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Lisa Powers, most recently a legislative consultant for the city of Arlington, has taken the reins of Camp Bowie District Inc., the private, nonprofit public-improvement district that promotes economic development along the nine-mile stretch of Camp Bowie Boulevard in Fort Worth.
She takes over from Brandy O’Quinn, who stepped down Sept. 15 to focus on her 2-year-old consulting company, Urban Strategies. O’Quinn works in economic development, community affairs and community relations. O’Quinn will continue to handle some future projects for Camp Bowie District, said board Chairman Mac Churchill, who praised O’Quinn for her accomplishments as president over the last nine years.The district was established by Camp Bowie business owners in 2000. They pay a tax that’s designated for public improvement, which has included several beautification projects as well as the creation of the Camp Bowie Crawl shopping experience and Jazz by the Boulevard events.Churchill said that there were several good candidates, but that Powers "seemed to be the best fit for us."Powers has also served as a public relations coordinator for Chesapeake Energy in Fort Worth and for eight years worked with Rep. Buddy West, R-Odessa, as chief of staff when he headed the House Committee on Energy Resources.Powers said that Camp Bowie District Inc. has had a phenomenal nine years, but that she’s ready to reinvigorate and increase the profile of the street that runs from University Drive to Loop 820. Along that stretch are about 500 property owners and 800 businesses.Capitalizing on holidayAmerican Airlines is moving up the launch of its new Chicago-Beijing flights by a few days next year to take advantage of a major Chinese holiday.American said it will begin service April 26 with a flight to China from Chicago. The first return flight will be April 27. American had planned a May 1 launch but rescheduled for passengers who want to attend China’s International Labor Day activities the same day, said Loretta Kuss, American’s director for Chicago passenger sales.American will use wide-body Boeing 777 jets, featuring first, business and economy class.Flight 187 will depart 11:15 a.m. from Chicago O’Hare Airport and arrive in Beijing at 1:45 p.m. the next day. Flight 186 will depart Beijing Capital Airport at 3:50 p.m. daily and arrive at 3:40 p.m. the same day in Chicago.Seeking new leadersLeading Edge, a professional leadership program for people in their mid-20s to early 30s, is seeking candidates for its 2010 class. Leading Edge is a program of Leadership Fort Worth. Candidates should have already shown some leadership potential in their business and community, such as by being involved in young professional organizations and volunteering with nonprofits.Participants will polish their leadership skills, broaden community perspective and create rich community connections that will help them down the road, the group said.Leading Edge begins with a full-day retreat in January, followed by six half-day sessions and a closing retreat.To get an application for the class, go to www.leadershipfortworth.org or contact program director Jan Titsworth at 682-554-2766 or jan@b2b-strategies.com.Applications are due Nov. 20. The class is limited to 35 to 40 participants. Tuition is $875; a limited number of partial tuition waivers are available based on need.Big gift to food bankKroger has given $25,000 to the Tarrant Area Food Bank for its BackPacks for Kids weekend feeding program.The gift will pay for more than 15 percent of the single-serving food items needed during the year for the program, said Bo Soderbergh, the food bank’s executive director. The local program is one of 25 in the country. Each week this fall, the local program will serve about 1,300 children from 14 sites in nine cities in four North Texas counties.BackPacks for Kids supplies nonperishable food in containers easily opened by children. On Friday afternoons, students at risk of hunger on the weekends take home unmarked backpacks that contain food for the student and other school-aged children in the household.SANDRA BAKER, 817-390-7727 SABAKER@STAR-TELEGRAM.COM SCOTT NISHIMURA, 817-390-7808 SNISHIMURA@STAR-TELEGRAM.COM BARRY SHLACHTER, 817-390-7718 BARRY@STAR-TELEGRAM.COM
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