Veteran Fort Worth oilman I. Jon Brumley has received considerable recognition during a long, successful career and busy civic life, such as when he and his son, Johnny, were named Entrepreneurs of the Year by Forbes magazine in 2005.
But the latest honor bestowed on the University of Texas grad appears to rank among the most pleasing to him. He'll be conferred a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Texas Exes alumni association in a ceremony Friday in Austin.
"I am so excited, it's just a thrill," Brumley, in a voice brimming with sincerity and gratitude, told staff writer Jack Z. Smith last week.
It was a half-century ago, in 1961, that Brumley received his bachelor's degree in business administration from UT. He would go on to earn an MBA from the highly regarded Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He began his energy career as a risk analyst at Southland Royalty Co. in Fort Worth and would become its president before its takeover by Burlington Resources. In 1986, Brumley was a co-founder of Cross Timbers Oil Co., which would be renamed XTO Energy and become one of the most successful U.S. independent natural gas and oil producers before being bought by Irving-based Exxon Mobil for $36 billion in 2010. Brumley had left XTO well before that, forming oil producer Encore Acquisition along with son Johnny. Encore would be acquired by Plano-based Den bury Resources in 2010 for $4.5 billion.
The Texas Exes, in announcing that Brumley and five other alumni would be granted a Distinguished Alumnus Award this year, took note of his civic deeds, including his service to public education and focus on improving programs for minority and disadvantaged students.
Brumley and his wife, Rebecca, have given more than 300,000children's books to needy families and funded numerous scholarships for students planning to become public school teachers in Texas. Brumley also played a major role in the merger of Cook's and Fort Worth Children's hospitals in 1985, the alumni group said.
A native of the Texas Panhandle town of Pampa who spent most of his childhood in Austin, Brumley, 72, is back on familiar business turf as chairman and CEO of his latest new company, Bounty Investments L.P., based in downtown Fort Worth. He said it is a limited partnership formed to buy royalty and working interests in oil and gas production. The company is also investing in the stock market, primarily in master limited partnerships and royalty trusts that reflect his energy background.
Substance-screening firm comes to town
Conspire, a Colorado Springs, Colo., drug and alcohol screening firm founded in 2003, has set up shop in Fort Worth with what it says is the first of at least five planned Metroplex offices and 80 in Texas.
Two weeks ago, franchisee Dave Thomas opened an office at 3533 NW Loop 820 near Tarrant County College Northwest Campus, aiming to capture business from Blue Mound Road to the Alliance Corridor, and south to Interstate 30. The territory takes in about half of Fort Worth, Thomas said.
There are plenty of other competitors, including Quest and LabCorp, but Thomas says there's more room in the market. Some industries are untapped, and schools are increasingly requiring drug testing of student athletes, he noted.
Thomas expects to bid for contracts with employers and to attempt to sign on as "third-party collectors" for organizations that already have primary contractors but need others to handle extra volume, he said.
Thomas, who grew up in Odessa, was a lead driver for a beverage company in Florida and looking for an opportunity to go into business for himself. He moved his family to Fort Worth a year and a half ago, and, sifting through franchise opportunities on a website, found Conspire.
Conspire's franchise fee is $30,000, and it takes about $100,000 to open an office, said Thomas, 36. If he opens a second office, he gets an $8,000 discount on the franchise fee.
Financing? "My father helped me," he said. He and his wife, who have three young children, are running the office together, but Thomas says he may hire someone to help market the business.
Perot chosen for magazine's honor
Ross Perot Jr., chairman of Hillwood Properties and developer of Alliance Texas in north Fort Worth, has been selected by Real Estate Forum magazine as one of 65 "Industry Legends and Icons."
The list, published in the magazine's 65th anniversary issue, recognizes figures and events that have had a significant impact on commercial real estate in the past 65 years. Industry icons Trammell Crow, David Rockefeller, John Cushman III and Roger Staubach are on the list.
Perot was selected for his leadership in establishing Fort Worth Alliance Airport and the Alliance Global Logistics Hub, one of the nation's first and largest inland ports. The airport and the logistics hub are key components of Hillwood's 17,000-acre Alliance Texas master-planned community that Perot launched more than 20 years ago.
To date, Alliance has had a cumulative economic impact of nearly $40 billion on the North Texas economy, creating more than 30,000 jobs. And it's just 40 percent developed.
Hillwood Properties has also been named one of two 2011 winners of the Greater Tarrant Business Ethics Award, which recognizes companies that uphold high standards of business ethics.
The award is presented by the Fort Worth Chapter of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, in conjunction with the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University and the Financial Planning Association.
Also winning a 2011 award was Integral Realty Resources. Finalists for the award were American Airlines, Calloway's Nurseries, F1 Information Technologies and Williams Trew.
Foodie fundraiser
Sweet Tomatoes, which is opening in the West 7th development, will host an all-you-care-to-eat fundraiser Friday and Saturday.
Guests can dine for $5 with proceeds benefiting the Ronald McDonald House of Fort Worth. The restaurant, at 2901 W. Seventh St., opens Monday, Oct. 17. It is the fourth Dallas-Fort Worth location.
The preview is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Friday, and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday.
Sweet Tomatoes features a 45-foot salad bar full of fresh, seasonal vegetables and tossed salads, made-from-scratch soups and hand-crafted muffins, focaccia, breads and desserts. Sweet Tomatoes has a rotating menu of more than 100 original, daily fresh recipes featuring signature salads, soups, bakery goods and hot pasta sauces.
Niagara Conservation an EPA award winner
Fort Worth-based Niagara Conservation Corp., a provider of products and services to conserve water and energy, has been named a 2011 WaterSense Excellence Award winner in the manufacturer category by the Environmental Protection Agency
"This is an incredibly proud moment for us," CEO William Cutler said in a statement. "At Niagara, we've always done our best to engineer, manufacture, promote and sell products that conserve water without sacrificing performance."
The company, founded in 1977, makes such things as ultrahigh-efficiency toilets, low-flow showerheads and aerators, lawn and garden products. Niagara Conservation has offices in New Jersey, California, and in Saudi Arabia and Chile, and owns a factory in China.
Niagara Conservation is a WaterSense program partner. Products with the WaterSense label are 20 percent more water-efficient than average products in their category, while performing as well or better than their less efficient counterparts.
