Social Madness has taken over the web as over 130 companies from across the region compete in the Dallas Business Journal’s Social Madness social media competition, working to increase their presence across social media outlets and secure votes on the DBJ’s Social Madness page.

And, yes, the Dallas Regional Chamber is in the race – but we aren’t the only ones!  Eighteen Chamber members are also mixed up in the madness. 

Small Business Category

• Dickey’s Barbecue Pit
• Dallas Regional Chamber
• Global Data Vault
• Harwood International
• Imprimis Staffing Solutions
• T. Boone Pickens YMCA

Medium Business Category

• Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP
• NYLO Hotels
• The Adolphus
• The Beck Group
• The Saxon Group

Large Business Category

• Balfour Beatty Construction
• Chili’s Grill & Bar
• Lincoln Property Co.
• Maggiano’s Little Italy
• Ryan LLC
• Southwest Airlines
• Texas Health Resources
• TXU Energy
•  Ready to help a friend out?

Click here to go to the Dallas Business Journal’s Social Madness page.  Once there, vote for your fellow members, and then click the buttons to like or follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Linked In.  Each vote, like and follow is counted separately, so the more you click the more you help.  And remember – you may only be able to like or follow the company once, but you can vote for the company daily!  So vote now, and vote often.

And while you’re there, please vote, like and follow the Dallas Regional Chamber as well!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! Koala Bears to be exact, even though they are not actually bears, Michael Meadows, President & CEO of the Dallas Zoological Society is excited to have them in Dallas. Meadows tells us a little about the Zoo, its residents and how he’s now cleaning up after animals.

KM: Tell me something no one knows about the Dallas Zoo? 
MM: There are several things that come to mind but one of my favorites is that the Dallas Zoo has the most venomous collection of reptiles of any zoo in North America. I love reptiles so I think that is really cool.

KM: What is the newest exhibit/animal to join the zoo?  
MM: Our new Koala Walkabout exhibit, presented by Kimberly-Clark, features koalas and lorikeets, two species which had never been at the Dallas Zoo before. They have been a huge hit with our guests.

KM: What is your favorite thing about Dallas? 
MM: The people. They have a passion for making our community great and are very welcoming to people to move here. That combination is rare in most cities.

KM: Who is your business mentor?
MM: I have a number of great ones because I am always seeking to “raise my game,” but my father Curtis Meadows has always been my most important business mentor. He is a man of great intelligence, extraordinary judgment and unrivaled integrity and character. He is my role model and hero.

KM: What is one thing not to miss at the zoo this summer?
MM: Even thought it opened in 2010, the Giants of the Savanna is my favorite zoo exhibit in the country right now and it continues to evolve and improve. But I have to recommend our bird show, “Soar: A Festival of Flight” because it is seasonal and every show is a little different.

KM: What was your first job and what did you learn from it?
MM: I worked on the custodial staff at St. Mark’s School when I was student there. It taught me humility, the value of hard work, and not to leave a mess for others to clean up.

The Chamber’s Education Policy Committee met on May 29 at the Microsoft Corporation Office in Irving, Texas and heard remarks from Chairman Dan Branch, Chairman of the Texas House Committee on Higher Education and Co-Chair of the Joint Oversight Committee on Higher Education Governance, Excellence, and Transparency and Mr. Cameron Evans, Microsoft’s National Chief Information Officer for Education.

Chairman Branch spoke about the many challenges and opportunities facing public and higher education in Texas and offered an update on the efforts of Texas universities to reach Tier One Status. Mr. Evan provided his perspective and insight on the impact technology will have on public education in today’s global knowledge-based economy.

Scott Thompson with Microsoft Corporation and Chiji Offor with Jones Day serve as co-chairs of the committee.

“Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy, and investing in their success is important for all of us,” said Grady Burnett, vice president of Global Marketing Solutions at Facebook. “We want to give businesses a boost by helping them use the power of our site to meet new customers and deepen their relationships with the customers they already have.”

“This program offers the Chamber’s small business members an opportunity to leverage one of the world’s most popular communities to connect with customers,” said Nick Schaper, executive director of Digital Strategic Communications at the U.S.Chamber of Commerce. “As small businesses look for new ways to remain competitive, the Chamber will continue to provide innovative solutions for success.”

To find out more about Facebook’s marketing and small business marketing efforts visit, www.facebook.com/marketing. There you will find a plethora of resources to help you and your Facebook marketing questions.

This weekend, families and friends will gather for good food and good times at cookouts, parades and festivals in honor of Memorial Day.  As we grill up the perfect burgers and laugh with friends, those of us at the Chamber will also take a minute to reflect on the history and true meaning of Memorial Day.

The upcoming three day weekend is about more than the unofficial start of summer.  It is about paying tribute to the more than 1 million men and women who fallen while protecting our freedom.

This Memorial Day, the Dallas Regional Chamber extends a heart-felt thank you to those who have served or are currently serving in the United States armed forces, and offers a special thank you to those who have lost a loved one during active military duty.

Have a safe and happy holiday.

Memorial Day 101:  Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.  Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. By the 20th century Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died during active military duty.

Medical manufacturing company Greatbatch Inc.  Greatbatch Inc. Latest from The Business Journals Greatbatch moving corporate HQ to TexasSmall businesses line up for SBA matchmaker eventNet income drops 63 percent at Greatbatch Inc. Follow this company announced Tuesday that it plans to relocate its global headquarters from Buffalo, N.Y., to Frisco to take advantage of an already-established medical device cluster in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

“This is a great win for Frisco and the Dallas/Fort Worth region,” said Mike Rosa, vice president of Economic Development at the Dallas Regional Chamber. “Greatbatch is a fantastic addition to the local business community, and we are excited to welcome them to the area this summer.”

Four Greatbatch executives, including president and CEO Thomas Hook, will open an office this summer in Frisco. The Dallas Regional Chamber met with Greatbach during the project to support their examination of the region.

Greatbatch Ltd. was founded in 1970 by Wilson Greatbatch, an Akron, N.Y., inventor who created the first implanted pacemaker. It operates two primary units — Greatbatch Medical and Electrochem — and employs nearly 3,500 people around the world.

The election season will heat up Tuesday, May 29, as citizens take to the polls to vote in the Republican and Democratic primaries for the presidential races, Legislature, judgeships and county commissioners.

For more information on ballots and polling places for all elections, visit the Dallas County, Collin County or Denton County election websites.  Registered voters can participate in early voting through Thursday, May 24.

Need to update your voter registration after a move, or register to vote for the first time?  Learn how here.

Give back to the businesswoman who has given your career an extra push by nominating her for the nationally recognized 2012 ATHENA Award or the Young Professional Leadership ATHENA Award.

ATHENA Awards recognize the women who make a difference in both the business world and the community.  These women demonstrate excellence, creativity and initiative in their business or profession, are actively working to improve the quality of life for others within the community and serve as a personal and professional role model for other women.

Previous leaders who have been recognized with ATHENA Awards include Brenda Jackson, Camille Keith, Suzanne Charriere, Catherine Rodewald, Carol Roehrig and Anne Motsenbocker.  Jasmin Brand was the inaugural recipient of the Young Professional ATHENA Award in 2011.

The 2012 ATHENA and Young Professionals  ATHENA awards will be presented during the annual Women’s Business Conference hosted by the Dallas Regional Chamber this fall.

Ready to nominate the leaders you look up to? Click here to access the 2012 ATHENA Award nomination form, or here to access the 2012 Young Professional ATHENA Award nomination form. The nomination deadline is Friday, June 22nd.

A special thank you to the 2012 ATHENA Award Sponsor, Wells Fargo, and the 2012 Young Professional Leadership ATHENA Award Sponsor, KPMG.

For more information or questions, contact Sarah Pendleton at spendleton@dallaschamber.org or 214-746-6778.

Is Dallas a “global region?”

It would sure seem that way. The region is the 6th largest metropolitan economy in the United States, and according to Brookings’ Global MetroMonitor, the 12th largest in the world. By virtue of size alone, Dallas appears to be a powerful force in the global marketplace.

Move beyond size, however, and the global status of the Dallas area seems to be in the eye of the beholder. Different observers have different definitions of what it means to be “global.” Various studies attempt to index the global-ness of major metropolitan areas on measures that combine the presence of major global corporations, human capital, cultural institutions, environment, quality of life, and economic growth.

Not surprisingly, the Dallas metropolis comes out in different places on different indexes: 25^th (Economist Intelligence Unit), 28^th (Global Urban Competitiveness Report), 36^th (Brookings’ Global MetroMonitor), as an “Alpha-minus” city (Globalization and World Cities Research Network), or not at all (A.T. Kearney Global Cities Index).

These all-in-one indexes, however, tend to obscure why it is important for regions like Dallas to connect globally. More and more of the world’s economic growth is occurring abroad, especially outside developed markets like Europe and Japan. As the nation slowly recovers from a run-up in debt during the last decade, it has become clear that the United States can no longer rely solely on its vast internal consumption market for economic growth. The vast majority of growth in the global middle class in the next 20 years will occur in developing Asia and Latin America. To fuel their own economic growth, then, regions like Dallas must look increasingly to other parts of the globe—particularly rapidly growing urban areas—as sources of consumers, investment, and talented workers.

It’s along those lines that our own work at Brookings, as part of the joint Global Cities Initiative with JP Morgan Chase, aims to reveal the global nature and potential of U.S. metropolitan areas like Dallas.  On June 7, the Dallas Regional Chamber will convene a discussion of the region’s global position that will draw on some of our recent research for the Initiative. Some highlights:

• Dallas is a major exporter of goods and services to international markets. In 2010, its exports were valued at $41 billion, the 5^th highest total in the United States, supporting 280,000 jobs. Transportation equipment, computers and electronics, and travel and tourism rank among the Dallas region’s chief exports.
• The region’s export performance reflects its strength in manufacturing. About 250,000 residents of the region worked in manufacturing in 2010, the 4^th highest total nationwide. About one-third of the Dallas region’s manufacturing jobs have very high technology content, roughly double the national average, a sign that the region is today, and can remain for years to come, a global competitive hub for advanced manufacturing.
• Dallas also benefits from inflows of high-value immigrant skills. In 2010-2011, the region’s employers requested more than 10,000 highly educated immigrant workers through the H1-B visa program, 8^th highest in the country. Those individuals are part of one of the nation’s leading hubs for immigrants generally, in which 25 nations each account for at least 5,000 foreign-born residents.

Efforts to enhance international flows of goods and services, capital, and labor in ways that enhance regional competitiveness must be an economic priority for all regions. For now, Dallas is well-positioned in each of these areas. But local and regional leaders must continuously capitalize on their global profile by upgrading infrastructure to speed the flow of goods and people; investing in research and development and workforce training to spur innovation in advanced manufacturing; and embracing foreign workers and students as key conduits to markets and ideas abroad.

Being “global” is not an end in itself. Rather, global connections are valuable when they help regions achieve important outcomes for their residents. By focusing on the measures that matter for metro prosperity, Dallas has the potential to lead a still-insular America into the new economic frontiers of a truly global century.

Want to Learn More?  Alan Berube will discuss DFW’s position in the global economy and its performance in key dimensions critical to future economic growth during the Dallas Regional Chamber’s next Economic Series event on June 7 from 12 – 1:30 p.m.  Click here to reserve your seat.

Alan Berube is Senior Fellow and Research Director at the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program.  His areas of expertise include metropolitan demographic and economic trends, and social policies affecting urban low-income families and communities.

I recently sat down with Bill Tice, the district manager for Total Wine & More, to learn what reenergizes him, his challenge to develop a strong online presence and how leadership at Total Wine & More engages the staff.

Bill, thanks for chatting with me.  Can you tell us a little about how you came to work for Total Wine & More?  Working with Wine, Beer and Spirits always looked fun for me.  I had a restaurant background so the transition to retail was relatively seamless. 

What particular likes do you have for your position(s) with Total Wine & More?   There is so much passion behind the product from both our customers and team members alike.  I am reenergized on a daily basis just meeting new customers and chatting about the products that we sell.

What challenges do you face as they relate to your company in the foreseeable future?  We are diligently working more towards our online presence.  The ability to order almost anything online will challenge the brick and mortar retailers for years to come.  We need to stay abreast of the needs of how the customer will shop in the next 10 years.

Where do you see Total Wine & More in the industry as a whole, in just 5 years time?  That is a difficult question, our growth in new states remains strong and our business model has proven to be successful in each market we enter.  We have always been careful not to outgrow our resources so I would imagine a steady growth pattern moving forward.

How has the leadership engaged the management and staff to gain prominence in your business sector?  The senior leadership is always looking to improve our product selection and cater to the changing needs of our client base.  They are interested in the feedback from the field personnel and with urgency to those recommendations.