The Future of Tarrant County

As Executive Vice President of Business Operations for the Dallas Cowboys and AT&T Stadium, Estis works with the business leadership team to grow and strengthen the businesses. His area of expertise includes corporate partnerships, stadium suites and ticket sales, media and branding and third party events. His contributions have been numerous and industry defying as they include the most successful stadium suite and seat license sales campaign, a newly developed tour and catered event business, as well as several new business concepts for a professional sports organization. He is also leading the organizations new headquarters and world training facility project “The Star” which will open in Frisco in August of 2016. On this project, he has developed and executed new concepts such as the Cowboys Club that will help engage fans in ways never done before. He has also helped local organizing committee’s bring the NBA All-Star game, Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, Academy of Country Music, NCAA National Championship Football Playoff Games and WrestleMania to North Texas. He has strategically created an industry-leading tour and catered event business and his teams continue to set the bar for revenue generation. Legends provides an integrated solution for creating a unique atmosphere for guests through Global Planning, Global Sales and Hospitality divisions synchronizing a 360 degree solution across its four platform—North America Professional, Collegiate, International and Attractions. As Executive Vice President of Legends, Chad Estis is responsible for working with the leadership team and business leads to grow and strengthen the business. With deep-rooted industry relationships, he focuses on the development of large-scale projects, while remaining involved on a day-to-day basis on Global Sales existing partnerships. Chad’s contributions to Legends during his tenure have been numerous and company defying. Most notably he spearheaded the creation and growth of Global Sales and led the division to become one of the most influential in its industry. As well, his vision to bring CSL International into the Legends family identifying a natural synergy and creating an industry advantage that has evolved to include Global Planning in Legends 360-degree business solution. Before joining the Cowboys organization, Estis served as Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Quicken Loans Arena from 2006-07. In this role, Chad oversaw all sales, marketing, community relations, communications, website and game operations. Estis became VP of Sales and Business Development for the Cavaliers in 2001. Since that time the Cavaliers saw attendance increase on average from 11,497 during the 2001-02 to 20,430 in the 2006-07 season. Estis also led the effort in adding several new premium-seating concepts to The Q. These include the Key Private Bank Court Club for floor seat holders, the Mercedes Benz Club and new in 2006-07 the Platinum Lounge and Suites. All of those areas are sold out. Before reuniting with the Cavaliers (Estis’ career in sports began with the Cavaliers as a telemarketing representative in 1994), Estis was the Vice President of Sales for the Tampa Bay Lightning for two years. This followed his position in sales management for Palace Sports & Entertainment, which included properties such as the Detroit Pistons, Detroit Shock (WNBA), Detroit Vipers (IHL), Pine Knob Music Theater and Meadowbrook Music Festival. While at Palace Sports & Entertainment, Estis created the entry level inside sales program which has been a success throughout much of the NBA. Estis also spent 1996-1998 as a Client Services Manager for the leading executive recruiting firm in sports, Teamwork Consulting. Estis is a 1993 graduate of Ohio University and a 1994 graduate of Ohio’s Sports Administration Masters Program. Estis was a four-year letter winner on Ohio’s basketball team and captained the 1994 MAC Championship team.

Sean Decker was promoted to Executive Vice President, Sports & Entertainment in January 2020 after serving as a Senior Vice President, Operations & Events since June 2017. Decker is responsible for the expansion and growth of the organization’s Rangers Events Division.  Additionally, he leads the teams Retail and Authentics Department and is responsible for the oversight of the two Minor League teams owned by the Rangers. Previously, Decker spent four years as the Rangers Vice President, Ballpark Operations. He joined the club in 2010 and has served in several roles including Sr. Account Executive, Suite Sales and Director of Sales and Assistant Vice President of Rangers Enterprises. Decker began his career in professional baseball as Operations Assistant with the Pacific Coast League’s Colorado Springs Sky Sox in 2008 and also worked as Assistant Director of Baseball Operations for MLB’s Arizona Fall League and as Corporate Marketing Manager for the Texas League’s Frisco RoughRiders before joining the Rangers.    Decker currently serves on the board for both the Arlington and Dallas Sports Commissions. A native of Grapevine, Texas he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise and Sports Studies from Tarleton State University.  Sean and his wife Renni have a son, Rhett, and reside in Colleyville.

Jason Boso found his way into restaurant development after stints as a stockbroker, ad salesman, and scuba instructor. His culinary path began with his frustration that he couldn’t get a decent burger in Dallas without going to a steakhouse and paying 20 bucks –so off to culinary school he went. Jason’s passion is identifying what people want and need and developing creative concepts around those ideas. At least that’s how he explains why he owns a Toilet Seat Art Museum, a ferris wheel, and America’s largest beer stein collection. After culinary school, Chef Boso opened Twisted Root Burger Co. in 2006.Twisted Root landed on the national radar after being featured onFood Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” in 2009. Twisted Root has since been named a Nation’s Restaurant NewsHotConceptand featured in QSR's 11Sizzling Better-Burger Concepts to Watch. Jason’s bar garden concept, Truck Yard, was built in 2013 around a sprawling backyard with a rotating cast of local food trucks, multiple bars and a cheesesteak restaurant. Truck Yard has been featured as one of Travel & Leisure’sBest Sports Bars in America, on the Travel Channel’s‘101Best Places to “Chow Down” in the US’ andon the Booze Traveler episode covering the Best Bars in the US. Second Rodeo Brewing Co., opening late 2020, puts a prison rodeo spin on Truck Yard’s bar garden environment and in lieu of food trucks customers will find Chef Boso’s take on chicken wingsalongside the classic Truck Yard cheesesteaks. Second Rodeo’s brewery, helmed by veteran brew master Dennis Wehrman, founder of the first microbrewery in the Dallas metroplex, will be open for touring and tasting, and Truck Yard’s favorite bottled and craft draft cocktails are featured at the full bar. Brain Storm Shelter Restaurants, Jason’s restaurant management company, oversees Twisted Root, Truck Yard, and his other concepts: By The Horns Brewing (brewpub), Tacos & Avocados (tacos), Hart Hall (event space), and the Greenville Theater, which features weekly improv comedy. All of that keeps Jason’s hands and creative mind just busy enough to keep him out of jail.

Jim Watry is currently the Chief Operating Officer of Texas Live!, one of the largest and most exciting sports-anchored developments in the country. The project, located in the heart of the Arlington Entertainment District adjacent to Globe Life Field, Globe Life Park and AT&T Stadium, features over 200,000 square feet of best-in-class dining and entertainment space, a 5,000-capacity outdoor event pavilion, as well as Live! by Loews – Arlington, TX, a 300-room upscale hotel with 35,000 square feet of convention, meeting, and special event space. Mr. Watry brings more than 20 years of experience in the dining, entertainment, and hospitality industry to this role, as well as a long history of community and philanthropic involvement. Prior to Texas Live!, Mr. Watry served as Chief Operating Officer of Ballpark Village, a dynamic sports-anchored dining and entertainment district in St. Louis, MO adjacent to Busch Stadium, as well as District Manager of the Kansas City Power & Light District, a vibrant nine block dining, entertainment, retail, residential, lifestyle and office district in the heart of downtown Kansas City, MO. A native of St. Louis, Jim graduated from the University of Central Missouri with a Bachelor's degree in Hotel and Restaurant Administration. He earned the first level introductory Sommelier designation in 2003 and second level certified Sommelier designation in 2006.

Trenton Price is a Dallas/Fort Worth native, born and raised in Arlington, Texas. Trenton’s passion and commitment for his hometown exude through his extensive portfolio of commercial projects spanning the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, including Globe Life Park in Arlington and many office and retail properties throughout the metroplex. Trenton’s represents over 100 thousand square feet of space and over $500 million in assets. He has a BA in Finance and had a successful career as a financial planner before moving into real estate. Trenton joined Vision Commercial in 2017 after beginning his real estate career at another local firm. Starting out as Director of Vision’s Mid-Cities/HEB portfolio he proved successful in providing client advisory services in landlord representation and investment sales. In 2019 he opened the company’s new Arlington office at Globe Life Park. In 2021 he was elected President. Before entering commercial real estate, Trenton began his career at Spectrum Financial Group starting in financial advisory before moving over to wealth management. From there he was recruited to Cornerstone as their Executive Director of Operations. The role involved oversight of the facilities, accounting, and human resource departments. In addition to these roles, Trenton spent seven years at Tarrant County College working on both the academic and workforce-developed sides of the organization. As a highly active and connected community member, Trenton regularly volunteers for youth sporting events with the Amateur Athletic Union and has served six years on the Tarrant County Literacy Coalition’s Board of Directors. He is a member of both the HEB and Arlington Chamber of Commerce. In his spare time, he enjoys sports, traveling, and family time with his wife and three children.

A 35-year veteran of commercial real estate, hospitality and casino gaming, Craig Cavileer delivers a rare depth and breadth of experience in high profile, highly successful retail and resort projects. Craig serves as CEO of Silverton Casino Hotel in Las Vegas and as EVP of Majestic Realty Co. in Los Angeles. Since joining Silverton in January 1998, Craig has been responsible for the strategic development and operations of the resort, as well as the development of its 100-acre mixed-use, entertainment/gaming/retail destination. Craig has directed the investment of more than $300m at the resort, including multiple expansions of the casino, restaurants, entertainment, the award winning 117,000-gallon saltwater aquarium attraction and the 165,000 sf flagship Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World. Innovative in its design, Silverton remains the only award winning casino/resort where large format lifestyle retail is seamlessly integrated into the gaming/entertainment experience. Recent developments at Silverton include the development of a $90m, 400-unit timeshare-hotel property located at the resort. This 4 Star all-suite resort added to the broad offerings of Silverton. Other recent developments include the addition of Panera Bread, Cracker Barrel, Blaze Pizza and Starbucks. Opening in August 2019 is the new $50m-150 room Hyatt Place Hotel. Craig’s additional accomplishments and career highlights include: • Served on the design and development team for Staples Center in Los Angeles on behalf of Majestic Realty Co. • Served as EVP at Majestic since ’93 where he has developed more than 2.5m sf of retail and entertainment projects. • Currently leading the development of the $120m Fort Worth South Business Park in Texas. • Currently leading the development of a $200m mixed-use, retail, office and Autograph Collection hotel in the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District. • Currently leading the development of the new Silverton Ranch / Marriott Hotel in Pahrump, NV located at the Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch. Craig is an active member of the community serving in a variety of leadership roles. In addition to being a board member and treasurer of the Nevada Ballet Theatre, he is a Trustee of the UNLV Foundation, a member of the Leadership Council for the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, Nellis AFB Support Team (NST) board member, Honorary Commander of the 820th Red Horse Squadron, a member of the Nevada Resort Association and is a frequent speaker for the Urban Land Institute, G2E and ICSC. Craig holds a BBA in Marketing from Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.

Artemio De La Vega is the founder and CEO of De La Vega Development, a commercial real estate firm specializing in dynamic mixed-use developments. Mr. De La Vega has more than 25 years of experience in the entrepreneurial and real estate industry, with a focus on single-tenant, multi-tenant retail centers and mixed-use developments. He brings a versatile and deep knowledge of development, master planning, entitlements, construction and capital markets to every project. Mr. De La Vega has successfully invested, acquired, developed or redeveloped more than 100 commercial real estate projects throughout the world. Some of his more notable projects include the 900,000 square-foot Las Palmas Marketplace in El Paso, TX; the 900,000-square-foot Canyon West in Lubbock, TX; the 400,000-square-foot Kings Crossing in Shreveport, LA; as well as multiple industrial distribution and manufacturing facilities for clients such as Chrysler, General Motors, Alcoa, Yazaki, Bergamasca and more. As a recognized leader in the commercial real estate industry, Mr. De La Vega frequently serves as a panelist for many leadership and future vision summits. He is also a guest columnist for a variety of publications and active with several professional organizations, including the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and The Real Estate Council (TREC). In addition, he serves on the Executive Committee of the Chancellor’s Council of the University of Texas System, is a board member and donor to the FEMAP Foundation, and a proud donor and supporter of the Artemio De La Vega Scholarship Fund for the benefit of Hispanic students at the University of Texas, El Paso. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas, is a graduate of Culver Military Academy, Jr. Reserve Officers Training Corps and holds an FAA private aircraft license. Mr. De La Vega enjoys spending time with his wife and four children.

Jessica Miller Essl is the co-president of M2G Ventures, a commercial real estate private equity and advisory development comp any based in Fort Worth, Texas. Guided by the leadership of Jessica and her partner, Susan Gruppi, the fast-growing company carefully invests in distinctive mixed-use and industrial development projects located in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and the Austin Central Texas region. Jessica is responsible for business development, strategy, marketing, leasing and overseeing the company’s landlord advisory practices at M2G. Under Jessica’s leadership, the company continues to push the envelope with innovative ways to create places users want to be. Jessica possesses a relentless drive in truly creating value-add opportunities for all of the projects the company touches. Prior to starting M2G, Jessica was with Open Realty Advisors. During her tenure there, Jessica was instrumental in the company’s landlord consulting platform. She led the strategy and execution of the real estate roll out for Tesla and Spanx across North America. Jessica also played a key role in the site selection and execution of other major brands, such as J. Crew, Apple, Restoration Hardware, Diane Von Furstenberg, and Abercrombie & Fitch, to name a few. She negotiated transactions with every major retail owner in the United States during her time there. Prior to joining Open Realty, Jessica was Senior Leasing Representative at Trademark Property Company, where she specialized in the leasing strategy, execution, and project management of super-regional malls and upscale mixed-use centers. Jessica is credited with bringing some of the nation’s most premier specialty retailers to Trademark’s projects during her four years there. Jessica serves on the Real Estate Council of Greater Fort Worth, the TCU Center for Real Estate Advisory Board, the Board for the TCU M.J. Neeley Entrepreneurial School, and the Small Development Council for Urban Land Institute. Jessica was named Top 40 under 40 in 2017 as well as received the Strong Partner Award from Girls Inc. of Tarrant County. She is a graduate of Texas Christian University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Real Estate with a Concentration in Leadership.

Mary-Margaret Spikes Lemons, President, joined Fort Worth Housing Solutions as General Counsel in 2015 and became president in 2017. Previously she worked as a senior attorney at a boutique law firm specializing in oil and gas, and earlier as General Counsel at a locally headquartered $1.2 billion bank overseeing Risk Management, Compliance and Vendor Management. Mary-Margaret serves on the Board of Directors of the Tarrant County Apartment Association and is a past director of the Texas Association of Bank Counsel and Tarrant County Women’s Bar Association. She was honored as “Communicator of the Year” by the Greater Fort Worth Chapter of Public Relations Society of America in 2019. The Texas Wesleyan School of Law named her Alumnus of the Year in 2012 and the Fort Worth Business Press recognized her in its ‘40 Under 40’ program the same year. Her recent activities in the local community include serving as Committee Chair for The W.A.R.M. Place’s 2016 annual gala, as a member of Cancer Care’s National Cancer Survivor’s Day committee and as a YMCA youth soccer coach. Mary-Margaret speaks frequently at housing industry conferences and at the Texas A&M School of Law. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations at the University of Texas-Arlington and a Juris Doctorate from Texas Wesleyan School of Law.

Aaliyah Haqq, Vice President at Dominus Commercial partners with C-level executives, entrepreneurs and business leaders to explore the relationship between office space, strategy, purpose, culture, and staff retention. After spending nearly two decades in leadership development and health & human services, Aaliyah has consistently used her super powers to create the conditions for leaders, organizations, and communities to be at their best. A strong advocate for serving the community, Aaliyah is a past Board Chair for Promise House and the National Family Preservation Network. She currently serves on Dallas CASA’s Board of Directors, is a member of the Promise House Executive Support and Assessment Team, and is a member of Hofstra University’s School of Health Professions and Human Services Dean’s Advisory Committee. To support the demands of being a corporate athlete, she plays soccer, practices yoga, and is a marathoner. Aaliyah holds a BS from Hofstra University in Community Health and is a Licensed Texas Realtor. Her professional affiliations include CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women), NTCAR (North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors), and Conscious Capitalism. She is currently the Chair of the CREW Dallas Smart Growth Committee and is a member of CREW Network’s Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force.

In his role as senior vice president, Chris Briggs leads cross-functional initiatives that support Buxton’s work in the public sector and commercial real estate industry. Since joining the company in 2003, Chris has held leadership positions in operations, product development, marketing, client experience, and sales – including as a consultant to Buxton’s retail and healthcare clients. He has been a featured speaker at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and the Texas A&M Mays School of Business. Chris is actively involved in the business and educational community. He has been an adjunct instructor at the TCU Neeley School of Business MBA program, coordinated the Buxton Challenge at the Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative and Texas A&M University, served on the advisory board for the International City/County Managers Association, contributed to the Harvard Business Review, and served on the board of the University of North Texas College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS). He received a bachelor’s degree in geography from the University of North Texas and continued executive education from Southern Methodist University. Chris has been recognized by the UNT College of Arts and Sciences as an Outstanding Alumnus.