Parking spaces and hotel rooms will become scarce as hen’s teeth Dec. 2-4, when about 1,000 farmers and ranchers gather at the Waco Convention Center for the 89th annual meeting of the Texas Farm Bureau.
Here’s wondering if we might see a few pickup trucks downtown that week.
Gary Joiner, spokesperson for the Waco-based organization, said attendees have booked rooms in six area hotels: Hilton Waco, Courtyard by Marriott, Hotel Indigo, Residence Inn, La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham and Aloft Hotel.
Texas Farm Bureau President Russell Boening, a farmer, rancher and dairy producer from Wilson County, will attend the conference and make himself available for interviews, in English or Spanish.
Waco’s Holly Tucker will perform during opening night ceremonies.
$1 billion in loans
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The First National Bank of Central Texas issued a press release saying it is the first bank headquartered in McLennan County to pass $1 billion in loans.
“This milestone is really a collaboration between our great customers in the communities we are in and the employees who serve them,” Chair and CEO Joe Barrow wrote. “Waco, Woodway, China Spring, Mart, Hillsboro and College Station have been very good to the bank and we look forward to taking care of the loan needs of our current and future customers.”
To celebrate passing $1 billion in loans, the bank allowed employees at each of its six locations to choose two nonprofits to receive $1,000 apiece.
Nonprofits chosen include China Spring VFD and China Spring Cares; Project Unity and Still Creek Ranch in College Station; Paw Pals of Hill County and Hillsboro Interfaith Ministries; Mart VFD and Mart Methodist Church JAM; Pack of Hope and Isaiah 117 House; and Family Abuse Center and The Cove.
Neighborly buy
Another day, another acquisition by Waco-based Neighborly, the franchising company specializing in home services and products.
It has bought Junk King, a company founded in 2005 in San Carlos, California, that has spread to 150 locations in 32 states and Canada. Its goal is to keep 60% of all materials it collects out of landfills through repurposing and recycling, according to a press release. The company hopes to add 400 locations within five years.
“Junk King is one of a handful of scaled franchised companies operating in the $10 billion junk removal market today,” Neighborly CEO Mike Bidwell said in the press release.
Hearing aids in Puerto Rico
The Miracle-Ear team in Waco will participate in a mission trip to Puerto Rico early next month, joining others in donating 350 hearing aids and offering a lifetime of follow-up care to 175 Puerto Ricans, according to a press release.
The effort represents a $10,000 donation, plus time commitments. A contingent of four from the United States will work with a Miracle-Ear franchisee in Puerto Rico who chose patients most in need of hearing aids during visits to medical sites and local communities.
The press release cites data showing more than 150,000 Puerto Ricans are deaf or struggle with hearing loss, adding that untreated hearing loss is linked to many physical and mental ailments and a poorer quality of life. It says the Miracle-Ear Foundation is investing more than $1 million to support hearing aid technology and to subsidize the Puerto Rico trip for franchisees.
Miracle-Ear Waco offers free hearing checks at Miracle-Ear.com.
Gas prices
The statewide gas price norm dipped below $3 a gallon last week, to $2.97, the first time that has happened since mid-January, according to AAA Texas. The travel club said Waco’s average plunged 15 cents, to $2.89.
That Waco norm may be falling further, as locations citywide on Black Friday were offering regular unleaded at $2.65 a gallon or less. A GasBuddy list Friday of the 10 cheapest gas prices in Waco included $2.49 at a Circle-K in Bellmead.
Analysts said pump prices are dropping because crude oil prices are dropping, West Texas Intermediate crude hitting $80 a barrel, its lowest since January.
Marketing firm expansion
Four Columns Marketing, headquartered at Sixth Street and Austin Avenue downtown, has opened new locations in Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex as its client list grows, according to a press release.
“Four Columns Marketing’s headquarters remain in the heart of Texas, in downtown Waco,” the press release says. “However, with offices in North Dallas and in downtown Houston, the company will be able to devote staff resources to its clients in each of the two largest metro areas in Texas.”
In the press release, Four Columns CEO and founder Doug Cofer said the company has grown as it focuses on mid-market companies in the industrial, oil-and-gas and technology fields. He said business has flourished since coming out of COVID-19 douldrums, Four Columns enjoying its best year to date in 2022.