AT&T, Southwest Airlines, Chase: Thursday's Business Briefing

Your lunchtime look at D-FW business [Your lunchtime look at D-FW business] November 09,  2017 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here](. Follow us on Twitter: [@DMNBiz]( Roland Montoya, lead solar installer with Kosmos Solar, installs solar panels on a home in Arlington, Texas on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017. (Rose Baca/The Dallas Morning News) The Big Story $100 million Texas solar project on hold as Trump administration threatens tariff President Donald Trump hasn't yet decided whether to impose tariffs on cheap imported solar equipment, but the uncertainty has already killed or slowed projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars and cost Texas jobs. [A 100-megawatt, $100 million solar farm near Fort Stockton has been put on "indefinite hold" awaiting Trump's decision](, said Scott Canada, senior vice president of renewable energy for McCarthy Building Companies. That project, he said, would have employed about 300 to 400 people for nine months at the peak of construction. "It's been a significant hit just within the last six months," he said about a federal agency's recommendation to impose up to 35 percent tariff on imports. "Every one of our customers said things are pretty much indefinitely on hold until there's clarity." In Texas, a higher tariff could risk the exponential growth in electricity production from solar energy — if all approved projects get built, Lone Star State's solar capacity would triple from about 1,000 mega watts to more than 3,000 by 2020. -[Jeff Mosier]( Plus: [Find more stories on energy and its impact on North Texas]( SPECIAL OFFER [special offer unlimited digital access]( The Latest - Real estate: Frisco's $1.5 billion [Railhead project]( will start with office high-rise and apartments - Crime: [Contractor](accused of stealing $50,000 from Duncanville church and fleeing the country - Retail: [Nordstrom](will offer 24/7 curbside pickup in the week before Christmas - Economy: [Construction of Starbucks]( next week launches the redevelopment of Dallas' Red Bird Mall - Restaurants: Recently closed [food hall in Fort Worth]( plans to reopen Advertisement Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly celebrates the announcement of service to Hawaii with other company executives during an Oct. 11, 2017 event. (Courtesy Southwest Airlines) Airlines What Southwest Airlines' Hawaii plans mean for customers and competitors For years, customers, employees and investors at Southwest Airlines have wondered aloud about when the nation’s largest domestic carrier would finally launch flights to Hawaii, one of the country’s most popular leisure destinations. With the announcement last month that Southwest plans to begin flights to the Aloha State in late 2018 or possibly 2019, the question becomes[what kind of waves the carrier can make when it lands in the hyper-competitive market](. Since its early days, Southwest has developed a reputation and a track record for shaking up the markets it enters, bringing its much-touted “Southwest Effect” and the lower fares it promises to cities in the U.S., and more recently, abroad. For travelers eyeing a trip to Hawaii, Southwest's arrival will likely mean lower fares, at least in the near-term, as added competition helps keep prices in check. -[Conor Shine]( Plus: [Find more stories on airlines and their impact on D-FW]( Elsewhere in Texas - Travel: App augments [Houston's reality]( for visitors (Houston Chronicle) - Technology: Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, A-Rod, Christiane Amanpour and Walter Isaacson added to [SXSW 2018](lineup (512Tech.com) - Energy: [Conoco]( sets annual spending at $5.5 billion through 2020 (Houston Chronicle) - Real estate: [Bitterblue](buys almost 100 acres near Morgan’s Wonderland (San Antonio Express-News) - Entrepreneurs: [TMC Venture Fund](launches with $25M for med startups (Houston Chronicle) The first 2,000 workers have moved into JPMorgan Chase's new Plano headquarters. (Jason Janik / Special to DMN) real estate Thousands making the big move to Chase's new Legacy West campus At least 2,000 workers have moved into JPMorgan Chase's new campus in Plano. The more than $300 million, 1 million-square-foot office campus is part of the $3-billion Legacy West development at State Highway 121 and the Dallas North Tollway. [Thousands of Chase employees from across the Dallas-Fort Worth started relocating the to 49-acre development back in September](. "It took us seven weeks to occupy this first building," said Chase managing director Steve Hemperly. "The logistics of getting more than 2,000 people into this facility with as little disruption as possible has been a herculean task." -[Steve Brown]( Plus: [Find more D-FW real estate stories]( IN onE CHART How AT&T is rewiring itself to go toe-to-toe with today's tech firms Tech companies — especially Amazon and Facebook — have shot up in value over the last five years. AT&T's market cap has remained stable, but [shareholders have benefited from its dividends](. The tech giants' place at the top of the list shows how they've become the new companies for AT&T to chase. -[Melissa Repko]( Plus: [Find more stories on AT&T]( OUR AMAZON HQ2 PICKS Amazon's need for a second headquarters in North America led to hundreds of bids for the potential 50,000 new jobs and $5 billion investment the retail giant may add to a community. We asked the staff to guess which area wins. Restaurants and hospitality writer Karen Robinson-Jacobs Midtown Dallas Jeff Bezos would do well to look closely at the proposed Midtown development on the site of Dallas' former Valley View mall. Centrally located, the site is easily accessible from downtown and minutes away from Dallas Love Field. Its midcity location offers the best shot at attracting a diverse workforce. Plus: Find our [staff's predictionsÂ](for where we think Amazon's HQ2 will go Onboarding Who is getting hired and promoted - THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS named Dr. Stephen Holt medical center director of the VA North Texas Health Care System. - FIESTA RESTAURANT GROUP INC. named Maria Chang Mayer senior vice president, general counsel and secretary. - JAMBA INC. named Claudia Schaefer chief marketing officer. - MARCUS & MILLICHAP named Al Silva senior managing director of investments in the Fort Worth office. Plus: [Find more executive changes]( Follow DFW stocks: [See how top North Texas stocks performed](, as well as the oil and gas markets and major stock exchanges. DFW Top 100 Places to Work 2016: The Dallas Morning News and Workplace Dynamics partner each year to feature the [Top 100 workplaces](, based on ratings by the people who work at them. The 2017 ranking is in progress. Advertisement 👋  That's all for today! 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