The community is invited to the 9th Strokes for Art in the Square on February 19, 2023. Guests will gather for a reception with refreshments in the foyer of Southlake Town Hall from 5-6:30 p.m.
The Southlake Women’s Club Foundation will present the Northeast Tarrant County charities selected as the 2023 beneficiaries during the reception. The showcased artwork of the nine featured artists offers samplings of the outstanding creatives that can be found April 28-30. The 23rd event t-shirt artwork designed by Niki Gulley will also be unveiled.
Voting begins for the 2023 The People’s Choice in late February. The community can cast a vote at Southlake Town Hall or on the city’s website for their favorite featured artist. Voting will end April 7, 2023.
Strokes is co-sponsored by the Southlake Arts Council, Apex Arts League and Art in the Square/Southlake Women’s Club.
Save the dates April 28-30 to attend Art in the Square… art, music and more!
For more information, visit www.apex-arts.org or www.artinthesquare.com.
Everyone is invited to celebrate the Lunar New Year at the 2nd annual Southlake Spring Festival in Southlake Town Square on January 21!
The Southlake community is hosting its 2nd annual Southlake Spring Festival on Saturday, January 21, 2023! The festival will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Southlake Town Square, located near 1400 E. Southlake Boulevard, Southlake, TX 76092. Join the festivities on Lunar New Year's Eve for an afternoon of delicious food, cultural performances, and family-friendly activities showcasing the unique cultures of China, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, and Taiwan.
The name Spring Festival, the celebration for the start of the new lunar year in many East Asian countries, is rooted in the lunisolar calendar. In traditional East Asian lunisolar calendars, used primarily for agricultural purposes, a year is divided into 24 solar terms (see the calendar to the right). The first solar term of a lunar year is called the 'Start of Spring,' signifying an increase in sunlight for the northern hemisphere of the Earth and the beginning of warmer temperatures. After celebrating the Spring Festival, a new cycle of agricultural activities begins. 
January 21 is Lunar New Year's Eve, and Southlake Spring Festival has so much in store to celebrate. There will be several photo opportunities to help make every moment memorable, and lots to do! Activities include learning how to write one's name in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, and Japanese, learning about a traditional tea ceremony, watching cultural performances on the stage, participating in the dragon parade, taking a photo with the lion mascot, and engaging in a variety of artistic crafts!
At Southlake Spring Festival, you can learn much more about lunar/solar New Year activities in many East Asian cultures! For more information about the event, visit the "Southlake Spring Festival" on Facebook.
This list of future Southlake businesses is provided by the Southlake Department of Economic Development and Tourism to keep you in the know about what businesses are coming into Southlake! We can’t wait for them to open their doors!
Visit www.SelectSouthlake.com for the New Biz List showing recent openings and other business information. Be sure to follow us on Facebook for the latest business news! Contact us by Email if you are a new business coming into town or if you have any questions.
Keep an eye out for the next Coming Soon Quarterly - January 2023!
Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/SelectSouthlake
Email: Econdev@cityofsouthlake.com
It’s time to Shop, Eat, and Enjoy Local as you prepare to celebrate Independence Day with your community and neighborhood. Snap a photo of you supporting a local Southlake business and submit it for a chance to win.
The City of Southlake’s Economic Development & Tourism department is excited to host an Independence Day giveaway to encourage the local community to support Southlake businesses. Locals are encouraged to shop, eat, and enjoy experiences at Southlake businesses in preparation for the 2020 Fireworks event. Locals should snap a photo showing how they’re supporting a Southlake business and send it to VisitInfo@VisitSouthlakeTexas.com (with full name and phone number) for a chance to win. Please remember to follow safety guidelines, including wearing masks where required.
There will be ten winners selected. Prize packages include staycations, gift cards, a VIP Pool Party at Champions Club, and more. Participants must be 18 years or older. All entries must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. CST on Sunday, July 5, 2020. Winners will be announced on Friday, July 10, 2020. Click here for more information.
Daniel Cortez, Deputy Director of Economic Development and Tourism, has been promoted to Director, effective July 1. After the departure of Assistant City Manager Ben Thatcher, Cortez’s history of strong work performance, world-class professionalism and commitment to assist Southlake businesses and residents make him fit for the task to lead the Southlake economic development team.
“Daniel Cortez has many notable accomplishments under his belt,” said Assistant City Manager Alison Ortowski. “His energy, creativity, intelligence and strong people skills make him ideal for this role.”
Since 2017, Cortez has worked to implement key recommendations of the 2035 Economic Development Master Plan. He has also created and implemented a commercial site assessment project, resulting in valuable insights into Southlake’s commercial centers. He managed the City’s first Business Climate Survey to understand the local business community’s strengths and challenges, track trends and ensure the City has useful data for business support programs.
"I am humbled at the confidence the City's leadership has in me. I look forward to continuing to serve our business community with the same tradition of excellence Southlake is known for, with new inspiration and determination to meet the challenges of the future," Cortez said. "There is truly no place like Southlake. It is my privilege to be part of a great community and I'm excited to strengthen the City's relationships with local businesses."
Ortowski also highlights his business retention work, noting that “he has established strong relationships through one-on-one visits and programs he’s created to improve business engagement with the City.”
Southlake youth have also benefited from Cortez’s hard work. Through the Southlake Kids Interested in Leadership (SKIL) program, Cortez has worked with Mayor Hill and Carroll ISD to offer selected students access to local business leaders through educational seminars and internship experiences. Cortez guides the students through the program, which has been in place for three years.
Perhaps Cortez has demonstrated his strongest performance with his work through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Untangling the complex and sometimes confusing information related to the various executive orders was a terrific service he was able to provide to our business customers,” noted Ortowski. “He promoted businesses in unique and creative ways. He demonstrated a keen knowledge of the needs of our businesses and worked proactively to provide needed support.”
In his new role, Daniel will be responsible for economic development work, and will oversee the day-to-day activities of the City’s tourism and special events team.
Daniel Cortez, Deputy Director of Economic Development and Tourism, has been promoted to Director, effective July 1. After the departure of Assistant City Manager Ben Thatcher, Cortez’s history of strong work performance, world-class professionalism and commitment to assist Southlake businesses and residents make him fit for the task to lead the Southlake economic development team.
“Daniel Cortez has many notable accomplishments under his belt,” said Assistant City Manager Alison Ortowski. “His energy, creativity, intelligence and strong people skills make him ideal for this role.”
Since 2017, Cortez has worked to implement key recommendations of the 2035 Economic Development Master Plan. He has also created and implemented a commercial site assessment project, resulting in valuable insights into Southlake’s commercial centers. He managed the City’s first Business Climate Survey to understand the local business community’s strengths and challenges, track trends and ensure the City has useful data for business support programs.
"I am humbled at the confidence the City's leadership has in me. I look forward to continuing to serve our business community with the same tradition of excellence Southlake is known for, with new inspiration and determination to meet the challenges of the future," Cortez said. "There is truly no place like Southlake. It is my privilege to be part of a great community and I'm excited to strengthen the City's relationships with local businesses."
Ortowski also highlights his business retention work, noting that “he has established strong relationships through one-on-one visits and programs he’s created to improve business engagement with the City.”
Southlake youth have also benefited from Cortez’s hard work. Through the Southlake Kids Interested in Leadership (SKIL) program, Cortez has worked with Mayor Hill and Carroll ISD to offer selected students access to local business leaders through educational seminars and internship experiences. Cortez guides the students through the program, which has been in place for three years.
Perhaps Cortez has demonstrated his strongest performance with his work through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Untangling the complex and sometimes confusing information related to the various executive orders was a terrific service he was able to provide to our business customers,” noted Ortowski. “He promoted businesses in unique and creative ways. He demonstrated a keen knowledge of the needs of our businesses and worked proactively to provide needed support.”
In his new role, Daniel will be responsible for economic development work, and will oversee the day-to-day activities of the City’s tourism and special events team.
Strategic. Focused. Achiever.
To the casual observer, Tourism Marketing Manager Cambria Jones can appear quiet and unassuming, but looking a little closer, it is easy to see that she is a woman on a mission, a force of nature, intent on performing at a very high level. She is willing to get into the game and compete. A great time manager, she works to accomplish as much as she can during her day. An enthusiastic person with great people skills, she can leverage partnerships to get even more done.
She is intent on winning the tourism game and uses her significant intellect and talent to get the job done.
Cambria is an outstanding employee, but she doesn’t seek the limelight for herself. Instead, she works to draw attention to Southlake and encourages visitors to spend time (and money) in the City.
Here are a few highlights of how Cambria has worked to market Southlake as a destination to visitors (think shopping and dining, bolstering sales tax collections, supporting local businesses):
As a result of Cambria’s efforts, followers of Visit Southlake social media accounts have increased significantly. In FY 2019, the Visit Southlake Facebook account had a 42% increase in followers, and the Visit Southlake Instagram account had a 34% increase in followers. Cambria is telling Southlake’s story to more people, in improved ways.
She successfully managed the Visit Southlake video and photography refresh project, resulting in updated assets that are timely, diverse, and representative of Southlake as a destination.
Cambria successfully managed a destination video project, highlighting Southlake. The video is featured as the cover photo on the Visit Southlake Facebook page. She has also audited video assets and prioritized needs for FY 2020.
Throughout 2019, Cambria made significant progress in building rapport with destination partners, including the Hilton Hotel and RPAI (the real estate investment trust that owns most of Town Square). Working together, Cambria and these partners highlight local businesses to strengthen the local economy.
To Alison Ortowski, who oversees economic development and tourism programs for the City, working with Cambria is “a dream.”
“Cambria is one of those employees who possesses the ‘X’ factor that makes her highly productive, but also pleasant and inspirational,” she said. “We have supreme confidence in Cambria’s ability to support local businesses and deliver strong results.”
For her strong commitment to marketing Southlake as a destination of choice and for behind-the-scenes, effective work, Tourism Marketing Manager Cambria Jones is one of Southlake’s best secret weapons and an unsung hero.
