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    Friday

    Growth & Planning Organizations

    1. Business and Industry Development Center
    2. Central Texas Regional CIC [Austin]
    3. Gulf Coast Regional CIC [Houston]
    4. HoustonTomorrow
    5. North Central Texas Council of Governments
    6. North Texas Regional CIC [DFW]
    7. Opportunity Houston
    8. South Texas Regional CIC [San Antonio]
    9. TX Economic Development Maps

    Thursday

    Mind the Gap

    Plan for Texas-sized rail system missing pieces

    When the economic stimulus bill was signed into law, $8 billion was set aside for high-speed rail. Although rail helps reduce carbon emissions, it also plays a role in urban planning. Professor Robert Lang at the Metropolitan Institute has noted previously that proposed high-speed rail plans closely conform to the megapolitan areas that he mapped out.

    The analogy is that high speed rail is the "subway" of future megacities. However, in Texas, the proposed map seems slightly askew. Logically, the Texas Triangle cities of San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, and Fort Worth are interconnected, strangely Houston is left out.

    It is interesting to note also that the South Central plan connects North Texas to Oklahoma City. Professor Lang has long suggested that OK City could merge with The Metroplex to form a third center of gravity for a megapolitan area. To many Texans, that notion is about as crazy as Houston and New Orleans forming a mega city, which brings me to plan 2 for Texas.

    In the so-called Gulf Coast plan, Houston is the end/start point for a system that runs all the way to Atlanta. While this may make sense to somebody in Washington, the citizens of Houston consider themselves Texans before any other affiliation.

    The founders of Southwest Airlines realized this decades ago when they drew a "Golden Triangle" connecting Houston, Dallas,-Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio on the back of napkin as they sketched out a business plan for their new airline.

    It remains to be seen if any of these plans will come to fruition, and even if they are attempted, high-speed rail could go the way of the Trans-Texas Corridor. .:.

    Wednesday

    Texas' Top Social Media Minds

    Newspaper names 25 winners

    T
    he Austin American-Statesman did its bit to promote Texas' technology community today, naming the 2009 Texas Social Media Award Winners.

    Not surprisingly, the winners were weighted towards the capital city, but the winners represented a broad cross section. From Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams to J.R. Cohen, owner of The Coffee Groundz in Houston.

    In between there's a wide range of interesting social media entrepreneurs that are worth checking out. The overall winner will be announced at an awards banquet on March 15. The newspaper also makes available a list of the nominees for the award. .:.

    Monday

    Maps of the Texas Triangle

    1. Texas' Fortune 500
    2. Venture Capital Deals
    3. Nonprime Mortgage Conditions (by county)
    4. Green Commercial Real Estate
    5. Solar Energy Jobs
    6. Congressional Districts
    7. County-by-County Census Data
    8. Texas Ports
    9. Oil Imports
    10. Energy Production
    11. Sun Position
    12. Cloud Cover
    13. Texas Drought Map (Statesman.com)
    14. Texas Triangle at Night

    Proxy Filings

    2008-2009 Texas Triangle DEF-14A filings

    Honcho> Robert B. Rowling

    Owner and Chairman, TRT Holdings, Inc.

    Updated: 1/29/2009

    Robert Rowling is the owner and chairman of TRT Holdings, Inc. Among the companies Mr. Rowling has built are Tana Oil & Gas Corporation (subsequently merged with Texaco) and Teco Pipeline Company (subsequently merged with Pacific Gas & Electric). Mr. Rowling and associates also acquired Corpus Christi National Bank and later merged it with Bank of America.

    Mr. Rowling currently serves as chairman of TRT Holdings' wholly-owned luxury hotel division, Omni Hotels. Following TRT Holdings' purchase of Omni Hotels in 1996, Mr. Rowling transformed the company into a luxury hotel brand boasting over 40 hotels and resorts across North America. Omni Hotels was ranked "Highest in Guest Satisfaction among Upscale Hotel Chains" by J.D. Power and Associates in 2000, 2005 and 2006 Hotel Guest Satisfaction Studies.

    Mr. Rowling has lent his expertise to numerous boards and has also been recognized for his many achievements. He currently serves on the national board of Young Life, The University of Texas System Board of Regents, the board of Guaranty Financial Group Inc. and is the Chairman of the Board of The University of Texas Investment Management Company. In 2003, Mr. Rowling received the Southern Methodist University Dedman Law School Distinguished Alumni Award and was inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame. In 2005, he was inducted into both The University of Texas' McCombs School of Business Hall of Fame and the All-American Wildcatters for his achievements in the oil & gas industry.

    Mr. Rowling attended the U.S. Air Force Academy and graduated with honors from The University of Texas at Austin in 1976 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. In 1979, Mr. Rowling received his Juris Doctor with honors from the Southern Methodist University School of Law. .:.

    Source: SEC

    Honcho> Mark Langdale

    President, George W. Bush Foundation

    Updated: 1/29/2009

    Mark Langdale is President of the George W. Bush Foundation. He is responsible for the development and operation of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, which will consist of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum and the George W. Bush Policy Institute. He assumed this responsibility in February 2008. He also serves as a member of the Foundation's Board of Directors.

    From October 2005 to January 27, 2008, Mr. Langdale served as the United States Ambassador to Costa Rica. During his tenure as Ambassador, Mr. Langdale focused on the ratification of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which involved the first ever national referendum on a free trade agreement with the United States. He also negotiated and finalized the largest debt for nature swap in a multiparty agreement among the United States, Costa Rica, The Nature Conservancy and Conservation International, and reengaged Costa Rica in the regional security strategies of the United States in Central America.

    From 1994 to 2005, Mr. Langdale was President of Posadas USA, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Grupo Posadas, the largest hotel management company in Latin America. Prior to that, Mr. Langdale served as Vice President of Thompson Realty Company in Dallas, Texas, where he was responsible for the management of a $200 million portfolio of diverse real estate investments.

    Mr. Langdale served on the Board of Directors of Posadas USA, Inc. and was the Chairman of the Texas Department of Economic Development from 1997 to 2001.

    He has a degree in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin and a Juris Doctor from the University of Houston. .:.

    Source: SEC

    Honchos> Michael S. Dell

    Founder, Chairman & CEO, Dell Inc. [Roundrock, TX]
    DOB: 2/23/1965

    Updated: 2/2/2009

    Michael S. Dell serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Dell Inc. He has held the title of Chairman of the Board since he founded the Company in 1984. Mr. Dell served as Chief Executive Officer of Dell from 1984 until July 2004 and resumed that role in January 2007.

    He serves on the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum, serves on the executive committee of the International Business Council, and is a member of the U.S. Business Council. He also serves on the U.S. President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and sits on the governing board of the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, India.

    Dell is sole investor in MSD Capital, a private family office based in New York. MSD Capital has investments in a variety of publicly held and not publicly held companies, both high-tech and non-high-tech. ValleyCrest is a major landscape engineering company from the West Coast that does very high-end work, including Dell's Austin estate. Along with his wife, Dell is also the head of the Michael S. Dell Foundation.

    Source: SEC, NNDB.com, NYTimes.com

    Other Links:

    Updates for Week of 02/07-02/14

    Happenings in the Texas Triangle, the megapolitan region consisting of Houston, DFW, Austin and San Antonio.

    1. DealFlow> TXCO Resources [San Antonio] reviewing strategic alternatives <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0936>
    2. Honchos> Billionaire R. Allen Stanford [Houston] possibly under investigation by SEC <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0933>
    3. Energy> Feast and famine for ethanol producers <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0931>
    4. Boom, Crash, Presto> Creative Class' Richard Florida envisions how crash will reshape U.S. and Texas <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle09301>
    5. Who Shot J.R.?> Relive the glory days of the oil boom with a Ewing Oil ball cap <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0930>
    6. Energy> North Dakota could become the Texas of the Upper Midwest <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0929>
    7. DealFlow> MC Companies [AZ] acquires Encore Management [Arlington] <http://tinyurl.com/texasdeal0004>
    8. MicroCaseStudy> Clash of the Titans: Visualizing the growth of Wal-Mart vs. Target <http://1link.in/texastriangle-ytfev>
    9. DealFlow> Arlington Neonatal Intensive Care, P.A. [Arlington] is acquired by MEDNAX, Inc. [FL] <http://tinyurl.com/texasdeal0003>
    10. NonSequitur> A-Rod's doping explained by game theory... sheds no light on Madonna thing <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0927>
    11. NewCapital> Money anyone? Maverick's owner Mark Cuban [Dallas] makes open call for biz plans <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0928>
    12. DealFlow> ROUND2 Inc. [Austin] acquires PolymerCycle, LLC [Grand Prairie] <http://tinyurl.com/texasdeal0002>
    13. DealFlow> Boundless Network [Austin] acquires Corporate Specialities [Dallas] <http://tinyurl.com/texasdeal0001>
    14. NewCapital> Austin tech firms OneSpot and 7 Billion People haul in combined $7.2M <http://tinyurl.com/texascapital>.:.

    Updates for Week of 02/01-02/06

    Happenings in the Texas Triangle, the megapolitan region consisting of Houston, DFW, Austin and San Antonio.

    1. Energy> Texas companies galore mentioned in The Deal's take on state of the oil & gas and alt energy <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0926>
    2. Capital> UTIMCO's fund performance <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0925>
    3. Dude... Chairman of UTIMCO board Robert Rowling resigns during state senate hearing, PEHub has the video <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0924>
    4. Energy> Author Peter Schwartz says cleantech VCs don't GET energy and don't know what they're doing <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0923>
    5. Face2Face> Tech-related Networking Groups [Austin ] <http://www.austinstartup.com/resources/>
    6. Dealipedia> Viverae [Dallas] raises $6.5M from Frontier Capital [Charlotte, NC] <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0922>
    7. Dealipedia> HomeAway [Austin] buys French Homelidays SAS based <http://tinyurl.com/algers>
    8. DealFlow> Texas Pacific Group [Fort Worth] ends 2 yr. talks with sov fund/pension funds to buy stakes <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0921>
    9. Dealipedia> IDC Westinghouse [Fort Worth] acquired by Sorenson Capital <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0919>
    10. Honchos> NY Times catching Dell fever from Wall Street Journal <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0917>
    11. Honchos> Mark Cuban [DFW] pursues offense as his best defense <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0916>
    12. Honchos> The many faces of Michael S. Dell... tech visionary... philanthropist... VEGETABLE CAPITALIST <http://1link.in/texastriangle-mnyce>.:.

    Updates for Week of 01/25-01/31

    Happenings in the Texas Triangle, the megapolitan region consisting of Houston, DFW, Austin and San Antonio.

    1. IndustryClusters> Non-obvious connections among auto industry players create unforeseen consequences <http://tinyurl.com/texastriangle0915>
    2. TexPatriates> Don't hate the player, hate the game... The Bush-bashing phenomenon <http://tinyurl.com/texastriangle0914>
    3. NonSequitur> Mathematician deconstructs The Beatles <http://tinyurl.com/texastriangle0913>
    4. Fishwrap> How does Dell do it? WSJ runs a story nearly daily... Today, Dell's new smart phone! <http://tinyurl.com/texastriangle0912>
    5. Rankings> What the...? Austin barely squeaks into Forbes' Top 30 Most-Wired Cities <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0911>
    6. Clusters> Austin-based New Media Consortium releases 2009 Horizon Report <http://tinyurl.com/c77zyb>
    7. Energy> NOCs dominate IOCs in total share of oil reserves (88% v. 12%) and production (52% v. 48%) <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0910>
    8. BigPicture> The Texas Triangle is 1 of 11 U.S. megapolitan regions <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0909>
    9. Honchos> Robert B. Rowling, TRT Holdings [Irving], puts "Don't Mess with Texas" into practice <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0907>
    10. Crusade> Texas needs In-N-Out burgers... now <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0906>
    11. Horse's Mouth> WSJ reports on tough times for Texas family [DFW] <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle5>
    12. Linchpins> Dell [Austin] will record record 1-time expenses of $280M <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle4>
    13. Epic> No cheap date, bidding starts at $100k to dine with T. Boone Pickins [Dallas] <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0903>
    14. Empty Boots>Trailblazing former-UT prez Lorene Rogers (Dallas) passes away at 94 <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0902>
    15. Energy> On CO2 legislation, battle between reds and blues giving way to browns vs. greens <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle>
    16. Kudos> Lone Star's 24 best hospitals <http://preview.tinyurl.com/b8ea94>
    17. CreativeClass> Gene Rodenberry (<http://www.famoustexans.com/roddenberry.htm>) to be "buried" in space with wife <http://preview.tinyurl.com/d24ade>
    18. Trends> Gov. Perry not giving up on private toll roads, Obama's plans could help <http://preview.tinyurl.com/cx7bfb>
    19. Energy> Important to Houston, oil-rich Norway pursues economic stimulus <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123298341926915687.html>
    20. UsVsThem> Nationally, DFW home prices holding strong, Houston metro too shows relative strength <http://preview.tinyurl.com/a9trhs>
    21. Texaphile> "Texans are keepers of the republic flame..." <http://preview.tinyurl.com/ahg2xb>
    22. Nanocosm> Sweating the small stuff pays for Houston unis Rice, UT-Houston, and Baylor <http://preview.tinyurl.com/bqujp9>
    23. Big Tex> Vinson & Elkins Ron Kirk (Dallas) joins as Federal Trade Rep <http://preview.tinyurl.com/bzrlet>
    24. Big Tex> Kevin O'Connor, #3 at DOJ, joins Bracewell & Giuliani in Hartford <http://preview.tinyurl.com/bwygfd>
    25. Trends> Trans Texas Corridor died Jan. 4, but Fed stimulus could pump up infrastructure spending <http://preview.tinyurl.com/dxy8mc>
    26. Energy> To proceed, on-hold IPOs need crude at $55 - alt energy prefers $80- nat gas wants stable $6 <http://preview.tinyurl.com/c9vthm>
    27. Money Trail> Texas nets $1.28B on 146 VC deals in 2008 (downloadable regional spreadsheets @ PEHub.com) <http://preview.tinyurl.com/ahze7m>.:.

    Updates for Week of 01/18-01/24

    Happenings in the Texas Triangle, the megapolitan region consisting of Houston, DFW, Austin and San Antonio.

    1. Epic> Rise and fall of Texas' oil titans (Cullen, Richardson, Hunt & Murchison) in NYTimes Book Review <http://preview.tinyurl.com/bcctae>
    2. Dealipedia> Omniflight Helicopters (Addison) sells ATL operations to Air Methods (CO) <http://preview.tinyurl.com/bpq4e8>
    3. Brightside> Austin not losing tech co. HQ, it's gaining a CEO <http://preview.tinyurl.com/a9qc3s>
    4. Energy> What scarce oil storage in Cushing, OK, means for crude prices <http://preview.tinyurl.com/7q6zvx>
    5. CreativeClass> Pastor T.D. Jakes [Dallas] New Movie (www.imdb.com/title/tt0795438) Breaks New Ground <http://preview.tinyurl.com/8g2pw5>
    6. Trends> 2009 Bodes Well for Texas Airlines American, Continental & Southwest <http://preview.tinyurl.com/7v7ao9>
    7. MoneyTrail> PEHub.com says ex-Aldus Equity xecs forming LEA Advisors [Dallas] <http://preview.tinyurl.com/7cxpln>
    8. Dealipedia> Extreme Homemakeover Builder Wall Homes [Arlington] Files Chap. 11 <http://tinyurl.com/9hnv62>
    9. Dealipedia> Stallion [Houston] Reconsiders IPO <http://tinyurl.com/9rbacj>
    10. Texaphiles> Bush returns to state he loves <http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090121/D95R6HTO0.html>.:.

    Updates for Week of 01/12-01/17

    Happenings in the Texas Triangle, the megapolitan region consisting of Houston, DFW, Austin and San Antonio.

    1. Dealipedia Entry> Dallas-based Investor Buys Trucking Company <http://tinyurl.com/9tz5xb>
    2. VC> Sterling Foods [San Antonio] acquired by TGF Management & Austin Ventures [$ND] <http://twitter.com/texastriangle/status/1119369433>
    3. Energy: Anadarko Petroleum [The Woodlands] wins big [$10B] on fossil-fuel royalties <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123180979081275855.html>
    4. The Plan from La Mancha: Giants opposing T. Boone's wind 'n gas plan not imagined... <http://twitter.com/texastriangle/status/1116502985>
    5. Video... So Long $147.27: Energy guru Daniel Yergin discusses outlook for oil-rich countries... <http://preview.tinyurl.com/6uupsh>
    6. Trend... Caveat Austin: Cleantech valutations headed for reality check? ... <http://tinyurl.com/ayadkz>
    7. Madoffs DITHOT (Deep In The Heart of Texas): Austin-based Pantera Petroleum funded by Bernie Madoff's sons and niece <http://preview.tinyurl.com/8telfh>.:.

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