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Thompson Dallas, the 219-room hotel located in the historic George Dahl-designed building, The National, made Condé Nast TravelerThe 2021 Hot List of 2021, an annual review of the best hotels in the world. Thompson Dallas is one of 69 hotels on the 25-year list.

Part of The National’s $ 460 million preservation, Thompson Dallas is part of the largest adaptive reuse project in Texas history. Thompson Dallas coexists with The National Residences, 324 luxury high-rise apartments.

Thompson Dallas was developed by Dallas-based Todd Interests and is located at 205 North Akard Street. The hotel includes 52 suites, two penthouse suites on the 49th floor, the highest in the state and the most expensive in the city, four restaurants, a 14,000 square foot national ballroom, two acres of indoor space and outdoor, full-service spa, fitness center, and resort-style pool.

Cindy Zelazny of Interiors Limited and Caroline Todd of Todd Interiors designed the interiors of Thompson Dallas, which includes more than $ 2 million in custom artwork and furniture. Merriman Anderson Architects handled the architecture and design, and SWA Group handled the landscaping.

Zirtue Loan App Secures $ 4 Million Funding

Dennis cail

Zirtue, a Dallas-based lending app aimed at improving financial inclusion, has received a major investment from Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Northwestern Mutual’s venture capital fund. The investment follows Zirtue’s seed cycle and brings the total funds raised to $ 4 million in seed capital.

Zirtue co-founder and CEO Dennis Cail founded the company with the idea of ​​creating a solution for the millions of people who turn to friends and family for loans, hoping its application would help preserve relationships. and streamline the payment process. Loans to friends and family total $ 184 billion per year; Zirtue automates the relationship-based loan process and sets terms with no fees or credit checks. To date, more than $ 10 million in loans have been processed through the platform.

The company has also partnered with AT&T, Toyota and UT Southwestern for bill lending, allowing borrowers to pay their bills through the Zirture app.

Multi-million dollar SOAR fund to help small businesses recover from pandemic

Small business owners and nonprofits in Texas can now apply for low interest loans of up to $ 100,000 and free business support through the Southern Opportunity and Resilience fund, a collaboration of several. million dollars between community finance organizations. The fund aims to provide access to capital to meet the needs of historically disenfranchised communities during economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The SOAR fund was launched with over $ 50 million in upfront commitments and plans to lend at least $ 150 million to small businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 50 employees. The fund is in partnership with 13 community development financial institutions, including the BCL of Texas, which originated the loans purchased by the fund.

The funds are available to businesses in Texas and 14 other southern states in addition to Washington, DC. The loans are intended for historically underbanked businesses, including those in rural areas and those owned by women, people of color and immigrants.

“Underserved communities have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19,” said Gustavo Lasala, president and CEO of the PeopleFund of Texas-based community development financial institutions. “This type of initiative brings together much-needed resources to help small business owners position their business in the best possible way for the recovery to come.”

Applicants can register online to be matched with a lender.

Sunwest Communications acquires Shiroma Sud-Ouest

Two of Dallas’ oldest and largest PR firms, Sunwest Communications and Shiroma Southwest recently merged. Shiroma Southwest will bring Sunwest’s portfolio of clients including restaurants, retailers, municipalities and commercial real estate developers. These industries will help diversify Sunwest’s current customer portfolio, including international oil and gas companies, real estate, finance, technology and family foundations.

Shiroma founder Mary Shiroma will act as a senior advisor in the newly merged firm, also bringing Shiroma’s four employees with her.

“Mary Shiroma is a legend in the Dallas PR industry for good reason. She has built an incredible business that is prolific and respected for the PR strategy, advice and results it provides for an impressive client list, ”said Crayton Webb, owner and CEO of Sunwest Communications.

The merger will not affect clients and account teams, and the Shiroma team will be relocating to Sunwest offices later this year.

Ascent and Lincoln Rackhouse Partner for Data Center Management

Ascent, a St. Louis-based data center solutions provider, merged its data center management division with Lincoln Rackhouse, the data center division of Lincoln Property Co. of Dallas. The two newly merged teams will operate under the Ascent name.

Lincoln Rackhouse owns and manages a portfolio of data centers totaling over two million square feet in the US and UK Ascent, which provides data center operations, maintenance management, consulting and l Engineering, among other services, currently serves more than 800 critical data facilities in the United States and Canada.

As part of this new partnership, the company’s data center acquisition, development and project management activities will accelerate Ascent’s growth.

“The merger will allow us to continue to provide and develop our range of cutting-edge solutions and services and to accelerate our development and deployment of innovative technologies. This is the first step in our next decade of strategic growth, market leadership and world-class customer service, ”said Bob Painter, President of Ascent.

Texas Ale Project Wins Two National Design Awards

Texas Ale Project, a craft brewery owned by veterans of the Dallas Design District, recently won two nationally recognized design awards for its craft brand TAPWTR’s packaging campaign.

TAPWTR packaging for its two flavors.

Created in collaboration with the Californian company Saputo Design, the packaging of TAPWTR will be presented in Graphic design United States‘s Best of 2020 Packaging issue.

“Creating attractive and eye-catching packaging is an important part of what we do, to perfectly complement the look and feel of each of our beer and seltzer flavors,” said Kat Thompson, owner of Texas Ale. Project.

The packaging also won a Gold ADDY at the American Advertising Awards for Best Regional Packaging Campaign.

DEC network to host Dallas Hybrid Startup Week in August

The DEC Network, a non-profit organization focused on supporting entrepreneurs, has announced plans to host its seventh annual Dallas Startup Week event from August 1-5. Sponsored by Capital One, the conference will welcome speakers, budding entrepreneurs, established small businesses and allied businesses. .

Dallas Startup Week sessions are divided into 19 unique tracks, including coding, healthcare, and cybersecurity. The event will also feature three summits: Disrupt Dallas on August 1, Women of Innovation Summit on August 4, and Corporate Startup Innovation on August 5.

The hybrid event will take place at Southern Methodist University and registration is now open.

“DSW really has something to offer every entrepreneur and small business owner, especially in this post-COVID era where entrepreneurs are looking for resources to move forward into the new normal,” said Bill Chin, CEO of The DEC Network.