Momentum To Change, a unique counseling practice, offers personalized counseling services and life planning for adolescents and adults. Momentum To Change is owned and operated by Forney native and licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Stephanie Crenshaw Jones.

With over 25 years of professional experience in helping parents and teens create successful strategies for dealing with stress and behavioral issues, Stephanie Crenshaw Jones has offered a broad spectrum of counseling services from individuals to couples and family therapy. Ms. Jones specializes in play therapy and developing successful solutions for families through Parent/Child Relationship Therapy. Marriage counseling is also available.

As a Forney native, Stephanie Crenshaw Jones, learned the importance of family and community and developed a passion for helping others through a successful career in social services. Ms. Jones started her career with Child Protective Services and has over 25 years of professional experience that includes work with Juvenile Services, MHMR/Child and Adolescent Services and Early Childhood Intervention. As a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and an LPC Supervisor, Stephanie has also offered guidance to families planning or going through the adoptive process as well as helping parents address the needs of raising special needs children.

Momentum To Change, is owned and operated by Stephanie Crenshaw Jones, and is located in the Forney Business Center on US Highway 80. For additional information or to set a personalized consultative appointment, please call 972-849-4461 or visit the web at www.Momentum2Change.com.

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Forney’s Historic Business District advisory group, which was appointed by the Forney Economic Development Corporation to define Forney’s historic downtown and recommend ways to develop it, held a special meeting Thursday, July 30 at the Forney FDC office on the corner of South Bois d’Arc and Trinity. The meeting began at noon and was adjourned shortly after 1:00 p. m.

Fran Owens, Executive Director of the Forney Economic Development Corporation which hosted the meeting, gave a general welcome and summary of the agenda. Attendees included members of the HBD advisory group, the Downtown Advisory Committee, and the Forney Historic Preservation League.

The first item on the agenda was to hear a presentation by Jeff Moore, an attorney with the law firm of Brown & Hofmeister, L.L.P. concerning the formation of a Public Improvement District, a special taxing district to help fund improvements in the area which the City Council officially designated in June as “Forney Heritage Towne Center.”

Working from an excerpt from the Texas Attorney General’s 2008 Economic Development Handbook that was given to each person in attendance as a handout, Moore described the nine-step process required to form a PID.

A petition to form a PID may be initiated by either a government entity or a group of affected property owners.? In general terms, the steps to create a PID are as follows:
?1.?The governing body or property owners’ group initiates a petition that calls for the defined area of a city or county to be declared a Public Improvement District.
?2.?The governing body of the city or county may, after receiving the petition, appoint an advisory board to develop an improvement plan for the PID.
?3.?A public hearing on the advisability of the improvements must be conducted after meeting statutory notice requirements.
?4.?The governing body of the city or county must adopt a resolution by majority vote authorizing the creation of a PID.
?5.?Twenty days after authorization of the PID, the city or county may begin construction of the improvements.
?6.?A five-year ongoing service plan and assessment plan must be developed.
?7.?The city or county must provide notice and a hearing to determine the total cost of the improvements and to prepare an assessment roll.
?8.?After all the objections have been heard and considered, the governing body may levy, by ordinance or by order, the special assessment against the taxable properties within the district.
??9.?The governing body may make additional assessments against property within the district to correct omissions or mistakes regarding the costs of the improvements.

Attendees at the July 30 meeting learned that there’s no limit to the size of a PID. Also, a PID is separate from and independent of any other existing taxing or special district. Moore said that a committee would have to set the guidelines for the PID, and that the HBD advisory group could function as this committee.

A PID lasts and is able to levy property assessments until all public improvements within the district have been paid for. Various kinds of criteria can be used to determine assessments, including assessed property valuation, lot size, etc.

The second speaker on the agenda was Alan Kian of the University of Texas at Arlington’s School of Urban and Public Affairs, who gave a Power Point overview of the study UTA urban design students have done to determine development needs in Forney’s downtown area.

Among the components of the UTA vision for the area are:
-Development of the “historic T” area where most of Forney’s historic buildings are located
-Opportunities for re-development of the downtown area to make it a good venue for residents and visitors
-“Gateway” features—connectivity improvements such as bike trails and more street connections to allow -Streetscape improvements to make the downtown area multifunctional
-Plans for the development of former church properties

The third part of the program was a general activity update from the Downtown Advisory Committee.

The DAC update was followed by an update on the Spellman Museum project. Sarah Rogers, Building Facilities Chair for the Forney Historic Preservation League, gave a detailed overview of FHPL’s goals for the development of the museum’s future new home at the intersection of South Bois d’Arc and Main. FHPL has purchased two adjoining vacant buildings on the southwest corner of the intersection—one the former location of Forney Auto and Hardware—to house the museum. Sarah told the July 30 gathering that her organization is close to hiring an architect and that the exteriors of the two buildings will be restored to their original appearance before any work begins on the interiors. “We’re excited, and we hope you guys are excited with us,” Sarah said in closing.

The end of the program was reserved for other comment and downtown news.Lunch was served prior to the program.

This story and any accompanying photo(s) were originally published in the Forney Messenger and are Copyright © 2009, Forney Messenger, Inc. and have been used by permission. The Forney Messenger is the publisher of Kaufman County’s oldest newspaper and may be found online at www.ForneyMessengerInc.com

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“The ETF is super-charging the research environment in our state and propelling us to the forefront of technology innovation by harnessing amazing ideas and encouraging greater efforts to inquire, innovate and invest,” Gov. Perry said. “This investment in Animal Innovations will not only improve existing animal healthcare practices, but it will also have a significant impact on agriculture in our state and around the world.”

Animal Innovations’ technology allows the safe and efficient administration of drugs to animals through its patented, back filling syringe. The system’s accurate measuring system can fill a syringe up to 10 milliliters in 10 seconds, ensuring that animals are not over or under medicated. The system also protects the quality of the medication by shielding it from heat and other external elements.

The company is partnering with Texas A&M University and Ten X Technology to commercialize the product. Projected use of the technology currently focuses on feedlots and preconditioning lots, eventually adding cattle ranches. The technology also has significant implications for defending livestock and other animals against agro-terrorism.

The ETF is a $200 million initiative created by the Texas Legislature in 2005 at the governor’s request, and was reauthorized in 2007 and again this session with $203.5 million for the 2010-2011 biennium. A 17-member advisory committee of high-tech leaders, entrepreneurs and research experts reviews potential projects and recommends funding allocations to the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the House. To date, the ETF has allocated more than $91 million in funds to 73 early stage companies.

For more information on the ETF, please visit http://www.emergingtechfund.com.

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Click here to see a sample of the fraudulent letters that were being sent to Texas businesses.

A Harris County District Court issued a temporary restraining order instructing Selweyn Monarch and Gayle N. Stanford, who operate “Compliance Services,” to stop sending fraudulent mailers to businesses. The state’s enforcement action seeks restitution for businesses that paid the fraudulent fees to the unregistered business.

According to investigators, Selweyn and Stanford mailed a form, entitled “Annual Minutes Requirement Statement – Directors and Shareholders,” in a scheme to mislead numerous Texas businesses. The letters, which appeared to originate from an “official” governmental source, instructed recipients to pay $125 in filing fees or risk violating state law. Recipients were falsely told that their shareholders and directors meeting minutes must be filed with the Texas Secretary of State or the businesses could face serious penalties. Texas does not require corporations to file their minutes. State law only requires that corporations retain their minutes for one year.

The bogus forms’ seemingly official appearance and references to statutory authority, as well as statement about liability for failure to pay fees, misled Texas businesses into purchasing the defendant’s worthless services. Selweyn and Stanford also deceived businesses by directing them to send these filing fees to “official” post office boxes in Austin. These boxes do not belong to official government offices but rather are boxes established by the defendants.

The Attorney General charged the defendants with violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which could result in civil penalties of up to $20,000 per violation. Texans who believe they have been deceived by similar fraudulent business practices may call the Office of the Attorney General’s toll-free complaint line at (800) 252-8011 or file a complaint online at www.texasattorneygeneral.gov.

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AUSTIN—Gov. Rick Perry today signed House Bill (HB) 4765 which lowers the tax burden for more than 40,000 small businesses across the state. The bill more than triples the small business franchise tax exemption from $300,000 to $1 million. Revisiting the business franchise tax was a priority the governor laid out before the 81st Legislature in his State of the State address.

“As a result of this legislation, roughly 40,000 small businesses across Texas will be able to hang onto more of their dollars and plow them back into their businesses in the form of new hires and new equipment,” said Gov. Perry. “There aren’t many states that could extend a tax cut to small businesses in these tough economic times – I am proud that Texas has.”

“Thousands of businesses now know that because they won’t have to pay franchise taxes for the next few years, they can instead spend that money bolstering their business operations which are essential components to maintaining our strong state economy,” said Rep. René Oliveira, author of the legislation.

HB 4765 modifies the franchise tax legislation passed by lawmakers in 2006, which was determined to have a disproportionate impact on small businesses making between the original $300,000 revenue cap and $1 million per year.

“This legislation represents a significant tax reduction on small businesses and I’m glad these companies now have greater opportunity to hire workers instead of pay the government,” said Sen. Dan Patrick, the Senate sponsor of the bill. “I am honored Gov. Perry would travel to Houston to sign this bill. His leadership from day one in his State of the State address to today has been instrumental in this bill’s passage, and I am excited that we can come together to cut taxes in this uncertain economic environment.”

By providing approximately 40,000 small businesses with a tax cut, Texas continues to be an attractive place to start or relocate a business, live and raise a family. Texas’ low taxes, reasonable and predictable regulatory climate, fair tort system and a balanced budget with more than $9 billion in the state’s Rainy Day Fund all contribute the state’s economic prosperity and competitive edge. Texas is home to more Fortune 500 companies than any other state and ranked as the number one exporting state in the nation for the seventh year in a row. The Lone Star State has been lauded as the top state for business by numerous publications and business executives and most recently was ranked The Best State for Business by Directorship Magazine, June/July 2009.

The governor was joined by Rep. René Oliveira and Sen. Dan Patrick at the signing ceremony. Talmadge Heflin, director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Fiscal Policy, and Will Newton, executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business, also spoke at the event.

HB 4765 takes effect on Jan. 1, 2010. For more information about the 81st Legislative Session, please visit www.governor.state.tx.us or http://www.legis.state.tx.us/Home.aspx.

This story and any accompanying photo(s) were originally published in the Forney Messenger and are Copyright © 2009, Forney Messenger, Inc. and have been used by permission. The Forney Messenger is the publisher of Kaufman County’s oldest newspaper and may be found online at www.ForneyMessengerInc.com.

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A new program, Adeona, was announced last month that is similar to the Laptop LoJack system (software that tracks your laptop in the event it is stolen, much like the LoJack system for automobiles) that stores are pushing so aggressively on customers who purchase new laptops these days, but with a few critical differences.

First of all, LoJack costs $40-$60/year; Adeona is free. LoJack sends the data about your laptop’s location to a commercial enterprise that maintains a three page long “privacy” policy that outlines what they can choose to do with your personal information. Adeona obscures the data about your laptop’s location in such a way that only you (or a person you share your key with) can access it.

Basically, you install Adeona (which is a product of the University of Washington Computer Science & Engineering program) on your laptop (or even desktop computer, since those are stolen, too, unfortunately). You follow the steps the installer outlines – the most important step is to remember your password and to copy the file that contains the key to unlock your laptop’s location data to a USB thumbdrive or other location that you would have access if your laptop is stolen. Once it’s installed, Adeona runs in the background and encrypts and transmits data about your laptop’s location at random intervals.

The data it transmits includes the IP address of your computer, the name of the wireless network it’s connected to, if any, and information about the network it is connected to. It’s all fairly technical information, but when reviewed by law enforcement or someone with a networking or technical background, it gives you as much or more information than what would be available to the Laptop LoJack service provider if you were using that software.

It works with Linux, Windows and Mac OS X; on Apple computers with a built-in webcam, it can actually take photos of the thief as they use your laptop! It’s completely free, you can download Adeona from the University of Washington website. I’m going to make it a habit to install it on any PC I purchase, and recommend my friends and family do the same. It won’t help if a thief wipes the contents of your laptop’s hard drive before using it, but many thieves keep your data intact in the hopes of obtaining information relating to your identity or financial accounts, so in those cases, having Adeona installed just might lead to the successful recovery of your laptop!

And, for your own safety, heed this warning that is repeated several times on the Adeona website and during the installation process:

The retrieval results are for informational, research and evaluation purposes only. Do not attempt to recover your lost or stolen laptop yourself. If you believe your laptop has been stolen, contact the appropriate law enforcement agency.

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Before diving into the updates, I do want to acknowledge the Forney Economic Development Corporation, the Forney City Council and our mayor. They are working tirelessly to attract top-tier development to Forney and ensure that we experience positive, constructive growth. The Forney EDC has done an amazing job getting the word out about Forney to the retail community; at the same time, the city council and the mayor have been very proactive in addressing the updates required to Forney’s infrastructure to support projects of this scale by implementing cutting-edge concepts such as the Transportation Reinvestment Zone (TRZ) that will help provide the roadwork around this development.

When asked to comment about these prospective tenants and the Forney Marketplace project as a whole, Darrell Grooms, mayor of Forney, stated that “[Forney Marketplace] is great for our community, offering excellent shopping and entertainment opportunities for our town”. He also indicated that the city and the developer of the project are hopeful that the announcement of a movie theater in the 3rd phase of the project will help attract numerous well-known, upscale restaurants to the Forney Marketplace, greatly expanding our local options not just for shopping but for entertainment and dining as well.

I’ve obtained more details about each phase of this project and I am very excited to announce the following prospective tenants for phase 1 of the center: Target (130,000 sq. feet), JC Penny (103,500 sq. feet), Belk (96,000 sq. feet), Kohl’s (88,000 sq. feet), Dick’s Sporting Goods (50,000 sq. feet), Best Buy (30,000 sq. feet), Barnes & Noble (28,000 sq. feet) and Ulta (12,000 sq. feet).  These tenants are merely prospective tenants at this time, so this is not an official announcement that these stores will be opening in Forney, however, from what I can tell, Endeavor has worked with each of these tenants in their previous projects, so I believe we will see most, if not all, of these retailers in Forney as part of this project.

Read on for more information about prospective tenants in Phase 2 & 3 of this project, including a movie theater, a grocery store and other anchor stores.

Prospective tenants for Phase 2 includes Kroger (123,000 sq. feet), Steinmart (25,000 sq. feet) and Bed, Bath & Beyond (22,000 sq. feet).

Prospective tenants in the final phase of the project include some major anchors, including Dillard’s (140,000 sq. feet), Macy’s (140,000 sq. feet), Lifetime Fitness (100,000 sq. feet), Babies R Us (60,000 sq. feet), Cinemark (57,000 sq. feet), Coldwater Creek (5,000 sq. feet) and Joseph A Bank (4,500 sq. feet).

Please remember that these tenants are still prospective at this time and are subject to change. As tenants are confirmed and construction begins, I’ll make sure to keep you updated with the latest news. In the meantime, if you know anyone who might be interested in leasing space around these national retailers in the Forney Marketplace, I would encourage them to contact Endeavor as soon as possible – given the size and scale of this project as well as the exciting growth in Forney’s demographics, space will go fast! The project will include retail, dining, entertainment, office space as well as medical offices. For more details, contact Endeavor Real Estate Group at (214) 545-6900.

Discuss this exciting news with over 500 of your fellow Forney residents in this thread in the Forney discussion forum.

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There’s a number of exciting updates about this project to share, but first, our research has uncovered a new map of the planned shopping center, which is shown below. Click the map to a view a (much) larger version. This map gives us, via the diagram at the bottom left, a better idea of which portions of the shopping center will be in each of the three phases.

This map makes it clear that Endeavor wants to make a bold statement with the first phase of the center, with two of the four department stores being built in phase 1, which is scheduled to open in 2010. In addition to the two department stores and numerous other buildings, phase 1 also includes a 130,000 square foot building for a major anchor. 130,000 square feet is big – roughly the size of a Lowe’s, Home Depot or Target, to name a few major retailers that could occupy a building that large. Of course, with groundbreaking set to occur in 2009 and grand openings in 2010, it’s too soon to know for sure what retailers might occupy any of these spaces, but stay tuned to 20PM, where we’ll keep you up to date with the latest news about this and all the other new developments in Forney. For more information and news about this shopping center and the offices and hotels that are proposed for the area surrounding it, click ‘Read On’, below.

On Friday, May 16th, the Dallas Business Journal (DBJ) ran a front-page article entitled “Forney site of $275M project“. This article gave Forney incredible momentum going into the annual International Council of Shopping Centers Real Estate Conference (ICSC RECON) , where the city hosted a booth extolling the virtues of Forney as “A Community of Values and Vision”. This conference gave the city and the Forney Economic Development Corporation (EDC) the opportunity to meet with retailers, restaurants and developers from all over the US including many fast food restaurant chains, sit-down restaurants, clothing stores and yes – even some major grocery chains.

This DBJ article discussed many of the plans for the regional shopping center and surrounding land – the shopping center is being developed by Endeavor, with the remaining, surrounding land being developed by Meadow Ridge Farm LP. In addition to the 2.2 million square foot regional shopping center, which will be the largest retail space built between Mesquite and Tyler in 30 years, Meadow Ridge is planning three hotels and 50,000 square feet of office space. Meadow Ridge currently intends to start most of their work in 2009 and 2010, but would like the first hotel (which is currently planned to be a suites hotel with limited service) to open roughly with the opening of the first phase of Endeavor’s shopping center.

Meadow Ridge has not announced their intentions for the second hotel planned for the site, but have said that the third and final hotel is planned to be a conference center hotel. In addition to their work on the three hotels, Meadow Ridge currently plans to begin work on the office space within a year of the first phase of the retail center opening.

The article cited the fact that while Forney’s population is a little low for a center of this size (Forney’s population is currently estimated at 14,000 people, an impressive number considering the 2000 census placed Forney’s population at a little over 5,000), over 131,000 people live within a 10 mile radius of the site, thanks to Forney’s proximity to Mesquite, Rockwall and the eastern half of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

In addition, recent demographics show the average household income in the area has risen to nearly $75,000. These factors, in addition to the amount of growth expected in Forney and the surrounding areas over the next decade have quite a few retailers and restaurants considering Forney for their next location – representatives from Endeavor are quoted in the DBJ article stating food stores and discount retailers would be desirable and that Target, J.C. Penny’s and Kohl’s aren’t in this area yet and are on Endeavor’s list of prospects.

This project is Endeavor’s first in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, but they are the third-largest commercial real estate developer in Austin, where they are currently developing phase 2 of The Domain, a 10 million square foot development that has quickly become well known and loved in the Austin area. Phase 2 of The Domain includes both a Nordstorm and a Whole Foods Market, so Endeavor is no stranger to large developments or big name brands.

Meadow Ridge has said that it could take up to 10 years to fully develop their portion of the site, including all three hotels, so this project will continue to grow and evolve over the years, but we’ll be sure to keep you updated on the latest announcements and happenings as tenants are signed and work begins on what is shaping up to be the largest retail development in Forney and the surrounding area.

Discuss this article with over 500 of your friends and neighbors in this thread in the Forney discussion forum.

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This isn’t the first time Silver has traveled outside the U.S. in support of wrestling – he’s served as team leader for various wrestlers who have competed in Hungary, China and Azerbaijan in world championship events.

In an article printed in the trade newspaper Furniture Today, Silver credits his appointment as freestyle team leader for the US Olympic team to his experience with China through his business as well as his leadership and management skills.

I wish the US Freestyle Wrestling Team and all of the US teams and individuals participating in the 2008 Summer Olympics, which begin in less than 2 months in Beijing, China, the best of luck!

For those who aren’t familiar with the company, Steve Silver Co., located in Forney off FM-548 just north of Wal-Mart, is a wholesaler of dining and occasional tables and other home furnishings. While they aren’t as well known to many Forney residents since they are a wholesale-only firm that does not sell directly to the public, according to the North Central Texas Council of Governments, Steve Silver Co. is one of Forney’s larger employers, employing approximately 220 people.

Discuss this post with over 500 of your friends and neighbors in this thread in the Forney discussion forum.

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