June Denton Business Chronicle 2016 by Denton Media Company

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Monthly News Recap Businesses on the move

What’s opened, what’s closed, etc. A new vapor shop has replaced Pantheon Vape Lab, which closed in April. Fox Vapor & Co., the shop took over the Pantheon Facebook page but reiterated it’s 100 percent under new management at 118 E. McKinney St. More tacos! Los Gallos is now open at 306 N. Crawford St., right at the intersection with taco corridor East McKinney Street. Custom embroidery and clothing boutique Mint is now open at 725 S. Locust St. Pie Five Pizza Co. closed in May after more than three years at the U Centre at Fry Street. The next shop is lined up for the space though: Texadelphia, a Texas-inspired cheesesteak joint. Peterbilt supplier Quality Industries has opened a precision metal fabrication company in Denton. The new 86,000 square-foot accompanies its 18,000 square-foot assembly plant it built in 2011 but quickly outgrew. The old Sonic at 4005 Interstate 35 Frontage Road is now Brisket Burger, a specialty burger joint featuring stuffed burgers and other meat-centric dishes. Unique Barber Stylists, a longtime barber shop off the Square next to Ethan Allen, closed its doors in late May. Aubrey favorite Upper Park Cafe is taking over the space once occupied by Muddy Jake’s at 222 W. Hickory St. Longtime venue and rehearsal space Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios held goodbye shows the first weekend of June before closing its doors. Top stories on Facebook

Incident fuels restroom debate in Denton The roiling social debate about who should use which restroom was brought home to Denton this past weekend. A manager at the Abbey Underground, a bar on the southeast corner of the Square, sparked a bathroom incident

when he told a transgender person not to use the women’s restroom. Now, the Abbey Underground’s owners say they plan to add a single-stall bathroom to avoid future controversies. But some critics in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community say a stall isn’t the answer. They say the answer is for public places to take a stand against bullying by allowing patrons to use the bathroom of their choice. Sven Petra Wilde, 25, who was born a man, describes herself as non-binary, meaning Wilde doesn’t identify as a man or woman. Abbey Underground coowner Tim Trawick said he is planning to renovate one of the bar’s restroom stalls into a separate single-stall restroom for anyone’s use in response to the incident. He said the Abbey Underground has never had an official bathroom policy of any kind and doesn’t plan to implement one.

The single-stall restroom will be for anyone’s use.

Records list UNT grad as ISIS fighter Two college students from the North Texas area were among the people who have left the United States to fight for the Islamic State, according to records obtained by NBC News. Omar Kattan, who attended the University of North Texas, and Talmeezur Rahman, who attended Collin College, were listed on personnel files given to an NBC reporter by an Islamic State defector, the network reported. Kattan, a Syrian, was 23 when he left the U.S. for Syria in 2013. He had studied Arabic, biology and chemistry at UNT and wrote on his website he wanted to attend dental school. Law enforcement officials say they believe Kattan has been killed, according to NBC News. At the Kattan family home in

Denton on May 16, a woman opened the door and confirmed Omar had lived at the home but said he hadn’t lived there in a while. She wasn’t sure when he left and hasn’t heard from him since. When asked whether it was correct he joined ISIS in 2013, she said “I’m not so sure about that.” The woman declined to give her name or relationship to Kattan

Denton couple starts pop-up wedding company Flash mob fanatic Venetta Petties dreamed of having a wedding venue, but realized she couldn’t afford to buy a venue. “I thought, ‘How do I get to that point?’” Petties said, sitting in her home office. “I didn’t want to get investors to help me get the house and everything, so I was wondering what I can do in the meantime to get funding for that house.” She then thought of how she

could raise money to eventually buy that house and proposed an idea to her husband of nearly 10 years, Chris: A pop-up wedding company. The two could organize a wedding within a week at low price points, and Chris could officiate. Since March, Venetta Petties has worked to get Pop and Go Weddings launched and building partnerships. She teams with bakeries, venues, photographers and musicians so she now can orchestrate a wedding a week in advance. There are three packages, starting at $2,500. The base package includes Venetta as the wedding planner, decor, a dessert and a photographer. The highest package, $4,500, includes all of that at a venue instead of a public space like the courthouse lawn, more seats, drinks and flowers. Overall, the event from start to finish lasts about an hour. RECAP | CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

Contents |

June 2016

Calendar of Events

Denton Business Chronicle

APIs and IPAs, hosted by TechMill, meets every other Tuesday at Harvest House, 331 E. Hickory St., for a tech-centered hangout.

June 2016

Tuesday, June 21, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 5, 6:30 p.m.

Argyle Planning and Zoning Commission meets the first Tuesday of the month at 308 Denton St. Tuesday, July 6, 6:30 p.m.

Denton Black Chamber of Commerce meets the second Tuesday of the month at the Denton Housing Authority, 1225 Wilson St. Tuesday, July 12, 6 p.m.

Denton Chamber of Commerce will host its Quarterly Membership Luncheon at the Gateway Center at the University of North Texas, 801 North Texas Blvd. Registration is available at www.denton-chamber.org and it’s $30 for individual tickets and $350 for a table sponsorship. Friday, June 24, 11:30 a.m.

Index Month Year | Vol. 12, No. 4 Publisher: Bill Patterson The contents of this free publication are copyrighted by Denton Publishing Company, 2008, a subsidiary of A.H. Belo Corp. (www.ahbelo.com, NYSE symbol: AHC), with all rights reserved. Reproduction or use, without permission, of editorial or graphic content in any manner is prohibited. Denton Business Chronicle is published monthly by Denton Publishing Company, 314 E. Hickory St., Denton, TX 76201. E-mail: drc@dentonrc.com

On the cover: Pedestrians walk across East Hickory Street on the Square Photo by David Minton

Who to contact Scott K. Parks Managing Editor 940-566-6879 | sparks@dentonrc.com Sandra Hammond Advertising Director 940-566-6820 | shammond@dentonrc.com Shawn Reneau Advertising 940-566-6843 | sreneau@dentonrc.com

Denton Chamber of Commerce hosts Smart Business 101 series regularly for members at the chamber office, 414 W. Parkway. The event is free to members and $15 for nonmembers. This month the topic is “Tips to reduce stress and have more fun in life.” Tuesday, June 28, 11:45 a.m.

Denton Chamber of Commerce will host a Speed Networking Breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn on 3110 Colorado Blvd. Friday, July 8, 7:45 a.m.

Denton County Young Professional hosts meetings every Wednesday, except for the first Wednesday of the month, at Loco Cafe, 603 N. Locust St. Wednesday, June 22, 7:15 a.m. Wednesday, June 29, 7:15 a.m. Wednesday, July 13, 7:15 a.m.

Denton County Young Professionals hosts a monthly mixer the first Thursday of the month at a new business each month. This month’s mixer will be at Hannah’s Off the Square, 111 W. Mulberry St. Thursday, July 7, 5:30 p.m.

Al Key/DRC file photo

Tyler Browder of TechMill stands in his office in 2014. TechMill hosts NodeSchool every other Saturday. On June 18, they are meeting 2 p.m. at Big Mike’s Coffeehouse, 1306 Hickory St. On July 2, they will meet at 2 p.m. at Zera Coffee Company, 420 E. McKinney St. Denton Hispanic Chamber of Commerce holds its monthly lead generator luncheons the second Tuesday of the month. It is held at Sidewalk Cafe, 2900 Wind River Lane, and admission is $5 for members and $10 for guests. Tuesday, July 12, 11:30 a.m.

The Denton League of United Latin American Citizens No. 4366 meets the third Saturday of every month at the Denton Senior Center, 509 N. Bell Ave. Saturday, June 18, 9:30 a.m.

Denton Planning and Zoning Commission meets at City Hall, 215 E. McKinney St., twice a month on Wednesdays. Wednesday, June 22, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, 6:30 p.m.

Electronics recycling takes place at The Cupboard Natural Foods and Cafe, 200 W. Congress St., the second Saturday of each month. Drop off any computerrelated electronics for recycling. Visit www.computercrusher.com for a list of acceptable items and more information. Saturday, July 9, 8 a.m.

Lake Cities Chamber of Commerce will host a networking luncheon at Genti’s, 3700 FM 2181 in Hickory Creek. Contact the chamber for registration and more information at lccc@lake citieschamber.com. Tuesday, June 21, 11:30 a.m.

Lake Cities Chamber of Commerce hosts weekly coffee meetings at the Lake Dallas City Hall office, 212 Main St. Times and locations for July meetings will be announced at www.lakecities chamber.com/chamber-events. Wednesday, June 22, 7:15 a.m. Wednesday, June 29, 7:15 a.m.

Little D Open Coffee Club, hosted by TechMill, meets every other Tuesday at West Oak Coffee Bar, 114 W. Oak St., to discuss technology and startups. Tuesday, June 28, 8 a.m. Tuesday, July 12, 8 a.m.

NodeSchool Denton, hosted by TechMill, meets every other Saturday to learn programming. The June meeting will be at Big Mike’s Coffeehouse, 1306 Hickory St., and the July meeting will be at Zera Coffee Company, 420 E. McKinney St. Saturday, June 18, 2 p.m. Saturday, July 2, 2 p.m.

Sanger Chamber of Commerce holds a networking leads luncheon the fourth Wednesday of every month. RSVP at sangertexas.com. This month’s luncheon will be held at the WalMart Distribution Center, 2120 N. Interstate 35. Wednesday, June 22, noon

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Enterprising Voices

Create raving fans (and get more business) S

o, you wanna cash in on reviews and referrals for your business? There’s no better way to grow your business than through word of mouth, referrals and repeat business. Before I tell you the secret to getting amazing reviews and creating raving fans, let’s check some things off the list. Before you can get killer reviews, boost your standing on Google and Facebook, nurture word-of-mouth buzz about your business, or create raving fans who are just dying to tell everyone about your business and your product, you need to get your ducks in a row. Let’s start with your product or service. IS YOUR PRODUCT AWESOME? Take a minute, step back, and think about your products and services. Is what you are selling truly awesome? Is it worth shouting from the rooftops? Do you exceed expectations and earn those reviews and referrals? If you can’t answer yes to every one of those questions, then stop now and fix your offering. You can’t expect to win the praise and good word of your customers if you’re not selling a top-notch product or service. CAN YOU COLLECT EMAIL ADDRESSES? You can’t expect customers to be excited enough about your business to leave reviews and refer their friends to you all on their own. Although that would be nice, only truly world-altering products are going to do this organ-

of search engines “seeing” those reviews and using them as part of their ranking criteria.

Heather Steele | ically. Most of us need to work just a little bit harder. You’ll need a way to reach out and ask for the reviews that you need. Getting the customer’s email address during the purchase process is key — it gives you the ability to ask for a review down the road without being pushy or interruptive. Do you have a Facebook page, Yelp account and/or Google Plus profile? You’ve got an awesome product, and you’re ready to ask for the review. However, before you can ask for anything, you need a destination — somewhere to send those happy customers to make their reviews. Public reviews are far more valuable than feedback sent to your email or a form on your website. Just think about your own experience — how much do you trust a review on Facebook compared to a review on someone’s website (a platform they control completely)? When you collect reviews through social accounts, those reviews are visible to the world. Reviews on a third party site (like Yelp or Facebook) lend more credibility than reviews you collect and display through your own website. There’s also the added benefit

THE PIECES ARE IN PLACE; NOW SET GOALS You’ve got that ambition, you’ve got an excellent product, and the infrastructure is in place to ask for and publish reviews. But do you know what you really want to accomplish by gathering these reviews? Having raving fans gives you all kinds of warm fuzzies, but you need solid goals. Here’s a few I recommend: Get reviews to build brand authority; get referrals; and get follow-up sales. Spend a little time thinking about your past track record and how you can push yourself to do a little better. How many new reviews, referrals and follow-up sales can you push yourself to get each week, month, quarter, and year? Reviews alone aren’t necessarily the end goal—the real reason you want them is to encourage more business by showing potential clients and customers that you’re true to your word (and really do have the amazing product or service you claim to have). BRAND PERSONA We’re getting closer to the actual process here, but do yourself a favor and do not skip this part of the process. To really connect with your customers at a level where they can’t wait to tell their friends and colleagues about your awesome products and services you’ve got to have a strong brand personality. People don’t connect at an

emotional level with your product or your services — they connect with the persona, or human characteristics, of your brand. Think of your brand as if it were a person. What kind of words would you use to describe it? Go for more than just “established” and “trustworthy.” Think about characteristics that are more human than that. Maybe your brand is a little bit quirky, silly or ironic. Maybe you’re inventive or young, maybe stately and refined. Whatever it is, try to make it fit both who you are and who your customers need you to be. Use whatever factors motivated you into starting or joining this business to really flesh out those human characteristics — then infuse them into every interaction with your customers and leads.

customers on a day-to-day basis. Social media brings you right into your customer’s home, car, office… even their bathroom. (Let’s be honest, everyone does it!) Asking for reviews and referrals should be part of your social media strategy. Start with mixing these requests in at a very low ratio (for example one out of every 20 posts) and adjust that ratio based on the reaction you get over time. And always, always respond to your reviews. Be they negative, positive, bland, or exciting — respond to your reviews. Say thank you or ask how you can do better, but let your reaction be positive, sincere, and always make that first interaction public.

SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN You’ve got a killer offering, fantastic services, a brand with real personality that your customers can connect with… Now it’s time to ask for what you want. I won’t even waste time telling you why social media is relevant to your business (and every business). If you need convincing, give Google a whirl (or our blog at bluesteelesoluti ons.com/blog). Here’s the thing with social — you need to connect with your customer and you need to let them know the following: You appreciate and love them; you want to know how they feel (reviews); and you need their help to grow (referrals). Most of us don’t have the opportunity to interact with our

BUILD OUT YOUR BRAND TO GET THEM RAVING Let’s face it, there are brands that are boring, that no one cares about, and there are brands that excite. People freak out when Apple puts out a new product. People lose their minds when Marvel announces a new gigantic superhero movie. No matter how awesome your product is, if your brand is boring, it’s hard to get people raving. Start by building an awesome brand, and the ravers will follow — just make a copy of our handy “Creating Raving Fans Template” (http://bss.tips/creatingfans) and fill it out completely to start your journey towards an exciting, mind-blowing brand. HEATHER STEELE is the founder of Blue Steele Solutions. She can be reached at heather@bluesteele solutions.com.

were unavailable. Smatresk is expected to meet with UNT’s key athletic staff members after June 20 to formulate plans for the program’s immediate future. On June 6, Hank Dickenson,

a longtime North Texas athletic department official, was named the school’s acting athletic director. Dickenson will lead UNT’s athletic department while the school continues to look for a replacement for Villarreal.

Monthly News Recap RECAP | CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

Rick Villarreal set to end run at UNT Rick Villarreal stepped down

as the athletic director at the University of North Texas on May 23, ending his 15-year tenure at the school. Villarreal will stay in his role until June 20, when he officially will leave the school he led

through a time of growth in athletics. Villarreal has less than two years remaining on his contract, which is set to expire on Feb. 28, 2018, and will receive a buyout. Terms of that buyout

Business Mixers Women in Commerce

From left, Cindy Tysinger, Carolyn Corporon and Carine Feyten pose at the Women in Commerce Red, White and Jazz mixer.

Raffle winners from the mixer show off their swag.

From left, Chuck Carpenter, LaChristian Taylor, Angelica Del Rosal and Brad Napp attend the mixer.

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Enterprising Voices

Thinking about investment catalysts “In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine.” — Benjamin Graham

onsuming financial news has become a game of juggling conflicting spin. One media outlet throws up the headline “Apple reports record quarter,” while another simultaneously reports “Shares of Apple are tumbling after iPhone disappointment”. Which is — “An industrial recession is engulfing America.” or “U.S. auto sales set record”? It is no wonder that the whiplash of conflicting news feeds massive volatility in stock markets. How can investors achieve clarity amid all this chaos and confusion? Value investing provides a time-tested remedy. Always remember that stocks are not just ticker symbols floating on a TV screen. Shares represent ownership interests in real companies, real businesses. By studying a company’s assets, profits, and growth prospects, we can calculate the true intrinsic value of the stock. When news-driven volatility creates a big gap between a stock’s price and its intrinsic value, value investors exploit the opportunity, not succumb to fear. Benjamin Graham, the great teacher and father of value investing, provided a wonderful analogy in the above quote. Over a long-enough time horizon the substance of a business shines through, and a stock rises to its intrinsic value. How does this happen? Well, sometimes the market gradually comes to its senses on its own. In a short-term oriented world, the value investor’s long-term mindset is a key competitive advantage. In our partnership, we have certainly benefited from steady, wide-moat companies that compounded capital over many years. But we also acknowledge the importance of catalysts — operational, financial or macro events that help unlock the value of the business and cause the stock price to rise dramatically. Most of our successful investments over the last 8 years have resulted from one

Jonathon Fite | or more of these catalysts. Let’s take a look at each of these. Operational catalysts involve capable managers rolling up their sleeves and improving their businesses. Given our business consulting experience, these catalysts are near and dear to us. Our partnership’s very first investment, Hershey Candy, was based on our investigation of the company’s manufacturing and logistics transformation program. The market gave Hershey’s little credit for the expected savings. We assessed that the cost reductions were actually highly credible and would help fund an increase in its marketing budget. The realization of these savings, combined with the company’s more robust marketing strategy and price increases ahead of inflation, led to a double in its share price over a few years. Companies that have credible operational catalysts can significantly enhance intrinsic value over time. Specifically, we anticipate some combination of the following three operational drivers for our portfolio companies: grow sales — an increase in prices or sales volumes of new or existing offerings; cut costs — a reduction in COGS, SG&A or interest costs; KMF advice — an improvement in capital allocation or communication strategies based on our counsel. These operational catalysts often form the core of an investment thesis. As in the example above for Hershey’s Candy, the market often misprices the operational skills even of strong management teams. We have become more active in engaging management teams, especially of our small-cap holdings. Our investment process filters out companies lacking good managers, or poorly aligned managers. That’s why we

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

An ADT home security alarm sign is seen in front of a home Feb. 16 in Miami. find that top executives of our portfolio companies are quite open to our collaborative, friendly advice. Let’s turn to the second catalyst category. Financial catalysts are actions a company takes on its capital structure to unlock value. Past successes include Apple, whose shares rose 80 percent over a few months after the company launched investor-friendly share repurchases and dividends. For small cap companies, a common catalyst has been a sale of the entire business at huge premiumsthe prevailing price. Examples from our Partnership’s experience include Shaw Group, Bronco Drilling, Parlux Fragrances, and — most recently — ADT. Many of you are probably familiar with ADT, the home security and monitoring company. While this market is highly fragmented, ADT has the dominant share in North America. The company has also been deploying new capabilities into their traditional security suite including real-time video and smartphone integration. The management team has also extended their core offering to include healthcare monitoring services for seniors and commercial offerings for small and medium business. When ADT was spun out of its parent company in 2012, it quickly went on our list of great businesses to buy if we ever got a bargain price in the market. Fortunately, the shares fell meaningfully in the spring of 2014 after the company pulled back on

its stock repurchase program to focus on developing new products and the short-term quarterly performance disappointed. Nothing was wrong with the core business, in fact, it appeared to us that management was doing all the right things to drive long-term success for the business. With the stock below $30 per share, we bought greedily believing the private market value for this business was nearly twice that. How did we come up with these bookends? At less than $30 per share, ADT was priced as if it would never grow its earnings. This seemed extremely conservative given the improvements in the service offering were leading to higher pricing, a series of cost cutting initiatives were boosting profits, and ADT’s brand could be a platform for further industry consolidation. With these considerations in mind, it was not hard to see that ADT’s true business value was likely worth $50 or more per share. After our initial purchases, the market seemed to catch onto our perspective. The rest of 2014 and early 2015 witnessed pretty strong gains in the stock as management continued to execute against its plans. But, as the markets began to sour in late 2015 and early 2016, ADT’s stock price tumbled again. We found this odd since the company was actually performing better than it had been when we first bought it. Apparently, we were not the only ones to recognize the bargain. A few weeks later, the private

equity firm Apollo Asset Management announced a bid to take the company private for $42 a share, a healthy 55 percent premium to its price. While this buyout price provides an excellent profit to our partnership, we believe this is a win-win deal since Apollo will likely realize further benefits by accelerating ADT’s turnaround. Given our partners know we may hold a position for three to five years to realize the full value of our investments, getting much of those gains in less than two years was a fine outcome. We were happy to let this catalyst help monetize our value so we could redeploy the proceeds into other bargains the market was offering us. The ADT buyout was just another reminder that a stock should be viewed as a fractional ownership interest in a real business. By understanding the business, its industry, its competitors, and its management’s tendencies we can then begin analyzing the company’s assets, cash-generating power, and growth prospects. Looking ahead, we see three specific financial catalysts that will impact our portfolio companies: buybacks — the repurchase of undervalued shares or bonds by company management; asset sales — a strategic sale or disposition of undervalued or unrecognized assets; and debt placement — the sale of new debt to fund initiatives that reduce costs or grow sales. Each of these will either enhance the value of the companies we own over time or help accelerate the convergence of today’s market price with our estimate of the business’ intrinsic value per share. Moving on, macro catalysts are economic trends that influence a company. We have conviction that spendthrift governments and aggressive central banks will ultimately stoke inflation, and have positioned the portfolio to benefit handsomely from this. In the 2008-2012 time period, we invested with a similar thesis specifically in Japanese Real-Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) as it became clear Japanese central bankers were committed to combating deflation by turning on the printing presses of “quantitative easing.” The recovery of Japan’s FITE | CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

Enterprising Voices FITE | CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

real estate market from a long deflationary slump resulted in large gains in the stock prices of Japanese REITs we held patiently in the portfolio for several years. While the recent collapse in commodity prices has generated deflationary pressures around the world, we believe the combination of an eventual commodity price recovery and the cocktail of easy central bank policies will stoke inflation in the U.S. as well. Global markets have been powerfully influenced by macroeconomic forces. In the last few years, these have included an implosion in commodity prices, abnormally low interest rates, and a strong U.S. dollar. Most value investors rightly focus on microeconomic factors. Even strict “bottoms-up” investors will need to factor in such extreme macroeconomic conditions into investment assumptions and scenarios. A recent history of interest

rates reveals today’s rate environment has been manipulated to an all-time extreme. While rates have fluctuated greatly over the past 60 years, the long term trend for short term rates has been between four and six percent. How many of you remember buying a one- or two-year CD yielding 5 percent? No, in an effort to shore up the big banks and stimulate the economy after the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve has suppressed interest rates to near 0 percent for the last seven years. There is a lot of banter as to what will happen when rates fully normalize. If the Federal Reserve Governors can manage the reversion back to the long-term trend without losing control, then all will be wine and roses. But we have spent a lot of time positioning the portfolio for a potential outcome that does not work out as well — namely that rates rise faster than folks can imagine and inflation eats away at savings, pensions and fixed incomes in a

If the Federal Reserve Governors can manage the reversion back to the long-term trend without losing control, then all will be wine and roses. way that few can fathom. In addition to the extreme lows in interest rates, currency exchange rates present another set of extremes. The last two years have also seen the value of the U.S. dollar rise dramatically even past the “flight to safety” levels seen during the financial crisis when everyone sold everything and bought dollars to park their cash. There is a long-term inverse correlation between the Dollar and hard asset prices. As the dollar goes up, commodity prices tend to go down, and vice versa. If the Dollar Index returned to levels closer to the range seen over the past 10 years, this would be a strong catalyst for hard asset prices.

So there are a number of extremes currently in the market place — low interest rates, dollar strength and hard asset price weakness. As long-term contrarians, we find it often works out well to exploit market extremes with investments that benefit when the extreme normalizes. Therefore, we have positioned our portfolio to benefit from three specific macro catalysts over the medium term: rising prices — an increase in commodity, real estate and shipping price levels; weaker dollar — a decline in the dollar versus other major foreign currencies; and rising rates — an increase in U.S. interest rates back towards historical average levels. The news cycle has churned up

huge volatility in the last few months. Yet at the same time, we are very pleased to see many of our portfolio holdings achieving our anticipated catalysts. As earnings reports trickle in, the share prices for several companies in our portfolio have reacted positively to one or more of the catalysts above. While we keep our eyes steadfast on the long-term, these catalysts are pleasing indicators of progress that help us keep our eyes on the prize. We encourage all investors to do the same. JONATHON FITE is a Managing Partners of KMF Investments, a Texas-based pure pay-for-performance hedge fund. Jonathon is also an adjunct professor with the College of Business at the University of North Texas. This column is provided for general interest only and should not be construed as a solicitation or personal investment advice. Comments may be sent to email@ KMFInvestments.com.

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Enterprising Voices

New tools to address excessive medical bills B

ecause of the way our health insurance system is structured, many employers have a role in providing their employees with health insurance coverage. However, when gaps in that coverage are exposed, it is often a surprise to both the employee, who may be struggling to pay for unexpected healthcare costs, and the employer who may then be dealing with a stressed and dissatisfied employee. Last summer, the Texas Legislature passed, and the governor signed legislation to help healthinsured Texans who receive surprisingly high medical bills in certain unexpected situations. The new law helps patients if they, or a family member on their policy, receive an excessively high bill because a physician who treated them in the emergency room or during an unplanned surgical procedure is out of network. In a typical situation, the bill was passed to address, a patient goes to an in-network hospital for emergency care but is treated by an out-of-network doctor. The doctor and the hospital each bill $1,000 for their services, and the health plan pays them each $400. The in-network hospital can only bill the patient for

Sam Burke | co-pays, deductibles, and coinsurance amounts. The out-ofnetwork doctor, however, may bill for the $600 that the health plan didn’t pay, as well as any co-pays, deductibles, and coinsurance. This practice is often called “balance billing.” The new law provides additional tools to consumers, through the Texas Department of Insurance, to reduce or eliminate the balance billing. These new tools are outlined on the Texas Department of Insurance’s website and include the following recommendations. First, the Texas Department of Insurance recommends you call the doctor or provider that sent the medical bill to discuss the charges. If you haven’t been provided an itemized statement, request one. In most cases, Texas law requires health care providers to provide

an itemized statement. Once you have received the itemized statement, investigate the average market price for the services provided. Health care providers are required to bill using specific codes. You can search for average pricing using the specific codes (or specific service descriptions) that appear on the itemized bill using the Texas Department of Insurance’s Health Insurance Reimbursement Rates Consumer Information Guide or look to other resources such as the following websites: NewChoice health.com, FairHealthConsumer .org, and TxPricePoint.org. Second, after you are armed with this information and if you are unsuccessful in resolving or negotiating the balance billed amount that exceeds $500, Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) staff can work with you and your health-care provider to reach an agreement on the billed amount. This can include mediation. TDI reports that it has helped 94 percent of consumers lower their bills in the mediation process. Finally, if mediation is unsuccessful, a complaint can be filed with the TDI, and TDI can investigate and attempt to recover any overcharges. The TDI reports that it helped recover

almost half a million dollars in overcharges in 2015. While Texas has attempted to address the balance billing issues, these new laws do not apply to all health insurance plans. At times, health insurance provided as an employee benefit is governed by the federal law, specifically the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Employers who self-fund their health plans pay the costs of their employee's health care themselves, rather than buying coverage from an insurance company or HMO. Pursuant to ERISA, the U.S. Department of Labor regulates self-funded plans; and, therefore, the Texas Department of Insurance has very limited authority over them. Each benefit plan usually has their own procedures for complaints and dispute resolution. It is important for employers to have clear procedures in their benefits handbooks related to disputing balanced billing. It is equally important for employees to review these procedures carefully. For employees, it can be difficult to tell whether their insurance is provided through a self-funded plan because self-funded plans often use

insurance companies to help administer the plan. For employees in Texas, a short-cut to determining if your health insurance is provided by a self-funded plan is to review your insurance card. Fully insured plans must include “TDI” or “DOI” while self-funded plans do not. If your health insurance is provided through an ERISA plan, the new laws passed by the Texas Legislature regarding balanced billing will not apply. However, the Department of Labor provides staff assistance similar to the TDI, but with limited dispute resolution tools. It is a strange outcome of the structure of our health care system that non-health care businesses often have to become experts in health insurance, but being aware of the tools available to challenge balanced billing can help employers empower employees dealing with the fallout from not only unexpected illness but the later fallout of the unexpected costs that can be associated with it. SAMUEL B. BURKE is certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in civil trial law and may be contacted at sburke@dentonlaw.com and www.dentonlaw.com.

June’s chamber meeting to honor UNT’s 125th Anniversary

he next chamber membership luncheon on Friday, June 24, will recognize the 125th anniversary of the University of North Texas. UNT President Neal Smatresk will share his observations on the institution and its relationship with the Denton area over the last 125 years, as well as the vision for the future. UNT was founded in 1890; the previous academic year has been dedicated to saluting this historical landmark. Scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the UNT Gateway Center, the luncheon sponsor is DATCU Credit Union. Tickets are $30 per person and now available at the chamber office. Seating is limited; reservations are required.

Chuck CARPENTER | Members of the Denton County Commissioners Court, Denton City Council and Board of Trustees of Detnon ISD will be publicly honored at a special reception Wednesday, June 29. The Local Elected Officials Reception is an annual project of the Denton Chamber's Local

Relations Committee, headed by Jill Jester. Co-sponsors include the Denton Black Chamber and Best Western Premier Crown Chase. The primary purpose is to give chamber members an opportunity to visit personally with individual elected officials, in an informal setting. Invitations have been sent to 42 different area elected officials, including the Denton area state and federal delegations, plus judges. Contact the chamber office, 940-382-9693, or info@dentonchamber.org, for more details. CHUCK CARPENTER is the president of the Denton Chamber of Commerce. He can be reached at dcoc@denton -chamber.org.

David Minton/DRC file photo

From left, former University of North Texas President V. Lane Rawlins, current UNT President Neal Smatresk and UNT System Chancellor Lee Jackson sit at the April 15 ribbon cutting ceremony for the new University Union.

Denton Business Chronicle

June 2016

10 Denton Business Chronicle

Cover Story

June 2016

David Minton/DRC

Pedestrians cross McKinney Street on April 29 with help from a Denton police officer on the way to the Denton Arts and Jazz Festival at Quakertown Park in Denton.

Summer biz outlook sunny

Tourists, residents mitigate potential lulls in traffic while students are out of town By Julian Gill

s spring classes at the University of North Texas and Texas Woman’s University end, thousands of students clean out their dorms and leave Denton in droves. When summer classes started last year, enrollment at UNT dipped from 34,084 to 14,307, and TWU enrollment dropped from 14,183 to 7,537, according to the university fact books. Most dorm rooms and dining halls remain empty, and a hush falls over portions of both campuses.

But that hush doesn’t necessarily extend beyond the campuses. Business owners, apartments managers, local officials and residents say they don’t notice much of a change in activity around the city. Some Denton businesses report the opposite of universities — summer is the most important season for some local businesses. According to Kim

Phillips, vice president of the Denton Convention and Visitors Bureau, the city gets an average of 229,000 visitors during the summer months. On top of Denton’s growing population — which the U.S. Census Bureau estimated to be about 131,044 last year — the hustle and bustle around the city continues from June to August. “There’s another whole population that is thriving here– always has and always will,” Phillips said. “The music community, the working community, the families, [and] the retire-

ment community, which is growing like crazy. “The university is very very important. You just have to think beyond.” Phillips said the bureau has various ways in which it tracks the number of visitors in the city. One of the primary indicators is the hotel occupancy rate, which was 65 percent last year from April to October . The data show the number of visitors in Denton has increased by 20 percent since 2010, she said. SUMMER | CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

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June 2016

Tom Fox/DMN file photo

People browse treats and various knick-knacks in July 2012 atAtomic Candy at 105 W. Hickory St. in Denton. SUMMER | CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

Those visitors, she said, could include businesspeople as well as “burger eaters,” many of whom eventually find their way to the Square. “Of course, the development on the downtown Square has made that area very tourism-friendly,” she said. “It’s made that a huge draw.” Mark Burke, owner of Mad World Records on the Square, has lived in or around Denton for a decade. He said summers in the city looked very different 10 years ago. “The town would seem emptied, and businesses would hurt from it,” Burke said. Now, after the development of the A-Train and other improvements downtown, his summer clientele has seamlessly shifted from students to visitors, he said. “Money-wise, we’re pretty much exactly the same as we were when the kids were in,” he said. “It’s just a completely different group of people.” Teresa Rodriguez, a manager at Atomic Candy, said she couldn’t remember a summer in which the shop had a serious downturn in business. And Miles Foster, longtime manager of Recycled Books and Records, one of the more popular tourist spots on the Square, said new businesses in the area have noticeably boosted foot SUMMER | CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

David Minton/DRC

A family crosses Locust Street on the Square as a worker patches concrete on the sidewalk June 7.

12 Denton Business Chronicle

June 2016

Business Mixers

Cover Story

Denton Chamber of Commerce

Ian C. Bates/DMN file photo

Emma and Sara with Camp Gladiator stop for a photo outside the May Membership Mixer.

Alex Gilman, right, looks through used records April 4, 2013, at Recycled Books Records CDs on the Denton Square. SUMMER | CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

Jason Stewart and Michelle Barber mingle at the May Membership Mixer.

The May Membership Mixer Co-Sponsors Cristi Carothers and Joe Lopez pose in front of a limousine.

traffic, especially during this time of year. Phillips cited the burgeoning manufacturing industry and the youthful culture near the heart of Denton as big tourist draws. But there isn’t one particular reason more people are visiting the city, she said. “Part of that lends to the fact that people are free to move around because they’re not in school, so families move around, camps happen, and that is a big source of business,” she said. Still, Phillips acknowledged students are a crucial element of the city’s resident community. Although a large portion leaves, several student-centered apartment complexes are at least 90 percent full until the end of July. The U Centre at Fry Street and Gateway at Denton — which have 619 and 696 beds, respectively — remain over 95 percent occupied after school ends, according to leasing agents. Other large complexes, such as The

Forum at Denton Station and The Arbors of Denton, have standard lease periods running through mid- to late-July. Campus life has died down, but an unknown number students may stay in the town until their lease is up. And that doesn’t account for the students who have other forms of housing. Phillips said the growing number of students who have decided to stay in the Denton to start a business or pursue their career has invigorated the local economy. And that, in turn, has helped make Denton more of a summer destination, she said. “There’s very welcome atmosphere for [exploration and entrepreneurship],” Phillips said. “And I think that appeals to particularly young people right out of school going ‘Okay, I want to try out my dreams before I commit to something for the next 40 years.’” JULIAN GILL can be reached at 940-566-6845 and via Twitter at @juliangill music.

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14 Denton Business Chronicle

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Business Mixers Ribbon-cuttings

Bodyscaping Laser & Aesthetics Med Spa

SOI Brow Salon

Texas Turquoise Boutique

Guaranty Bank

SpringHill Suites by Marriott

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June 2016

Business Spotlight

Transit-oriented apartments set for downtown Carrollton By Steve Brown | The Dallas Morning News

A developer building one of Uptown’s newest apartment towers is headed to the ’burbs with a transit-oriented development. Stoneleigh Cos. is just months away from finishing its 20-story One Uptown apartment highrise on McKinney Avenue in Uptown. Now Stoneleigh has tied up a building site next to downtown Carrollton’s DART commuter rail station for another apartment development. “It’s going to be 230 apartments right at the corner of Belt Line and Interstate 35,” Stoneleigh CEO Rick Cavenaugh said. “It’s a no-brainer – you

step out the front door and you walk right next door to the DART station.” The 4-acre site is vacant and controlled by Realty Capital of Arlington. Cavenaugh said Stoneleigh has formed a partnership with the owner to build a 4-story rental community on the land. “We are going to try and start construction by the first of the year,” he said. Stoneleigh’s project will be the second urban-style apartment community developed adjacent to the downtown Carrollton DART stop. Developer High Street Residential built the 311-unit Union

at Carrollton Square starting in 2012. That project was purchased in 2014 by Fort Worth-based Olympus Property. The Carrollton apartment project is one of a handful of developments Stoneleigh is working on in North Texas. The firm is also about to start a rental community in the Frisco Fresh Market development on Main Street in Frisco. “We are going to break ground in July on the first 380 units,” Cavenaugh said. Stoneleigh also has a development site on Chisholm Trial Parkway in southwest Fort Worth.

Stoneleigh Cos. plans to build an apartment complex next to downtown Carrollton’s DART station. David Woo/ DMN file photo

Business Mixers Denton Chamber of Commerce

Vital Statistics BUILDING PERMITS

The following building permits were issued by the Denton Planning and Development department in May. Commericial alterations and commercial permits reflect the owner or tenant and the address of the business. CERTIFICATES OF OCCUPATION 1100 Palmwood Place LLC, 1100 Palmwood Place Alex Khafagi, 1230 Duncan St. Bizplex Inc., 3401 E. University Drive, No. 302 Claude Welcome, 3839 Market St., Suite 103 Cypress P/S Ltd., 600 N. Loop 288, No. 500 Denton Market Street, 3841 Market St. Filigree Winter Inc., 118 N. Cedar St. Glendy Blas, 302 N. Crawford St. Greenway DTC LP., 2215 S. Loop 288, Suite 327 Kark Foley, 2834 Geesling Road Kathy Orr, 3730 E. McKinney St., No. 130 Lquita Harmon, 1640 W. University Drive Masch Branch Realty LP., 2341 Masch Branch Road, Suite 424 Shell Building, 210 S. Elm St.

COMMERCIAL ALTERATION Ashford Family Medicine, 2900 N. I-15, No. 301 AT&T Mobility, 124 Daugherty St. Brijpal Singh, 827 W. Eagle CareNow, 3751 S. I-35E Chiloso, 2215 S. Loop 288, No. 312 Denton Crossing West, 1800 S. Loop 288, Suite 370 Kroger, 500 W. University Drive Kwik Kar, 2303 W. University Drive La Colina Apartments, 1200 Dallas Drive Life Works Community, 1804 Cornell Lane Sally Beauty Company, 3900 Morse St. Starbucks, 2300 S. Loop 288 Texas Cardiovascular Specialist, 3537 S. I-35E, No. 305 Tire Centers LLC, 1816 Shady Oaks

Verizon Wireless, 500 Thomas St. WJ Colville, 1210 Duncan St., No. 161 and No. 165

COMMERCIAL Codela LLC, 2420 E. McKinney St. DNB Investments Ltd., 711 S. Carroll Blvd. Texas Blue Saddle Ltd., 3851 N. I-35

RESIDENTIAL Beazer Homes 7357 Desert Willow Drive 7213 Bishop Pine Road 3300 Hawks View Lane Bloomfield Homes LP. 9021 Athens Drive 9000 Athens Drive 5012 Brookside Drive Country Lakes West LLC 6209 Roaring Creek 6304 Meandering Creek Drive 6205 Roaring Creek DR Horton 3904 Ranchman Blvd. 3908 Ranchman Blvd. Forestar Real Estate Group 7000 Edwards Road History Maker Homes 5304 Wharfside Place 5321 Wharfside Place

5309 Marina Drive NTX 2013A LP. 5100 Swisher Road Robson Denton Dev. LP. 9540 Crestview Drive 9917 Baywood Court 9629 Lindenwood Trail 9624 Rivercrest Drive 9600 Crestview Drive 11613 Southerland Drive 11629 Melrose Drive 9724 Rivercrest Drive Sandlin Homes 9016 Athens Drive 9004 Athens Drive Wyndham Custom Homes 3609 Ann Arbor Lane 3613 Ann Arbor Lane 3617 Meadowtrail Lane 3701 Ann Arbor Lane 3705 Meadowtrail Lane 3705 Ann Arbor Lane 3712 Ann Arbor Lane 3700 Ann Arbor Lane 3608 Ann Arbor Lane 3709 Ann Arbor Lane 3613 Meadowtrail Lane 3700 Meadowtrail Lane

MIXED BEVERAGE TAX

The following mixed beverage tax information was issued by the state comptroller’s office for May. The list includes the name of the business, address and reported tax.

Joe Lopez speaks on behalf of SpringHill Suites at the Denton Chamber of Commerce’s May Membership Mixer.

Michelle Houston and Ben Smith take a break from their meals to pose for a photo at the mixer.

380 Roadhouse LLC, 26781 US. Highway 380E, Little Elm, $2,470.15 940s Kitchen & Cocktails, 219 W. Oak St., Denton, $2,243.62 American Legion Post No. 550, 905 N. Foundation, Pilot Point, $1,128.88 Andy's Bar and Grill, 122 N. Locust St., Denton, $6,635.88 Angelina's Mexican Restaurant, 1400 N. Corinth St., Suite 111, Corinth, $1,089.82 Applebee's Neighborhood Grill, 707 S. I-35E, Denton, $3,500.41 Applebee's Neighborhood Grill, 2672 FM423, Little Elm $2,221.98 Aramark Educational Services, 303 Administration St., Denton, $77.25 Ashton Gardens, 2001 Ashton Gardens Lane, Corinth, $1,025.83 B.P.O.E. Denton No. 2446, 228 E. Oak St., Denton, $826.57 Barley & Board, 100 W. Oak St., Suite 160, Denton, $5,300.77 Best Western Area Crown Chase, 2450 Brinker Road, Denton, $207.83 BJ's Restaurant & Brewery, 3250 S. I-35E, Denton, $4,814.35 Black-Eyed Pea, 2420 S. I-35E, Denton, $0 Bone Daddys House of Smoke, 3258 S. I-35E, Denton, $5,140.50 Bono's Chop House & Saloon, 2025 N. Highway 287, Decatur, $1,730.47 Bono's Chop House & Saloon, 2025 N. Highway 287, Decatur, $1,798.95 Boomerjack Wings No. 8, 407 W. University Drive, Denton, $1,462.94 Brunswick Zone Denton, 2200 San Jacinto Blvd., Denton, $1,076.08 Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar, 1400 S. Loop 288, Suite 110, Denton, $3,690.82 Cabana Beverages Inc., 2330 W. University Drive, Denton, $197.31 Casa Torres Mexican Restaurant, 2708 FM51, Decatur, $1,213.03 Chili's Grill & Bar, 600 S. Highway 287, Decatur, $2,657.75 Chili's Grill & Bar No. 1562, 2825 W. University Drive, Denton, $0 Chili's Grill& Bar, 2406 N. I-35, Denton, $2,036.93 Chilitos Private Club Inc., 619-623 S. Denton Drive, Lake Dallas, $296.07 Chipotle Mexican Grill, 1224 W. Hickory St., Denton, $39.32 Chuy's Denton, 3300 Wind River Lane, Denton,

$6,620.80 Cool Bean's, 1210 W. Hickory St., Denton, $3,960.77 Courtyard By Marriott, 2800 Colorado Blvd., Denton, $268.00 Crossroads Bar, 1803 N. Elm St., Denton, $1,578.18 Dani Rae's Gulf Coast Kitchen, 2303 S. I-35E, Denton, $1,434.13 Dan's Silverleaf, 103 Industrial St., Denton, $3,206.28 Denton Country Club, 1213 Country Club Road, Argyle, $2,162.89 Drunken Donkey Bar & Grill, 3350 Unicorn Lake Blvd., Denton, $6,042.86 Dusty's Bar & Grill & Haileys, 119 S. Elm St., Denton, $2,666.06 East Side Denton Oak Street, 117 E. Oak St., Denton, $12,998.80 El Fenix-Denton, 2229 S. I-35E, Denton, $693.04 El Guapo's, 419 S. Elm St., Denton, $775.65 Ernesto's Mexican Restaurant, 10279 FM455E, Suite 1, Pilot Point, $2,360.67 Frilly's, 1803 S. Highway 287, Decatur, $1,924.97 Frilly's, 1803 S. Highway 287, Decatur, $1,902.53 Fry Street Public House, 125 Ave. A, Denton, $0 Fuzzy's Taco Shop, 109 N. State St., Decatur, $1,043.05 Fuzzy's Taco Shop, 115 Industrial St., Denton, $818.13 Fuzzy's Taco Shop, 2412 S. I-35E, Denton, $1,504.95 Fuzzys Taco Shop, 421 Highway 377S., Argyle, $797.30 Fuzzy's Taco Shop Cross Roads, 11450 US. Highway 380, Suite 160, Cross Roads, $1,558.35 Genti's Private Club Inc., 3700 FM2181, Hickory Creek, $419.01 Good Eats No. 729, 5812 N. I-35, Denton, $0 Hannahs, 111 W. Mulberry St., Denton, $3,225.44 Harvest House, 331 E. Hickory St., Denton, $8,098.35 Hickory Street Lounge, 212 E. Hickory St., Denton, $2,093.48 Hilton Garden Inn Denton, 3110 Colorado Blvd., Denton, $599.71 Holiday Inn Denton, 1434 Centre Place Drive, Denton, $277.44 Hooligans LLC, 104 N. Locust St., Denton, $4,780.71 Hooters, 985 N. I-35E, Denton, $3,887.13 Hula Hut Restaurant, 210 E. Eldorado Parkway, Little Elm, $6,929.81 II Charlies Bar & Grill, 809 Sunset St., Denton, $4,270.31 J.R. Pockets Club, 1127 Fort Worth Drive, Denton, $2,779.56 Jack's Tavern, 508 S. Elm St., Suite 101, Denton, $3,367.88 Jem Beverage Company LLC, 217 W. Division St., Pilot Point, $8.10 Johnny Carino's Italian, 1516 Centre Place Drive,

Denton, $657.67 Keiichi LLC, 500 N. Elm St., Denton, $372.05 Kobe Sushi & Steak LLC, 2832 E. Eldorado Parkway, Suite 208, Little Elm, $209.84 La Casa Velez, 2831 W. Eldorado Parkway Suite No. 112, Little Elm, $720.51 La Milpa Mexican Restaurant, I820 S. I-35E, Unit 1, Denton, $1,312.46 La Milpa Mexican Restaurant, I820 S. I-35E, Unit 1, Denton, $1,263.01 Lake Dallas Point Restaurant, 303 Swisher Road, Suite 100, Lake Dallas, $1,975.22 Lantana Golf Club, 800 Golf Club Drive, Argyle, $1,629.37 Las Cabos Cantina, 4451 FM2181, Corinth, $118.65 Leeper Creek BBQ & Cantina, 3142 N. Highway 287, Decatur, $100.56 Library Bar, 109 Ave. A, Denton, $122.54 Lone Star Attitude Burger Co., 113 W. Hickory St., Denton, $6,390.39 Los Jalapenos Restaurant, 420 E. Eldorado Parkway, Little Elm, $280.26 Lowbrows Beer and Wine Garden, 200 W. Washington St., Pilot Point, $526.55 Lucky Lou's, 1207 W. Hickory St., Denton, $8,781.89 Luigi's Pizza Italian Restaurant, 2000 W. University Drive, Denton, $337.07 Mable Peabody's Beauty Parlor, 1125 E. University Drive, Suite 107, Denton, $1,375.64 Mellow Mushroom, 217 E. Hickory St., Denton, $1,621.53 Meritt Ranch Beverages, 2946 Ganzar Road W., Denton, $150.21 Metzler's Food and Beverage, 1251 S. Bonnie Brae St., Denton, $161.73 Mi Taza Latin Tex-Mex Café, 5017 Teasley Lane, Suite 101, Denton, $836.09 Miguelito's, 1521 E. McCart St., Krum, $763.46 Movie Tavern Denton, 916 W. University Drive, Denton, $2,404.42 Muddy Jake's Sports Grille, 222 W. Hickory St., Suite 104, Denton, $0 Mulberry Street Cantina, 110 W. Mulberry St., Denton, $3,313.21 Norman Heitz Memorial Post 104, 501 Thompson Drive, Lake Dallas, $1,107.17 Oak Street Drafthouse, 308 E. Oak St., Denton, $6,713.80 Oakmont Country Club, 1200 Clubhouse Drive, Corinth, $1,776.17

MIXED | CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

Denton Business Chronicle

June 2016

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June 2016

Vital Statistics SALES TAX

The following sales permits were issued by the state comptroller’s office for May. The list includes the owner, name of business and address within ZIP codes 75065, 75068, 76201, 76205, 76207, 76208, 76209, 76210, 76226, 76227, 76234, 76249, 76259 and 76266. 75065 Cynthia Jaird, Amazing Grace Creations, 305 Main St., Lake Dallas, Yvonne Marie Estes, Yvonne Estes Photography, 101 Red Bluff Court, Hickory Creek

75068 All Lube Center and Auto Repair LLC, All Lube Center and Auto Repair LLC, 880 W. Eldorado Parkway, Little Elm Amazon Rain Sprinkler Service LLC, Amazon Rain Sprinkler Service LLC, 2780 Crescent Lake Drive, Little Elm Anna Elixson Enlightened, 232 W. Park St., Little Elm Christi Noebel, Cherished Moments Fine Art Photography, 256 Willowlake Drive, Little Elm Frisco Independent School District, Coy Miller Elementary School, 300 Cypress Hill Drive, Little Elm John Miller Sr., Kingdom Konstruction & Remodeling, 14616 Eaglemont Drive, Little Elm Robert R. Halcomb, Smokin Ronnie's BBQ, 2701 Little Elm Parkway, Suite 100, Little Elm Ruth A. Situmorang, 2 Sisterly Love Leggings Boutique And More, 1813 Megan Creek Drive, Little Elm Shamrock Cleaners LLC, Shamrock Cleaners LLC, 1804 Galena Court, Little Elm

76201 Armadillo Brewing Company LLC, Armadillo Brewing Company LLC, 221 S. Bell Ave., Denton Boca 31 LLC, Boca 31, 207 S. Bell Ave., Denton Bostick Banks LLC, The Labb, 218 W. Oak St., Denton Chipotle Mexican Grill Of Colorado LLC, Chipotle Mexican Grill-Rayzor Ranch, No. 2625, 2735 W. University Drive, Suite 1051, Denton Chipotle Texas LLC, Chipotle Mexican Grill-Rayzor Ranch, No. 2625, 2735 W. University Drive, Suite 1051, Denton Christina Marie Mcmullen, Christina Mcmullen, 617 Westway St., Denton Kristin Renee Henderson, Mosaics and Merlot, 920 Anna St., Denton Michaela Tranise Williams, Jesus Jewels, 1103 Bernard St., Apt. 1137, Denton Select Comfort Retail Corporation, Sleep Number, 2735 W. University Drive, Suite 1095, Denton Storrie Parachute Works Inc., Storrie Parachute Works Inc., 715 N. Locust St., Denton Tamela R. Shafer, Living Arts Wellness, Group 815, N. Elm St., Suite 9, Denton Tpt-Denton Inc., The Palm Tree, 119 N. Elm St., Denton Vidahub Products LLC, Vidahub Products LLC, 101 E. McKinney St., No. 2515, Denton Wireless Unlimited Investments LLC, Wireless Unlimited Investments LLC, 710 S. Elm St., Denton

76205 AK Strategies LLC, The Washhouse, 631 Londonderry Lane, Denton Arthur W. Cline Jr., Daily Price Drop, 2100 Spencer Road, Apt. 3221, Denton Basil T. Murphy Jr., Mr. Fix It, General Repair, 2011 Fort Worth Drive, Denton

Brush Country Wildlife Supply LLC, Brush Country Hunter.Com, 115 S. Woodrow Lane, Denton Bullys Vapor LLC, Bullys Vapor, 1776 Teasley Lane, Suite 112, Denton Channel Control Merchants of Texas LLC, Dirt Cheap Denton, 2434 S. I-35E, Denton Iqbal Abdullah Cellfone USA, 2201 S. I-35E, Suite H1B, Denton Jordan's A/C & Heating Service Inc., Jordan's A/C & Heating Service Inc., 306 Dallas Drive, Suite C, Denton Vernon K. Ivy, Ivy's Appliance Service, 1212 Fort Worth Drive, Denton

76207 Francisco Javier Lopez, JFL Construction, 3410 Joyce Lane, Denton Greenpoint Technologies Inc., Greenpoint Technologies Inc., 5250 Dakota Lane, Denton Julia D. Fellers, Rosella Market, 1912 N. Lariat Road, Denton Rains Inc., Rains Inc., 4000 W. University Drive, Denton Rufus Hardy Jr., Rufus Hardy Jr., 2616 John Drive Denton Satellites and Auto Accessories Inc., Satellites And Auto Accessories Inc., 4000 W. University Drive, Denton

76208 Troy Dylan Randall, Randall Leather Designs, 7901 Rodeo Drive, Denton Uland Technology Services LLC, Uland Technology Services LLC, 3730 E. McKinney St., Suite 135 C/O, PMB 105 Denton

76209 Alan W. Williams, Williams Services Group, 2321 Kingston Trace, Denton Amanda T. Nguyen, Southern Paw Boutique, 3900 Titan Trail, Denton Andrew Olson and Rebecca Bouvier, Valkair Productions, 1610 E. McKinney St., Apt. 901, Denton Automation Ideas Inc., Automation Ideas Inc., 2020 Crestwood Place, Denton Jesus Pablo Franco, Franco's Auto Sales, 603 E. McKinney St., Denton Lauren Elizabeth Meyer, Lauren Elizabeth Meyer, 2425 Foxcroft Circle, Denton Phillip D. Howard, Native Creations, 3021 E. McKinney St., Denton Tamenika Shelton, Too Cold Enterprises, 111 E. University Drive, Denton

76210 John J. Hooper, Lone Star Tributes, 1416 Montevideo Court, Denton Judson Oliver Montemagno, Judson Coins, 7305 Frost Lane, Denton Lwin Family Co., Oumi Sushi In Sprout's No. 148, 4930 Teasley Lane, Denton MG Pools LLC, MG Pools, 2504 Whetstone Drive, Corinth Paul Douglas Brown, Mr. Brisket BBQ, 3522 Fairview Drive, Corinth

76226 Amanda N. Oliver, Amanda Payne Interior Design, 301 Creekside Trail, Argyle Lantana Taekwondo Inc., Lantana Taekwondo, 2650 FM407E, Suite 110, Bartonville Software Shapers Inc., Pygraphics, 405 Highway 377 S., Argyle US. Trinity Equipment LLC, US. Trinity Equipment LLC, 200 Highland Circle, Argyle

76227 Hunt 4 Life Inc., Hunt 4 Life Inc., 26878 US. Highway 380E, Little Elm Millow Market LLC, Millow Market LLC, 9016 Eastwood Ave., Cross Roads Mts Nutritional Enterprises LLC, Gnc No. 1933, 11750 US. Highway 380, Cross Roads Sheila Marie LLC, Ruby Jean, 101 E. Elm St., Aubrey

76234 Bryan Adam Smith, Smggunsstore, 1025 County Road 4380, Decatur Dennis Mayhall & H. Mark Tanner, Domino's Pizza No. 9296, 700 W. Hale Ave., Decatur Dollar Tree Stores Inc., Dollar Tree No. 6734, 1200 S. FM51, Decatur Khonesavanh Xiengsouvanh, X Chan Bistro Thai/Asian Fusion, 113 N. State St., Decatur Kimberly Shreve Adams, Kim Adams Interior's, 1461 E. Highway 380, Decatur Michael Wayne Eslinger, KDB Electric, 950 W. Thompson St., Apt. 208, Decatur Rabbit Garden Inc., China Palace Buffet, 303 N. Highway 287, Decatur Tracy Brooks Garza, Homestead Rustics, 208 Private Road, 3171 Decatur Triesta Langford, Designs By Triesta, 1509 N. Highway 287, Decatur

76249 Billy Dwayne, Mayes Helm Publishers, 520 Woodlawn St., Krum D and L Solutions LLC, D and L Solutions LLC, 9109 Breezy Road, Krum Joygrace & Co., Joygrace & Co., 612 W. McCart St., Krum

76259 Teresa A Kitchens, English Creek Designs, 11320 Mitchell Circle, Ponder

76266 Harden Cabinets LLC, Harden Cabinets LLC, 4203 FM455W., Sanger Jeanie C. Pryor, Le Bleu Bonnet Boutique, 302 Bolivar St., Sanger Jeffrey David Ford, Texas Track Car, 2516 Santa Fe Trail, Sanger Randall Hargrove HTS, Technical Services, 103 Teal Road, Sanger

ASSUMED NAMES

The following names (followed by DBA and address) were posted in May at the Denton County Clerk’s office. NAME — DBA/ADDRESS Arcadio Pizarro and Gilsa Zorilla, Tela Y Estil, 3550 Quail Creek Drive, No. 2107, Denton Billy Grate, Grate House Cleaning Service, 280 S. Bonnie Brae St., Denton Cristopher A. Weithoff, Sheety’s, 1501 S. Loop 288, Suite 104, Office 314, Denton Donald L. Akers, Rib It, 2903 Croydon St., Denton Hugo R. Cruz, Hugo’s Auto Sales LLC, 525 S. Elm St., Denton Jeannie’s Sue Wiggins, Denton Diesel, 2301 N. Masch Branch Road, Denton Joel Fragoso, Amigos Paint and Remodeling, 717 Pershing Drive, Denton John J. Hooper, Lone Star Tributes, 1416 Montevideo

Court, Denton Joshua Brown, JDB Roofing, 719 E. Sherman Drive, Denton Joshua Perkins, DTX Painting, 1023 W. Hickory St., Denton Juan E. Palomo, Palomo’s Drywall, 2601 S. Mayhill Road, No. 210, Denton Kirk Armstrong and Zach Armstrong, NTX Valet, 3880 Roselawn Drive, Denton Larry and Patricia W. Fisher, 7 Siblings LP., 3509 Ranchman Blvd., Denton Lauri Bauman, BIG Journey Homes, 2434 Lillian Miller Parkway, Denton Loni Puckett, Denton Plaza tenant Committee, 508 S. Elm St., Denton

Melvin Harper Jr., Sportelook, 3921 Miramar Drive, Denton Michael and Mary Murray, M&M Properties, 2500 Pioneer Drive, Denton Ricardo Diaz, Rico’s Paint and Body, 100 Steedman Road, Denton Steven Naus, P&N Construction Co., 3320 Masch Branch Road, Denton TEO Group LLC, University Garden Apartment, 2405 W. Prairie St., Denton Thomas Montgomery, Business Credit Literacy, 2301 Overlook Lane, Denton TPT Denton Inc., The Palm Tree, 119 N. Elm St., Denton Zale Delaware Inc., Zales Jewelers No. 1124, 2201 I-35E, Denton

Vital Statistics LIENS

AUTO SALES

The following liens were posted in May at the Denton County Clerk’s office.

The following sales information for Denton County was first issued in the Freeman Autoplex Recap by Freeman Publishers.

STATE TAX LIENS NAME/ADDRESS Jordan Creek Logistics Inc., 2336 Southway, Denton

TYPE Limited sales excise and use tax

AMOUNT $2,625.60

REC. DATE 05/26/2016

TYPE Limited Sales, Excise and Use Tax

AMOUNT $3,653.25

REC. DATE 05/20/2016

TYPE 6672 1040 1040 1040 1040 6672

AMOUNT $1,829.46 $87,222.28 $19,021.49 $14,160.37 $54,383.94 $18,323.60

REC. DATE 05/05/2016 05/05/2016 05/10/2016 05/11/2016 05/11/2016 05/19/2016

TYPE 941

AMOUNT $11,613.24

REC. DATE 05/05/2016

1040 1040 1040 1040 1040 1040 1040 1040 941 6721, 940 1040 1040 1040

$29,406.73 $3,231.53 $5,188.56 $48,288.72 $13,225.12 $34,174.77 $97,663.93 $50,105.48 $51,379.44 $8,443.28 $38,199.10 $211,260.00 $8,043.10

05/05/2016 05/05/2016 05/11/2016 05/11/2016 05/11/2016 05/18/2016 05/18/2016 05/18/2016 05/18/2016 05/18/2016 05/25/2016 05/25/2016 05/25/2016

CONTRACTOR Outdoor Living Pool & Patio

AMOUNT $57,317.00

REC. DATE 05/12/2016

RELEASE OF STATE TAX LIENS NAME/ADDRESS Ace Tech Motors Inc., 3232 N. Locust St., Apt. 1321, Denton

FEDERAL TAX LIENS NAME/ADDRESS Joshua Macfall, 1114 Anna St., Denton Curtis Clinesmith, 1509 Valley Creek Road, Denton James A. Murray, 3939 Teasley Lane, Lot 341, Denton Susan H. Siflinger, 2109 Prescott Downs Drive, Denton Allan J. and Holly S. Rosenbaum, 2022 N. Locust St., Denton Paul Echols, 1108 N. Elm St., Apt. 2, Denton

RELEASE OF FEDERAL TAX LIENS NAME/ADDRESS Harper Directory Distribution Group, 2925 Country Club Road, Suite 103, Denton Kendall W. and Amanda D. Robertson, 6409 Daisy Drive, Denton Abel and Rosario D. Hernandez, 2202 Kings Row, Denton Aubrey Ishmael, 518 Love, Denton Kathleen R. Piper, 1006 W. Hickory St., Denton Gus Michael and Amy Oliver, 8004 Mirror Rock Lane, Denton Christopher S. McCoulskey, 1624 W. Oak, Denton Karen Wilson, 111 W. Hickory St., Denton Donald G. Mickey, 1910 Leatherwood Lane, Denton Karen Wilson, 111 W. Hickory St., Denton Cassidy L. Fuess, 610 Dallas Drive, Denton David R. and Catherine R. Williams, 1906 Jacqueline Drive, Denton Curis Clinesmith, 1509 Valley Creek Road, Denton Jim B. Christman, 202 Mission St., Denton

MECHANICS LIENS NAME/ADDRESS Tracy and Ryan Stanford, 5504 Thistle Hill, Denton

MIXED BEVERAGE TAX

The following mixed beverage tax information was issued by the state comptroller’s office for May. The list includes the name of the business, address and reported tax.

MIXED | CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 Ollimac Company, 1400 Corinth Bend, Suite 103, Corinth, $658.61 On The Border, 2829 S. I-35E, Denton, $2,794.50 Outback Steakhouse, 300 S. I-35E, Denton, $2,323.29 Pedro's Tex Mex & Grill, 420 E Mckinney St., Suite 100, Denton, $Pedro's Tex Mex & Grill, 209 S. Washington St., Pilot Point, $665.84 Pei Wei Fresh Kitchen, 1931 S. Loop 288, Suite 130, Denton, $75.44 Phil Miller Post No. 2205 VFW, 909 Sunset St., Denton, $1,337.38 Pilot Point Columbus Club, 221 N. Prairie St., Pilot Point, $13.86 Pizza Hut, 730 S. Highway 377S., Pilot Point, $19.96 Pollo Tropical Beverages LLC, 2220 S. Loop 288, Denton, $17.21 Prairie House Restaurant, 10001 Highway 380, Cross Roads, $1,429.91 Queenie's Steakhouse, 113 E. Hickory St., Denton, $1,696.97 Red Lobster No. 6349, 2801 S. I-35E, Denton, $1,637.68 Riprock's, 1211 W. Hickory St., Denton, $4,699.24 Rock 101 Patio Grill, 2833 Eldorado Parkway, Suite 301, Little Elm, $4,671.77 Rockin Rodeo, 1009 Ave. C, Denton, $3,507.85 Rooster's Roadhouse, 113 Industrial St., Denton, $2,676.38 Rooster's Roadhouse Decatur, 106 N. Trinity St., Decatur, $1,900.85 Rosa's Cafe & Tortilla Factory, 1275 S. Loop 288, Denton, $177.48

RT's Social Club Inc., 1100 Dallas Drive, Suite 124, Denton, $7,514.58 Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studio, 411 E. Sycamore St., Denton, $967.74 Ruby Jeans Bar & Café, 309 N. FM156, Ponder, $983.89 Ruby Jeans Bar & Café, 309 N. FM156, Ponder, $1,175.11 Rusty Taco Denton, 210 E. Hickory St., Denton, $1,081.84 Savory Bistro & Gourmet To Go, 2650 FM407E, Suite 165, Bartonville, $1,578.25 Sean's Mesquite Pit BBQ, 401 N. Highway 287, Decatur, $0 Sean's Mesquite Pit BBQ, 401 N. Highway 287, Decatur, $0 Service Industry, 222 W. Hickory St., Suite 103, Denton, $294.06 Shots and Crafts LLC, 103 Ave. A, Denton, $1,505.62 Starbucks No. 6698, 4600 Swisher Road, Hickory Creek, $0 Sweetwater Grill & Tavern, 115 S. Elm St., Denton, $1,679.95 Tex Tapas, 109 Industrial St., Denton, $761.58 Texas Roadhouse, 2817 S. I-35E, Denton, $4,030.38 The Abbey Inn Restaurant & Pub, 101 W. Hickory St., Denton, $3,034.63 The Aztec Club, 720 W. University Drive, Denton, $1,559.42 The Bears Den, 11670 Massey Road, Pilot Point, $225.32 The Draft House Bar & Grill, 2700 E. Eldorado Parkway, Suite 250, Little Elm, $3,150.27 The Fry Street Tavern, 121 Ave. A Denton, $4,369.33 The Garage, 113 Ave. A, Denton, $4,103.01 The Green House, 600 N. Locust St., Denton, $1,537.04

Denton Business Chronicle

The Labb Club, 218 W. Oak St., Denton, $2,065.07 The Loophole, 119 W. Hickory St., Denton, $4,336.77 The Milestone, 1301 W. Sherman Drive, Aubrey, $246.62 The Milestone, 1301 W. Sherman Drive, Aubrey, $855.65 The Olive Garden Italian Restaurant, 2809 S. I-35E, Denton, $1,840.55 The Robson Ranch Pro Shop, 9428 Ed Robson Circle, Denton, $111.75 Tokyo Samurai, 3600 FM407E, Suite 100, Bartonville, $680.58 Toms Daiquiri Place, 1212 W. Mulberry St., Denton, $1,102.21 Tower Tap House, 290 E. Eldorado Parkway, Little Elm, $1,953.92 Tower Tap House, 290 E. Eldorado Parkway, Little Elm, $1,494.36 University Lanes, 1212 E. University Drive, Denton, $1,161.11 Verona Pizza Italian Restaurant, 201 Loop 81/287N., Decatur, $43.41 Villa Grande Mexican Restaurant, 12000 US. Highway 380, Suite 100, Cross Roads, $1,720.42 Villa Grande Mexican Restaurant, 2530 W. University Drive, Suite 114, Denton, $1,585.28 Vitty's Sports Bar, 1776 Teasley Lane, Suite 102, Denton, $1,692.88 Walters Tavern, 201 Main St., Lake Dallas, $2,751.35 Wildhorse Grill, 9440 Ed Robson Circle, Denton, $2,005.51 Wing Daddy’s Sauce House, 2763 E Eldorado Parkway, Suite 105, Little Elm, $3,203.33 Wing Town, 4271 FM2181, No. C316, Corinth, $0 Xchan Thai Bistro and Sushi, 113 N. State St., Decatur, $59.76

DOMESTIC CARS Make April sales Acura BMW Buick Cadillac Chevrolet Chrysler Dodge Fiat Ford GMC Hino Honda Hyundai Infiniti Isuzu Jeep Kia Lexus Lincoln Mack Mazda Mercedes-Benz Mitsubishi Nissan Ram Subaru Tesla Toyota Volkswagen Others Total

1 0 5 34 182 14 62 0 275 21 0 224 32 0 0 129 48 0 4 0 15 0 21 197 1 26 5 312 89 0 1,697

Year to date 2 1 30 105 650 51 253 0 1,035 116 0 809 94 0 0 421 168 2 7 0 46 3 57 793 3 97 22 946 235 2 5,948

DOMESTIC TRUCKS Make BMW Buick Cadillac Chevrolet Dodge Ford Freightliner GMC Hino Honda International Isuzu Jeep Kenworth Lincoln Mack Mercedes-Benz Nissan Peterbilt Ram Subaru Toyota Volvo Western Star Others Total

April sales 0 0 0 165 3 277 2 43 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 12 0 90 0 89 0 0 6 692

Year to date 0 0 0 556 4 1,016 3 225 1 1 0 8 1 5 0 0 0 75 21 320 0 264 0 0 11 2,511

IMPORTED CARS Make Acura Alfa Romeo Aston Martin Audi BMW Bentley Buick Chevrolet Ferrari Fiat Ford Honda Hyundai Infiniti Isuzu Jaguar Jeep Kia Lamborghini Land Rover Lexus Maserati Mazda McLaren Mercedes-Benz Mini Mitsubishi Nissan Porsche Ram Rolls Royce Smart Subaru Toyota Volkswagen Volvo Others Total Total cars

April sales 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 9 0 0 3 7 24 0 0 0 7 99 0 0 1 1 39 0 1 0 52 29 0 0 0 0 57 96 27 1 0 459 2,156

Year to date 0 0 0 13 5 0 26 37 0 1 13 16 80 0 0 2 40 356 0 0 5 5 178 0 7 0 162 191 2 2 0 0 215 287 77 4 0 1,724 7,672

IMPORTED TRUCKS Make Chevrolet Ford Freightliner Hino Isuzu Kia Land Rover Mercedes-Benz Mitsubishi Ram Toyota Total Total trucks Total vehicle sales

April sales 0 2 0 0 9 0 0 1 0 4 0 16 708 2,864

Year to date 0 10 0 0 13 0 0 3 0 10 0 36 2,547 10,219

June 2016

20 Denton Business Chronicle

June 2016