A local business association scored a high-profile guest speaker for an upcoming leadership luncheon: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
The Metroplex Civic & Business Association (MCBA) has been picking up steam over the last few years in its mission to increase charitable and civic engagement among its member companies, growing in size and getting more attention from local and state figures.
Louis Darrouzet, MCBA’s CEO, told The Dallas Express about how excited he was the organization was going to be able to host the lieutenant governor,
“In just three years, to go from just a handful of companies to roughly 130 companies, over 9,000 employees between those companies, and to have our influential city council members and state level leaders coming to share their perspectives with our leadership just kind of points to the impact that this group is starting to have in the Dallas-Fort Worth community,” he said.
In addition to Lt. Gov. Patrick, who is slated to join MCBA leaders in April, a couple of Dallas City Council members are scheduled to address the association’s leaders in February — Council Members Jesse Moreno (District 2) and Cara Mendelsohn (District 12).
Notable figures who spoke at MCBA events over the last year include three-time Super Bowl champion and Dallas Cowboys legend Darren Woodson, who discussed his efforts to boost charter school expansion in the Dallas area to improve public education and provide alternatives for local children, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson addressed the group last October, speaking about her 30 years in the Texas Senate and her priorities as secretary of state since she was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott in January 2023.
“Getting companies and their employees engaged in the community, creating environments where people can be successful, is critical to our local cities and the metroplex’s success, but also the state’s success,” Darrouzet said.
One of the MCBA’s local initiatives, launched last year, has been focused on mobilizing member companies’ employees to pitch in to clean up Dallas’ streets following the City’s decision to decommission its neighborhood cleanup programs.
“It’s great that we’ve been able to find such common ground where we narrow the focus enough to where most people agree, issues like keeping the city clean, crime issues, homelessness, school performance,” Darrouzet said. “It’s real easy to point out how we’re different. Let’s keep finding ways that we’re the same, and let’s start from there because that builds connection, and a connected metroplex, all the cities, all the counties, the more connected they are, the more connected the people are, and the more successful all of the areas will be. What we’ve built and what we’re building with MCBA is creating exactly that.”
“It’s exciting that our local leadership and our state leadership are starting to take notice of this incredibly special organization that we’re building,” he added.