is a former Siemens executive — which had been in talks with Dresser-Rand over a stock-based merger, according to reports. Talks between Sulzer and Dresser-Rand are now off.

THE BACK, BACK STORY

Siemen’s long-term strategy focuses on beefing up the company’s presence in the U.S. and capitalizing on the shale boom. Dresser-Rand, which supplies compressors

among other products, is poised to benefit from the growing demand for products. In addition, the acquisition will allow Siemens to more directly profit from hydraulic fracturing due to expanding its gas-extraction capabilities, according to reports. Siemens added Lisa Davis, former vice president of strategy portfolio and alternative energy at Shell, to its board earlier this year, a signal the company wanted to boost its energy presence. In May, Siemens bought the gas turbine division from London-based Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC.

THE PLAYERS

Latham & Watkins LLP was the legal adviser, and Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank were the financial advisers for Siemens AG. New York-based Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Los Angeles-based Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher were the legal advisers, and New York-based Morgan Stanley was the financial adviser for Dresser-Rand. Houston-based Baker Botts LLP acted as antitrust counsel for Dresser-Rand.

THINKSTOCK

Scouting Helps Develop Leadership Skills, Service and Build Character “Congratulations to the Sam Houston Area Council as they celebrate their Centennial anniversary. Scouting provides young men with the opportunity to develop leadership skills, learn how to serve their community and build character. The efforts of the Sam Houston Area Council are of great value to our community and future generations of leaders. Silver Eagle Distributors is proud to support the Boy Scouts of America.”

John L. Nau, III Silver Eagle Distributors

— John L. Nau, III

Sponsored by

www.samhoustonbsa.org

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

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HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

ENERGY HUB I JBLUM@BIZJOURNALS.COM

Reporter Jordan Blum

713-395-9627

@HBJENERGY

BY THE PESOS

Mexican energy play draws major Houston investment Private equity players in Houston have helped drive the U.S. energy boom, and now some are turning their sights on Mexico. The end result is the formation of Mexico City-based Sierra Oil & Gas S de RL de CV, which is being dubbed Mexico’s ﬁrst independent oil and gas exploration and production company, with an initial investment of $525 million.

$225 million $225 million The amount of private equity being invested by Houston-based EnCap Investments LP to form Sierra

The amount invested by New York-based Riverstone Holdings LLC, which has a major Houston presence

76 years

$75 million

The amount of time since Mexico has opened the country up to private energy exploration. The country is eliminating the monopoly of state-owned oil giant Petróleos Mexicanos, or Pemex.

The final amount being pumped in by Mexico’s Infraestructura Institucional, which helps develop infrastructure. All three investors retain the option to double their existing commitment once the initial equity has been fully invested.

“We have been very impressed with the progress of the energy reform and look forward to contributing to the growth of a vibrant private energy sector in the country, as we have done in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere.” JIM HACKETT, former CEO at Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) and current partner at Riverstone Holdings

Security risk reduction where you need it, when you need it. U.S. GULF COAST MEXICO

AFRICA

FOREIGN GROWTH

exports. More than one-third of the LNG imported globally last year went to Japan, but it was bought at more expensive rates from nations like Qatar. Japan is expected to start receiving LNG from the Houston region at least by 2018. American LNG is priced at roughly $4 per million Btu, while LNG is sold to Japan now about at $19 Btu. “If you think about the price gap, it’s more than quadruple,” Takaoka said. “This decision by the U.S. to allow LNG exports was really wise. We are by far the largest partner for this new U.S. policy to allow LNG exports.” Japan is largely leveraged because of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, which stoked new global fears about nuclear safety. While the nation is implementing new safety standards, the return of nuclear power will be very “gradual,” Takaoka said. “It will take some time before it reaches the previous level before Fukushima,” Takaoka said. “Because of this situation, we have to import more, especially LNG.”

LNG IMPORTS 87.8 million tons per year (MTPA)

Gov. Rick Perry recently returned from his ﬁrst trip to Japan, and Houston Mayor Annise Parker is about to embark on a similar trip of her own. As such, while Nozomu Takaoka has only been in Houston a year, the consulgeneral of Japan sees a growing partnership between his nation and the energy capital Nozomu of the world through Takaoka liquefied natural gas exports and much more. Takaoka said he sees the Houston area helping Japan’s energy needs through LNG exports, while more Japanese companies are continuing to invest in the North American shale boom and the upcoming petrochemical and manufacturing booms. “There’s a great future with Japan-Texas relations,” Takaoka said. That partnership starts with the decision by the U.S. to start allowing LNG

54.3

40.9 40

18.6

12.9

12.8

9.4

India

Taiwan

Spain

0 Japan

S. Korea

China

Houston-based Freeport LNG Expansion LP recently entered into a new equity funding agreement with Japan-based Osaka Gas Company Ltd. and Chubu Electric Power Company Inc. for more than $1 billion to go toward the proposed natural gas liquefaction and LNG loading facility on Quintana Island near Freeport, Texas. The facility involves the development of three liquefaction plants, also known as “trains,” which will begin going online in 2018. Freeport already has liquefaction

Other

SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL GAS UNION

Houston and Japan partner on LNG exports and more

tolling agreements with Osaka Gas, Chubu Electric, Toshiba Corp. and others. Likewise, the Houston-based Cameron LNG project has minority Japanese owners in Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsui & Company Ltd. Even with the narrowing of the price gap through exports, transportation costs still make U.S. LNG relatively costly in Japan, Takaoka said. The widening of the Panama Canal in the near future should strengthen Japan and Houston ties even more.

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

30;09 R

Event: University of Houston second annual Energy Symposium Series: Critical Issues in Energy When: 5:30 p.m. Where: UH University Center Theater

Why go? For an in-depth discussion on U.S. energy security ranging from geopolitical forces to prices at the gas pump. Featured speakers include Edward Chow of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Ed Hirs of Hillhouse Resources LLC and the University of Houston.

More: uhenergyseries.eventbrite.com

BY THE NUMBERS

OVERHEARD

GERMAN INDUSTRIAL GIANT TO BUY HOUSTON OILFIELD EQUIPMENT COMPANY IN $7.6 BILLION DEAL

CONE MIDSTREAM PARTNERS HAS HIGH IPO GOALS

$422.6M

The IPO goal for Cone Midstream Partners LP, which is jointly owned by Houston-based Noble Energy Inc. and Pittsburghbased Consol Energy Inc. After the IPO, Consol and Noble will both own an approximately one-third limited partner interest in Cone. Cone is expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “CNNX” on Sept. 25.

17.5 million

The amount of common units Cone Midstream is launching its IPO with for a proposed maximum aggregate offering price of more than $400 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

$22

How much Cone Midstream priced each unit. Underwriters will have a 30-day option to purchase an additional 2.6 million units.

SERVICES

“It is more about getting access to decision-making than anything else, because then we — through our global distribution network in Siemens — can follow any oil and gas company anywhere in the world and help them to develop their business.”

“It’s a healthy multiple. They (Dresser-Rand leadership) didn’t really want to sell out. The valuations were getting very rich, and they have a ﬁduciary responsibility to respond. At some point in time, the premium is too signiﬁcant (to turn down).”

JOE KAESER, Siemens AG president and CEO on the importance of developing a strong Houston position with the $7.6 billion acquisition — with the assumption of debt — of Houston-based DresserRand Group Inc. (NYSE: DRC).

MARSHALL ADKINS, managing director at the Houston office of Raymond James & Associates Inc., on the decision to sell at a high price. Although Siemens paid too much on paper, Adkins said, the deal looks like a good long-term investment for the company.

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BY THE NUMBERS

The notification comes after New York-based Loews Corp. (NYSE: L) said last month it would sell Houston-based HighMount, its wholly owned subsidiary, for an undisclosed price. Houston-based, energy-focused private equity firm EnerVest Ltd. is the buyer. The deal is expected to close before the end of the year.

The number of jobs HighMount said in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act letter to the TWC that it will cut in stages on Oct. 24, Oct. 27 and Nov. 3. The company anticipates cutting additional jobs. R

105

The number of permanent full-time Houston jobs at risk at HighMount Exploration & Production LLC, which is closing its Houston facility.

NEWS TICKER

HOUSTON ENERGY COMPANY BEING ACQUIRED

Houston-based Dune Energy Inc. (OTC: DUNR) has agreed to be acquired by Los Angeles-based Eos Petro Inc. (OTC: EOPT). Eos will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Dune for 30 cents per share in cash, according to the agreement. James Watt, Dune president and CEO, is expected to become president and CEO of Eos. In August, Watt said Dune had been seeking a merger for some time. Dune was delisted from the American Stock Exchange in 2010 because of compliance issues.

NEW $6B LNG EXPORT FACILITY COULD BE BUILT IN GALVESTON

The Woodlands-based NextDecade is considering building a $6 billion liquefied natural gas export facility on Pelican Island, north of Galveston Island. The Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees approved Pelican Island LNG, a subsidiary of NextDecade, to hold 185 acres on the northeast corner of Pelican Island for six months at a cost of $100,000. NextDecade, which Kathleen Eisbrenner formed in 2010, also has secured land in Brownsville for another proposed project.

GIVE OR TAKE

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) has a deal with Houston-based Linn Energy LLC (Nasdaq: LINE) for another huge land swap. This is the second nonmonetary exchange agreement this year between the two energy companies. In May, Exxon Mobil added nearly 26,000 acres in the Permian Basin, while Linn got a portion of Exxon Mobil’s interest in the Hugoton gas field in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Mark Ellis, CEO of Linn Energy

WHAT LINN GAVE:

Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil will receive 17,800 net acres in the Texas Permian Basin to be managed by its subsidiary, Fort Worth-based XTO Energy Inc. Exxon is getting acreage in the Wolfcamp and Spraberry shales of the Permian’s Midland Basin. Exxon also will receive 800 net acres in the New Mexico Delaware Basin.

WHAT LINN GOT:

Linn, in turn, will receive interest in about 500 net acres of Exxon’s South Belridge Field, which is near Bakersfield, California. The South Belridge Field currently produces approximately 3,400 barrels of oil per day. Linn estimates the deal includes 300 future drilling locations in California. Following the close of this transaction with Exxon in the fourth quarter, Linn will have 13,000 net acres in the Midland Basin that is prospective for horizontal Wolfcamp drilling. COURTESY

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

MONEY & LAW HUB I SEDWARDS@BIZJOURNALS.COM

713-395-9632

Reporter Suzanne Edwards

@HBJSUZANNE

RICH PEOPLE

Put your money where the risk is: Alternative i 12%

Private equity, foreign currency, derivatives, etc.

34% Capital markets

23%

Liquid assets

18% Fixed income

WHERE’S THE WEALTH?

The RBC Wealth ManagementCapgemini U.S. Wealth Report of 2014 shows where Houston’s high net worth individuals are investing.

13% Real estate

ouston’s high net worth individuals are increasingly investing their wealth in the stock market and real estate portfolios that include a variety of properties, many of which could be distressed due to the ﬁnancial downturn in 2008, said Darryl Traweek, divisional director for RBC Wealth Management. “We’ve seen demand from our clients for alternative asset managers that focus on real estate (and) some of the distressed businesses that became hammered in the ’08-‘09 crisis,” said Traweek. RBC deﬁnes real estate port-

folios including a pool of properties managed by asset managers in the “alternative investments” category, as opposed to “real estate investments”, said Traweek. Traweek also noted that alternative investments continue to grow in general, which includes private equity, commodities, derivatives and foreign currencies. For a time after the crisis, Houston investors were happy to simply maintain their principal investments, forsaking the notion of a return on investment. Now, investors are ready to take

NEWSMAKER

Bank of Texas hires big gun to grow market share in Houston

After concluding a decorated career with Bank of America in Houston, former Bank of America Market President Kim Ruth has resurfaced to take on the role of Houston region chair at Bank of Texas, the Texas division of Tulsa, Oklahoma-based BOK Financial Corp. Bank of Texas has $1.9 billion in assets. BOK acquired Houston-based MBM Advisers, a retirement-planning advisory, earlier this year.

the wealth management segment. It’s a very important line of business.

What’s Bank of Texas’ growth strategy for the next year? We are going to obviously be expanding in all of our business, whether it’s wealth management, corporate trust, you name it. So we will add more people. But I think what we’re really looking at, too, is how do we marry up our expansion plans with the industries that really make a diﬀerence in this region. The bank is very involved in

What do you feel you’re bringing to the table? What I feel I’m bringing is a lot of experience in a number of different businesses. In my role as the market president (at BofA), I really worked to link all the different businesses that were operating in this market together and really going to market as one organization, so that’s a natural (fit) right there. I have been here in Houston for 25

Do you have an acquisition target in mind? If you look at analyst presentations that have been done on (BOK), clearly they are inquisitive, not just (about) buying banks, but they’ve bought wealth management organizations (and) companies that have more of a technology twist to them. So they’ve done some acquisitions that aren’t just the typical “Let’s go buy the bank down the street.” They will probably continue to do that.

years, so I know the city well, and I know the businesses. I’m very familiar with the people. If you were to ask someone who has worked for me before, they would probably say that I’m a big developer of people. That is a skill I’ve always had. I expect to do that here. What are some of the culture differences between BofA and Bank of Texas? They are both very good organizations, and I’m not saying that lightly. A culture of being engaged in the community, giving back and being out there is very similar at both (organizations). (Bank of Texas) has more of a growth culture to it I think than Bank of America does. It’s not that Bank of America doesn’t want to grow, but you can’t do acquisitions when you’re (at) over a trillion dollars in assets. When you were briefly in Los Angeles

Kim Ruth

overseeing the market for Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, what did you miss the most about Houston? The people. Houston has a reputation for being a city that’s very international and very diverse, but it’s a very giving and philanthropic city. It’s also a very engaged and probusiness city, and so I really miss the people side of it. I can’t say I really miss the weather in the summer, but it’s pretty hard to reproduce the people-side here.

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

02;10

Event: Thompson & Knight Energy Symposium When: 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. Where: Four Seasons, 1300 Lamar Why go? Rub elbows with, and get insights from, Houston’s energy movers and shakers.

nvestments heat up

$1 billion $900

agement oﬃces in the western half of the US and said that in his view, when looking at the entire country, the most signiﬁcant development is that wealth creation is no longer relegated only to the East and West coasts, but rather is including more diverse geographies like Dallas and Houston. Houston saw 18 percent growth in number of high net worth individuals between 2012 and 2013, ranking second among the 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas according to a recent report on U.S. wealth from RBC Wealth Management and Capgemini. Dallas ranked No. 1 with 20 percent growth.

$894M

The U.S. Wealth Report 2014 shows Houston rising in the ranks of the country’s wealthiest cities by number of high net worth individuals.

$800 $700 $ Millions

greater risks for potentially greater rewards. In addition to real estate, as conﬁdence in the stock market grows with more time distancing investors from the ﬁnancial crisis, wealthy individuals are increasingly looking for stock investment opportunities, said Traweek. Looking forward, investments in technology and energy will increasingly overlap as the energy sector in Houston becomes more technologically sophisticated, said Traweek, giving way to businesses that advance the way the energy sector harvests and distributes energy. Traweek manages 65 RBC Wealth Man-

HOUSTON MOVING UP IN THE WORLD

$600 $500 $400

$330M $264M

$300 $200

$131M

$100

UP 18%

0 New York City

Texas Capital Bank is #1 in business loan growth over the past five years, significantly outpacing some of the largest banks in the country.* That kind of lending power speaks volumes about both our financial strength and our unwavering mission to help Texas businesses grow and prosper. For valuable insights from banking professionals who are committed to seeing your business succeed, contact The Best Business Bank in Texas®.

Los Angeles

Chicago

Houston

$113M

Dallas

www.texascapitalbank.com *Sources: SNL Bank Database and Bloomberg Member FDIC NASDAQ ®: TCBI

MONEY LENDERS

Houston credit union sneaks into list of top 5 lenders Credit unions are increasingly crowding community banks in the small business lending space, rankling some bankers while potentially reviving small businesses. Members Choice Credit Union has climbed to No. 4 in the Small Business Administration ranking of the top 10 most active lenders in the greater Houston area, improving three spots from last year and six from the year before. MCCU ranked 13th on the Houston Business Journal’s List of largest Houston-area credit unions in 2013 and ninth on the 2013 List of largest SBA loan producers. “We’re seeing more and more credit unions become active in our programs simply for the fact that they really are the community banks that are left after the blood bath of all the mergers, acquisitions, failures of community banks. We went from about 15,000 banks many years ago to less than half of that today,” said Manuel Gonzalez, director of the Houston district of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Gonzalez said his oﬃce has been actively

TOP 10 HOUSTON SBA LENDERS IN AUGUST 1.

BBVA Compass

Chase

Amegy Bank

Green Bank

Wallis State Bank

Live Oak Banking Co.

Members Choice C.U.

Texan Bank

Wells Fargo

10.

Texas Citizens Bank SOURCE: SBA HOUSTON DISTRICT OFFICE

marketing to credit unions for some time, much to the chagrin of some “grumblers” among the community banks who feel credit unions are crowding their turf. “That’s to be expected, you can’t please everyone all the time,” said Gonzalez, adding that competition is good for the consumer. Credit unions are subject to less stringent regulations, falling outside the strictest aspects of the Dodd-Frank Act, and so in some ways have a leg up on community banks.

“Dodd-Frank is putting a lot more stress tests (on the banks) that credit unions don’t have,” said Gonzalez, adding that in addition to Dodd-Frank compliance, banks also have to pay franchise taxes that credit unions don’t. Gonzalez said the Houston district oﬃce will guarantee roughly $800 million in loans as part of the SBA’s Loan Guarantee Program, out of roughly $30 billion nationwide – the best year the Houston district oﬃce has had to date.

MCCU’s 2013 financials and lending activity

$251 million MCCU’s total loans for 2013

$12.7 million

Its income from interest on loans for 2013

$13 million

The increase it saw in total loans for 2013, 5.7 percent over total loans for 2012

10, 7, 4

The spots MCCU achieved in the Houston SBA’s ranking of most active lenders in 2012, 2013 and 2014 respectively

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE & RETAIL HUB I JENNYALDRIDGE@BIZJOURNALS.COM

Reporter Jenny Agee-Aldridge

@HBJALDRIDGE

713-395-9631

BREAKING GROUND

Developers gamble big on industrial odds — and some may not hit the jackpot

ouston’s industrial market is booming, especially in the northwest submarket where there are 46 buildings with a total of 2.58 million square feet under construction. Only 6.4 percent of those buildings are preleased, which means not all developers will fare equally. “Taken in any context, the second quarter’s 2.58 million square feet under construction at a 94 percent availability rate is alarming at ﬁrst glance,” said Donald Hall, real estate economist at CoStar Portfolio Strategy. “There hasn’t been this much new space under construction in the northwest corridor since 2001, and this level of spec development is unprecedented.” Since 2007, the average vacancy rate for industrial space under construction in the submarket has been about 57 percent, which Hall says is about average for Texas. For Dallas it has been about 60 percent over the same time period. “Although on par locally, taken in context of other markets, these are pretty high averages. Over the same time period, even construction-hungry markets like Atlanta and Phoenix have only been 29 percent and 47 percent speculative (respectively),” he said. However, with vacancies in the market so low and rents and demand at an alltime high, the market should be able to absorb the new space, Hall said. Vacancy rates for the northwest corridor are currently 4 percent with an average rent of $6.86 per square foot, reports CoStar. “Although new stock is warranted right now, not all developments will fare equally. In general, smaller speculative devel-

“This level of spec development is unprecedented.” DONALD HALL, real estate economist at CoStar Portfolio Strategy

Spring-based Kopke & Marek Investments has broken ground on a 19,000-squarefoot flex warehouse in Conroe. COURTESY

R TREND TO WATCH Houston’s bread and butter will continue to be warehouses under 300,000 square feet that serve locally oriented tenants, and the northwest corridor will continue to be popular because of its location between the port and Dallas-Fort Worth, according to Donald Hall, real estate economist at CoStar Portfolio Strategy. R RATES STEADY —

FOR NOW

The average quoted asking rental rate for available industrial space was $5.89 per square foot at the end of the second quarter in the Houston market area, the same as the end of the first quarter.

5.3%

Average vacancy rate of industrial properties in second quarter, down .1 percent from the previous quarter

Industrial buildings completed in the second quarter in the Houston area

R LARGEST LEASES

R LARGEST

• The 497,867-square-foot lease signed by Atlanta-based HD Supply Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HDS) at Greens Crossing I in Pinto Business Park in the North Corridor market • The 267,170-square-foot deal signed by B&G Foods Inc. at DCT Airtex Industrial Center in the North Corridor market • The 131,406-square-foot lease signed by Houston-based Sharps Compliance Corp. at Park 288 Building B in the Southern Corridor market

INKED THIS YEAR

DELIVERIES THIS YEAR

• Imperial Distribution Center Building 1, a 328,020-squarefoot facility • Walhof Global Logistics Center, a 250,200-square-foot building R LARGEST PROJECTS

UNDERWAY

2,033,291 sf

Total amount of that space completed in the second quarter in the Houston area

4,818,651 sf

Industrial space under construction at the end of the

opments are poised to lease more quickly than larger ones, as there simply hasn’t been the same level of demand for large space in the area,” he said.

second quarter

• Beltway Crossing NorthWest Building 7, a 441,000-squarefoot building with 0% of its space preleased • Fallbrook Drive west of Fairbanks, a 400,250-squarefoot facility that is 0% preleased

Some of the biggest players in the industrial real estate market have come from the energy sector. Companies headquartered in the city and those looking

SOURCE: COSTAR

to enter the Houston market are trying to develop or lease manufacturing facilities, warehouses, distribution centers, logistics centers and oﬃce space.

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HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

OVERHEARD

Commercebank

“Houston is a good market for any concept. The economy is good, it’s a hip town, and folks there know good quality food.” FARRELL KUBENA, partner and director of business development at Torchy’s Tacos, which will open its sixth Houston location in Sugar Land within the next six months with plans to open four more in the Houston area. The targeted areas are the Galleria, The Woodlands, Memorial City and Baybrook, said Kubena, who declined to give specifics except to say the Memorial City location will likely open mid2015. Houston broker Jamie Weaver with Edge Realty Partners is helping scout locations. R

REAL DEAL

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE SALES & LEASES | Supplied by Commercial Gateway Manufacturing/Distribution 4553 Aldine Bender LLC purchased a 28,270-squarefoot industrial building located at 4553 Aldine Bender in the Interwood Business Park. John Ferruzzo and Travis Land of NAI Houton represented the seller, BRG Cornerstone Development & Construction LP. Mike Spears and Mary Moore of The National Realty Group represented the buyer. Office Furniture Connection leased 125,278 square feet of industrial space at 13101 Almeda Road. Corey Ferguson with Raintree Commercial represented the tenant. Keith Bilski and Neil Martin with Finial Group represented the landlord. An undisclosed buyer purchased a 20,250 square foot office/warehouse building at 10460 S. Sam Houston Parkway W. Payton

Indermuehle with ICO Commercial represented the seller, Shah Holdings LLC, while Clinton Dansby with Strategic Realty Consultants represented the buyer. Jetco Delivery Inc., a trucking and logistics company, recently completed three transactions. Bo Pettit and David Boyd with Boyd Commercial represented Jetco Delivery in all three transactions. • Jetco purchased 3010 Aldine Bender Drive, a 20-acre lot with a 10,000-square-foot office/warehouse, from Old Dominion Freight Line. The site will serve as Jetco’s new headquarters and when complete, will have approximately 30,000 square feet of commercial space. • Jetco sold its former headquarters, a 23,000-square-foot office/ warehouse on 6.32 acres at 5521 Harvey Wilson Drive, to

Holloway-Houston Inc. • Gulf Stream Marine leased 7,500 square feet of office/ warehouse space at 6939 Old Clinton Drive from Jetco. Jetco owns the property and has utilized the space to accommodate its growth in recent years.

Timber Trails Business Park LLC purchased 36.86 acres on Cypress North Houston. John Ferruzzo of NAI Houston represented the buyer. Keith Edwards and Clay Roper of Caldwell Cos. represented the seller, S.M. Chang, Trustee. Law

Nonprofit The Salvation Army leased 70,000 square feet of industrial space at 10333 Papalote Street from Prologis TLF LLC. Robert Alinger of Boyd Commercial represented the tenant.

AkinMears leased 19,985 square feet of office space in San Felipe Plaza located at 5847 San Felipe St. Eric Siegrist and JP Hutcheson with Cassidy Turley represented the landlord, Parkway Properties. Jay Kyle with Colliers International represented the tenant.

Investment GRBR Properties Ltd. purchased 20 acres on Genoa Red Bluff from Ellington Land LP. Andrew Sowell and Mike Boyd with Boyd Commercial represented the buyer.

Misc.

Multi-Family Building Houston

Retail Property South Florida

Retail Condo Refinance New York

Container Properties LLC purchased 30 acres at 6710 Lake Houston Parkway from C&G Realty B LLC. Robert Alinger and Conrad Bernard with Boyd Commercial represented the buyer.

BY THE NUMBERS

RENOVATIONS ON TAP FOR RICE VILLAGE Rice Management Co. has bought a section of Rice Village and plans to renovate the property to attract new tenants. Trademark Property Co. has been hired to oversee the property’s management, leasing and repositioning of the three buildings, and is working on a five-year plan that will include improvements to the landscape, pedestrian walkways, site amenities and building facades. Miami-based Duany Plater Zyberk, the international architecture firm RTKL and BoulderColorado-based Stantec Vibe have been hired to collaborate on the conceptual design of the project. The general contractor has not been selected.

Stores and restaurants in the space, which includes the Village Arcade R

Multi-Family Building Houston

193,000 SF

Size of the retail space in Rice Village bought by Rice Management Co. for an undisclosed price

10%

Vacancy rate of the space

CHANGING HANDS

R Houston-based Core Real Estate sold 8 West Centre in Katy to Tel Aviv-based Azrieli Group for an undisclosed amount. The 277,045-square-foot building is fully leased to two tenants, Cameron International Corp. (NYSE: CAM) and Helix Energy Solutions (NYSE: HLX), both based in Houston. HFF LP marketed the property on behalf of the seller. HFF also assisted Azrieli in securing a five-year, fixed-rate acquisition loan through Aegon USA Realty Advisors LLC, a commercial real estate investment and management arm of Aegon Asset Management. R Houston-based Corinthian Real Estate Inc. bought The WestMont, a 17,000-squarefoot mixed-use property at 3217 Montrose, for an undiscolsed price. Corinthian plans to renovate the interior

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Multi-Family • Retail • Office • Industrial • Hospitality and exterior of the building at the corner of Lovett and Montrose and will seek restaurant, medical and office tenants. Renovations on the space are expected to be completed by April. WestMont is within walking distance to hot Houston restaurants, such as Underbelly, Uchi and Hay Merchant. R New York-based Clarion Partners bought Westchase Corporate Center, a 184,259-square-foot Class A, six-story building, from New York-based DRA Advisors LLC for an undisclosed price. JLL represented the seller, and Clarion Partners represented itself. The building was 98 percent leased at the time of sale. Statoil and Cisco are the two largest tenants, collectively occupying about 45 percent of the building.

Act Now and contact our Commercial Real Estate financing experts Today! Houston (713) 331-4294 Francisco Rivero

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HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE HUB R

FOR SALE

DOWNTOWN TROPHY TOWER ON THE MARKET AGAIN

An iconic downtown building — 1000 Main — is up for sale after trading hands only two years ago. A partnership between Dallasbased Invesco Real Estate and an unidentified Australian entity bought the 837,000-square-foot tower in early 2012 from KanAm Group LLC for about $335 million. CBRE Group Inc. (NYSE: CBG) has the listing and is expected to begin marketing the tower within a few weeks, according to Real Estate Alert. Real Estate Alert estimates the building could be worth around $440 million, making it the only Houston office property worth more than $200 million currently for sale. R

BOOMING ECONOMY LEADS TO MORE RETAIL

ONE MALL FOR SALE, ANOTHER TO BE BUILT

A mall built in the 1960s has been put on the market, and another one is on the drawing board in Houston’s busy retail market. Northwest Mall, a 52-acre, 800,000-square-foot retail center at U.S. Highway 290 and 610 Loop, is being listed by HFF. The mall could sell for about $38 per square foot, or $86 million total. There are about 50 tenants in Northwest Mall, according to its website. Houston-based Levcor Inc. bought the mall for $19 million in 2007 from Glimcher Realty Trust of Columbus, Ohio. And on tap, Paragon Outlet Partners plans to build an outlet mall in Rosenberg, a city just outside of Sugar Land. The Baltimore-based commercial development company reached an agreement with the city of Rosenberg and the Rosenberg Development Corp. to build the 400,000-square-foot mall at Interstate 69 and Spacek Road. The company did not disclose if any retailers have signed on for the project. Paragon anticipates breaking ground on the project in spring of 2015.

400

Construction jobs expected to be created from the new outlet mall in Rosenberg

1,000

Permanent jobs expected from the outlet mall

1968

Year Northwest Mall opened

NEWS TICKER

DRILLING COMPANY DOUBLES SPACE WITH MOVE TO ENERGY CORRIDOR

Houston-based Pacific Drilling SA (NYSE: PACD) almost doubled its office space to accommodate the company’s growth with its 70,000-square-foot lease at 11700 Katy Freeway in the Energy Corridor. The exploration and production firm vacated its Galleria office at 3050 Post Oak. “Pacific outgrew their current facilities in the Galleria and elected to relocate to the Energy Corridor primarily to be better located for their employees, achieve better parking density and to get prominent building signage and exposure for their name and brand in Houston,” said Jon Silberman, who along with Griff Bandy, Matt Gaby and Kelly Torian of NAI Houston, represented Pacific Drilling on the lease. Pacific Drilling has grown over the past three years from four to eight rigs in its fleet. “Six rigs are working today, and our corporate staff has grown to support that operating fleet. We need to grow further to support our last two rigs as they begin operations. For some time, we have been very cramped in our previous space, but we put off any expansion in that location until we determined what the best long-term solution would be for the company,” said Pacific Drilling spokeswoman Amy Roddy. Pacific Drilling plans to renovate the space as more employees occupy it. The building includes an auditorium and room to build out a training facility for the company’s offshore crews.

THE LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY

C NGRATULATES

THE 2014 MAN & WOMAN OF THE YEAR.

Nick Stefanakis Houston, TX Womble Company

Hasti Taghi Houston, TX Texas Children’s Hospital

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society not only congratulates this year’s winners who raised more than $100,000 but all the candidates who competed for the title. Their efforts and commitment have made an impact in the search for cures and effective blood cancer therapies.

www.mwoy.org/txg t 888.HELP.LLS

MORE HOTELS FOR THE WOODLANDS, DOWNTOWN

A new Embassy Suites is coming to the Houston area, and a Houston-based developer has broken ground on a hotel downtown with plans to build another on recently purchased property. The full-service Embassy Suites will be built in 3 Hughes Landing on Lake Woodlands, but no other details have been released by The Woodlands Development Co., which is developing Hughes Landing. “I can’t tell you the name, but it sounds like Embassy,” Alex Sutton, copresident of Howard Hughes-subsidiary The Woodlands Development Co., said. And, Houston-based American Liberty Hospitality recently broke ground on a new hotel in downtown Houston and purchased the land adjacent to the site for future development. The 300-room dual-branded hotel — Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites by Hilton — is expected to be complete in time for the 2016 NCAA Final Four. However, the newly acquired property, which is along La Branch between Capitol and Rusk, is slated for a not-yet-branded hotel.

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

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HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE HUB I PTAKAHASHI@BIZJOURNALS.COM

Reporter Paul Takahashi

@HBJPAUL

713-395-9635

RESIDENTIAL INC.

Developer dives into multifamily at full speed Houston-based Hines entered the multifamily sector four years ago amid growing demand for urban living. After delivering its first Houston project — Waterwall Place in the Galleria area — the international real estate developer is planning to deliver multifamily projects in three other booming neighborhoods: downtown, the Museum District and Upper Kirby. Here’s the skinny on Hines’ upcoming multifamily projects.

21ELEVEN

Location: Westheimer Road and Peckham Street, at the former site of a Cafe Adobe restaurant Size: Seven stories, including a two-story podium garage Units: 217

Amenities: Internet cafe, lounge, gym with separate yoga room, spa, resort-style pool and pool deck, outdoor cooking grills. Granite countertops, Italian cabinets, stainless-steel appliances, gas stoves and hardwood floors inside the units.

Location: Travis Street and Preston Street in downtown Houston Size: 32 stories, including an eight-story podium garage Units: 274 Amenities: 24/7 concierge, valet and porter service, gym, grand living room, Internet cafe, gourmet cooking kitchen, movie theater and aqua lounge. Granite countertops, Italian cabinets, stainlesssteel appliances, gas stoves and hardwood floors.

Estimated completion: December

Estimated completion: September 2016

Unique feature: The location, near the intersection of Montrose and Shepherd Drive, is at the nexus of the Upper Kirby district, Montrose and River Oaks, which Hines thinks will attract a wider range of residents, such as young professionals, empty nesters and those who maintain a suburban home as well as an in-town home.

Unique feature: Built in a historic district, the high-rise’s base incorporates historical architectural features, like brick and cast stone, while the tower will be built out of modern glass and steel. The ground level will feature retail — including a restaurant, café and possibly a boutique grocery store — as well as a pocket park.

COURTESY HINES

3 THE SOUTHMORE

Size: 24 stories, including a six-story garage

Internet cafe, gourmet cooking kitchen, movie theater and aqua lounge. Granite countertops, Italian cabinets, stainlesssteel appliances, gas stoves and hardwood floors.

Units: 233

Estimated completion: August 2016

Average unit size: 1,300 square feet

Unique feature: Hines is building a park with ground-level retail and restaurant space next to the high-rise.

Location: Southmore Boulevard and Caroline Street in the Museum District

Amenities: 24/7 concierge, valet and porter service, gym, grand living room,

SNEAK PEEK

DOUBLING DOWN, DOWNTOWN

Amid growing demand for urban living, Atlanta-based Novare Group Inc. will build a second SkyHouse residential high-rise in downtown Houston. The 24-story, 336-unit SkyHouse Main will be directly south and mirror Novare Group’s SkyHouse Houston project — which broke ground in early 2013 — at 1625 Main St. between Pease and Leeland streets. Units will feature floor-to-ceiling glass and 9-foot-plus ceilings, stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, wood floors, balconies and high-speed Internet. The top floor will feature a “Sky House,” which includes a club room, gym, pool and grilling area. SkyHouse Main is the team’s third SkyHouse-branded project in Houston, after SkyHouse Houston and SkyHouse River Oaks.

DEMOLITION, NEW PROJECT LIKELY FOR AGING TOWNHOME COMPLEX

A foreign investor is likely planning a new project for Post Oak Park Townhomes, said Elizabeth Clampitt, senior associate of land services at CBRE, who brokered the sale of the property. The 5.4-acre property is just inside the 610 Loop near the southwest corner of Memorial Park. The anonymous investor, who declined to disclose the purchase price, is still finalizing plans for the site. Clampitt said she believes the investor plans to demolish the townhomes and build a new project. Residents living in the 102-unit complex, built in 1975, are being asked to move out.

Don’t Worry... Be Appy!

H O M E

E I T

F I N D T O A

R E

P L A C E

P O R P

Developers: Novare Group Inc., Atlanta-based Batson-Cook Development Co. and Houstonbased veteran Peter Dienna. Atlanta-based Batson-Cook Construction is the general contractor, and Atlanta-based Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates Inc. is the architect.

NEWS TICKER

Y O U R

GREENWOODKING

COURTESY

Average unit size: 1,200 square feet

Average unit size: 975 square feet

ONE MARKET SQUARE

STAFFORDSHIRE/MEDICAL CENTER Stately red brick traditional residence. Moments from the Medical Center, park-like setting. Granite kitchen, marble master bath. Formals, fireplace and charming vintage details. Detached garage offers quarters and separate storage. Mary Frances DuMay 2 Bedrooms • 1 Baths • $850s 713.524.0888 3201 Kirby

GREENWOODKING.COM

713.942.6827

DESIGN BUILD 281-286-6666

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SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

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HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

HEALTH CARE & TECH HUB I JMARTIN@BIZJOURNALS.COM

713-395-9638

Reporter Joe Martin

@HBJMARTIN

THE PULSE

Texas doctors: You don’t want this job A BITTER PILL: The shortage of physicians in hospitals and clinics has increasingly become a problem in Houston, and with the country’s aging population, it’s likely to get worse before it gets better. That’s not helped by how Texas doctors feel about their industry right now. Here’s a breakdown of recent survey responses from 20,088 Texas docs, commissioned by The Physicians Foundation.

THE STATE OF TEXAS MEDICINE Which best describes your professional morale and your feelings about the current state of the medical profession?

Which best describes how you feel about the future of the medical profession?

What overall grade would you give the Accountable Care Act as a vehicle for health care reform?

Very Positive 10.1%

Somewhat Positive 28.8%

Very Negative 14.6%

Somewhat Negative

39.1%

Very Positive 7.5%

Very Negative 24.6%

A B C D F

Somewhat Negative

46.6%

Somewhat Positive 28.7%

3.1% 12.6% 26.0% 21.9% 36.4%

OVERHEARD

SOURCE: PHYSICIANS FOUNDATION

THE BUSINESS OF MEDICINE

“The issue is I want to take care of my patients, but the political reality is now, instead of practicing medicine, I’ve realized I have to practice politics, as well.”

On average, how many patients do you see per day?

In addition to your clinical duties, how many hours do you work each week solely on NONCLINICAL (paperwork)?

Which of the following best describes your current practice? 47.7%

32.8%

30.1%

31.3%

28.3% 30.9%

17.9% 21.4%

15.1% 12.3%

13.4%

8.3% 5.9%

DR. TOMAS GARCIA, the president-elect of

3.0%

the Texas Medical Association 0-10

11-20

21-30

31-40

41-50

0-5 hours

6-10 hours

11-15 hours

16-20 hours

21-25 hours

26+ hours

I have time to see more patients

I am at full capacity

I am overextended and overworked

FUTURE PHYSICIANS To address the physician shortage, should Congress lift the cap on federal funding and increase residency slots? No, there is no need to train more physicians

THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE The age of Texas physicians

Yes

35 or under

29.2%

67.6%

9.5%

23.0%

36-45

Yes, we need to train more physicians

70.8%

28.0%

46-55

13.7%

32.4%

56.9%

25.8%

56-65

66 or older

If you had your career to do over, would you choose to be a physician?

Would you recommend medicine as a career to your children or other young people?

Yes

43.1%

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

26;09

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

Event: Energizing Health Houston When: 1-6 p.m. Where: Innovation Center at the TMC, 2450 Holcombe Blvd. Why go? Some of the best health care startups from around the country will pitch to the Texas Medical Center and its top hospitals, as well as the NASA Johnson Space Center. More: Energizinghealth.org

BLAST OFF

BOEING’S OFFICE TO GROW OFF NASA CONTRACT Following an announcement of a $4.2 billion contract from NASA, the Houston offices of Chicago-based Boeing (NYSE: BA) are expected to add around 100 new high-tech jobs that will work directly on the aerospace company’s crew space transportation program. NASA announced that Boeing and

California-based SpaceX will split the commercial space transportation contract to help transport crew to and from the International Space Station. Currently, NASA pays $71 million a seat to fly an astronaut to the International Space Station. Boeing said in June that it would cut around 175 jobs unless it received the

contract. A large portion of the new jobs will focus on software development for the mission operations and the training for crews, said Chris Ferguson, director of crew and mission systems. To find the new hires, Boeing is looking at NASA for subcontractors as well as inside its own offices. Ferguson said he’s received applications from people on the defense and aviation groups of Boeing who are interested in the new industry. But if the company does have to look

outside for new employees, it doesn’t have to look very far, he said. “If you’re hiring in the space business, (Houston) is the place to do it,” Ferguson said. The company won’t have to make any macro-expansions to its office in Clear Lake, he said, but it is remodeling its offices to accommodate some of the new staff. The manufacturing of Boeing’s CST-100 spacecraft will take place in Florida, where the company expects to hire around 550 jobs to meet its need there, Ferguson said.

OVERHEARD

A 10 - G ALLON

H EALTH CAR E P LAN

“We have huge amounts of innovation at the scientific level that takes place. However, very little of that innovation gets translated into commercialization.”

ON A

4- GALLON

B U D G ET

ATUL VARADHACHARY, managing partner for Fannin Innovation Studio, on the gap between research and commercialization in Houston’s biotech industry

NEWS TICKER

WEBSTER MEDICAL PLANT TO CLOSE

California-based Abbott Vascular, a division of Illinois-based Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT), will close its plant in Webster, affecting 52 employees. The facility will close in May, but the company started to let go of employees Sept. 17. Abbott acquired the manufacturing facility when it bought Webster-based medical device company Idev Technologies last year.

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BY THE NUMBERS

1,000

The expected number of physicians CHI St. Luke’s Health plans to add to its clinically integrated network around Houston over the next six months

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HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

CENTERPIECE THE BUSINESS JOURNAL INTERVIEW WITH...

Ryan Lance

CEO and chairman, ConocoPhillips

COURTESY

BY JORDAN BLUM jblum@bizjournals.com 713-395-9627, @HBJEnergy

yan Lance fell in love with the oil industry after high school. His career has taken him around the world — from Alaska to Singapore — but he has called Houston home for several years. After most recently working as senior vice president for international exploration and production at ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), Lance got the call in 2011 that he would become the next CEO of the company following its 2012 spinoﬀ of its downstream arm, Houston-based Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX). Lance now leads the world’s largest independent energy exploration and production company with a market capitalization of nearly $100 billion. The growing Houston company will soon take over the 1.2 million-square-foot Energy Center Three and Four towers under construction in the Energy Corridor. ConocoPhillips also is in the early stages of planning for renovations of its longstanding North Dairy Ashford corporate headquarters.

How is ConocoPhillips growing locally? Just over the course of two and a half years, we’ve added 3,000 (people overall). Largely, it’s been in the North American business, where we’re growing on the unconventional side. It’s the Lower 48 business, which is headquartered here in Houston. The two new oﬃce buildings being built at the corner of Eldridge Avenue and (Interstate 10 will)

CONOCOPHILLIPS OVER THE YEARS

house our whole Lower 48 operation. In what areas are the most people being hired? It’s largely petro-technical — engineers, geologists, geophysicists, drilling people, drilling operations, drilling engineers — but also in the back oﬃces, as well, in terms of the support functions. What do you see as a key challenge going forward? We’re going to run headlong into the oil export issue — a growing

volume of light sweet crude that we can’t reﬁne and has no place to go. We’re going to have to deal with that. Prices will get discounted if it doesn’t go anywhere. Rigs will shut down, and growth will slow if we don’t deal with that over the coming years. The regulatory environment concerns us a little bit. The industry needs to do more to be proactive and talk about hydraulic fracturing, talk about the technologies that we’re deploying, the fact that it doesn’t impact groundwater if you do well-bore construction properly. Is that a big “if”? In the industry, we’re judged by the lowest common denominator. We have to police our own industry better, and that’s clearly on our lap to go do. We’ve got to make sure that all the companies, including the smaller ones all the way to the largest, are employing all the best practices we have as an industry. When you do that, this is a very safe industry. You shouldn’t have all the problems when you follow all those best practices. Keeping the energy prices low is bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. It’s doing a lot to help spur the economy, and we need to help continue

THE LANCE FILE

Age: 52 Hometown: Great Falls, Montana Education: Petroleum engineering degree from Montana Tech Family: Married with two kids, two dogs and one cat Hobbies: Golf, cycling, fishing and hunting Last book read you read? “The Strategy Paradox: Why Committing to Success Leads to Failure (and What to do About it)” by Michael Raynor Favorite place for a business lunch: Brenner’s Steakhouse on the Katy Freeway

that revolution, but we need to do it in a sustainable manner. What’s your style as CEO? My leadership style is pretty simple. I call it SAM — it’s Set direction, Align and Motivate. I think you have to have a compelling direction you’re trying to take the company, one that not only appeals to your workforce, but appeals to your shareholders and potential investors in the company. You’ve got to balance your time, and you’ve got to really, really trust the team that you’ve

Isaac Elder Blake founds Utahbased Continental Oil and Transportation Co., a kerosene and oil distributor, after seeing people use candles and whale oil to light their homes.

Standard Oil takes control of Continental Oil, which is now the top marketer of petroleum products in the Rocky Mountain region.

Continental Oil builds the West’s first filling station, also investing in a fleet of fuel delivery trucks. Continental opens about 1,000 filling stations in 15 states by 1929.

E.W Marland strikes oil in Oklahoma and helps spark the rush for oil. After quickly building a refinery, Marland incorporates Marland Oil Co. and opens hundreds of service stations.

The U.S. Supreme Court orders Standard Oil to relinquish control of Continental Oil to prevent a monopoly.

Brothers Frank and L.E. Phillips establish Phillips Petroleum Co. in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and go on to develop the first widely distributed propane for home heating and cooking.

Financier J.P. Morgan Jr. obtains control of Marland Oil after oil profits fall and ousts Marland as president.

Marland Oil acquires Continental Oil, forming the Continental Oil Co., called Conoco.

Phillips forms the Phillips Chemical Co.

1875

1885

1909

1911

1913

1917

1928

1929

1948

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

CENTERPIECE built, hold them accountable, but set aspirational targets and goals out there that you want to reach as a company You’ve got to live on that edge, but you’ve got to comfortably live on that edge because you don’t want failure to be a constant reminder of what you’re doing. What’s your daily routine like? I’m on the road close to 200 days a year. I get up around 5, and I try to work out for an hour wherever I’m at. If I’m not traveling, I’m usually into the oﬃce by 7 or 7:30, and the day is usually an 11- or 12-hour day. I try to covet my time at home and try to covet my weekends as much as possible (and spend as much time) as I can spend with my wife and family. It’s a global business. You want to get out and see the business, and you need to check alignment so everybody understands the direction you’re going. It requires a lot of time out on the road. How is the company involved in the local community? In the oil business, we’re probably the largest company headquartered here in the Houston area. We’re investing close to $11 million right now in Houston. We support the arts, the theater, the medical community. Some of our signature programs are directed toward STEM education. Kids, if they’ll take and pass algebra as a ninth grader, that’s the best chance you’ll have of going on to graduate and go to college. At (the University of Houston), we helped re-start the undergraduate petroleum engineering program, and we think that’s important. We’re the energy capital of the world and to have a university … not have a petroleum engineering program was not acceptable. What was it like growing up in Montana in a military family? I was the son of a jockey, or pilot, in the Air Force, and (we) moved all over the U.S. The constancy in our family was that most summers, all us kids would get shipped back to the family farm in Montana. I went to the Montana School of Mines, which today is called Montana Tech in Butte, Montana. What happened in my senior year and the summers in college, I worked around the oilﬁelds. I worked out on the rigs on operations. That’s really where I got to know the industry and the people and decided those were the people I liked to party with, to be with, to be around. If you had to go to dinner with somebody, you wanted to go dinner

CLOSER LOOK

CONOCOPHILLIPS

Employees: 19,000 globally; 4,128 locally Revenue: $54.4 billion

HQ: Houston Began trading as current company: May 1, 2012 Top exec: Ryan Lance, chairman and CEO

(

Market cap: $98 billion What it does: Energy exploration and production NYSE: COP

Energy reporter Jordan Blum talks about his interview with Ryan Lance and ConocoPhillips’ long history at HoustonBusinessJournal.com.

with your buddies, and that kind of stuck with me. So I (switched majors to) petroleum engineering and graduated with a petroleum engineering degree, and I haven’t looked back since. It’s been a terriﬁc ride. I spent 14 years in Alaska — three diﬀerent trips. I went through three mergers in three years and showed up as a Phillips Petroleum employee in 2000. Then we merged with Conoco in 2002 and haven’t looked back in terms of the career with ConocoPhillips. It’s been a great run. What did you think when you found out you’d be succeeding longtime CEO James Mulva? It was an honor and a privilege. I’d been around these two companies for 12 years or so. I’d gone through the mergers (and) acquisitions, the growth and development of the company, so I knew it pretty well. I knew the portfolio, the people, the issues. The opportunity to get to lead an organization like this — one that’s global, diverse, growing, vibrant, with a large position around the world and here in North America — is truly an honor. It’s been fabulous. We’ve been on a journey for a couple of years. We’re changing certainly the direction of the company, being the largest, independent E&P company in the world today. That brings with it a lot of opportunity. We pivoted quickly into the North American unconventional developments, so we’re in many of the big emerging and maturing development plays in the Lower 48 and up in Canada. So that’s been an exciting part of the company because it’s revolutionized this business. It’s revolutionized our country and it’s revolutionized our company as well. How do you feel about the potential of energy reform in Mexico? Is it a waitand-see approach? It’s exciting what they’re doing with the reform down

in Mexico. They’re certainly moving in the right direction to try to open up the resource business south of the border to open up investment. What I tell them is — they’re thinking about recrafting their fiscal system, and the reality is to attract Western international oil companies and investments into Mexico, it does need to be competitive with the alternative investments we can make in our portfolios today. Things like deepwater Gulf of Mexico — their end of the border needs to be competitive with what’s going on on the other side of the border. We do know the geology doesn’t stop at the border. The development tends to stop at the border. So I think there is a lot of opportunity. How they craft the fiscal system to be competitive with the global investments around the world is going to be really important as to what kind of capital they attract into Mexico. What is your take on the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, where ConocoPhillips had the single-highest bid in the last round of lease bids? We think parts of the deepwater province around the world — not just the Gulf of Mexico — can be competitive on a cost-of-supply basis with other investments we’re making in our portfolio. The technology has improved dramatically. As we grow our company organically, the targets we’ve laid out for ourselves — 3 to 5 percent production growth, 3 to 5 percent margins growth — we think the deepwater province can play an important role in the delivery of that long-term growth for the company. Now, those investments look different for our company than unconventional investments, but you need a diverse and balanced global portfolio in this business since commodity prices move in different directions, and certain parts of the world have problems at different times. It’s good to be a globally diverse company.

You said earlier this year that we’re in the ‘first inning’ of the shale game. Has your view evolved any? I think it’s still early in the development of technology and the optimization of these plays. Some of the more mature plays out there like the Eagle Ford and the Bakken, we’re still learning more and more about it every year. We’re doing a lot of pilot testing; we’re doing a lot of optimization efforts that revolve both around the drilling and the completion sides of the business and still learning. We have a lot more of that gross resource yet to figure out how to economically produce. So we’re still early in the play. And then we see emerging plays like the whole Permian Basin, which is a 100-year-old basin that’s had a lot of production that’s now going through this unconventional revolution that’s going to change how the Permian Basin looks over the next 20, 30, 40 years. That’s what’s remarkable about this business. We have some issues we have to grapple with as a country to fully take advantage of this revolution that’s going on. Specifically, it’s things like exporting (crude oil) from the U.S. Do you think the Permian Basin is the best long-term oil play in North America? I think it’s one of them. I think it’s certainly going to be an area that’s going to attract a lot of investment, both on the upstream side and the midstream side. It’s about gas lines, pipelines, all the infrastructure needed to evacuate the growing production that we’re going to see there. But I think the Eagle Ford is still going to grow. The Bakken continues to grow. When we look at it as a company, we’re very focused on the cost of supply, and what kind of returns you can get on the investments and how competitive it is in a global portfolio. What we see is these unconventional assets, if you do them right and you optimize right, they compete in the portfolio very, very well. They have a low cost of supply. In a commodity-price world that’s uncertain and goes up and down, we think these kinds of investments will stand the test of time because they have a lower cost of supply. … The mature plays are exciting today because, they may be in the second or third inning, but they still have a long game to play out.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 21

Conoco moves its headquarters from Oklahoma to Houston.

Conoco expands internationally and diversifies into chemicals and plastics.

DuPont acquires Conoco for $7.4 billion — the largest merger in U.S. history at the time.

Conoco officially separates from DuPont in the largest IPO in history at that time — nearly $4.4 billion.

Phillips combines its midstream business with Duke Energy Field Services, creating what is now DCP Midstream. Phillips and Chevron Corp. combine chemical operations, creating Chevron Phillips Chemical Co.

Conoco and Phillips merge, creating the sixth-largest publicly traded oil company in the world at the time. The new ConocoPhillips is headquartered in Houston.

ConocoPhillips announces plans to acquire Burlington Resources in a $35.6 billion transaction.

ConocoPhillips’ board approves pursuing a split of its upstream and downstream businesses into two publicly traded corporations, ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66.

1949

1970s

1981

1998

2000

2002

2005

2011

The separation of ConocoPhillips is complete, and the companies begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Ryan Lance is named chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips.

2012 SOURCE: CONOCOPHILLIPS

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

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HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

CENTERPIECE

CONOCOPHILLIPS BY THE NUMBERS

16%

36%

Other

Education

Disaster relief

2013 COMMUNITY GIVING

20%

Other

13%

43%

Alaska

38%

Natural Gas

Crude Oil

2013 PRODUCTION

32%

Lower 48

12%

22%

Employee community programs

QUARTERLY UPDATE

2Q 2014 PRODUCTION MIX

BY REGION

Europe

13%

Health and safety

5% Asia Pacific & Middle East

Natural resources

18%

11%

Canada

Bitumen

NGL

SOURCE: CONOCOPHILLIPS

ANALYST’S TAKE:

Pavel Molchanov

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) has served as a “breakup story” during the past three years as it has splintered off from Phillips 66 and better established its own identity, said Pavel Molchanov, senior vice president and energy analyst with Raymond James & Associates Inc. in Houston.

Since then, the exploration and production giant has focused on “slimming” its asset portfolio to become a “cleaner, simpler” story for investors. “The market has clearly rewarded Conoco with what some people call ‘shrink-togrow,’” Molchanov said. “This is a larger theme in the industry. Complicated businesses generally

trade at a discount, all things being equal, to those that are more straightforward.” Twenty years ago, he said, “giant conglomerates were all the rage.” Now, investors seem to prefer “better balanced and streamlined portfolios that are easier to understand.” ConocoPhillips is in good shape with a diverse portfolio of

shale, deepwater and international investments, he said. The main thing slowing down companies like ConocoPhillips at the moment is the “noticeably soft” price of oil with geopolitical tensions easing somewhat, Molchanov said.

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

Managed by Madison Henry 713-395-9608, @HBJresearch mhenry@bizjournals.com

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CLOSER LOOK

51%

Minimum percent of company that must be owned by a woman to qualify for The List

$1M

Minimum total revenue reported for 2013 to qualify for The List

LARGEST LOCAL EMPLOYERS Heritage Texas Properties

Centre Technologies

Love Advertising Inc.

GHL Worldwide Chauffered Transportation Services

TPI Staffing Inc.

ABOUT THE LIST Source: questionnaires submitted by company representatives. Information could not be independently verified by the Houston Business Journal.

NEED A COPY OF THE LIST? Information for obtaining reprints, web permissions and commemorative plaques, call 877-3975134. More information can be found online at HoustonBusinessJournal.com by clicking the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Storeâ&#x20AC;? tab near the top of the site.

WANT TO BE ON THE LIST? If you wish to be surveyed when The List is next updated, or if you wish to be considered for other Lists, email your contact information to Madison Henry at mhenry@ bizjournals.com

LOOKING FOR MORE? More information about the companies ranked on The List is available online. Go to www.bizjournals.com/ houston/topic/lists to see more data from all of this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lists.

* = new to this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s List

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

GIRL POWER

THE BOTTOM LINE

Houston Business Journal’s womanowned businesses Lists — ranked by 2013 local revenue (page 22) and two-year growth (page 24) — represent a breadth of industries and bullish executives.

+200% +180%

Percent change in year-overyear revenue

BIGGEST GAINERS

Advertising/ marketing 16% Real estate 16%

Technology

Staffing/human resources 20%

20%

NOW HIRING

+200%

+100%

TPI Staffing Inc.

+80% +60%

+75%

+40% +20%

Bernstein Realty Inc.

DMN3

Re/Max Realty Center

+49%

+43%

16+ employees

11-15 employees

7-10 employees

21%

4-6 employees

BIGGEST LOSERS

-20% -40% -60%

-55% Centre Technologies

26%

Of business owners on The Lists started their company with a family member Other 28%

Office Furniture Innovations

+120%

-80%

Fastest-growing woman-owned businesses by industry

68%

Of those, the family member was their husband

-52% Excalibur Exhibits

-42% W.S. Bellows Construction Corp.

-6%

MMI Agency

Magnum Staffing Services

Largest woman-owned businesses by industry

Technology 12% Real estate 16%

Other 24%

67%

1-3 employees

Staffing/ human resources 28%

Advertising/ marketing 20%

WOMANOWNED BUSINESSES HIRING IN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS

98%

Increase in the number of woman-owned businesses in Texas between 1997 and 2014, second in the nation SOURCE: AMERICAN EXPRESS OPEN

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HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

Managed by Madison Henry 713-395-9608, @HBJresearch mhenry@bizjournals.com

LARGEST HOUSTON AREA WOMEN OWNED BUSINESSES RANKED BY TOTAL LOCAL 2013 REVENUE #

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CLOSER LOOK

Number of companies on The List that also appear on The Fastest-Growing WomenOwned Businesses List (p. 22B)

BIGGEST YEAR-OVERYEAR REVENUE GAINS Heritage Texas Properties

$255M

Mark III Systems Inc.

$17M

Cenergy International Services LLC

$9M

Cole Chemical & Distributing Inc.

$9M

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-$59M -$15M

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Excalibur Exhibits

-$5M

Magnum Staffing Services

-$3M

ABOUT THE LIST Source: questionnaires submitted by company representatives. Information could not be independently verified by the Houston Business Journal.

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL INTERVIEW WITH...

Robin Mueck

CEO, Heritage Texas Properties

“I’m onto the next vision. The $2 billion mark will be much easier to attain after this.” PAUL TAKAHASHI/HBJ

BY PAUL TAKAHASHI ptakahashi@bizjournals.com 713-395-9635, @HBJPaul

Selling homes and buying property is hard work. Realtors must organize open houses, spruce up property and navigate mounds of paperwork for

their clients. Robin Mueck picked up her strong work ethic from her father, an air-conditioning contractor who installed the ﬁrst cooling systems in Houston schools. Today, Mueck takes her father’s lessons to work every day as president and CEO of Heritage Texas Properties, the largest womanowned business in Houston based on local 2013 revenue (see page 22). “My father got up every day and worked very hard at his business, so I had work ethic from Day One,” Mueck said. “He told me, ‘Work harder than everyone else, and opportunities will come your way.’” Under Mueck’s leadership, Heritage Texas Properties has grown over the past 15 years from a few dozen agents in one oﬃce to more than 300 agents in 16 locations across Houston. Last year, the company brokered 3,911 transactions worth $1.3 billion. How did you get into residential real estate? I always knew that my work would serve others. It was always a calling I felt. However, I didn’t know that real estate would be the avenue. Growing up, some of my relatives were therapists and nurses, so I always thought I would be in health care, working with people who were ill and trying to lift them up.

One day, a friend of mine who owned a real estate company was listening to me weighing opportunities and asked, ‘Have you ever thought about pursuing a career in real estate?’ I was very young — mid-20s — but I had a lot of interest in business. And because I’m a native, I knew the community well. So I ultimately began a sales career with Clear Lake Realty in 1976. Once I started, I knew I was in the right business. I knew I was serving others. The opportunities were limitless. All I had to do at that point balance raising a family and growing a company. What were your first impressions of the Houston real estate market when you began? It was a real exciting time. The community in Clear Lake was thriving because of the colossal space program. But soon, I wanted to move into a bigger market. In 1986, I was recruited to House Hunters Inc., a brokerage that I ultimately bought three years later. We were in the Memorial area, speciﬁcally Hudson Oaks and Woods at Hudson. They were very prestigious gated developments in the heart of what we now call the Energy Corridor. As I look back on it, I feel so fortunate to have started in a community where the schools were so recognized and the executives of the oil industry were relocating in that corridor. It was just a wonderful foundation for the next 35 years of my career. How did you learn the ins and outs of the business? When I started with House Hunters, I was surrounded by high performers. They were 15 or 20 years my senior, but were very

progressive individuals. I had exposure every day to dedicated professionals whose heart and souls were in their business. I learned by osmosis. When you see how others blaze their trail and conduct themselves, it becomes a part of how you think and act. How has the real estate business changed since you started? Technology has been the biggest change in our industry. In the 1980s, there was no such thing as computer systems and distributed databases. We had printed Multiple Listing Service books that were four inches thick with photographs. If you were going to create a promotional brochure, believe me, it was the long way around. You were there late at night typesetting. You weren’t in a position to just pop something up on your monitor, tweak it and out the printer it goes. This was long before we had the automation we enjoy today. When I moved into the management role for a growing company, it allowed me to be creative and apply technology to our business at a time when technology wasn’t common. And today, we are still diﬀerentiating ourselves by optimizing the very best technology. Some would argue technology is disrupting the real estate business. There are smart phone apps that allow homebuyers to find suitable homes on the go, without the help of a Realtor. Do you feel threatened by technology today? I think this innovation is so exciting, because it allows the individual buyer or seller to gather so much more knowledge, faster. The world is much

THE MUECK FILE

Age: 60 Hometown: Houston Education: University of Houston, marketing major First job: Local mom and pop grocery store at age 14; first job out of college was in real estate sales and marketing Family: Husband of 33 years, Jerry; son, Colby, and his wife Kara; daughter, Jaclyn, and her husband Brent; and three grandsons Hobbies: Outdoor sports, observing nature, entertaining, running, playtime with my grandsons Last book you read: “A Pathway to Profit” by Anita Pugh, Caroline Hipple, Chris Matthies and Dixon Bartlett

smaller today because of technology. You could be in Dubai and look at someone’s family room online and say, ‘That’s it. That’s the one.’ However, we are all in this constant bombardment of information. Buyers and sellers need a trusted advisor, somebody they can really exchange data with and help them make the right decision. As long as the Realtor understands the consumer’s need, there’s a place for them in that relationship. This innovation has really put the burden on the professional and elevated consumers’ expectations. How did you end up co-founding Heritage Texas Properties? In the 1990s, I was on a journey to grow a much bigger company. I found myself in pursuit of other boutique ﬁrms only to discover that Lynn Zarr & Company Realtors was in pursuit of

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

the same firms. We continued to bump into each other until interestingly, we found ourselves attending a national conference on mergers and acquisitions. We accidentally bumped into each other, and it was a lightbulb moment. We said, ‘If we were going to have this continuous head-bumping, maybe we ought to have a cup of coffee and talk about how we could accomplish our goals easier by joining our efforts.’ Lynn Zarr and I became partners in 1999. What did the merger mean for your company? It turned out to be a home run. By having a more diverse foundation of products and regions in Houston, we could take the cycles of business. When luxury properties were prospering, we had that market. When the first-time homebuyer market was on fire, we had that market. When the move-up market was on fire, we had that market. It allowed us to weather the years well because not all our eggs were in one basket. Heritage grew exponentially from 1999 forward through acquisitions of very special companies and the internal growth that came from having solid people. Five years ago, my partner retired, so my husband, Jerry, and I purchased the balance of the stock so we are the only owners of the company. But we have continued the acquisition strategy that Lynn and I created to fold into our business those companies that add dimension.

all to their children and be dedicated to their business. I give a lot of credit to my husband, who understood that I was not only devoted to being the very best mother but also my desire to grow a business that our children will someday consider an asset. I feel very blessed to have a partner in life, now 33 years, who understands the balance that’s necessary. In a service industry like real estate, there’s no day oﬀ. When a consumer has a need, those who are successful respond. It doesn’t matter if it’s a weekend — it’s a continuous demand. So

you have to build a support system not only with your spouse but with talented people, so you can have your cake and eat it, too. You can achieve both, but it takes a strong partnership to make that happen. What’s next for you? I’m at a stage in my life where watching others succeed is my greatest joy. So the leaders within this company are going to need to hold on for the ride because they’re going to be given opportunities to put their ideas to work. A company shouldn’t be afraid to

reinvent themselves by shifting their strategies to the minds of younger leaders. Recently, I spent three days with various stakeholders in our company: employees, producers and managers. We talked about a focus on new demographics, which is aligned to where the city is going, and a very speciﬁc strategy to remain on top of the heap. And the vision they had lights me up like a Christmas tree. I’m so excited because it’s a collective vision. It’s not just my vision.

Give your employees the duck. Anything else is just chicken. Almost 60 percent of employees wish their employers offered voluntary insurance1.

What do you look for in acquisitions? We have to share the same values, which means that personal connection to people, that servant mentality and being very rooted in their community and growing markets. Over the years, I’ve also learned to respect the uniqueness of these individuals. When you acquire a business that is successful in its own right, you have to respect what got those individuals there and integrate that into your company. Today, we really don’t need to be larger. We just want more quality. If it turns out that we become larger, that’s OK.

The question is, who will you choose? You could opt for a voluntary option from your medical carrier, or you could offer coverage from the number one voluntary provider2: Aflac. There’s no direct cost to you for offering it, and getting started is as simple as adding a payroll deduction. That’s why business owners like you have chosen Aflac for nearly 60 years. It’s also why we’re so confident Aflac is the right partner for your business.

Last year, Heritage Texas surpassed the $1 billion residential sales mark. What did that milestone mean to you and your company? It’s a very proud feeling. It was a lifelong vision for us, and when we exceeded it, I was thrilled. I thought about all the sacriﬁces that people made to build this company and certainly the sacriﬁces that my husband made to provide me this opportunity to live my dream. It’s also a springboard, because now I’m onto the next vision. The $2 billion mark will be much easier to attain after this. You mentioned earlier about growing a successful real estate firm while raising a family. How were you able to juggle your career and family? It was very challenging. It’s challenging in any industry for parents to give their

You can bet the farm on it.

Call your local agent and visit aﬂac.com/business

2013 Aﬂac WorkForces Report, a study conducted by Research Now on behalf of Aﬂac, January 7 – 24, 2013. 2 Eastbridge Consulting Group. U.S. Worksite/Voluntary Sales Report. Carrier Results for 2012. Avon, CT: April 2013. Coverage is underwritten by American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus. In New York, coverage is underwritten by American Family Life Assurance Company of New York. Worldwide Headquarters | 1932 Wynnton Road | Columbus, GA 31999

Z131175

11/13

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

WE ASKED: As a womanowned business, what trends or factors in Houston and Texas have influenced your growth?

“I believe Houston has created a phenomenal environment for successful business growth, from the lack of zoning to the pro-business tax structure to the ease of conducting business in general. Houston has a can-do spirit and limitless opportunities for those who work hard and want to get things done.” CINDY MARION, president and CEO of MMI Agency, No. 13 on the Largest Woman-Owned Businesses List

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

“The Woman Business Enterprise Alliance and the Women Contractors Association have all of the resources and tools to assist woman-owned businesses to be a success in Houston. We have greatly beneﬁted from our involvement in both of these organizations.” JULIE MARIE IRVIN,

president of Keystone Resources, No. 6 on the Fastest-Growing Woman-Owned Businesses List

Bring us your ambition.

JUNE RESSLER,

CEO of Cenergy International Services Inc., No. 2 on the Largest Woman-Owned Businesses List

“Because Houston is the sixth largest city in the U.S., the amount of business and diversity of businesses allows for women to advance in industries where there had been male dominance at one time. There is also assistance and support in Houston for womenowned businesses, provided by the Women Business Enterprise Alliance and other organizations.”

You have high hopes for your ﬁnancial future. Using your life goals as our guide, we’ll create a Life Driven Wealth Management plan to help you reach those lofty goals and guide them as they evolve. So bring us your ambition. And we’ll give it the care it deserves. To learn more about Life Driven Wealth Management, call Colter Lewis at 713-284-1750 or visit us at northerntrust.com/TXlifegoals.

“Houston and Texas have focused on supporting the recent trends in energy sector growth, allowing easy expansion for companies both new and old.”

AMY BERNSTEIN,

YOUR LIFE. YOUR GOALS. OUR EXPERTISE. WEALTH MANAGEMENT | ASSET MANAGEMENT | ASSET SERVICING

president of Bernstein Realty Inc., No. 18 on the Largest WomanOwned Businesses List and No. 11 on the Fastest-Growing Woman-Owned Businesses List

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

STRATEGIES

For fast-growing companies and careers

BIZWOMEN

Want an innovative workplace culture? Embrace calculated risks and hire for diversity BY HILARY BURNS Special to Houston Business Journal

nnovation was the topic of the evening at Northeastern University in Boston on Sept. 18. The university invited three women to talk about how they incorporate innovation in their respective companies — a hospital and a robotics company. Their remarks were then streamed live to the university’s satellite campuses in Charlotte and Seattle to reach a virtual national audience. The panel discussion was part of a series called “Women Who Inspire.” Here are some of their thoughts on creating an innovative workplace culture:

Take (calculated) risks Deborah Theobald is the co-founder and CEO of Vecna Technologies, a health care IT company known for its self-service products and delivery robots. Theobald co-founded Vecna with her husband and said that while her husband is quick to try a new idea, she would rather explore the scenario and have a plan. “I don’t necessarily think that women are risk averse,” Theobald said. “We need to find tools to make us feel like we have the information so we have the confidence in our decisions to move forward.” Empower your employees Naomi Fried is the first chief innovation officer for Boston’s Children’s Hospital, ranked

THINKSTOCK

as the best children’s hospital in the country in 10 categories by U.S. News & World Report. Part of that success comes from giving hospital employees the power to problem solve and innovate. For example, they can apply for grants to create new products such as hats that warm up a baby’s body temperature. To create an atmosphere in which that can happen, Fried says staﬀers must feel comfortable taking risks and have the resources available to them.

Hire a diverse team m Theobald said hiring is a challenge, but she looks for people willing to “jump in and get their hands dirty.” Self-determination is important to Theobald. She says when she’s hiring a large group of 30 entry-level engineers, she tries to ﬁnd diverse people with foundational skill sets. But for upper-level positions, she is only hiring one or two people at a time, so the stakes are higher. She says creativity in previous positions is key.

“I ask them them, ‘When was a time when you had no idea what to do, and what did you do?’ Did you have an administrative assistant or right-hand man helping you that you won’t have here?’” But Theobald says at the end of the day it’s most important to hire smart people who work diﬀerently than you do. “We want to create a team that will be long lasting with a diverse way of doing things, rather than everyone singing the same song,” Theobald says.

TALENT

When to fire your top performer - and how to justify it BY JAMES

THOMPSON Expert Contributor Sometimes senior managers must confront a hostage situation, luckily not one with armed assailants. This one is far more nuanced — when a top employee holds the organization hostage with bad behavior that’s tolerated because of stellar results. It’s a reminder that managers must always be ready to face the question, “Should I fire my top performer?” For example, in the technology sector, that employee may take vital intellectual property out the door, and Houston’s shortage of IT talent can make finding a replacement a major challenge. Let’s be clear — we’re talking about employees who make significant contributions to the bottom line, not personnel with support responsibilities. No doubt you’re already aware of the person’s accomplishments relevant to his or her and the organization’s goals, so assess

When a top employee holds the organization hostage with bad behavior that’s tolerated because of stellar results ..., managers must always be ready to face the question, “Should I fire my top performer?” the damage and resulting loss of opportunity stemming from this person’s dysfunctional behavior. R The place to begin is with yourself. Assess your relationship with the employee — you may find that you helped to create a monster. Do you have healthy two-way communication or has that stopped? Does this person annoy you? While this isn’t grounds for dismissal, it does speak to your relationship. Ask yourself honestly if you’ve given preferential treatment in the past or enabled the poor attitude in some way. R Turn your microscope to the organization as a whole. Determine whether the top performer’s behavior is congruent with the values of the organization. While

enlightened managers want to encourage diversity, individuality and proactive attitudes in their teams, those qualities in the extreme can become counterproductive. Several behaviors can be indicators of a problem. The top performer may be undermining management and colleagues through manipulation or deviousness. It could take the form of lying through omission – leaving out important information is as damaging as not telling the truth. There will probably be a certain amount of turmoil around this person’s function within the business. R Consider the interaction between the employee in question and colleagues, support staff and customers. This will be telling. Actually, you may find that the employee is well liked in some circles,

especially outside of the office, so expect to deal with any consequences. R Once you’ve made the decision that this person has got to go, line up key allies within senior management or on the board of directors. You will need them if short-term financial performance is affected because of the dismissal. R Make sure that the dismissed employee’s customers/accounts are covered. Some managers may be worried about how to replace a top performer in a tight job market. Get other top contributors to understand the importance of overdelivering in the short term as you work through the transition. R Thoroughly document your case before firing your top performer. But don’t let bureaucracy keep you from doing what is right for your business.

James Thompson is CEO and president of the InSource Group, a technology staﬃng and placement company in Houston, JT@insourcegroup.com.

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

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HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

ENTREPRENEURS

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

STRATEGIES

BUSINESS LESSONS WE CAN LEARN FROM ANIMALS — PART 2 BY HARVEY MACKAY Expert Contributor Over the years, I’ve used a lot of animal analogies because life lessons come from many sources, and you don’t have to name names.

PERSONAL GROWTH

The Japanese carp is commonly known as the koi. If you keep it in a small fish bowl, it will only grow to be two or three inches long. Place the koi in a larger tank or small pond and it will reach six to 10 inches. Put it in a large pond and it may get as long as a foot and a half. And when placed in a huge lake where it can really stretch out, it has the potential to reach sizes up to three feet.The size of the fish is directly related to the size of the pond. Relate that growth to people. Our growth is determined by the size of our world — not the earth’s measurable dimensions, but the mental, emotional, spiritual and physical opportunities we expose ourselves to. LESSON: Unless we expand who we are, we’ll never have more than what we have now.

TEAMWORK VERSUS EGO

The danger of excessive pride or an excessive ego is evident in the story of the hitchhiking frog. A frog asked two geese to take him south with them. At first they resisted — they didn’t see how it could be done. But the frog suggested that the two geese hold a stick in their beaks, which he could hold onto with his mouth. So off they flew. People marveled at this demonstration of creative teamwork. That is, until someone asked: “Who was so clever to discover such a fine way to travel?” Whereupon the frog opened his mouth and said, “It was I,” and plummeted to the earth. LESSON: If you want to take the credit, you also have to take the lumps.

INABILITY TO LET GO

An expedition of scientists was on a mission to capture a particular species of monkeys in the jungles of Africa. It was important that the monkeys be brought back alive and unharmed. Using their knowledge of monkey behavior, the scientists devised a trap consisting of a small jar with a long, narrow neck with a handful of nuts placed inside. Scenting the nuts in the bottle, a monkey would thrust his paw into the long neck of the jar and take a fistful of nuts. But when he tried to withdraw the prize, he discovered that his clenched fist would not pass through the narrow neck of the bottle. So he was trapped in the anchored bottle, unable to escape with his treasure, and yet unwilling to let it go. When the scientists returned, they easily took the monkeys captive. LESSON: Sometimes letting go means a much greater gain.

COMPETITIVENESS

Have you noticed how many dead squirrels you see on the roadside in summer and how few you see during the winter? In summer, nuts are plentiful, and it’s easy for even the slowest squirrel to survive.

The squirrels get fat and lazy and cars pick them off one by one. In winter, things are just the opposite. Nuts are few and far between and they must hustle to survive. The fat and lazy squirrels have all gone to their maker. The survivors are sleek, fast, and smart. Few cars catch them unaware. LESSON: Businesses that become complacent and stop trying their hardest, leave themselves vulnerable to business predators that soon put an end to their wellbeing.

For Part One of this story go to: houstonbusinessjournal.com

When they became full and tried to leave, they lifted their heads and were immediately caught in the net.

LESSON: Don’t fall into the trap of something for nothing.

DANGER OF GREED

An old method of catching wild turkeys can be an excellent lesson to all of us. To trap the turkeys, corn was scattered on the ground. Then a net was stretched about two feet high over the grain. When the wild turkeys sensed that no human was near, they would approach the corn and lower their heads to eat it.

MACKAY’S MORAL: Be kind to animals – they teach us great lessons. Harvey Mackay is a New York Times bestselling author and chairman of MackayMitchell Envelope Co.

Special Advertorial

VALUING YOUR COMPANY: Knowing Your Worth Makes It Easier to Plan Ahead Ask business owners how much their companies are worth and they almost always get it wrong. Many owners undervalue their businesses and even more assume a value that’s much too high, according to Spardata, a Maryland-based valuation firm. “Owners invariably think they know what they’ve got,” says Brad Davidson, Spardata’s president. But actually they miss the mark by a wide margin. That kind of miscalculation can lead to big planning mistakes. “If you don’t know where you are, it’s very hard to get to your destination because you don’t know where you’re starting from,” Davidson explains. Knowing what you’ve got is a critical first step, whether the goal is preparing for expansion, creating an exit strategy, planning for retirement or simply putting together an estate plan. “Valuations are also the starting point for establishing the funding needed to implement a succession plan, whether that plan calls for a buy-sell agreement, a gradual transfer to the kids or the eventual retirement of the owner,” says Adam Blumberg, a financial professional with MassMutual Greater Houston, a general agency of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual)*. Yet many business owners never bother to get a valuation because they don’t understand its role in business planning. Raymond J. Simoncini, owner of Raymond James Masonry, says the decision to get a valuation changed not only the way he is planning for the future, but also the way he’s running his business. Still in his mid-30s, he was busy building his masonry restoration business when the arrival of his first child got him thinking about life insurance. One thing led to another, and soon he was doing long-term business planning. “It evolved into an evaluation of the business,” he says. Valuation in hand, Simoncini realized that his business was unlikely to survive without him unless he made changes. Today, he is building a broader management team, separating his personal and business finances, and working to increase the value of the company. “Before, I would have just worked harder,” Simoncini says. “Now I understand that I need to work smarter.”

There are three ways to value a business. The market approach relies on the sales price of comparable businesses. The asset approach looks at all the tangible assets owned by a company ranging from trucks and machinery to real estate. Then there’s the income approach, which uses past performance to calculate a future income stream and then convert it to present value. Each has its uses. “It’s not just about the numbers,” says Blumberg, noting that accredited valuation experts also assess intangible items like brand reputation, employee talent and company work ethic. While some ﬁrms offer valuations free as part of a broader package of services, valuations by themselves can be expensive, costing anywhere from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars. Valuations should be updated periodically to ensure that the numbers are up-to-date, says Blumberg. “In a growing company, for example, the valuation should be updated every three to ﬁve years,” he says. The experts who specialize in valuations say they’re getting lots of business these days. Some comes from business owners looking to take advantage of current laws before they expire; some is coming from owners starting to contemplate their own retirement. As Davidson puts it, lots of business owners are getting greyer around the temples. And that, he says, is when they are likely to start thinking about life after business.

Knowing what you’ve got is a critical ﬁrst step, whether the goal is preparing for expansion, creating an exit strategy, planning for retirement or simply putting together an estate plan.

*MassMutual does not oﬀer business valuations

CRN201510-177250

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

SMALL BUSINESS

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

STRATEGIES

BEFORE THE $#@! HITS THE FAN: HOW TO START A BUSINESS BY GREG

SCHEINMAN Expert Contributor You have decided to start a business. Congratulations — you are now in the 1 percent of risk takers who can call themselves “entrepreneurs.” As an entrepreneur, you already know that failure is a very real and often likely outcome

of your business adventure. While most entrepreneurs understand that s*!# could hit the fan at any moment during the risk-taking journey, you may not realize that proper insurance coverage could be the difference between total devastation and just a minor cleanup. It’s preferable to take the smallest cleanup path when it comes to matters of finance and liability, so here are some tips on managing risk and ensuring your business is properly insured as you begin your journey. SET UP YOUR FAMILY FIRST. Starting

a business adventure on your own is not only scary and risky for you as the leader, but it affects your family as well. When you leave your job to start your new business, coverage, such as life and disability insurance, often gets left behind. This coverage will provide you and your family security and peace of mind in case something goes tragically wrong, and I always recommend entrepreneurs budget and purchase this at the onset. PROTECT YOUR KEY PERSON. Is your business dependent on you or one particular

SHE’S MORE THAN THE FUTURE OWNER OF YOUR BUSINESS.

SHE’S FAMILY.

person? Protect your investment and cover that person. A restaurant with a popular chef will not be the same when that chef leaves. A sales entity without its top salesperson will not reach its revenue goals. Take the steps to ensure your business dream can survive a key-man interruption. UNDERSTAND YOUR FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY. Whose money is at risk? Do you have investors, partners or is it just you? How much runway do you have? Remember your responsibility to the business and its investors to keep it going in the event of a claim or a lawsuit. Don’t just look for the cheapest premium. Directors and officers insurance and a buy/sell agreement could be valuable to you and your business. SWEAT THE BIG STUFF. Small claims won’t put you out of business, but not having the right coverage could. If the tradeoff of carrying higher deductibles is that you can afford carrying valuable coverage, such as workers compensation, EPLI or cyber coverage, do it. Consult with your broker on how to best accomplish your risk management goals first, then back into the best price available in the market by working with an independent broker. FIND AN AGENT YOU CAN TRUST. As an entrepreneur, your circle of trust should include three key players: your attorney, your accountant and your risk manager/insurance broker. Anyone with a license can sell you insurance; you want a broker with real knowledge, experience and understanding of your business and industry to help guide you along the way.

Greg Scheinman is a certified insurance counselor and vice president at Insgroup in Houston.

SOCIAL SECURITY

Based on a poll of 2,028 consumers who own computers/mobile devices:

67%

Number who let their browser(s) save their password when they are on the Internet

28%

Number who allow mobile apps to access their social media profiles

Your business is the legacy you’ll leave for your family. Whether it’s preparing for the unexpected or passing on the business, MassMutual can help you create a strategy to achieve your personal business goals. J.K McAndrews, CLU® CEO MassMutual Greater Houston 3 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1800 Houston, TX 77046 713-402-3800 jkmcandrews@ﬁnancialguide.com www.greaterhouston.massmutual.com

BUSINESS SUCCESSION PLANNING + KEY EMPLOYEE RETENTION AND EXECUTIVE BENEFITS PRODUCTS RETIREMENT/401(K) PLAN SERVICES

MassMutual Financial Group refers to Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. (MassMutual) and its affiliated companies and sales representatives. Local sales agencies are not subsidiaries of MassMutual or its affiliated companies. Agency officers are not officers of MassMutual. CRN201410-165118

74%

Number of Internet users who said they are concerned about sharing personal data via social media

60%

Number of social network users who removed a post from social media because they were concerned about consequences in their personal life

11%

Number of people who are “friends” with their boss on a social network SOURCE: TREND MICRO SECURITY 2015 SURVEY

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE R

CONSULTING

Shelley Mounkes

Sam Zayid

Patty Dominguez

Niv Bulsara

Juan Alaniz

Farraz Siddiqui

Bukky Akorede

Aiden Luong

Horne LLP promoted Mounkes, Zayid, Dominguez, Bulsara, Alaniz, Siddiqui, Akorede and Luong to associate.

REAL ESTATE

Cameron Alexander

R HEALTH

Benjamin Llana

Skanska USA Commercial Development Inc. promoted Alexander to senior development manager and Llana to development director.

Brian Spack

Brooks Valls

Dan Delforge

Garth McCann

Jan Walker

Nillie Djassemi

John Daugherty Realtors hired Spack as broker associate. Spack was previously at Greenwood King.

Gracepoint Homes hired Valls as vice president of sales and marketing.

E.E. Reed Construction LP hired Delforge as vice president.

Rosenberger Construction hired McCann as senior project manager.

Hicks Ventures hired Walker as a senior vice president of property management.

Victory Healthcare hired Djassemi as vice president of finance operations.

Amanda Eaves

Jorge Mendez

Kenia Cadiz

Paul Hopkins

Reagan Ohendalski

Sarah Hankla

BANKING & FINANCIAL

Evans Swann

Bob Armstrong

Comerica Bank hired Swann as senior vice president and energy group finance manager.

BKD LLP hired Armstrong and Eaves as director.

Karlins Ramsey & Tompkins LLC hired Mendez and Cadiz as tax staff, Hopkins as review staff, Ohendalski as senior tax staff and Hankla as staff auditor.

BANKING & FINANCIAL

HOW TO SUBMIT

SEND US YOUR PEOPLE The Houston Business Journal accepts People on the Move submissions online at HoustonBusinessJournal.com/ people.

Antonio Mojica

Ron Pfeiffer

Whitney Bank hired Mojica as vice president in middle market banking and Pfeiffer as senior vice president in middle market banking

Raza A. Khan

John Fiorito

Ernst & Young LLP promoted Khan and Fiorito to partner.

Mark Andersen

Trevor Hicks

UHY LLP promoted Andersen to senior manager.

UHY Advisors TX LLC hired Hicks as senior manager.

We welcome information about any Houston-area businessperson who has been promoted, joined a new company or received an award. Include name, title, company, location and a photo of the person, along with a company contact name, email address and phone number. Photos can be attached directly to the submission form. Photos must be attached as .jpg files (at least 200 dpi).

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE R

ENGINEERING/ARCHITECTURE

Stacy Odom

Russell Wooten

Michael Rensing

Liang Wu

Kapil Upadhyaya

Brian Lemmon

Brian Gabbard

Paul Demopulos Levinson Alcoser Associates LP hired Demopulos as director of civil engineering.

Kirksey promoted Odom, Wooten, Rensing, Wu, Upadhyaya, Lemmon and Gabbard to senior associate.

ENGINEERING/ARCHITECTURE

AMONG THE BEST Duane Hengst

David Garrett

Klotz Associates hired Hengst as regional manager.

LJA Engineering Inc. hired Garrett as senior project manager.

MEDIA & MARKETING

Erica Holloway

Quiana Burrell

Fifth Ring hired Holloway as account director.

Houston Media Summit hired Burrell as director of marketing.

IT’S WHAT YOU FIND AT THE TOP THAT COUNTS

LEGAL SERVICES

5 $ODQ <RUN Michelle O’Neil**

Marilea Lewis** Donald E. Godwin*

Top 100 Lawyers in Texas Donald E. Godwin (6-time Selection) Marilea Lewis Michelle O’Neil

7RS /DZ\HUV LQ '): Donald E. Godwin (10-time Selection) Marilea Lewis Michelle O’Neil Jim Reardon

Laura McMahon

Porter Hedges LLP hired Reardon as partner.

BakerHostetler hired McMahon as partner.

STAFFING

Top 50 Women Lawyers in Texas Marilea Lewis Michelle O’Neil

Top 100 Lawyers in Houston 5 $ODQ <RUN WLPH VHOHFWLRQ

These Godwin Lewis Lawyers have consistently distinguished themselves in the service of their clients and captured the recognition of their peers, both through selection to 2014 Texas Super Lawyers and to the ranks of Top Lawyers by Thomson Reuters. When choosing a trial or appellate attorney, put these attorneys at the top of your list! %RDUG &HUWLÀHG LQ &LYLO 7ULDO /DZ E\ WKH 7H[DV %RDUG RI /HJDO 6SHFLDOL]DWLRQ %RDUG &HUWLÀHG LQ )DPLO\ /DZ E\ WKH 7H[DV %RDUG RI /HJDO 6SHFLDOL]DWLRQ %RDUG &HUWLÀHG LQ &LYLO $SSHOODWH /DZ E\ WKH 7H[DV %RDUG RI /HJDO 6SHFLDOL]DWLRQ

mission critical litigation® Brenden Mikeska

Jamie Freeman

Technical ProSource promoted Mikeska to sales director.

Achilles Group hired Freeman as director of talent acquisition.

Dallas | Houston | Plano

GodwinLewis.com

800.662.8393

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 2, 2014

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A compilation of top industry lists published weekly by Houston Business Journal, the annual Book of Lists provides comprehensive analysis of people and companies shaping the economy in greater Houston. That’s why over 35,000 industry leaders count on it as a key competitve resource.

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Martha Turner President