Posted 8:18 pm Sunday, October 09, 2011
‘Breaking The Mold' Expands Influence In East Texas
Breaking the Mold in East Texas began four years ago when East Texas Workforce Solutions, the Division for Rehabilitation Services and East Texas Center for Independent Living put on an event to celebrate National Employment Awareness Day.
Now, nearly 20 local businesses and public agencies are partnering to reach out to other businesses to "break the mold" and realize the many benefits of hiring motivated, reliable and dependable employees who happen to have a disability.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 17, the partners are sponsoring "Breaking the Mold in East Texas" for businesses at the Rose Garden Center, 2000 W. Front St.
The free event will feature a panel of businesses who will talk about how hiring people with disabilities has impacted their bottom line, as well as a panel of people with disabilities who will speak to the change in their life as a result of being successfully employed.
Suddenlink will provide the keynote speech, "The Difference this Event can Make in Your Business" during the complimentary luncheon. For more information, contact Amy Harrison at 903-561-8131, ext. 174, or amy.harrison@twc.state.tx.us.
NEW ENGINEER
Freese and Nichols welcomed Brooke Droptini, infrastructure engineer, to its Tyler office.
Ms. Droptini is an experienced project manager in the transportation and traffic engineering fields. She graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering.
Freese and Nichols is a full-service professional consulting firm serving municipal and county governments, water districts, the U.S. government, higher education and the energy industry. With offices in Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, the company's 470 employees provide engineering, architecture, environmental science, planning and program management services throughout the region.
MARKETING MANAGER
Christa Tennison has been hired as marketing manager for the Texas State Railroad.
An East Texas native with more than 20 years of experience in private events and sales in the hospitality industry, she will be responsible for all marketing and advertising projects at the Texas State Railroad. Ms. Tennison moved back in January to her hometown of Troup from Irving, where she was the director of private events at Las Colinas Country Club. She has also worked for Culinaire International, The Westin DFW Airport Hotel, Garden Valley Country Club in Lindale, Pinecrest Country Club in Longview and Tyler Junior College.
MEAT-CUTTING
Nine area butchers competed in Texarkana for the first-round of the Texas Roadhouse National Meat Cutting Challenge and Tyler's John Lezama won the competition.
Lezama will now advance to the semi-finals, where he will compete against 20 other meat-cutters, in January and if he wins that, will go on to the 2012 National Meat Cutting Championships in Florida, where the winner wins $20,000.
Lezama is responsible for hand-cutting every steak that is served at Tyler's Texas Roadhouse, 2101 ESE Loop 323. He spends seven to eight hours a day in a 35-degree walk-in cooler and cuts about $1 million worth of meat each year.
NEW BUSINESS
Don Talley and his son-in-law Dana Deason, both of Longview, have opened a business on Lake Bob Sandlin, just outside of Pittsburg.
The men bought the business, formerly known as Barefoot Bay Marina, from Peter Jessop, and renamed it Don's Barefoot Beach Resort. It will offer a full-line convenience store and gas station, restaurant, cabins, an RV park, wet slips for boats and will sell live bait.
Talley said it will renovate the facilities, will stay open during the construction and expect work to be done by the first of the year. He said the business, located at 5244 Farm-to-Market Road 1520 in Pittsburg, is the only store on the lake to offer gasoline for boats. It will open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily and can be reached at 903-856-3643.
Talley worked as a Valero distributor for 40 years before retiring and Deason, a commercial real estate broker, owns Deason Financial in Longview.
DONATIONS
Enbridge Energy Co., Inc. of Longview, announced donations it made to charitable organizations that minister to the needs of the homeless, battered, addicted and impoverished in local communities.
The company donated $5,000 to Wiseman Ministries (House of Disciples), a life recovery center that seeks to disciple men with life-controlled problems; and $5,000 to Newgate United Methodist Mission of Longview, Inc., which serves the spiritual, physical, social, emotional and financial needs of the homeless, low-income and marginalized population.
Enbridge also donated $5,000 to Hiway 80 Rescue Mission Ministries, which helps alcoholic, drug addicted and battered women. Outer Court Ministries (House of Hope), a faith-based program dedicated to helping women from all walks of life with a variety of needs, was also given $5,000.
Enbridge transports and distributes energy across North America through the employment of more than 6,000 people in Canada and the U.S. In 2010, Enbridge invested $11.5 million in charitable, nonprofit and community organizations, benefiting more than 350 organizations.
SMALL BUSINESSES
Business and Community Lenders of Texas, a statewide nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution, received $489,000 from the U.S. Treasury to assist small businesses throughout Texas with expansion loans.
The Small Business Lending Fund, created by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, aims to amplify investments in small businesses across the country to support the nation's economic recovery. The loan program is designed to reduce the barriers to entrepreneurship to diversify and strengthen the Texas economy.
Business and Community Lenders of Texas also received a $1 million Community Development Financial Institution award this summer. The capital is expected to move quickly into the hands of small business owners, with loans from $50,000 to $250,000, representatives said in a prepared statement. Interested parties are urged to contact Business and Community Lenders of Texas at 877-688-7457 or visit www.bcloftexas.org.
TAXPAYER SEMINAR
Texas Comptroller Susan Combs' Office will host a free taxpayer seminar in Tyler to help new and existing business owners understand their state tax responsibilities.
The event will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 18 at the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce Genecov Room, 315 N. Broadway Ave.
At the seminar, taxpayers can learn about sales tax forms, filing and paying taxes electronically, taxable goods and services, e-services to help taxpayers manage their accounts online, the comptroller's e-mail subscription service that alerts taxpayers when new tax information is posted online, and the array of other services and information available to assist taxpayers. Comptroller representatives will answer questions and provide assistance.
Those who are unable to attend the seminar can call the comptroller's tax assistance line at 1-800-252-5555. Tax forms and information can be found at www.window.state.tx.us.
AG REGISTRATION
Beginning Jan. 1, farm, ranch and timber operators who produce agricultural and timber products for sale will need a special registration number to claim a sales tax exemption on taxable products used in those businesses, the Comptroller Susan Combs announced.
Registration numbers can now be obtained through mail-in or online applications and are required by House Bill 268 passed in the recent Legislative session.
Anyone who wants to claim the agriculture or timber sales tax exemptions for qualifying products will need the registration number to show retailers, instead of signing an exemption certificate at the time of purchase. The registration number is required when buying items such as machinery and equipment, fertilizers, insecticides, irrigation equipment and off-road motor vehicles involved in production of agriculture or timber products.
EXTENDED DEADLINE
The Internal Revenue Service reminded taxpayers affected by Texas wildfires they have been granted an extended deadline, Oct. 31, to meet certain tax filing and payment obligations and that e-File and Free File would remain available to accept their returns.
E-file, which will close for all other taxpayers following the Oct. 17 extension filing deadline, will be open through the end of October to any taxpayer who lives or has a business in areas granted tax relief because of the Texas wildfires. Otherwise, the IRS encouraged any taxpayer who wants to include a payment with the tax return to e-File by Oct. 20.
STEAK COOK OFF
FRESH by Brookshire's is hosting its first FRESH Steak Cook Off on Oct. 29.
The contest, which will benefit the East Texas Food Bank, will pit eight teams from local businesses, such as the Tyler Courier-Times -- Telegraph, Southside Bank and Oak Properties, against each other to earn the "Ultimate Meat Master" title. Judges will include Tyler Mayor Barbara Bass, co-owner of Villa Montez Mundo Villapudua and Randy Whittemore, of Certified Angus Beef. The cook off begins at 2:30 p.m., steaks are submitted to judges at 3:30 p.m. and results confirmed at 4:30 p.m. Steaks will be served at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. and the "Ultimate Meat Master" award ceremony will be held at 5 p.m.
The event will also include live music, games for kids, face painting, a miniature horse, and a "strut your mutt" pet contest. A limited number of tickets are being sold and can be purchased for $15 at FRESH or any Southside Bank Brookshire's location in Tyler or Lake Palestine. Each ticket will be good for one steak dinner.
HOME DEDICATION
Texas Land Commission Jerry Patterson is inviting veterans and their supporters to the Nov. 9 dedication of the Watkins-Logan-Garrison Texas State Veterans Home in Tyler.
A ceremony to dedicate the long-term care facility will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the home, at 11466 Honor Lane, and tours will be available.
FREE TO VETERANS
The AARP Driver Safety Program is honoring veterans of any age, no matter when they served, as well as their spouses, widows and widowers during the month of November with free driving safety classroom courses.
Most auto insurance companies give a three-year discount for attending the four-hour courses, which normally cost $12 for AARP members and $14 for non-members. Driver safety courses will be offered in Smith, Cherokee and Wood counties, and in Tyler, Jacksonville, Rusk and other areas. For information/reservations, call 903-752-0240 or email randyvan33@earthlink.net.
AGRICULTURE SEMINAR
Women farmers and ranchers are invited to attend Holistic Management International's free "Empowering Texas Women in Agriculture" seminar from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Dallas Farmer's Market.
Peggy Sechrist, certified holistic management educator and owner of a certified organic grass-fed beef operation in Fredericksburg, will be one of six speakers. For more information or to register, visit www.holisticmanagement.org.
BROOKSHIRES
Brookshire's grocery stores are offering smoked sausage from San Antonio-based Kiolbassa Provision Co.
Brookshire's 99 stores will carry Kiolbassa's Homestyle line of nitrite-free products.
Kiolbassa sausage products are available outside Texas in 20 other states. Kiolbassa sausage is made with choice beef and pork and fresh spices, has no fillers or MSG, is naturally smoked and is gluten free. This year, the 25,000-square-foot Kiolbassa plant expects to produce more than 10.5 million pounds of sausage.
