Walmart, D-FW executive diversity, Rowlett development: Wednesday's Business Briefing

Your lunchtime look at D-FW business [Your lunchtime look at D-FW business] April 11,  2018 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here](. Follow us on Twitter [@DMNBiz](. Marvin Ellison, CEO of J.C. Penney, spoke during an annual company staff meeting in March 2016 in downtown Dallas. (File / DMN Staff) executives North Texas CEOs, boards more diverse than those in Houston, says survey Three North Texas companies topped a list of Texas businesses with the most diversity among their executives and governance leaders. A report from the National Diversity Council looks at 101 of Texas’ biggest businesses by revenue, ranking them by how well leadership represents the diversity of the population. On the upshot, [businesses in D-FW were better at bringing women into top roles than those in Harris County](. But companies continued to struggle overall. More than 78 percent of the 2,000 people holding executive and board positions were white men. Women of color fared the worst, landing such a role only 1.65 percent of the time. -[Sabriya Rice]( Plus: [Find more about hiring and jobs in D-FW]( Advertisement The Latest - Health care: [A Parkland hospital ex-employee]( pleads guilty to illegally leaking patient info for tax fraud scheme. - Real estate: [Lower Greenville]( is still trying to fill in the giant blank space left by Walmart. - Retail: Actress [Gwyneth Paltrow]( is bringing a Goop shop back to Dallas. - Philanthropy: Attorneys, developer team up to provide [$1.2 million in legal aid]( to Frazier Courts residents. - Restaurants: A [new coffee shop]( opens soon in Dallas' redone Adolphus hotel. - Real estate: Dallas medical property firm [Caddis]( launches $1 billion investment deal. (AP) The Big Story Walmart plans to spend the most this year in its biggest state, Texas Walmart plans to spend $277 million in Texas this year remodeling 45 stores and adding several in-store and online tools, including its big orange Pickup Towers. In Dallas-Fort Worth, [Walmart plans to remodel 18 stores](, among them the Neighborhood Market in Uptown on N. Central Expressway, two stores in Plano and one each in Richardson and Forney. (See complete list below.) Additional D-FW stores are getting some of the new ideas that Walmart has created to help shoppers save time, said Sonya Hostetler, Walmart's Texas regional general manager. Online grocery pickup, Pickup Towers, Scan & Go are being expanded to more locations, along with general store remodels, she said. -[Maria Halkias]( Plus: [Find more on Walmart and other retail outlets]( Elsewhere in Texas - San Antonio: An [aerospace site]( will get a slice of $15 billion contract. (San Antonio Express-News) - Pearland: A new [Bombshells Restaurant & Bar](, a sports bar and music venue, opened Wednesday. (Houston Chronicle) - Austin: [Southwest Airlines]( adds nonstops from Austin to 3 new cities. (Austin American-Statesman) - San Antonio: [Biglari Holdings]( shareholders will drop their effort to stop special meeting. (San Antonio Express-News) - Austin: [Captial city's office market]( continues to thrive. (Austin American-Statesman) (Bayside) real estate Rowlett's $1 billion Bayside project is getting a new home community Developers of Rowlett's Bayside project have signed up two homebuilders for a new residential community. [K. Hovnanian Homes and Meritage Homes will build more than 100 houses]( in the 262-acre Bayside development on Lake Ray Hubbard. The home community will be across Interstate 30 from where developer Bayside District Partners LLC is still working on plans for a major mixed-use project. Meritage Homes plans to build 57 cottage-style, single-family homes and K. Hovnanian Homes will build 47 houses at Bayside. Houses in the waterfront neighborhood will range in size from 1,867 to 2,800 square feet and will start in price below $300,000. -[Steve Brown]( And: [Landmark downtown Dallas garage and retail building changes hands]( Also: [Celina's Light Farms community plans new neighborhood for older buyers]( Meanwhile: [An Uptown Dallas law firm is moving its offices to the Harwood District north of downtown]( Plus: [Chili's parent company is peddling its longtime Dallas HQ campus]( (Benchmark Hospitality) Onboarding Who is getting hired and promoted - NEIMAN MARCUS GROUP hired Adam Orvos as chief financial officer. - RYAN promoted Jennifer Ivanelli to principal in its property tax practice. - SHERATON DALLAS HOTEL hired Mark Woelffer as general manager. - VIZIENT INC. promoted Byron Jobe to president and chief executive officer. - WORTH COWORKING LLC hired Karen Pierre as sales director at Serendipity Labs Dallas Hall Arts. Plus: [Find more executive changes]( top 100 Is your company in the Top 100 Places to Work? Nominate your firm to find out Time is running out to nominate your company or organization for our 10th anniversary Top 100 Places to Work competition. On May 18, the competition will be closed to additional contenders. We’d hate for you to miss out. [Our Top 100 winners are the best of the best]( when it comes to creating a hospitable and nurturing environment where they can perform at their best and boost the productivity of their organizations in the process. Is yours worthy? For those of you sitting on the fence wondering whether to give it a go, I have two words to the wise: Why not? -[Cheryl Hall]( Plus: [Nominate your company]( 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 2017: 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. Advertisement 👋  That's all for today! 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